Red Sea Reefer XL 200 Build (Used)

[flyingscampi]

The day after the big water change and adding GAC, diatoms appeared. This is day 28 since I added the first bag of sand containing bacteria.

It's probably co-incidental that the diatoms appeared the day after I reduced nitrate from 75+ to ~30 mg/l and added GAC. My first tank took 25 days for diatoms to appear after adding the first bacteria.

 

[flyingscampi]

ADDING SOME LIFE

Day 30 – I’ve moved a 1 kg rock from my live tank to the 200 XL. I’ve also moved a handful of sand. I've already added some sea lettuce and red grape macroalgae which will end up in the refugium after the transfer (when I move the light.)

To feed the tank, I added a dose of phyto, some AB+, a dose of ChaetoGro, and a few dry marine and algae pellets from Vitalis scattered around the rock.

The diatoms have spread and there are now bubbles under their mat.

Phyto and AB+:

Diatoms:

1 kg of rock from the live tank (including bristleworms, mini-brittles, limpet snails, copepods, and amphipods:

 

[flyingscampi]

PROGRESS
3 days after adding the live rock (day 33), I did a full range of tests as follows:

Salinity (Hanna Probe) = 35.0
Temp (Hanna Probe) = 25.4°C
KH (Hanna) = 6.5
KH (Salifert) = 6.4
Calcium (Salifert) = 430
Magnesium (Salifert) = 1350
pH (Salifert) = 8.1
Nitrate (Hanna) = 16.1
Phosphate (Hanna) = 0.02
Ammonia (Salifert) = 0
Nitrite (Salifert) = 0

The only parameter that is different to my live tank is the KH which is a bit low, so I added 10 ml of All-For-Reef.

Every couple of days, I’m feeding the tank with Phyto, AB+, and a few dry pellets and wafers. I’m also dosing ChaetoGro. I also added another two 10 ml doses of All-For-Reef.

Today is day 37 (7 days after adding the live rock), I tested the KH which after adding 30 ml of All-For-Reef over the past 4 days has risen to 8.3. Everything that was introduced with the live rock appears to be OK, the brittle stars have populated the dead rock, I’ve seen bristle worms in the sand, pods are scurrying about, and the small limpet snails look OK.

As you can see, the tank is starting to look dirty now, with bubbles trapped under the diatom mat. I haven’t cleaned it at all and won’t bother until after I’ve completed the transfer and things have settled down. The live rock still looks clean though, and the tufts of hair algae are reduced – eaten maybe?

Tomorrow I'm going to transfer the first coral, a Duncan.

This picture shows pods (white dots) on the glass, hopefully grazing on diatoms…

 

[flyingscampi]

FIRST CORAL
It’s day 40 since I added bacteria to the tank in the first bag of live sand.

Today I moved a Duncan coral to see how it would react. After a couple of hours, the coral was fully extended and looked happy. (The coral looks a bit chewed up as it was knocked off its rock unnoticed by a hermit crab and spent a few days in the sand.)

Here is the Duncan coral after a day in the new tank. Still haven't cleaned anything!

 

[flyingscampi]

SWITCHING TANKS
It’s day 42, the Duncan coral looks happy, it’s a weekend, and it’s time to move everything over from the old tank. This is the plan:

THE PLAN
Check Salinity, temperature, KH, pH, NO3, PO4 close in both tanks.
Gather old towels and place around tanks.
NEW: Clear area of sand for aquascape.
OLD: Turn off all equipment.
OLD: Move macroalgae, shells, loose rock, crabs, snails, anything loose, etc., to NEW.
NEW: Stop return pump.
NEW: Drain and discard 35 litres of water.
NEW: Stop powerhead.
OLD: Transfer rock to NEW.
OLD: Catch fish and transfer to NEW.
NEW: Start powerhead.
OLD: Transfer 35 litres of water to NEW.
NEW: Start return pump.
OLD: Transfer bio-media from cannister filter into sump.
OLD: Transfer any remaining life to NEW (pods, snails, stars, etc.)
NEW: Adjust water level.

