Reef Spotlight REEF OF THE MONTH - June 2023: Swiss Frag Reefer's Awesome RedSea 425XL SPS Reef!

Introduction

Hi my name is Thomas Schwegler (@Swiss Frag Reefer)! Thank you for giving me the opportunity to present my reef tank here on Reef2Reef! I am originally from Switzerland, but (since a couple of years ago) I now live happily in the US in Nashville, TN. I had a freshwater tank as a child but eventually got out of the hobby. 6 years ago, I saw somewhere an advertisement about saltwater aquariums. I was blown away by the aquariums I saw on the internet and not long after went to a local aquarium store where it all began.

I bought my first 18-gallon BioCube aquarium and of course did everything wrong wherever I could. I was reading and reading about the hobby on the internet and got more and more knowledge over time. I had a total of 5 tanks until I ended up with my current Red Sea Reefer 425XL. I love the whole Red Sea portfolio as it is just a great ecosystem to start with, especially now with all the integration of the additional equipment (pumps, light, rollermat, skimmer) and having everything under control with the ReefBeat app.

As I started my current tank, the clear goal was to have a Montipora SPS dominated reef tank. I got all the initial corals from World Wide Corals (@WWC) and the Jason Fox (@jfox) online store as I tried to avoid adding any pests to my tank. My current tank is now right about 2 years old, and I could not be happier with how it turned out and the growth I have.


System Profile

• Display tank: RedSea Reefer 425XL V3
• Glass or Acrylic: Glass
• Stand: RS425XL
• Sump: RS425XL
• Grow-out tank: RedSea Max Nano
• Protein skimmer: RedSea RSK600
• Carbon/phosphate filtration: RedSea Carbon
• Return pump: Ecotech Vectra M2
• Water circulation: 2x ReefWave 45 / 2x Nero3 AI
• Lighting (display): 2x ReefLED 160s RedSea
• Lighting (grow-out): Kessil AP700
• Lighting (refugium): ReefLED 50
• Calcium/alkalinity/magnesium dosing equipment: ReefDose 2 - RedSea
• Auto top-off: Tunze Osmolator 3155
• Heating/cooling: EHEIM Jager 200w
• System control: Neptune Systems Apex
• Other equipment: RedSea ReefMat 500 / Pentair 25W UV sterilizer

Water Circulation and Flow Summary and Objectives:

I do have a high flow tank. The ReefWave 45 runs on random mode with 100% intensity. The Nero3 runs constantly at 100%. Even with that, because of the constant growth, I will most likely have to add more circulation along the way as the coral blocks the flow while growing bigger and bigger.


Water Parameters:

• Temp: 78-80F
• pH: 7.9-8.1
• Specific gravity: 1.026
• NO3: 10ppm
• Ca: around 400 but I rarely measure that
• Alk: 8dkh
• Mg: 1400 rarely measure that
• PO4: 0.1
• Ammonia and nitrites: not detectable

What salt mix do you use?
RedSea blue bucket. I love the idea of using the RedSea products as much as possible to not fall into the trap of going crazy on getting lost in trying out dozens of things.


What kind of rock did you start with?

CaribSea Live Rock Reef Tree. I love the look of the purple rock from day one and wanted to avoid having any bristle worms and other critters from real reef rock. I was also thinking about an option to remove the rocks again in case I decide to upgrade again. The great thing about the CaribSea rocks is that you do not need to glue them together, and that way the aquascape is much easier to remove later from the aquarium.

What is your substrate?

I tried a couple of different CaribSea sands, but the “Reef Grade” is the best one and I would never try anything else. It looks beautiful and is perfect for higher flow.


Calcium/Alkalinity/Magnesium Summary and Objectives:

I only dose All-For-Reef since 3+ years ago. The only thing I measure is Alkalinity and increase or decrease accordingly => Target is 8dKH. AFR perfectly balances the calcium and magnesium for me. Also, coloration is great in my tank, no need for any trace elements as some are already in the All-For-Reef solution. Since I have only done a max of 20-gallon total water changes in over a year, it looks like that AFR solution has everything my Montipora-dominated system needs.

What and how do you dose for the big 3 (alk/cal/mag)? As described above only All-For-Reef.


