Red Sea Reefer 350 Build

[Cultivated Reef]

They look like they are home

 

[Reef Outfit]

I couldnt get the barb for the Ecotech Marine Vectra S2 return pump in time, actually I couldnt even find it in stock anywhere. I also wanted to upgrade to the M2 but couldnt get it here in time also, let alone the ludicrous missing barb adapter...why dont they just put it in the box with the pump? Its a 5 bucks piece of plastic for a 375 product. Other products include a bunch of unnecessary parts just so it works no matter what kind of setup you have. How can they expect you to have a PVC pipe of the correct diameter and glue laying around? Specially now that the V3 sump comes with a tube.

Anyway, I went on a mission and ended up upgrading to a Neptune COR 20 2000GPH return pump. Although I also had to go to the local hardware store and find a barb for it. Couldnt find the exact dimensions but was able to figure out something that looks perfect, adding as little adapters as possible as not to reduce the inner diameter for the best flow. I forgot to take a picture but will do so when its time to clean.

I feel like I ended up with a better equipment since I'm installing the APEX anyway.

 

[Nick Steele]

I feel you on expensive items not having all required parts!

I mean look at kessils lights and I’m sure many others. You need to buy a controller to help easily set up schedules which is bonkers for the amount of money you need to shell out for the item in the first place.

 

[AZMSGT]

Just for reference you can adapt direct to the pumps with PVC pipe. Just glue it and done. No need for the fancy barb from Ecotech.

 

[Reef Outfit]

Update

Finished installing and setting up all the equipment (for now...)

Made my own cable management panel. Got a wood panel, cut it to size, measured and drilled the holes, sanded, primed and painted. Attached the equipment and ran the cables. Best thing is thats its detachable, it hangs on the back of the cabinet by two strong magnets. This way I can remove to clean, adjust, replace and add anything. I also didnt drill the entire cabinets full of holes, just two on the upper part. This is also good so I can read all the settings in a straight view rather than having it hanging sideways. Also makes room to store the everyday maintenance equipment.
Awesome.

I also finished setting up the entire Apex package. Just waiting for the ATO reservoir to finish so I can move it out of the way to put the UV sterilizer in the sump and close the cabinet.

Got pods coming in this week to populate the refugium and some chaeto that I got from a user in this forum.

Still want the TUNZE Eco Chic refugium light 8831. Seems by far the best design, waterproof and magnet held. Cant even find a used one...have sent TUNZE in Germany an email asking when the heck they're going to put it back in the market.

Dont want to have a light sticking out, specially with a clumsy gooseneck. Was thinking about the IM Chaeto light but dont want to stick it on the glass and cover up the view into the refugium, I want to be able to check on the pod population and possibly have a couple of seahorses in there. Until then I might just use a cheap light just to keep the algae alive.

At this point I want to add more bio-load.

Would like to get suggestion from you guys on what fish I should add! Just as long as its a peaceful community...

Thanks

 

[Reef Outfit]

Any suggestions for fish additions?

 

[Nick Steele]

What do you like?

I feel tank stocking is such personal preference and you’ll get many different answers. Here’s what I would stock if I did a reefer 350.

2 black snow clowns
One tang (yellow eye kole or tomini)
group of azure/pink smith damsels (4-5?)
Midas blenny
Mandarin (once tank had good pod population)
Long nose hawk (if compatible)
Sexy shrimp (I love these guys and will try them in all my tanks)

 

[KyOsIBa515]

I agree with the comment above. I have a pair of black snowflake clowns, 4 green chromis, a yellow tang, and 4 lyretail anthias for now. I want to add a leopard wrasse and maybe one other fish.

Total personal preference. I wanted color and movement in my tank. Obviously, bigger “show” fish are attractive but not practical for our tank size.

 

[Reef Outfit]

Update

Yesterday I added to my refugium

AlgaGenPods™ Tisbe​

Zoo-Plasm™ PODS​

and fed them with

Phyto-Plasm™ Phyto Green​

they were happy to take residence in the MarinePure Biofilter Plate.

Tomorrow a cheap refugium light should arrive to temporarily substitute the TUNZE EcoChic refugium light I'm waiting to get back in stock. I got a reply from TUNZE in Germany saying they got 200 units popping up anytime now.

Friday some chaeto should arrive.

This will finish my refugium setup and hopefully soon populate my tank with pods for fish.

 

[Reef Outfit]

Update

Today I received the next fish addition to my tank, a beautiful Tanaka's Pygmy Possum Wrasse from Live Aquaria's Divers Den I purchased two days ago.

The only problem is that it arrived DEAD!

Now I got a corpse, a store credit (which is no good) and no fish in sight. Will have to sit and wait till god knows how long to get another.

I really want this fish because when I had my nano (aka saltwater bucket) it was the only fish small enough to add besides all the gobies and the pair of clowns. It took me almost a full year to get one as they were rarely available and when I finally got one I had to move in less than a month and had to give it to another reefer. It barely had time to acclimate.