Everything went well, the Clown Goby hitched a ride in a rocky crevice and caused a moment of anxiety when I couldn’t find it. None of the corals fully retracted and after a couple of hours they were back to normal. So far so good (touch wood.)

I cleaned the old tank out as it was stinking the house out. I rinsed the sand and left it out to dry so I could use it again. It was so dirty, my original plan of moving it to the new tank after a “quick rinse” was bonkers and I was right to change my mind.

I’m running out of time, so I quickly setup the dosing equipment and refugium light. I’ll set them up properly along with the ATO, heater controller, and powerhead once I’ve cleaned all the gunge off them.

TIMELINE
Preparation - Tank operational with seawater and Marco (dead) rock.
Day 1 - Added live sand with bacteria. Adding ammonia.
Day 13 - Added second bag of live sand. Adding ammonia.
Day 17 - Added Dr Tim's bacteria. Adding ammonia.
Day 24 - New nitrite test kit reveals cycling is complete. Stopped adding ammonia.
Day 28 - Changed 50% water (100 litres). Added GAC.
Day 29 - Diatoms appear.
Day 31 - Transferred 1 kg rock from live tank. Started adding AB+, Phyto, dry food, ChaetoGro.
Day 40 - Transferred Duncan coral from live tank.
Day 41 - Duncan looks happy.
Day 42 - Transferred all life, rock, and two thirds of the water from live tank.

Old tank's final moments (ATO reservoir in background) ...

New tank after a couple of hours:

The old tank after the transfer (niffs!):

 

[flyingscampi]

Everything looks healthy and happy. Corals are fully extended and enjoying the light upgrade from 15 watt Kessil A80 to 90 watt Red Sea (currently at 40% power.)

Parameter check 24 hours after the transfer:

Salinity (Hanna Probe) = 35.0
Temp (Hanna Probe) = 25.1°C
KH (Hanna) = 8.1
pH (Salifert) = 8.1
Nitrate (Hanna) = 15.3
Phosphate (Hanna) = 0.02
Ammonia (Salifert) = 0
Nitrite (Salifert) = 0

 

[flyingscampi]

REEFLED 90 LIGHT
I was going to buy a Kessil A360, but the tank came with the option of buying a used ReefLED 90 for £100, so I thought I’d give it a try. To get the same features as a ReefLED90, you’d need a Kessil A360X, Spectral X Controller, and a WiFi dongle which would cost around £800, so the ReefLED90 was a bargain.

Setting the light up was a doddle with the built-in Wi-Fi and the intuitive app. The recessed light dome will also prevent light spill.

My old tank had a Kessil A80 Tuna Blue (15W) so I’ll start off at 40% power on the ReefLED 90, and then slowly ramp up the power. I programmed the light with the 15K spectrum using the following settings:

I’ll ramp up in 10% increments, if I reach 100%, the settings would be:

 

[flyingscampi]

I’m transferring the ATO, Kessil A80 light, Tunze 6040 powerhead, & D-D heating controller from the old tank.

TUNZE 3155 ATO SETUP
The Tunze 3155 ATO is a versatile system that worked fine on the old 60-litre aquarium by dialling down the pump setting. For the 200 XL, I changed the setting to 50% for the 2.5 litres a day lost to evaporation.

The sensor mount got cleaned in a citric acid solution:

I removed the standard Red Sea ATO valve and reservoir, then installed the Tunze sensors in the pump chamber. The 3155 system gives you the option of mounting the level and overflow sensors separately or together on the single mount shown here. If you use the single mount, you get two spare magnets.

The controller was mounted on the back of the cabinet door.

For the old tank I made a reservoir out of a standard 25-litre water barrel by drilling two small holes in the top for the pump cable and tube. Cheap and cheerful but not very attractive. To hide the reservoir, I’m looking for a pair of small cabinets to put either side of the tank. The reservoir will last 9-10 days.

