My "What did I learn wrong from my first build" tank - Red Sea Reefer 200xl

[Heuristic]

Specs
Tank: Red Sea Reefer 200XL
Return Pump: Vectra S2
Lighting: AI Hydra 32HD
Rock: Real Reef Rock, Branch LifeRock
Sand: Arag-Alive! Reef Sand
Accessories: LED Cabinet lights
Fish: Chocolate Clownfish(paired), Helfrichi's Firefish, Wheeler's Shrimp Goby with paired Tiger Pistol Shrimp
Inverts: Scarlett Legged Hermit Crab, Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp, Porcelain Crab


Back Story
5 years ago I bought a budget build 75 gallon fish tank from Petco. Over the course of the next few years I drilled the back, added an overflow/sump, upgraded the lights who knows how many times and ultimately regretted most of my decisions until I ended up with this

Return: After a 3 year hiatus I have officially returned back to the saltwater tank game. This time I wanted to try and do things right the first time to save many of the hassles I encountered. I bought a Red Sea Reefer 200XL with Hydra 32HD's and a Vectra return pump to start.

Current

 

[Heuristic]

Here's a few more before it sits and waits for fish!

 

[Heuristic]

After watching the tank go through the cycle, it was time to add some life!!

Starting off with a pair of Chocolate Clowns, Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp and some Scarlett Legged Hermit Crabs

 

[Heuristic]

Picked up a Helfrichi, one of my favorite looking fish

But since I also picked up a new macro lens, had to take some pics of the originals

 

[Heuristic]

Ok, few more

 

[Heuristic]

Little relaxing video I shot of my Helfrichi's Dartfish swimming. The Wheeler's Shrimp Goby eventually gets tired of it swimming in front of his home ;Joyful

 

[New&no clue]

I loved my red sea tank it was great. What are your plans for this tank with corals?

 

[Heuristic]

I loved my red sea tank it was great. What are your plans for this tank with corals?

I'm a *ahem* softy for softies, so I do plan to run some softies across the lower rocks(torches mostly) and SPS across the top. Likely some form of Bubble Tip, leaning towards a black widow. I'm fortunate enough to have access to some really cool SPS due to us having some really good local people, so I can't wait to get started there. Wanted to let the tank mature a little more before I started throwing in corals.

I think that'll likely be one of my next purchases so they should be coming in quickly!

 

[NXE]

Awesome pictures! Love the clean and un-complicated look.

 

[Heuristic]

Awesome pictures! Love the clean and un-complicated look.

Thank you! That was my goal going in. Didn't want anything too complicated. Wanted just nice products from the start and plenty of surface area to add corals later.

 

[Lavey29]

Looks awesome, fits the corner very nice and gives off a cool shimmer on the wall too.

 

[Heuristic]

Looks awesome, fits the corner very nice and gives off a cool shimmer on the wall too.

ya, we had it kind of up against the wall, the same wall the tv was on, and it wasn't very inviting and had no real flow. I like putting in in the corner, plus it's given me a really really easy way to hide cords from the sump area.

I also love the shimmer it gives off to the entire room

 

[jtone_philthy_aquatics]

Sick setup dude I latest system build is a reeferxl200 also! Had to stop by and check yours out once I saw that it was the same system. Love the fish choices Bro

 

[Heuristic]

Sick setup dude I latest system build is a reeferxl200 also! Had to stop by and check yours out once I saw that it was the same system. Love the fish choices Bro

Thanks man! You're going to love it. I really like it's size. It's small enough that it'll never require that big of a water change, but big enough that you don't feel like you can't add anything to it. I have found myself being way more strategic on what I buy though. Instead of buying the $5 bin corals just to get something, I'm buying stuff that's a little more expensive knowing I'm eventually going to run out of real estate

Yesterday I picked up a Indo blue-tip torch and a purple/green acropora. They started to open up later in the day than I had motivation to take pictures for LOL, so I'll be taking some soon!

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Great pics of your fish in there. Tank and all the gear layout is very clean!

 

[Heuristic]

Great pics of your fish in there. Tank and all the gear layout is very clean!

thank you! still trying to learn. Shooting through glass is a new concept for me so I've made some progress, but still have stuff to learn!

 

[Heuristic]

A few pics for Saturday morning coffee time

 

[Heuristic]

Swooped by and picked up a bubble gum digi and a sunburst monit-pora, but I put it in a spot that's horrific to take a picture of LOL. So here's some pics of the bubble gum digi in the mean time and feel free to take a few minutes of your day and relax with my torch coral floating around.

Don't forget to watch in HD!

 

[Heuristic]

I had a REALLY bad Dino outbreak that I've been going through hell to get rid of, because of this I've been kind of unmotivated to take pictures.

I finally have made progress on the Dino, so I think we are back on track.

What appears to have ultimately got over the hump was dosing Phyto every day and then adding Dr. Tim's every few days. Then I just fed super heavy.

I stopped dosing phyto for a few days when it started to go away and it started coming back. So that seemed to be the trick that worked for me

Anyways. Here's a few pics I took

Anthias and their activity has always been one of my favorite fish there is, so I had to get another. I've had him for over a month now. Eating absolutely everything in the tank and growing.

 

[0utrageousfun]

Would love to see how your tank has progressed!