New Red Sea Max 69 Gallon Mixed Reef Build

[IXP7633]

This is my new Red Sea E Max 260 build. I've been out of the hobby since 2009 when I used to have a 12 gallon JBJ Nano cube deluxe. I had some success with that tank as mostly a FOWLR tank. I have been wanting to get back into the hobby for many years and now with my young daughter around I thought it be something fun for the family to do. This tank is currently cycling. I have a 4 month cycling plan that I plan to follow that I seen used on bulk reef supplies 52 weeks of reefing to provide a good foundation to start my tank.
My tank has 2x Red Sea ReefLED 90s for lighting, MSK 900 Protein Skimmer, 2x Ecotech Mp10s with battery backup, tunze Ato with 10 gallon reservoir, 2 stock return pumps, Finnex 300 heater with controller

In the future i plan to get dosers, reeflink, and maybe upgrade protein skimmer and sump

It will probably be a few months before I have more pictures but Im excited about this new build!

 

[Small triggers]

Looks like a great start!

 

[krbshappy71]

Nice!! How do you like it so far? Looking at these as well.

 

[IXP7633]

Nice!! How do you like it so far? Looking at these as well.

So far I absolutely love this tank it looks nice and modern. I recommend adding the mp10s for extra flow without anything bulky in the tank, and in the future adding the sump upgrade for ease of use and being able to add extra equipment... but I'm very happy with it so far...

 

[IXP7633]

At the 2 month mark, still have the lights off. I slightly rearranged the rocks. I added more Dr Tim's, some coraline algae to seed the tank, and my first fish. Our first fish is a black ice clownfish!

 

[IXP7633]

 

[IXP7633]

After 2 1/2 months I've finally turned the lights on. I added copepods and dosed some phytoplankton from algae barn.We also added our 2nd fish, a banggai cardinal and a scarlet cleaner shrimp. I'll wait another month to add our next fish and our 1st test coral.

 

[Mikedawg]

After 2 1/2 months I've finally turned the lights on. I added copepods and dosed some phytoplankton from algae barn.We also added our 2nd fish, a banggai cardinal and a scarlet cleaner shrimp. I'll wait another month to add our next fish and our 1st test coral.

You're doing it the right way...……….

 

[IXP7633]

Added a new BRS reactor to run GFO and Carbon. Unfortunately while installing it I spilled water on my ecotech mp10w power adapter, ruining it... lesson learned be more carfeul

 

[Beckio]

Looking good!

 

[IXP7633]

I received a seneye reef monitor as a gift. I wanted to use it for its par sensor. It was easy to set up but I found the readings much higher then expected and fluctuated alot during the readings. I think I'm going to rent a par meter from BRS to confirm the numbers. I think it's worth $60 to have reliable par readings before placing coral in my mixed reef tank. The temperature probe from the Seneye also read 76.5 F while my heater monitor says 78 F not sure what to believe.

 

[AthensReef]

Looks great! That aquascape allows for a lot of coral placement. I have the same tank w/ sump upgrade.

 

[Phil D.]

Congrats!! I have the 260 also, and did the sump upgrade. I would highly recommend doing the sump upgrade. Gives you more room to add better skimmer, heater relocation, etc. I wish I had the Reef LEDs, but not enough $$ just yet.

 

[S.Pepper]

looks great. thx for sharing

 

[IXP7633]

Congrats!! I have the 260 also, and did the sump upgrade. I would highly recommend doing the sump upgrade. Gives you more room to add better skimmer, heater relocation, etc. I wish I had the Reef LEDs, but not enough $$ just yet.

Where did you get the sump upgrade. I wanted to get it after I built the tank, but now I'm afraid it would be a headache to install it after it's up and running

 

[Phil D.]

I got it from Saltwater Aquarium, but they don't have it in stock. You can get it from Fish Tanks Direct though. Red Sea gives you really good instructions on how to install with an up and running tank. You just drain the rear weir area, pull the plugs and go from there. One thing, the drain and return tubes have 2 sets of threads and have notches where they meet the bottom of the weir and lock into place.

 

[IXP7633]

Thanks! I appreciate it, I think I might get one it will make maintenance easier

 

[IXP7633]

Some new additions to the tank over the last month. McCoskers Flasher Wrasse, Exquisite Firefish, and a Yellow Tang plus a Conch.

 

[IXP7633]

These are my par readings using an Apogee par meter from BRS. I would like to increase my top numbers but then my bottom numbers may become to high for my mixed reef. I think this may be a good compromise.

 

[Crazyju]

How did those numbers compare to the seneye?