 

[flyingscampi]

D-D HEATER CONTROLLER SETUP

EQUIPMENT
D-D Dual Heating & Cooling Controller
Eheim Thermocontrol e200 (primary heater)
Eheim Thermocontrol e150 (secondary heater)

THE PLAN
A water temperature of 25.5 C will be controlled by the thermostat on the primary Eheim heater. The secondary heater will be set slightly lower to prevent overcooling. The controller will be set slightly higher to prevent overheating. There is no cooling system as the aquarium room’s highest temperature was 25 C in the hot summer last year.

SETUP THE HEATERS
Both heaters were already set to 25.5 C and heating the aquarium. The heaters are not yet plugged into the controller.

I placed the D-D controller’s temperature probe in the sump compartment containing the heaters, it measured 25.6 C. I also measured the sump compartment’s temperature using a Hanna salinity probe which showed 25.3 C. The average measurement is 25.45 C (close enough!)

Next, I turn the secondary heater off and to check the primary heater can maintain 25.5 C on its own, which it can.

I adjust the secondary heater thermostat to just above 25 C. This means it should only come on if the water temp has dropped slightly (~0.3 C).

SETUP THE CONTROLLER
The average water temperature measurement of 25.45 C is ~0.1 C less than the heater controller’s probe measurement, so I will add 0.1 C to the target temperature on the controller.

Because I am using the Eheim heater’s thermostats to control water temperature, I don’t want the controller to interfere, so I will add 0.3 C to the target temperature on the controller.

The target temperature of the controller will therefore be set to 25.9 C (25.5 + 0.1 + 0.3.)

I now program the controller as follows:
Set a 'target' temperature of 25.9 C.
Set a 'heating differential' of 0.3 C.
Set a 'cooling differential' of 0.3 C.
Set an 'alarm differential' of 0.7 C.

Both heaters are now plugged into the controller.

HEATING SYSTEM BEHAVIOUR
During normal operation, the thermostat on the primary heater will control aquarium temperature at 25.5 C. As the target temperature is set 0.3 C higher than the aquarium, the controller will be permanently in ‘heating’ mode. The secondary heater will usually be off as it is set 0.3 C lower than the primary heater.

If the temperature falls by 0.3 C, the secondary heater will switch on. This protects the system against the primary heater failing ‘off’, or the primary heater is struggling because the room temperature is lower than normal.

If the temperature rises by 0.3 C, the controller will cut power to the heaters (at the target temperature of 25.9 C). This prevents overheating if one of the heaters fails ‘on’.

If the temperature is 0.7 C higher or lower than the target temperature, the controller will sound an alarm.

 

[flyingscampi]

Progress report…

I’m on day 53 and it’s been 12 days since I transferred everything over from the main tank.

The only fly in the ointment so far is that my hermit crab expired a few days after being transferred. It had hardly moved in the previous tank for a couple of weeks, so I hope it was just old age (it was 2 years old.) The crab had black striped legs and ate a lot of algae so I hope I can find another one like it.

Here is the latest round of test results. I’ve stopped testing for ammonia and nitrite.

Salinity (Hanna Probe) 34.9
Temp (Hanna Probe) 25.1°C
KH (Hanna) 7.5
KH (Salifert) 7.6
Nitrate (Hanna) 3
Phosphate (Hanna) 0.02

The KH was a little low, so I’ve added another 1 ml to the daily dose of All-For-Reef.

It seems I was a bit premature starting the refugium. After cycling, the tank needed a 50% water change to get nitrates down to ~35 ppm, so I bought some macroalgae. The trouble now is that nitrates have dropped to 3 without changing any water or any other form of nitrate reduction. As I’m at risk of bottoming out, I added 5 ml of NeoNitro and will now keep a close eye on it…

The good news is that the diatoms are now mostly gone from the rocks and sand. I’ve never cleaned the rocks or sand, the first pic was 20 days ago, the second recent.

Here is what the tank currently looks like. I’ve yet to move the corals around so they’ve got more space as something went twang in my back getting the starter motor off my 36-year-old boat engine. Working on a boat is yoga without a mat.

