Settling in Build - Red Sea 525

[bboileau92]

Hey all, 

I've introduced myself before, but I wanted to give a bit of back story to explain why I'm so excited for this build. 

 

I'm originally from Colorado, and moved out to Oregon 5 years ago for work after graduating from college. MASC (the Marine aquarium society of Colorado) was a great group of people that got me hooked in this hobby when I was in high school. While struggling through my junior year, working 40 hours a week, I upgraded to a 150 gallon tank and dove head first off the deep end. My wife won 2 Wyoming white clowns at reefstock, back when they were $200 a pop. She loved those fish, and they're what got her to finally appreciate my tank. I also got my dream fish, a purple tang. What happened next? You guessed it... ich. It wiped out every fish in the tank. We were both devastated. 

 

I stayed in the hobby, but never quite committed. Then when I moved out here, it took awhile for things to get settled in to the point where I could get back in the way I wanted, but now is that time! 

 

After starting out waiting on a neptunian cube for nearly 3 months, I decided to go with a Red Sea 525xl. And, due to my outstanding luck, the weight bearing side panel came in damaged. I will say that I was incredibly disappointed in red sea's customer service, but Jeff @CuttleFishandCoral was great through the whole process, and kept me just sane enough for when the side panel came in and I could finally set this up back in November. 

 

Needless to say, I'm terrible at updating my build thread and will get more details added, likely during my upcoming long weekend. For now, here's the tank just a couple days after setup.

 

I am so excited to be back in this hobby. I look forward to meeting some of you one of these days. 

 

 

Edited December 21, 2020 by bboileau92

[CoralReefTankers]

Love the aquascape. Is that the man made rock from Cuttlefish? I love that stuff!

[bboileau92]

2 minutes ago, CoralReefTankers said:

Love the aquascape. Is that the man made rock from Cuttlefish? I love that stuff!

Yeah. It's Blue iQuatics. I love the way it turned out. The only problem i have is that I keep convincing myself that the paint on them is real coraline. 😅

 

[CoralReefTankers]

17 minutes ago, bboileau92 said:

Yeah. It's Blue iQuatics. I love the way it turned out. The only problem i have is that I keep convincing myself that the paint on them is real coraline. 😅

 

Yeah and then when u get real coraline you won't know 😁! I love the rocks. I have them in my Reefer 350. And I will be upgrading to a 525XL too after Christmas. Such awesome tanks! Excited to see how yours progresses. 

[Manny Tavan]

It’ll be interesting to see if that blue iquatic can grow corals

[bboileau92]

12 hours ago, Manny Tavan said:

It’ll be interesting to see if that blue iquatic can grow corals

I'm planning mostly lps, zoas, and mushrooms, so I don't think that'll be a limiting factor. 

 

Honestly, I didn't much consider whether the coral would encrust on it. I've seen plastic frag racks covered in cyphastrea and montis so I didn't even think about it. 

 

What would be the driver for preventing growth? 

[Manny Tavan]

10 hours ago, bboileau92 said:

I'm planning mostly lps, zoas, and mushrooms, so I don't think that'll be a limiting factor. 

 

Honestly, I didn't much consider whether the coral would encrust on it. I've seen plastic frag racks covered in cyphastrea and montis so I didn't even think about it. 

 

What would be the driver for preventing growth? 

I meant more in the bacterial carrying capacity. Is it good at the biological media part which in turns has a lot to do with coral health

 

[Aerixx]

19 minutes ago, Manny Tavan said:

I meant more in the bacterial carrying capacity. Is it good at the biological media part which in turns has a lot to do with coral health

 

I have some like that stewing for my next build, it seems less pourus than regular rock, I’ve wondered the same.  My plan was to put a bio brick in the sump to combat it.  It is a great looking rockscape, looking foreword to the update

Edited December 22, 2020 by Aerixx

[bboileau92]

16 minutes ago, Aerixx said:

I have some like that stewing for my next build, it seems less pourus than regular rock, I’ve wondered the same.  My plan was to put a bio brick in the sump to combat it.  It is a great looking rockscape, looking foreword to the update

 

42 minutes ago, Manny Tavan said:

I meant more in the bacterial carrying capacity. Is it good at the biological media part which in turns has a lot to do with coral health

 

If we're talking nitrifying bacteria, I feel that the sand, along with some rubble in the sump will be plenty. 

 

With that said, I've seen some traffic on here about microbiome, but I'm not up to speed and don't understand what the impact of this rock vs something like reef saver would have.   I suppose only time will tell. 

 

When I was cycling these in a brute can, I did get some bacterial film on the rock like I have in the past.@Aerixxare you seeing a similar effect on the stuff you have going? 

[Aerixx]

25 minutes ago, bboileau92 said:

 

If we're talking nitrifying bacteria, I feel that the sand, along with some rubble in the sump will be plenty. 

 

With that said, I've seen some traffic on here about microbiome, but I'm not up to speed and don't understand what the impact of this rock vs something like reef saver would have.   I suppose only time will tell. 

 

When I was cycling these in a brute can, I did get some bacterial film on the rock like I have in the past.@Aerixxare you seeing a similar effect on the stuff you have going? 

If I’m being honest I’m doing a poor job of growing a lot of bacteria, I’m a year out so I’ve slacked on it.  I’m ramping it up now.  I preparing to go bare bottom so I’ll have to ramp it up.  I’ll let you know.

[bboileau92]

So I'm actually doing quarantine this go around. I am currently using a red sea 170 with a large marinepure brick and filter sock for filtration. At this point it is cycled and I haven't seen measurable ammonia in some time.

 

I have a frostbite clown, a Wyoming white clown, and a blue tang that have made it through qt and are in the display now. 