Are you dosing anything else for your reef health (carbon dosing, aminos, etc.)?

Next to AFR, I started again to dose NoPox (RedSea) to keep my nutrients under control. It is hard to keep them low since I am feeding heavy frozen food and TDO Chroma pellets every day.

Lighting Summary and Objectives:

On the ReefLED’s 160s I run 80% Blue and 90% White. This gives me around 150 PAR on the sand bed and 200-250 PAR in the middle to upper 3rd. I had several light fixtures at one time, but the ReefLED's are so easy to use with the app, and it is almost impossible to set something really wrong with them.

Photoperiod

• All tanks (display, grow-out, and refugium): 9 hours with 1 hour ramp in the morning and evening

Filtration and Water Quality Summary and Objectives:
The best thing I ever added was a filtermat. I did had the Clarisea Gen 2 for 2 years, and now finally changed to the ReefMat 500 which is in my mind the best filter mat available. Together with my skimmer the RSK 600, I get sufficient filtration. I do not have any sponge filters installed. I do run an IceCap CO2 scrubber that helps me to bump the PH a tiny bit while making the skimmer almost silent so that you can barely hear it. I use the BRS CO2 media in the CO2 scrubber where I add around 100ml of RODI water (weekly) directly into the IceCap scrubber over the media to heavily extend the life of the CO2 media.

What is your export strategy?
Just the ReefMat 500 and the RSK600 skimmer. That’s it. Since I don’t really do water changes, I also do not vacuum the sand.


What is your maintenance routine?

I am keeping things in my tank very simple. I like to watch these high end reef tanks with custom piping etc, but for myself I like it simple. No fancy add-ons.



Tank Inhabitants

Fish:

1. Atlantic Blue Tang
2. Convict Tang
3. Scribbled Rabbitfish
4. Black storm clowns (pair)
5. Green Chromis (trio)
6. Dispar Anthias (pair)
7. Coral Damsel
8. BiColor Goby

Other Invertebrates:

1. Cleaner Shrimp
2. Trochus snails
3. Bumble bee snails
4. Nassarius snails

Corals:

1. Rainbow millepora (Green)
2. Montipora Capricornis (Green, Red, Purple)
3. Stylophora (Purple, Blue, Green)
4. Various Acroporas (Purple, Red, Green)
5. Anacropora (Green, Red)
6. Montipora (Red, Green)
7. Mushrooms (Orange, Purple)
8. Favia Corals (Blue, Green)

Fish and Coral Feeding:

I feed frozen food LRS Herbivore Frenzy everyday and TDO Chroma boost pellets with an auto-feeder twice a day. ReefRoids once a week.

How did you decide what to keep in your tank?

On the coral side, I knew I wanted an SPS-dominated tank as I just really like the look of them.

Any stocking regrets?

Looking back, probably some of the placing of the montipora capricornis I would change and only use that coral close to the bottom. On the fish side, no regrets. All the fish get nicely along with each other.

Any fish, invert, or coral you will NEVER keep?

I probably will never keep a predator fish system with lion fish and groupers etc. I do like the friendly fish the most

What do you love most about the hobby?
I love the fact that I can have my own little ocean at home. It always reminds me of vacations and relaxes me watching it for hours. I also love to see the progress and the growth of the system and the fact that you can not really shortcut a lot and you have to let it go the way it goes by itself. You can place the corals, but they will find their own way and look and shape.


How long have you been doing this? I have been keeping reef aquariums for about 6 years now.

Who was responsible for getting you into the hobby?

I saw an ad on the internet and visited my local LFS, and I immediately got sucked into the reef aquarium world.

Who or what in the hobby most influences/inspires you?

I think a constant driver for me is the YouTube reef community. Watching ReefBuilders over the years and learning so many things definitely is what is keeping me going.

I also note that you have a very active YouTube channel. Can you tell us about it?

I actually just recently started my own YouTube channel about the Reef Aquarium Hobby (you can find it HERE). I was able to learn so many things from people who took the time and documented their system that I thought about giving back to the community and sharing my own progress in the hobby. I have been running my YouTube channel now about 9 months and love the support I am getting from people that comment on certain things and help me to improve my system more.



How long have you been doing photography/videography?

