Reefer 250 build - Tokyo, Japan

Machpoint89 · Dec 9, 2020

A small update on the RSR250..... added some livestock....

- Purple DottyBack
- 3x Nausarius snails
- 2x Hermit crabs
- 2x Cleaner shrimp (-1 because the idiot decided it was a good idea to play with the Nero 5 WaveMaker)
- 1x Pistol shrimp / Wheeler Goby combo

——

- 1x Green tip Hammer Coral
- 1x Purple tip Hammer Coral
- 1x Green Finger Leather Coral

Nothing impressive, but its a good start... Things are quite pricey here so taking things slowly....

Japino reefer · Dec 12, 2020

Where did you buy your equipments bro
Im in japan also they didnt have apex here right

Machpoint89 · Dec 12, 2020

Japino reefer said:
Where did you buy your equipments bro
Im in japan also they didnt have apex here right

Ah nice. Where you at?

No I brought most things from the US. Took a while to say the least haha

Japino reefer · Dec 13, 2020

Machpoint89 said:
Ah nice. Where you at?

No I brought most things from the US. Took a while to say the least haha

Im in saitama bro
How much it cost you?
Can you send me a link

Machpoint89 · Dec 13, 2020

Japino reefer said:
Im in saitama bro
How much it cost you?
Can you send me a link

I bought it from Bulk Reef Supply
If you’re new to saltwater in general they have some great videos on YouTube to get you started.

I know there is a shop near you, but haven’t visited yet.

What are you plans? Have a tank already ?

Japino reefer · Dec 13, 2020

Machpoint89 said:
I bought it from Bulk Reef Supply
If you’re new to saltwater in general they have some great videos on YouTube to get you started.

I know there is a shop near you, but haven’t visited yet.

What are you plans? Have a tank he

Machpoint89 said:
I bought it from Bulk Reef Supply
If you’re new to saltwater in general they have some great videos on YouTube to get you started.

I know there is a shop near you, but haven’t visited yet.

What are you plans? Have a tank already ?

Yes i have a nano but im going to upgrade to a custom tank slightly bigger than redsea 170
We have awesome lfs here
Named coral aquatics you should check it out they have online site http://coralaquatic.com/
How much the shipping cost you bro?

Machpoint89 · Dec 13, 2020

Japino reefer said:
Yes i have a nano but im going to upgrade to a custom tank slightly bigger than redsea 170
We have awesome lfs here
Named coral aquatics you should check it out they have online site http://coralaquatic.com/
How much the shipping cost you bro?

That’s awesome ! Great find. I can’t believe I haven’t found it before.

I will swing by there soon. Perhaps we could meet up there. PM me if that interests you. If you need a hand with a project also let me know. We can swap info via PM

I didn’t pay for shipping here. I picked it up in the US. I travel a lot for work. (Not a lot at the moment due to the madness hence my progress on my tank this year haha)

Japino reefer · Dec 13, 2020

Machpoint89 said:
That’s awesome ! Great find. I can’t believe I haven’t found it before.

I will swing by there soon. Perhaps we could meet up there. PM me if that interests you. If you need a hand with a project also let me know. We can swap info via PM

I didn’t pay for shipping here. I picked it up in the US. I travel a lot for work. (Not a lot at the moment due to the madness hence my progress on my tank this year haha)

Ok bro sounds a plan thanks

ScubaEthan · Dec 14, 2020

Nice tank! I love the rock. I have a Reefer 250 too. I appreciate how detailed you've described your mods. Thank you!

Machpoint89 · Dec 14, 2020

ScubaEthan said:
Nice tank! I love the rock. I have a Reefer 250 too. I appreciate how detailed you've described your mods. Thank you!

Thanks for the kind words ScubaEthan! I’ll be looking out for your build.

Flameback Pair · Dec 14, 2020

@Machpoint89 are there any Reefing events in Japan like trade shows, frag swaps, and the like?

Astro · Dec 16, 2020

Wow! What a crazy build thread! I hope to advance my tank as much as yours one day!

That plumbing job is amazing! What is that yellow fish? A wrasse? Or anthias? Looks awesome!

Machpoint89 · Dec 16, 2020

powers2001 said:
are there any Reefing events in Japan like trade shows, frag swaps, and the like?

I wish I knew. I need to find English speaking reefers in Japan to find out. Most of the LFS have limited English so difficult to communicate sometimes.

Astro said:
Wow! What a crazy build thread! I hope to advance my tank as much as yours one day! That plumbing job is amazing! What is that yellow fish? A wrasse? Or anthias? Looks awesome!

Thanks for the kind words. The yellow fish is a "banana wrasse / yellow wrasse" I believe its a female as it has slightly less patterns then the males tend to have. Loves her spot in between the rocks under the sandbed.

