Red Sea Reefer 250

[Savo]

I've been wanting to get into this hobby for some time. I am a beginner, i have never had a saltwater tank. I have decided to go with the Red Sea Reefer 250. What else does this tank need? What would be a good LED light for all different types of coral?

 

[Crabs McJones]

Welcome to R2R!!

#WelcometoR2R

There are many different led brands out there to choose from. They start with your low cost Ebay black boxes and sb Reed lights and reef breeders to your middle of the road Kessil A360s and Radion Xr15's and AI Prime HDs and all the way to the top end with the Kessil AP700, Radion XR30 Pro and the AI Hydras. Myself personally am a huge kessil fan and would recommend them to anyone who asks for a reefer 250 a pair of kessil a360s or a single ap700 would work perfectly

 

[Tahoe61]

Hi and Welcome to R2R.

There is a wealth of Red Sea Tank keepers here. Simply type Red Sea into the search function and away you go.

 

[Savo]

Thanks for the reply Mcjones. I have been looking at the kessil a360 a few of the youtubers i am following use them. How do they compare to t5's? Do you know what other stuff i should get with the 250 reefer or does it come with everything i need to get started?

 

[Crabs McJones]

Thanks for the reply Mcjones. I have been looking at the kessil a360 a few of the youtubers i am following use them. How do they compare to t5's? Do you know what other stuff i should get with the 250 reefer or does it come with everything i need to get started?

The kessils matched with t5s are king in my book. I'm currently running 4 t5s with the kessil ap700 and have never been happier. The 250 comes with tank, stand, filter sock. Some of them are even coming with lighting already. But I believe in the ones that dont all you need to add is your sand, rock, lighting, return pump, any power heads you may want to use (vortech mp10s work great on that tank) and skimmer.

 

[Lovemyreef2015]

Welcome to R2R

 

[Savo]

what skimmer would you suggest?

 

[Crabs McJones]

what skimmer would you suggest?

I really like the reef octopus skimmers. Not sure how much room you have to work with. I'd look into how big your skimmer section is and then research skimmers from there

 

[GoVols]

@Savo
Good to see that your already getting some great feedback and sound advice.

Welcome to our Reef 2 Reef, family and hope you feel at home!!

 

[Fudsey]

Welcome to R2R ! ! !

 

[Savo]

I purchased the red sea reefer 250 today and it should be coming next friday. I am pretty excited, it is something i have wanted to do forever. I'm really interested in growing my own corals from frags and having minimal fishes. I am thinking two clown fish and a small angel if possible and the rest coral.

Things i would love help with is the proper lighting or anything else that the reefer 250 needs addition to what it comes with that i'm not aware of, which is everything. Right now i'm looking at the hydra 26 and kessil lighting. I would love some feed back on which one i should go with or something completely different. Every body i have talk to said "what would like your reef to be in 5 years" and thats a hard question for a newbie. I want EVERYTHING. This is a hobby i know nothing about and just learning, even though i have watch hundreds of youtube videos i still feel like i know nothing. I also was told a skimmer would be something i would need to buy as well. What would you suggest?

 

[Savo]

The kessils matched with t5s are king in my book. I'm currently running 4 t5s with the kessil ap700 and have never been happier. The 250 comes with tank, stand, filter sock. Some of them are even coming with lighting already. But I believe in the ones that dont all you need to add is your sand, rock, lighting, return pump, any power heads you may want to use (vortech mp10s work great on that tank) and skimmer.

How many VorTech MP10wQD will i need for this tank and will this skimmer Reef Octopus Classic 150SSS be sufficient?

 

[titlowda]

I have a 250 with the stock sump for now. Running 2 A360WE’s on it and do not have issues with shadowing. I went with the higher end mounts due to the flex arms looking so wonky on it. Very little light bleed out the top at 9” above the water.

For a skimmer I had a Eshopps s-200 4th gen. It is big for the tank but pulls tons of skim. Brand is your choice just keep in mind you have a decent size skimmer compartment but the sock pulls come out by pulling the trays toward your skimmer. You are going to want 4-5” of room unless you want to be messing with your skimmer all the time to get it out of the way.

 

[Crabs McJones]

How many VorTech MP10wQD will i need for this tank and will this skimmer Reef Octopus Classic 150SSS be sufficient?

2 mp10s, and yes if ty here is room for it

 

[Savo]

Okay, i just got one of the mp10wqd off ebay for $190 used

 

[Savo]

what would be a good return pump?

 

[Reefer Deez]

Welcome to R2R and your new journey! I’m excited to see how your tank grows! Don’t ever hesitate to ask a question everyone here is willing to help! As far as a return pump my personal opinion I would go with a vectra M1 by ecotech.

 

[Savo]

is 55 pounds of dry live rock and 40 pounds of dry live sand enough for the tank?

 

[Savo]

I'm going to order this stuff from Bulk Reef Supply

55 Pounds of BRS Reef Saver Live Dry Rock
40 Pound of CaribSea Seaflor Aragonite Dry Sands Fiji Pink
4 STAGE 75GPD VALUE RO/DI SYSTEM
Bulk Reef Supply REFRACTOMETER
VECTRA M1 DC
Reef Octopus Classic 150SSS
VORTECH MP10WQD

What Heater should i get and would you change anything from the above list?

 

[Fudsey]

I have a Finnex controller for my heater and it hasn't skipped a beat. If you pair it with a Finnex titanium heater it will also give you a grounding probe. 2 for 1