Red sea xxl 750 build

jrawk1120 · Oct 28, 2020

So I got an amazing deal on a Red Sea XXL750. Came with a lot of nice equipment.

It's just about ready for fish. But I have a few more things to get done. Any help is appreciated.

I need to make a good flow pattern.

2 Vortech MP40QD
Return is a Varios 8
Run through apex

Also, tips on good placement for the power heads would great as well. Very excited to have a big tank again

DC Reefer · Oct 28, 2020

Nice looking rock work. What are your plans for fish and are you going to have corals also? if so what type of corals are you planning (soft, LPS, SPS). These will drive the flow needs.

Mjl714 · Oct 28, 2020

I also like the rock work, is it against the back of the tank?

jrawk1120 · Oct 28, 2020

DC Reefer said:
Nice looking rock work. What are your plans for fish and are you going to have corals also? if so what type of corals are you planning (soft, LPS, SPS). These will drive the flow needs.

Going to be a mix of everything, so that's why I'm hoping for some tips on the flow. Getting the dosing setup.

As for fish, I'm transferring my 90 over. Currently have 2 maroons, female blue throat(will be getting a male), coral beauty (may take to the store), tiny blue hippo, and a snowflake eel. Have the extremely oversized skimmer for the messy eaters.

For coral, I currently have a few leathers,, zoas, palys, nems(I know they're not coral) , and shrooms, and a goniopora.

Lights i have the kessil ap700 (2 of them). Skimmer is a vertex alpha 200.

jrawk1120 · Oct 28, 2020

Mjl714 said:
I also like the rock work, is it against the back of the tank?

Please see reply below.

The rock work is pretty close to the back. I allowed enough room for my magnifica nem to have some room on the back wall because that's currently what it prefers. I don't put my rock together before going into the tank. I wing it until it looks nice

jrawk1120 · Oct 28, 2020

DC Reefer said:
Nice looking rock work. What are your plans for fish and are you going to have corals also? if so what type of corals are you planning (soft, LPS, SPS). These will drive the flow needs.

Forgot to mention that I want to keep the sps up high. I have 2 of the apex DoS ready to go

DC Reefer · Oct 28, 2020

For me flow is most difficult on a mixed reef. On my SPS tank which is bare bottom I have a ton of flow. In my mixed reef I was playing with the flow yesterday

. The good thing is w/ the MP 40s you have many options to adjust flow. I think once you start getting corals into the system you will be able to start adjusting the flow. Want to make sure you are not blasting the LPS, Nems and soft corals but good flow up high for the SPS. The other balance is not creating a sand storm in the tank and avoiding dead spots. My tanks are odd shapes (1/4 cylinder and a 1/2 cylinder) so my flow solutions are very tank specific. Not sure if the two MP 40s will be sufficient. Sure there are others with the same tank that can speak with more specifics.

jrawk1120 · Oct 28, 2020

DC Reefer said:
For me flow is most difficult on a mixed reef. On my SPS tank which is bare bottom I have a ton of flow. In my mixed reef I was playing with the flow yesterday. The good thing is w/ the MP 40s you have many options to adjust flow. I think once you start getting corals into the system you will be able to start adjusting the flow. Want to make sure you are not blasting the LPS, Nems and soft corals but good flow up high for the SPS. The other balance is not creating a sand storm in the tank and avoiding dead spots. My tanks are odd shapes (1/4 cylinder and a 1/2 cylinder) so my flow solutions are very tank specific. Not sure if the two MP 40s will be sufficient. Sure there are others with the same tank that can speak with more specifics.

I currently have the mp40s and the return at about half capacity i feel like I can turn them to about 75% with no sandstorm. 100% would create a typhoon in my basement. Lol.

Hoping to get any feedback. I think the nems will settle for mid level with these lights. They're very bright

Dark_Knightt · Oct 28, 2020

I only have a 20g but i have a powerfilter for it and that creates enough flow for the tank, expecially when its paired with the in-tank UV. Lots of soft corals and LPS dont like much flow at all, because they cant expand fully and they dont like the turbulence of the current as much as SPS does. If youre keeping corals like zoas, palys, shrooms and nems, i would have the the powerheads pointed to the top of the tank, so that there is a lot of water surface movement (which ultimately creates more oxygen because there is more surface area for the gaseous exchange of oxygen), which will create indirect flow for the corals. Great fish choices btw, love the snowflake eel.

jrawk1120 · Oct 28, 2020

Dark_Knightt said:
I only have a 20g but i have a powerfilter for it and that creates enough flow for the tank, expecially when its paired with the in-tank UV. Lots of soft corals and LPS dont like much flow at all, because they cant expand fully and they dont like the turbulence of the current as much as SPS does. If youre keeping corals like zoas, palys, shrooms and nems, i would have the the powerheads pointed to the top of the tank, so that there is a lot of water surface movement (which ultimately creates more oxygen because there is more surface area for the gaseous exchange of oxygen), which will create indirect flow for the corals. Great fish choices btw, love the snowflake eel.

Yea, I setup the rock in a way so that some coral can be shielded from heavy flow. Hoping that does something