Machpoint89 · Dec 17, 2020

Added some more corals this week:

4x Acans
2x Goniporas
- The green one has fallen down a few times and isn't opening as much. Need to find a good spot for him
1x Duncan

Thanks @Japino reefer for suggesting CoralAquatic . Happened to drive by that area and figured I'd step in to say hello. What a great store. Proves that a smaller venue can hold a tremendous amount of high quality corals. Not a single bad looking coral!

Also forgot to mention that I have added the AVAST MARINE - Autofeeder. I got the idea from a great YouTube channel I follow by the Inappropriate Reefer

Now there are some pro's and cons to this setup and it REALLY depends on how you go about it.

CONS:

Requires 2x power outlets
- 1x for the actual feeder called "the KEG"
- 1x for the holder and feeding tube with it's own small pump for circulating the water called "the Plank"
The swirling pump isn't dead silent IF you're running it continuously as designed
It isn't the smallest autofeeder

PROS:

Great build quality!
- This goes for pretty much all Avast marine products from my personal experience.
Hydrates food before it gets dispersed throughout the tank by your WaveMaker
- You need to put the WaveMaker below the feeding tube
The drum can be handle a large combination of food as the "jackscrew" breaks down the larger pieces
EXCELLENT for feeding corals also by just running the swirl pump and manually dumping food in the tube for dispersal

Now I have both plugs attached to my Neptune Apex and will be programming various feeding routines. So if you have this feeder and have any tips please let me know.

Japino reefer · Dec 19, 2020

Machpoint89 said:
Added some more corals this week:

4x Acans

2x Goniporas

The green one has fallen down a few times and isn't opening as much. Need to find a good spot for him

1x Duncan

Thanks @Japino reefer for suggesting CoralAquatic . Happened to drive by that area and figured I'd step in to say hello. What a great store. Proves that a smaller venue can hold a tremendous amount of high quality corals. Not a single bad looking coral!

Also forgot to mention that I have added the AVAST MARINE - Autofeeder. I got the idea from a great YouTube channel I follow by the Inappropriate Reefer

Now there are some pro's and cons to this setup and it REALLY depends on how you go about it.

CONS:

Requires 2x power outlets

1x for the actual feeder called "the KEG"

1x for the holder and feeding tube with it's own small pump for circulating the water called "the Plank"

The swirling pump isn't dead silent IF you're running it continuously as designed

It isn't the smallest autofeeder

PROS:

Great build quality!

This goes for pretty much all Avast marine products from my personal experience.

Hydrates food before it gets dispersed throughout the tank by your WaveMaker

You need to put the WaveMaker below the feeding tube

The drum can be handle a large combination of food as the "jackscrew" breaks down the larger pieces

EXCELLENT for feeding corals also by just running the swirl pump and manually dumping food in the tube for dispersal

Now I have both plugs attached to my Neptune Apex and will be programming various feeding routines. So if you have this feeder and have any tips please let me know.

Awesome bro
Tanks looking great

Machpoint89 · Feb 2, 2021

So the end of January 2021 my Aquamaxx Reactors finally came in after a few months waiting. (Due to Covid I haven’t been able to visit the US for a while)

The only problem.... I can no longer find the 1/2” Orange PVC pipe I bought last year

I’m planning on adding 2 of the reactors based on another member’s build thread. Please check out his page on HOW to convert these great little reactors to hard plumbing.

A note of caution: READ CAREFULLY. The center hose barb is screwed in via a white nut. Just unscrew by hand and don’t be like me “thinking” it is part of the plate and thus destroying a hose barb unnecessarily

End result: ALMOST there. Just gotta find my 1/2” pipe somewhere OR have to order new one which will take a few more weeks

Machpoint89 · Feb 2, 2021

UPDATE:

So the tank has been running pretty well. Still “dialing” in nutrients import and export. Basically how much food will create how much fish poo... and thus increasing the levels of Nitrates & Phosphates.

I’m doing monthly water changes and I drop about 1dKH / week or so. testing on a weekly basis

Salinity 35.1~35.4
Ph 8.05~8.21
Temp 24.7~25.1

dKH 9.2~10
Ca 375~475
Na3 5
PO4 0.06~0.18

So Long story short. Still figuring things out.

Machpoint89 · Jun 18, 2021

Time for another update:

Still battling green hair algae which has been drastically reduced by daily dosing RedSea NoPoX . I’ve been dosing 5ml/day for this RSR250. I will however transition to bio pellets and try that for a while. (Read up on the AquaMaxx conversion)

An excellent read about biopellets by one of our own members @GuyWalker1219

I have finally received 1/2” PVC pipe front the US (only needed about 2 feet but can’t find it here) and was able to finish a reactor! Unfortunately I couldn’t get orange as for months it was sold out. Ended up with a light grey.

The outlet of this reactor is directed towards the inlet of my skimmer in order to skim out the dead bacteria produced by the biopellets.

