Reefoholicc's Red Sea Reeder 170

[Reefoholicc]

Hello Fellow Reefers,
I have been setting up a new Red Sea Reefer (the newer kind with a SUMP) for about 6 weeks now.
This setup includes:

Equipment:
1 X Red Sea Reefer 170
1 X Apex Classic with two EB8
1 X PH, ORP, and Temp Probe
1 X GFO Reactor
1 X heater
2 X BRS Doser pumps (Alk and Calcium)
1 X Skimmer
2 X BioBlocks
1 X Vortech MP10 QD
1 X AI Nero
1 X AI Prime HD
1 X Jabeo DCT Marine Controllable Water Pump
1 X rOXIN 11W Submersible UV light

Live Stock:
A bonded pair of Maroon clowns (captive bred)
1 X Firefish
1 X Coral Beauty
1 X tiny blue neon Goby (captive bred)
1 X Splendid Dottyback (captive bred)
2 X tiny Gold Maxima Clams
1 X Anemone
1 X Sea Cucumber (haven't seen him since the day I put him in the tank - so ungrateful)
1 X Emerald Crab (haven't seen him since the day I put him in the tank - so ungrateful)
Bunch of snails (Nassarius and Cerith)
Bunch of hermit crabs

I have a variety of hard and soft corals including colorful zoas.

At the moment, the husbandry schedule is weekly filter sock and 5 gal water changes.

Since I like all my cables organized and tucked away, I built a cabinet for the Apex. Here are some pics:

Here are the cables coming out of the SUMP canopy all neat and tied up

I used egg crate as a foundation for the rockwork in the tank. It was much easier to build and transport also plays a great buffer between the glass bottom of the tank and the rocks.

Since this pic, I have added a couple more pieces of live rock from my other established tank.

I inserted the UV lamp into the main return pipe so that all tank water volume goes through the UV filtration and there is no UV light leaking into the SUMP:

Although the Red Sea Reefer 170 is VERY QUIET, I wanted to further sound proof the SUMP since it is in the middle of the living room.
I got some sound dampening foam from Amazon for $10 for 12 sheets. Here is what the SUMP looks like now:

I have been monitoring the ORP since last week when I received the ORP probe in the mail. It seems to linger around 200 for now. It dips during feeding time when the skimmer is off. I am considering getting a bigger skimmer to bring the ORP up to 300s.

Water Quality and Testing:
The nutrients have been very low in the tank although I feed heavily daily since I don't skip water changes and filter sock changes.
Ammonia 0ppm
Alk 8.4 - 8.2 (BRS messed up my order and sent me two Calc mixes instead of Alk so cannot dose at the moment. A new order is on its way)
Calc - 420ppm - 450ppm
Phosphate - 0ppm
Temp: 77.9F - 78.2F (thanks to Apex)
I have a big pouch of carbon that I also change weekly and GFO running in a reactor in the SUMP.

Feeding: (Daily)
Here is what I feed in a cocktail:
1/2 tsp Reef-Roids
1 cube frozen mysis shrimp
5 drops of Marine Snow from Brightwell
I add a crushed clove of garlic to this mix and let it sit for about 10 minutes before I feed. I take the garlic clove out before I dump the leftover liquid after I spot feed the corals.


I will try to get some more pics of the corals and the fish tonight when I get home.

Don't forget to hit follow and please comment if you must ;Shamefullyembarrased

 

[SPR1968]

The rockwork looks very nice, and great write up

Keep the pictures coming and welcome to R2R!

 

[Reefoholicc]

Swapped out the old skimmer with an “almost new” skimmer. This bad boy pumps in lots of air.

 

[Waynerock]

Hello Fellow Reefers,
I have been setting up a new Red Sea Reefer (the newer kind with a SUMP) for about 6 weeks now.
This setup includes:

Equipment:
1 X Red Sea Reefer 170
1 X Apex Classic with two EB8
1 X PH, ORP, and Temp Probe
1 X GFO Reactor
1 X heater
2 X BRS Doser pumps (Alk and Calcium)
1 X Skimmer
2 X BioBlocks
1 X Vortech MP10 QD
1 X AI Nero
1 X AI Prime HD
1 X Jabeo DCT Marine Controllable Water Pump
1 X rOXIN 11W Submersible UV light

Live Stock:
A bonded pair of Maroon clowns (captive bred)
1 X Firefish
1 X Coral Beauty
1 X tiny blue neon Goby (captive bred)
1 X Splendid Dottyback (captive bred)
2 X tiny Gold Maxima Clams
1 X Anemone
1 X Sea Cucumber (haven't seen him since the day I put him in the tank - so ungrateful)
1 X Emerald Crab (haven't seen him since the day I put him in the tank - so ungrateful)
Bunch of snails (Nassarius and Cerith)
Bunch of hermit crabs

I have a variety of hard and soft corals including colorful zoas.