Recently there has been a huge amount of them available in the divers den but just a week short of my tank setup, so I missed them all...

 

[Nick Steele]

Aww man that sucks! They are beautiful fish!

I was going to try one in my nano but I don’t order online and after waiting two months for lfs trying to get one I gave up and am getting a captive bred mandarin instead.

 

[BaysEndReef]

Looks like everything is coming along nicely! It's always sad to receive DOA livestock! Sorry! Will be following along!

 

[Reef Outfit]

So, the next day after claiming arrive alive guarantee two tanakai popped on divers den and I couldn’t resist getting one using the store credit. Should come in next Tuesday. I REALLY hope it arrives alive this time, I also feel responsible for killing them. If this one doesn’t make it I’ll try to get one locally. I wish LiveAquaria would still ship them with overnight till 10:30am like they used to instead of till noon.

Fingers crossed.



Other than that the news is that I got a royal gramma and a Midas blenny. The gramma is shy but pretty much settled in. The Midas is pretty weird, he just looks scared and stays still. Never had one and perhaps this is normal, think he’ll loosen up with time.

I’ve added a bunch of snails and three shrimps.

Also introduced my first corals and I’m super glad they are doing so well for such a young tank. Check em out:

 

[Reef Outfit]

A couple of things

My skimmer was overflowing like crazy until I figured out the water line was too high. Researched for a stand to purchase but I find these acrylic contraptions (frag racks, fish traps, breeding boxes, skimmer stands, etc) set at an unreasonable price tag. $55 for a cut sheet of acrylic you can get at Home Depot for $8 is extravagant. I just needed to raise it a couple of inches, that’s it.

went to the dollar store and got me a kitchen thing for a buck! It’s the perfect size and height, lets water flow through it and it’s even the same color as the skimmer. Talk about low tech solutions. Check it out.

Some new additions:

This guy is amazing, can’t wait to see it under the lights tomorrow. I’ll post a picture.

These corals are awesome, I’ll also update the pictures tomorrow.

This guy now is feeling alright:

I also added more rocks and two arches.

Besides, I received some chaeto in the mail from a R2R member and it still looks good even after one week out of the water in a small flat rate box. I couldn’t get the Tunze light for it but instead got this cheap light $14.99 which is surprisingly bright and in the correct spectrum, I’m sure it will work fine:

Now the tisbe pods are in for a treat, can’t wait to see them grow.

Next step is waiting for the bta to settle where it wants so I can arrange the corals I have and start getting a few more. I want to add just colorful contrasting neon corals. We’ll see.

Fishwise I got my eyes on a yellow eye kole tang and would also like to add a wrasse.

That’s it for now, thanks for reading.

 

[Reef Outfit]

I can't believe it's been three and a half years since my last post about my tank!

So much has changed in my life—I got divorced, moved from Sarasota to Orlando, and started a business. My daughter lives with me now, but one thing that’s still here is my Reefer 350.

Moving a tank is never easy. When I relocated to Orlando last year, I had to put all the fish, inverts, and corals into two smaller tanks, a 20G and a 30G. It was crowded, but most of them managed to survive while waiting for the main tank to be set up.

Once the main tank was ready, I slowly moved everyone back. Unfortunately, due to the craziness of that period, I couldn't keep up with the necessary care, and disease took almost all of them. It was very sad. Things worsened with a huge algae outbreak taking over everything.

I moved the remaining survivors to the 30G and completely took down the Reefer 350. I meticulously cleaned everything, soaking it all in bleach for a thorough reset to start fresh without any pests or algae. I discarded all the rock and soaked the sand in bleach for a week.

After rinsing everything well, I put the tank back together and cycled it with a new pair of ocellaris clowns. Finally, I have a good place to start over.

Currently, besides the clowns, I have a neon goby, a yellow watchman paired with a randall shrimp, a porcelain crab, two nassarius snails, five trochus snails, a turbo Mexican snail, and one astrea snail. Coral-wise, I have a torch, two hammers, a couple of toadstools, three gonioporas, a blastomussa, a ricordea cluster, a yellow SPS, and a red monti. Most corals are on the frag rack, with some still recovering. I also have an RBTA container with around 15 specimens.

There’s only a small amount of rock, so it looks like a nano tank in a larger tank.

That’s it for now. I just want to keep things stable until it can mature. I added tisbees a month ago to slowly build a foundation. In the future, I plan on adding a real aquascape to transform it into a proper reef.

I'll post pictures tomorrow.

 

[Reef Outfit]

Got some pictures today using the Orphek orange lens to cut down on the blue. You can see the spirobid worms are back—likely reintroduced from a frag. Unfortunately, I couldn’t capture the watchman goby and shrimp pair; they got spooked by the camera and retreated into their hiding spot.

Acan

Torch

Hammer

Toadstool

Blastomussa

Blastomussa

Goni

Hammer + Ricordea

Goni

Theres a mushroom there!

Ocellaris

Neon Goby

Porcelain Crab

RBTA