Introduction
I have been keeping fish for a long time, around 10+ years. Up until the last year I only kept freshwater tanks. I have recently began keeping saltwater reef tanks.
Background
I purchased this tank, Red Sea Reefer 250, from an individual outside of Nashville, TN. The tank had only been used 4 months. I traded, to a LFS, the chromis and clowns he had in the tank. Kept the frogspawn and toadstool coral.
Filtration
The filtration used comes from approximately 40 - 60 pounds of live rock. The tank drains to a sump which contains a Reef Octopus 110 skimmer. I am also running a BRS dual reactor with carbon and GFO.
Lighting
Lighting is currently provided by 2 OceanRevive T247 LED's'. Channel 1 is set on at 7 and off at 22:45, channel 2 is set on at 10 and off at 20:00. Intensity of both channels around 35% to 45%.
Flow
Filtration powered by 2 Jebao M4 pumps and 1 Vortech mp10
Alkalinity
Calcium
Magnesium
Temperature
Nitrate
Ammonia
pH
Salinity
Phosphate
TDS
Nitrite
I have a lot of different coral, most of which is lps and Zoas. In time I want to add to the top portion of rock work a lot of different SPS. I want to make sure I have my dosing schedule figured out first though. I may try to start working some GSP up onto the backwall of the tank.
33 Coral
Blue Eye Blondies
Sp sp
Sunset Rasta
Sp sp
4 Fish
3 Invertebrate
Equipment
Additive
Bulk Reef Supply Bulk Calcium Chloride
Bulk Reef Supply Bulk Magnesium Sulfate
AutoTopOff
Tom Aquarium Aqualifter Pump Holder
Cleaning
Dosing
Feeder
Food
Cobalt Aquatics Coral food powder
Two Little Fishies Phyto Plan
Lighting
2
OceanRevive T247
Media
Bulk Reef Supply Bulk GFO
Medication
Powerhead
Pump
Reef Octopus Diablo DC-5500S
Reactor
Refractometer
RODI
Marine Depot RODI Unit
Skimmer
Substrate
TestKit
I will beginning starting dosing soon but I want to run calcium around 420 and alkalinity around 9.5 or so. I'm hoping to keep nitrate and phosphate low since I will be running the charcoal and GFO reactors.
Dosing See more
Kalk 5 tsp · Kalkwasser 1 ml
I have 2 dosing pumps but I haven't taken the time to begin a dosing schedule yet.
Feeding See more
Fed San Francisco Bay Frozen Mysis Shrimp · Fed shrimp · Fed shrimp · Fed Shrimp to nem · Fed Omega One Freeze Dried Brine Shrimp · Fed LRS Fish Frenzy · Fed San Francisco Bay Frozen Mysis Shrimp · Fed San Francisco Bay Frozen Mysis Shrimp · Fed Fed flakes and freeze dried brine · Fed Mysis Shrimp · Fed Mysis Shrimp · Fed Gave RBTA and Clowns frozen shrimp · Fed Shrimp 2 oz
I'm using an Ehiem automatic feeder that feeds once per day. I will likely be changing this, due to adding of livestock. I am feeding pellets at the moment but I supplement once a week with frozen shrimp for the BTA and the other fish. I will need to start adding seaweed for the flame as well. I will also start feeding coral at least weekly as well.
Maintenance
Filter socks are changed twice a week. I'm changing approximately 20% of water a month or 10% every 2 weeks.
On average you perform a 7.5% water change every 8 days.
0% total water change in 2024-11-28T06:54:39.122698Z[GMT].
Inspiration & Goals
Coming from a Red Sea Max 130 I wanted a larger tank that was easier to care for. The 130 was a pain to clean and I was not impressed with the skimmer. There was also no room for extra equipment or a sump with my setup so I was limited to what I could do. The Reefer allows me to run a lot more equipment and have an easier time maintaincing things.
Words of Wisdom
Of course nothing happens quickly in a reef tank. Go slow.
Disasters & Regrets
My first salt tank, max 130, didn't go very well. It was a pain to clean so it wound up not being maintained like it should have. I had always heard it was hard to run a small salt tank and I suppose people were right. Parameters changed much to quickly and I couldn't keep things in check. During about 7 months I probably killed 7 or so coral but managed to keep around 15 or so living and doing ok, through they were not thriving. Things are doing much better in the reefer, I have nearly twice the water volume as before and the ability to run a much larger skimmer and more equipment.