At the moment, the husbandry schedule is weekly filter sock and 5 gal water changes.

Since I like all my cables organized and tucked away, I built a cabinet for the Apex. Here are some pics:

Here are the cables coming out of the SUMP canopy all neat and tied up

I used egg crate as a foundation for the rockwork in the tank. It was much easier to build and transport also plays a great buffer between the glass bottom of the tank and the rocks.

Since this pic, I have added a couple more pieces of live rock from my other established tank.

I inserted the UV lamp into the main return pipe so that all tank water volume goes through the UV filtration and there is no UV light leaking into the SUMP:

Although the Red Sea Reefer 170 is VERY QUIET, I wanted to further sound proof the SUMP since it is in the middle of the living room.
I got some sound dampening foam from Amazon for $10 for 12 sheets. Here is what the SUMP looks like now:

I have been monitoring the ORP since last week when I received the ORP probe in the mail. It seems to linger around 200 for now. It dips during feeding time when the skimmer is off. I am considering getting a bigger skimmer to bring the ORP up to 300s.

Water Quality and Testing:
The nutrients have been very low in the tank although I feed heavily daily since I don't skip water changes and filter sock changes.
Ammonia 0ppm
Alk 8.4 - 8.2 (BRS messed up my order and sent me two Calc mixes instead of Alk so cannot dose at the moment. A new order is on its way)
Calc - 420ppm - 450ppm
Phosphate - 0ppm
Temp: 77.9F - 78.2F (thanks to Apex)
I have a big pouch of carbon that I also change weekly and GFO running in a reactor in the SUMP.

Feeding: (Daily)
Here is what I feed in a cocktail:
1/2 tsp Reef-Roids
1 cube frozen mysis shrimp
5 drops of Marine Snow from Brightwell
I add a crushed clove of garlic to this mix and let it sit for about 10 minutes before I feed. I take the garlic clove out before I dump the leftover liquid after I spot feed the corals.


I will try to get some more pics of the corals and the fish tonight when I get home.

Don't forget to hit follow and please comment if you must ;Shamefullyembarrased

How does that uv work for you? Did you just toss it in the larger end of the top of the return? Got any more Picts of that? I have the mean green one in the sump and I don’t think it works that well and I like your idea and they are cheep. I really love my reefer 170 they are great little tanks thanks for showing yours

 

[Reefoholicc]

I will try to take more pics although it is challenging since all the lamp is inside the wider return pipe, the one with the dial on.

My water has been pretty clear so far, I am not sure if the UV is doing anything but at that price point with nothing to lose and no ardeous setup, it was a no brainer for me.

Love my 170. Exactly what I wanted, the perfect size. If we end up buying a house I already made it clear that one of my must haves is a fish room that I will build with a giant display tank. Until then, this 170 is my tropical vacation every day. Hehe

 

[Raptor72]

How does that uv work for you? Did you just toss it in the larger end of the top of the return? Got any more Picts of that? I have the mean green one in the sump and I don’t think it works that well and I like your idea and they are cheep. I really love my reefer 170 they are great little tanks thanks for showing yours

Agreed, great tanks. Set mine up this past January also. I also have the Mean Green but not sure if it’s making a difference yet. I just added a CPR Aquafuge to see if that helps with nuisance algae growth.

 

[Reefoholicc]

Agreed, great tanks. Set mine up this past January also. I also have the Mean Green but not sure if it’s making a difference yet. I just added a CPR Aquafuge to see if that helps with nuisance algae growth.

It all takes time to settle. My most success with a mixed reef tank was a very low nutrient tank with an oversized skimmer and carbon dosing. I had a current USA mh/t5 fixture on it, which kept my SPS growing like weed. Call and alk dosing was through the roof due to consumption. I kept up with the husbandry religiously. What caused the demise of that tank was an ato malfunction when we were away.

I really like the little UV light I got in the SUMP now. Very little setup required and running it for 12 hours daily thanks to my Apex.

 

[Waynerock]

It all takes time to settle. My most success with a mixed reef tank was a very low nutrient tank with an oversized skimmer and carbon dosing. I had a current USA mh/t5 fixture on it, which kept my SPS growing like weed. Call and alk dosing was through the roof due to consumption. I kept up with the husbandry religiously. What caused the demise of that tank was an ato malfunction when we were away.

I really like the little UV light I got in the SUMP now. Very little setup required and running it for 12 hours daily thanks to my Apex.

If you ever get into more light intensive corals I recommend getting another prime hd and setting them on either side of the over flow box. Besides the VFG nozzle casting a shadow I get awesome coverage. I don’t have them turned up very high and everything is growing great

and my corals are electric looking

 

[Johnny M]

Great looking tank. However be careful with the foam in sump area to deaden sound. Bc of sump & it's enclosed in a cabinet all that moisture can lead to mold growing in the foam, which can eventually be bad for u & the tank.