 

Currently in qt are 2 purple firefish. I love how they constantly look upset. There's also a solar fairy wrasse and a purple tang that do NOT get along. I will actually catch the fairy wrasse harassing the purple tang too. I haven't noticed any fins damaged yet and they're eating well, so I'm staying the course for now. 

[bboileau92]

Sorry for the crappy phone pics btw.

[bboileau92]

So my goal for the tank is to have 5 year success.  For me, success looks like a tank with minimal, if not 0, fish mortality and a thriving mixed reef, predominantly LPS, Zoas, and some mushrooms.  I don't have enough self control to not at least grab a couple sticks, but I haven't reached stick head status, so there will, most likely, only be a couple near the top of the rockwork for this tank.

 

Fish Stocking list:

2 Clowns - In DT

Blue Hippo Tang - In DT

Purple Tang - In QT

2 Purple Firefish - In QT

Solar Fairy Wrasse - In QT

Black Leopard Wrasse

Canary Wrasse

Any more fish would be considered after I see how the tank stabilizes with the list above.  

 

As far as equipment goes, I was able to purchase quite a bit of it from folks on this forum.

Display lighting - 3 AI Hydra 26 with standard mounts

Fuge lighting - Currently a Kessil H80, but I have an H160 that I'll upgrade to once bioload gets high enough to require better fuge lights

Return Pump - Jebao DCP 8000.  I have been running this on the 3rd flow setting and it's been plenty so far. I'm thinking of picking up 2 smaller pumps for redundancy.

Powerheads - 2 MP 40's with battery backup, plus 1 aqueon for flow in the fuge to try to prevent a detritus trap

Carbon Reactor - BRS standard reactor with ROX carbon, sicce pump

Skimmer - Aquamaxx ConeS 2, turned on a couple of times when the pH dropped a little to see if I could get some more oxygen into the water, but I'm not registering nitrates yet.  I'm honestly considering downsizing, as this may be more skimmer than I need anyways.

Heaters - 2x Eheim Jager 300w

Dosing pumps - 4x BRS dosers, got them when they were $60.  This will probably be one of the first upgrades I target.  It'd be great to have a DOS for AWC, and then either 2 more DOS for triton dosing, or the 4 pack Versas.  Gotta start saving.

Control - Apex with 1 EB832 and 1 EB8.  I bought the AFS and LDK to go with it as well.

 

I plan to run "Triton Method". The quotations are there because I still plan on weekly 10% water changes, but I do want to rely on fuge and skimmer filtration, so the idea of dosing specifically to feed chaeto seems intriguing to me.

 

 

 

[bboileau92]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R1XJNT9/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_ys94FbSWKSE3W?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

I highly recommend the lights above for stand lights. Super cheap, bright, and the adhesive seems quite strong. 

 

The chord situation hadn't stressed me out in real life too much, but looking at this picture makes me want to tidy up the sump a bit. 

[shaywood]

Finally, a good use for the defective Red Sea piping 😀. I've cracked several by over-tightening.  Tanks looking great. 

Edited December 24, 2020 by shaywood

[bboileau92]

4 hours ago, shaywood said:

Finally, a good use for the defective Red Sea piping 😀. I've cracked several by over-tightening.  Tanks looking great. 

Hahaha.  Thank you.  The fish in QT agree. That pipe is the main object of aggression, hence the wrasse guarding his domain. 

[Manny Tavan]

Do you plan on having a mesh top with wrasses in the DT?

[bboileau92]

I ordered a clearview. It should be here January 14th if I'm counting the 77 day lead time correctly. The wrasse and firefish will be ready to go in on the 19th, so I'm hoping there aren't any delays. 

[bboileau92]

Got a BRS gift card in my stocking so I ordered the ice cap cell phone filter set. We'll see how much that helps. 

 

I got a coral and invert QT set up and have a few corals in there. Tried to get pics, but it doesn't really look right. I lost one zoa frag, but everything else is looking good now. I had a peppermint shrimp in qt that molted, so it's in the display now. The rest of the snails and the corals will go in on 1/30.

[obrien.david.j]

On 12/23/2020 at 3:40 PM, bboileau92 said:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R1XJNT9/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_ys94FbSWKSE3W?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

I highly recommend the lights above for stand lights. Super cheap, bright, and the adhesive seems quite strong. 

 

The chord situation hadn't stressed me out in real life too much, but looking at this picture makes me want to tidy up the sump a bit. 

You passed on the light recommendation, mine arrives this afternoon, so I'll pass on my cable management recommendation. 

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-2inx1in-Wiring-Cable-Raceway/dp/B00066HOPM/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=cable+raceway+startech+1x+1.5"&qid=1609092182&s=electronics&sr=1-3

There's multiple options out there, use amazon search for startech cable raceway.  I used a bunch of this size.   

[cjmdh]

On 12/23/2020 at 3:40 PM, bboileau92 said:

highly recommend the lights above for stand lights. Super cheap, bright, and the adhesive seems quite strong. 

Thanks for the recommendation.  Got some and now I can see very well inside my tank stand. 

[bboileau92]

57 minutes ago, cjmdh said:

Thanks for the recommendation.  Got some and now I can see very well inside my tank stand. 

8 hours ago, obrien.david.j said:

You passed on the light recommendation, mine arrives this afternoon, so I'll pass on my cable management recommendation. 

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-2inx1in-Wiring-Cable-Raceway/dp/B00066HOPM/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=cable+raceway+startech+1x+1.5"&qid=1609092182&s=electronics&sr=1-3

There's multiple options out there, use amazon search for startech cable raceway.  I used a bunch of this size.   

I'm glad you like the recommendation.

 

That'll be perfect for running the DOS lines to the mixing station too. I am getting a bit ahead of myself, since I don't have a DOS yet...