Machpoint89 · Jun 18, 2021

GHL vs FocusTronic vs Neptune
KH director / ION director vs AlkaTronic / MasterTronic vs Trident

Some of you observant ones may have noticed some dosing lines in the previous post. I have decided to go with the GHL KH Director.
To be honest this wasn’t an easy decision, but after a few weeks of research I decided this was the best option for me for the following reasons:

Build quality and customer service
Size inside my RSR250 cabinet (I made a shelf for the KHd so I can later stack on the IONd with another Doser)

I was heavily debating the MasterTronic though the size would be a problem and 3rd the Neptune trident which seems to have been plagued with build quality.

The Neptune systems seem to just be rushed and quality is degrading. (That’s my opinion: and I have owned a few Neptune Apex systems. If I could get the GHL quality with the Neptune eco-system that would be ideal!)

Options I considered:

Neptune Trident $599
- Tests:
  - Alkalinity / dKH
  - Calcium / Ca
  - Magnesium / Mg
- Pro’s:
  - 3-in-1 tester
  - Quiet
  - Integrates well with the Neptune architecture (I have an Apex controller)
- Con’s:
  - Requires a Neptune Apex system
  - Build quality is NOT great
  - Requires a lot of reagent which has been challenging to “source” for many (at the time of writing)
  - Dosing supplements based on it’s test results would require a loud Neptune DoS (although this would be easiest since I’m already running a Neptune Apex, but per my research the noise would be a no go in our living room)
AlkaTronic $999 & MasterTronic $1299
- Tests:
  - AlkaTronic
    - Alkalinity / dKH
  - MasterTronic
    - Phosphate / P04
    - Nitrates / N03
    - Calcium / Ca
    - Magnesium / Mg
    - Organic matter / OLI
- Pro’s:
  - Quality products
  - MasterTronic can use multiple off-the-shelf test kits for its various tests
  - Can buy concentrated reagents to be diluted by the user.
- Con’s:
  - Difficult to source the units, but especially the reagents (at the time of writing)
  - Both units, but especially the MasterTronic is quite large
  - Pretty noisy from my research (The Trident would be much quieter)
GHL KH Director $869.90 & GHL ION Director $839.90 (both with GHL 2.1 doser)
- Tests:
  - KH director (KHd)
    - Alkalinity
  - ION director (IONd)
    - Calcium / Ca
    - Magnesium / Mg
    - Potassium / K
    - Sodium / Na
    - Nitrate / N03
- Pro’s:
  - Quality German engineering
  - Both KHd & IONd can be standalone units. (does NOT require a GHL Profilux controller, but will unlock more features if paired with one)
  - Both KHd & IONd come with a 4-head quality doses that is easy to maintain and have 1x dosing head leftover for dosing your desired supplements
  - Both units are stackable and compact
  - IONd requires NO reagent fluids
  - GHL support is EXCELLENT
  - The dosing pumps are pretty quiet
- Con’s:
  - IONd has just started shipping pre-orders so actually getting one will take a while (at the time of writing)
  - NO APP notification if something is out of range or the waste container is full. You have to actually open the app for this which is a MAJOR flaw I only figured out after purchasing (I was told by GHL support this will be a future upgrade IF you have a profilux controller)
  - IONd requires 2x reference fluids (but no reagents as mentioned so easier to deal with)
  - The GHL apps and setup are pretty much a disaster. Took me a few days to setup the KHd and even till this day I often have to close the app and restart the app (does NOT affect the tests though nor its schedule)
    - Anyone that argues against this fact is simply in denial that the average person will struggle with this. It’s like handing someone an iPhone (Neptune Apex UI) vs Raspberry Pi (GHL Control Center / GHL Connect app)
    - Once setup though it works great and is reliable

I hope this information may help someone !

ATO RESERVOIR: I have also replaced the 40 Ltr / 10 USg Ikea ATO reservoir with a 22 Ltr / 6USg ATO reservoir to make space for the shelve. (Which was just a piece of leftover plank I sawed down and connected 2 L-brackets)
- This lasts me ~ 5 days at the moment and I can replace it quickly with the larger version if I go on a longer trip which would last me ~ 10 days.
DOSING CONTAINER: purchased a 3-in-1 Aquarium Dosing Container from AliExpress for a great price. I really like them. Good build quality. Currently running the KHd reagent in 1 chamber and will use the other 2x reference fluids for the IONd eventually.

Machpoint89 · Jun 18, 2021

UPDATE:

I’m still battling GHA (Green Hair Algae), but as I mentioned 2 posts ago I’m successfully fighting this with RedSea NoPoX

Added Corals:

3x Alveapora
4x Mushrooms
2x Zoanthids
4x Acans / Micromussa

Added Livestock:

2x Zebra barred dart fish

Currently the Hammer coral is struggling to survive, but holding on after I changed my water changing schedule from 100ltr monthly (40% / month) to 25ltr weekly (10% / week) The same goes for my red Gonipora as it barely extends (the green one is doing fantastic)

I realized the monthly water change is just TOO big of a swing especially dKH. I would go from my desired 9dKH to easily 11dKH. I combat this with doing smaller and faster weekly water changes.