 

[Reefoholicc]

If you ever get into more light intensive corals I recommend getting another prime hd and setting them on either side of the over flow box. Besides the VFG nozzle casting a shadow I get awesome coverage. I don’t have them turned up very high and everything is growing great

and my corals are electric looking

Wow your corals look like neon Christmas trees [emoji1786]

I already ordered an AI Hydra 26 HD. It is being delivered on Thursday. Also got a diffuser for it from Adam. Here is the link to his thread:

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sh...ra-52-Diffuser-Pre-Order.599536/&share_type=t

Will update with more pics once I get that setup.

 

[Reefoholicc]

Great looking tank. However be careful with the foam in sump area to deaden sound. Bc of sump & it's enclosed in a cabinet all that moisture can lead to mold growing in the foam, which can eventually be bad for u & the tank.

Great point Johnny. I am checking the foam for any dampness daily. At the moment, seems like my HVAC unit is doing a great job keeping the place cool and dry. Maybe I will consider a moisture absorber in the cabinet. Any thoughts on that?

 

[Reefoholicc]

Here are some pictures from this morning. The lights were just coming on so no pop of colors are visible for the corals.

Some of the fishes:

Most of my corals are frags at this point. Can't wait for everything to start growing.

 

[Waynerock]

Here are some pictures from this morning. The lights were just coming on so no pop of colors are visible for the corals.

Some of the fishes:

Most of my corals are frags at this point. Can't wait for everything to start growing.

Looks awesome!! The two settings that are great for me with the AI lights are the AB+ or David Saxby settings. I enjoy saxby more because it’s more blue instead of purplish at least to my eyes. Saxby was a lot more white but I kick that down to max out at 12% and drop to10% during the day. My Sps and LPS have grown so much since making the final switch to Saxby. Just my .02 cents

 

[Reefoholicc]

Looks awesome!! The two settings that are great for me with the AI lights are the AB+ or David Saxby settings. I enjoy saxby more because it’s more blue instead of purplish at least to my eyes. Saxby was a lot more white but I kick that down to max out at 12% and drop to10% during the day. My Sps and LPS have grown so much since making the final switch to Saxby. Just my .02 cents

That is AMAZING advice dude! Thank you so much! Why did you dial down whites to 12%? I don't even know why they have it do all the way up to 100%...
I can't wait to put up my AI Hydra.

 

[Waynerock]

That is AMAZING advice dude! Thank you so much! Why did you dial down whites to 12%? I don't even know why they have it do all the way up to 100%...
I can't wait to put up my AI Hydra.

I just don’t really dig the white light. It shows too much crap in my tank. I was also concerned with algae from the white light. Once I saw that Fox uses only blues that was my excuse to get rid of most of my white. All of my corals are fluorescent under blues anyway and I like that look. To each his own

 

[Reefoholicc]

I just don’t really dig the white light. It shows too much crap in my tank. I was also concerned with algae from the white light. Once I saw that Fox uses only blues that was my excuse to get rid of most of my white. All of my corals are fluorescent under blues anyway and I like that look. To each his own

I can attest to the fact that too much white brings out the algae.

 

[Reefoholicc]

Got the Hydra 26 and the diffuser in the mail this evening. A big kudos to Adam Smiz for the diffuser. It softens the lights while almost eliminates the disco affect.

Less talk, more pics:

 

[Phil D.]

How does that uv work for you? Did you just toss it in the larger end of the top of the return? Got any more Picts of that? I have the mean green one in the sump and I don’t think it works that well and I like your idea and they are cheep. I really love my reefer 170 they are great little tanks thanks for showing yours

I got an 11watt UV submersible lamp with a timer from Amazon for $12. I have it on the 6 hour setting and put it into the return pump section. It comes with a nifty little shade for it so it doesn't shine in your eyes.

 

[Reefoholicc]

I got an 11watt UV submersible lamp with a timer from Amazon for $12. I have it on the 6 hour setting and put it into the return pump section. It comes with a nifty little shade for it so it doesn't shine in your eyes.

Did exactly that myself! Super easy!

My anem that I got yesterday was under a rock this morning, the maroon clowns are desperately trying to get to it, silly fishes...

All other coral frags I got from another local member were doing great! Can't wait to go home to see what's up with the tank!

 

[Reefoholicc]

Added a cam to my SUMP since the travelling season is upon us. This way I can quickly intervene if something is running a mock.
Finally getting some Calc consumption up in the tank. Daily drop is around 20ppm which tells me corals are growing (I can see some that are visibly expanding over the rocks already)

Started daily dosing to bring up Calcium slowly, my goal is to keep it at around 480ppm. This should give all the stony corals a good supply for growth.

I will snap a pic of the SUMP with the cam tonight when I go home.