 

[flyingscampi]

KESSIL A80 TUNA BLUE REFUGIUM LIGHT
The 15-watt Kessil A80 Tuna Blue light from the old aquarium will become the refugium light. I’ll keep the same program which grew macroalgae OK. Here is the program I use which runs on an opposite cycle to the display tank light:

The refugium currently has Sea Lettuce (Ulva lactuca) and Red Grape (Botryocladia botryoides) macroalgae. I’ll add some Green Grape (Caulerpa Racemosa) when my supplier has stock (and when my nitrates get a bit higher.)

There are some rocks in the bottom for critters to inhabit and the Eheim bio-media from the cannister filter on the old tank. I’ll gradually remove these.

 

[flyingscampi]

DOSING PUMP
The D-D P1 dosing pump (aka the Kamoer X1 PRO2), was stuck to the side of the sump compartment with Velcro. This doses Tropic Marin All-For-Reef (currently 4 ml per day.) The dosing container is a Bubble Magus 0.6 litre.

Here are a couple of pictures of the sump compartment:

 

[flyingscampi]

In the month since I last posted I haven't had much time to work on the tank. All I've done is moved some corals and setup the Tunze powerheads.

I have a 6095 and a 6040 (from the old tank). Thanks to its wider nozzle, the 6095 can move a lot more water than the 6040 without blowing the sand around. I'll replace the 6040 eventually with another 6095.

I've set the pumps up with the 6040 slaved to the 6095 controller and a pulse of between 25% and 50% power every 10 seconds. Along with the flow from the return pump, this seems to send water all around the tank. All the pumps are inaudible.

You can see the pump positions in this picture:

I currently still have one fish, a Yellow Clown Goby who loves having the whole tank to itself. I'm waiting for my LFS to get a Tail Spot Blenny in which I want to introduce next. I've already bought a nice barnacle cluster for it to live in. Once I've got the Blenny established, I need to get a free swimming fish or two. Any suggestions? Persuade me not to get one of the 'peaceful' damsel species.

Another shot of the tank.

 

[CoachRichardson]

How’s the progress?

 

[CoachRichardson]

Any updates?

 

[Nurse.Reef.Reapeat]

PLUMBING
Using this article as a guide, I’m exchanging the Red Sea diaphragm valve for a Spears gate valve. As per the guide, the main drain will be reduced from the standard 32 mm (1”) pipe to 25 mm (3/4”) which is adequate for the XL 200. I’m also going to add a coupling to the horizontal section to make the drainpipe easier to remove and clean.

I bought these parts from the UK-based ‘Plastic Pipe Shop’ site:

1 x 25mm Plain Socket to 3/4" Male BSP (16606-P)
2 x 25mm Plain 90 Degree Elbow (16063-P)
1 x 25mm Grey PVC Pipe 16 bar (PN16) 2.4m (16026-3-P2)
1 x 25mm Spears Gate Valve (3231-P)
2 x 25mm Plain Union EPDM O-ring (16259-P)
Griffon Uni-100 PVC Cement 125ml with brush (51125-P)
Roll PTFE Tape (13293-P)

I also bought a Red Sea bulkhead coupling:
Red Sea Sump Pump Return Connector 16 mm (R42221)

If anyone reading this is baffled (as I was) about how 32 mm pipe equates to 1” pipe when 32 mm = 1.25”, then they should know that metric piping is measured by its outside diameter, and inch/imperial piping is measured by its inside diameter (bore). This article is useful: How to Measure Pipe Dimensions Correctly

The new components next to the original drainpipe:

The 25mm Plain Socket to 3/4" Male BSP fitting (on the right) to replace the original Red Sea hose barb (centre) on Red Sea part R42221. I used about 20 windings of PTFE tape on the thread:

The new and old main drainpipes, along with the secondary drain that also has a coupling added to the horizontal pipe section:

I changed the O rings using the Red Sea kit (R42187):

Wow nice.. looking to do this on my upcoming build. How much did you spend?

 

[flyingscampi]

Wow nice.. looking to do this on my upcoming build. How much did you spend?

I'm in the UK so prices are probably double what you'd pay, but here they are anyway.

I got the parts from the Plastic Pipe Shop which might be useful identifying the components.

 

[Nurse.Reef.Reapeat]

thank you. Anyone know where to get these parts here in the US?