I actually started photography and videography around 9 months ago when I started my YouTube channel. I knew about the challenges of making nice pictures and videos of the aquarium especially under blue light and started to educate myself more and more on those topics as well.

What kind of camera setup do you use?

I use a Sony A7s3 mirrorless Camera as this one has great performance in low light which is perfect for making videos of a reef aquarium. I use a Sony 16-35mm and a 90mm Macro Lens.

Reef photography/videography can be challenging with the glass, lighting, and other dynamics of photographing/filming a reef tank. Any tips/tricks you'd like to share on getting the best photos/videos out of your reef tank?

There are actually not even that many tricks. It is mostly training and experience you need. I think the biggest myth is that you have to set the aquarium lights to a specific spectrum to make great pictures. Set your lights once and do not touch them any more. For the videos and the pictures I use a filter for the iPhone, or while using my mirrorless camera I set the white balance on the camera itself. A big improvement comes as well from the color grading I do on my Mac in Final Cut Pro (videos) or Lightroom (pictures). It just takes a lot of practice and out of 100 pictures I usually can use around 3-5 of them.


If you could have any tank, what size would it be and why?

To be honest, I am quite happy with the tank size I have. Bigger is not always better. I'd rather have a smaller tank and take good care of it and fill it out with lots of corals, rather than having an ultra large tank and have it become overwhelming. I also prefer something that also is (more or less) budget friendly.

Favorite fish?

The black storm clown is my favorite fish. They have great character and look awesome with those colors. As a child, I always wanted to have an orca whale after watching “Free Willy” a hundred times. I obviously can’t have a real orca whale in my reef tank, but those black storm clowns come quite close.


Favorite coral?

I like the Millepora corals the most as they have the aesthetics of SPS and still show flow with their tentacles.

Favorite invert?

I like the cleaner shrimp as they have great character and are interesting to watch.

How do you typically get over setbacks?

Setbacks are a constant in the reef hobby, and you'd better get comfortable with them; otherwise, they will drive you out of the hobby. I actually sold everything I had a couple of years ago because I was just so frustrated over algae and failing on certain things. Not even 6 months later, I got back into it seeing all those great reef tanks on YouTube again… It is a special hobby and I think I have matured as a reefer over those 6 years quite a lot.

Have you faced any major challenges with this particular tank, and if so, how did you overcome?

I had 2 major events with this tank. 1 was battling bryopsis which I was only able to fix with “ReefFlux” and a Cyano outbreak just recently which I had to use “Red Slime Remover” to get rid of. Other than this it was a fairly straightforward journey. I would say I lost only about 1-2 corals in total in this whole 2 years with this tank. I am very lucky!



What's the best thing you ever bought for your tank?

The filter roller is probably the best upgrade I made to this tank. It makes the tank crystal clear, and the maintenance is a dream. The RedSea filter-roller is for me a must have item on every reef from now on (especially together with the ReefBeat app).

What are your future plans for improvement/upgrade of the tank?
I will most likely add the DC skimmer upgrade for my RSK600 skimmer. The self-leveling feature with a more silent pump are worth the money I think. I will probably also add the RedSea ATO and the new return pump from RedSea. I am a big fan of the RedSea ecosystem as it all fits so perfectly together. I am not involved in a sponsorship from RedSea, but it is almost like with Apple--you either like or dislike them


Any special tips for success or advice you'd like to share with other reefers?
My top 3 bits of advice would be Mentor/Patience/Commitment.

1. Mentor: You need a mentor that has what you want to achieve. This could totally be somebody you know from here on Reef2Reef or also YouTube or Instagram communities. I believe getting your advice from one source is key. There are so many different things that you can get lost in. Somebody who runs your dream tank successfully will most likely be able to give you the best advice to achieve it.
2. Patience: Just take your time with everything. It is the most common advice and sadly very true, even if we all try to fight it.
3. Commitment: I think you should be aware of the weekly or daily commitment a reef tank requires. If the commitment is not there, you will most likely fail. It is also important to realize the financial impact as you need resources to maintain your system over time.

Any final thoughts?

I enjoy the exchange with reefers, and I am happy to be part of the Reef2Reef community here. Please reach out if you have any questions, and visit my YouTube and Instagram channel: SwissFragReefer.