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Randy's Red Sea Reefer 250

RandyC

RandyC

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Reef bug has infected yet another soul.....After having my 12G Fluval Edge up for 5 months, I've already decided to upgrade (and the spouse agreed to let me) to a Red Sea Reefer 250.

Here are the plans so far:

Equipment List
  • Red Sea Reefer 250
  • Sicce Silent pump 3.0 (714GPH)
  • Vectra M1
  • 300 Watt Cobalt Neo-Therm Heater
  • Ranco Temperature controller
  • 2x Radion XR15w G4 Pro LEDs
  • XR15w mounts
  • Reeflink Wireless Controller
  • Trigger Systems Crystal 5 Gallon ATO
  • Tunze Osmolator 3155 ATO
  • Converted 2.1G stock ATO to a fuge
  • 1x 2x VorTech MP40wQD (will see if I'll need a second one)
  • BRS GFO & Carbon Dual Reactor
  • Reef Octopus Regal 150INT 6" Internal with VarioS pump
  • Seneye Reef Monitor (BRS was having a 15% off sale yesterday - so got it for the PAR meter)
Water/Salt/Aquascape
  • 40lbs of CaribSea Dry Aragonite Special Grade Reef Live Sand
  • 50lbs of Pukani Dry Live Rock from BRS
  • Added a membrane to my BRS 6 Stage to upgrade to 150gpd
  • Instant Ocean Reef Crystals (has been working for me so far)
Things yet to be decided
  • Hopefully this won't start a war, but to fuge or to scrub? Debating converting the stock 2.1 gallon ATO unit into a fuge or converting it into container for an ATS. Thoughts?
  • Livestock - this wholly depends on whether or not I decommission the 12G Edge tank or not
  • Eventual dosing mechanism? Manual or automatic? Any one have suggestions on auto dosers?
What has been done so far
  • Not much yet as I don't have the tank yet. It's ordered, but hasn't shipped yet. Which is unfortunate because I have of all the other parts to get started. Prolly better though so I don't get antsy and pull the rock out too early from curing.
  • Pukani has been curing & cycling for about 9 days now in a 27G bin with saltwater and powerheads at 80C+ in the garage. Ammonia at >8ppm after one night, nitrites started appearing by day 6 and hit >5ppm by day 8. Still no nitrates yet. I didn't add any bottled bacteria to this.
Here's a picture of the Pukani shipment from BRS. Rough Sizing: Bottom right piece is around 14" x 11" x 11".
pukani_dry_rock.jpg


And curing....I don't know why I'm so excited about curing rock. :)
pukani_dry_rock_curing.jpg


Reefing is such an addiction ....my wife thinks I'm nuts.
 
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Oh, forgot to mention what really pushed me over the edge....BRS was having a 10% sale over labor day weekend, so with that sale and the 5% rewards you get back from shopping there, I'd say I got a pretty good deal.
 
Flagg37 said:
I think I'd go for two mp40s. They'll work in conjunction with each other.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's what I thought initially of doing too, but ecotech products weren't eligible for the 10% sale at BRS during the labor day sale, so I figured I'd see how one pump did and just order the second if needed. I love free shipping!
 
I didn't realize it's only 54 gallons. I always have to look up those. I guess Red Sea Reefer 54 doesn't have the same ring to it.

@Vhuang168, the one you're letting me borrow is an mp10 right? I have a 30 gallon and only have one and its set to 65%.
 
The MP10 spec says they're only rated for glass that's 0.375" thick, but the red Sea reefer is 1/2" thick. Do the MP10s actually work with 1/2" glass?


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Many have used MP10s on the reefer 250. If you are worried, you can use the MP40 but I think 1 would be more than enough.


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Oh hello Red Sea Reefer 250. So glad of you to grace my house today! I like the way it arrives, it was palletized and all safe and snuggly in plastic wrap. Glad the shipper took the 2 pallets back though, less big things to have to worry about throwing away. Now just need to install a new outlet with GFCI plugs behind where the tank is going so wires & plugs are hidden. Real work begins now.

RSR250%20box%20arrival.jpg


Update on the curing/cycling rocks: Day 13 - Ammonia (>8ppm) & Nitrites (>5ppm) still high, but Nitrates have made an appearance. Nitrates are clocking in between 10-20ppm. Cycle moving along nicely with no need for bacterial supplements.
 
I did order it from BRS since they had a 10% discount during Labor Day. They drop ship from Red Sea. Took about 2 weeks. All in all really smooth.

Got a call yesterday to schedule a delivery and it came today in a 4 hour window...10-2. Guy showed up at 10:20 with pallet and put it in my garage and took the pallet away in less than 10 min.


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It works for products that the manufacturer doesn't have MAP pricing. I know for sure that ecotech, reef octopus and nyos won't apply. Others may not as well. Thankfully Red Sea wasn't one of them.


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And it's wet! Had to cut filling water short as it's getting late and I have a full day of Gilroy Gardens with the fam tomorrow. Need some sleep. At least I'll get to test overflow plumbing overnight to check for leaks.

So far installation going fairly smooth. Cut open the wall to add four GFCI protected plugs to the wall behind the tank and a new recessed LED light above the tank with a dimming switch. Have all the plumbing in so far for the overflow, but I need a get a barbed T for the carbon/gfo reactor and also reducer Barb to connect sicce syncha 3.0 pump to the return. Then will get water moving through the system. I have time anyway since rock is still curing.

Here's what she looks like so far.

RSR250%20First%20time%20wet.jpg
 
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