New Reefer Reviving A Red Sea Max C250 AIO

[chelsey2814]

This past weekend we officially became owners of a Red Sea Max C250 AIO system! When we picked it up we thought the tank looked like it was relatively clean. BOY WERE WE WRONG! Here is what we started out with:






I'll admit, it's probably not the worst tank you guys have ever seen. So we decided to soak it in a vinegar/water solution for a full day and we took apart every single part of the tank to get as much of it underwater as we possibly could! As we were filling it up with water, our boiler ran out of steam (hot water) and we had to start transporting hot water from our boiler downstairs using a two gallon bucket. Let me tell you, that's a workout! But it got the job done. Here is our tank as we let it soak:



Then it was Scrubbing Day! We put lots of elbow grease into this thing. Turns out that the results are well worth the effort!





NEXT UP: Our 6 stage RO/DI system! We decided we will make our own saltwater since our nearest LFS is over an hour away. The RO/DI system shows up this evening. Hopefully by this weekend we can get the live rock curing and revive all of the dried out good bacteria. To say I am excited to get this thing a going is an understatement!

As a new reefer, I am completely open to constructive criticism! Please feel free to share any tips and tricks you may have that will help this tank be successful!

 

[blaxsun]

Nice job with the cleaning!

 

[chelsey2814]

Lots of progress happening on this tank! After cleaning it out last weekend, we set our goal to aquascape and get all of the hardware installed this weekend. First step, figuring out how we wanted our rock. This is what we ended up with!

We used:
- 40lbs Marco Reef Rock
- 40lbs of CaribSea live sand



After the rock and sand were set, we worked to get all of the hardware, including the powerheads, heater, filter media, and circulation pumps back in the tank! (Please disregard the temp on the controller. I took the photo right after we had turned it on. )

We opted to go with the following products for this tank:
- ReefWave 25 x 2 (one is missing in the picture since it's on backorder)
- Media pods and prefilter material in the sump
- BRS Titanium heater and Ink Bird temp controller
- Assorted Hannah testing kits



Last night we were able to finally get the tank full of salt water. The first set of photos are right after we got the water in. The second set of photos are of the tank this morning after it had the night to settle. For our saltwater mix we used the Red Sea Salt. Here it is filled with water! (The lights were only turned on for the photos and are now turned off to help with the cycling).







AND not only did we get the tank fully set up and cycling apart form the backordered power head, we also WON a set of Lightening Maroon Clownfish from a customer appreciation event at our LFS. I may or may not have been incredibly excited when I saw that our ticket had been drawn!

This weekend just feels like a complete and total win! Happy reefing, y'all!

 

[AquaBen]

You got exactly the same used tank and stand that I got! No one seems to remember them anymore but I bought mine (used, of course) from someone nearby -- they replaced it with a 135 gallon tank. My Red Sea 250 replaced my 40 gal tank. I set up mine last fall. I put a 15 gallon tank in the left side of the stand to use as a refugium. I used a HOB to take the water out of the 250 down to the sump. All it has in it is Cheato and a couple of snails & hermits. I did not use the old T-5 hood. I have a nice LED system. I wish I had some sort of top, though, as I have had more than one fish do some carpet surfing. I would love it if someone knew of a mesh top pre made for these older tanks which sport a proprietary rim. I went down to my local granite store and bought a remnant that I put between the tank and stand. It overlaps on all sides so there are never any drips that find their way to the stand. The left side overlaps several inches which protects the dosing pumps, etc. I used all live rock in the 250 and 2" sand bed. After a short ugly phase I added fish and a few corals from my old tank. (Zoa's, Paly's, & GSP -- I know, all the "tank weeds." I added candy canes, galaxia, & duncans.) So far, everything doing well. I'm looking at adding Acros next. Maybe I can find someone who would trade a huge successful Paly rock for a couple of colorful Acro frags. All in all I am happy with the old AIO Red Sea 250 product. It may not be state of the art but it was well built and is a beautiful and less expensive way into the hobby.

 

[chelsey2814]

MAJOR UPDATE! We have added some livestock over the past couple months and just added in some corals yesterday. Our tank now includes:

Flasher Wrasse
Bangaii Cardinal
Cleaner Shrimp
Turbo Snail

Red Bowerbanki
Duncan
Leather
Brain

I am so excited to see how these corals grow into their spaces over time!

Happy reefing y'all!

 

[Canuck007]

Hi, nice looking tank! How's it running? Just curious if you know if these are sold anywhere in the US? I know the Red Sea Max 250 with the curved glass is sold here but I'm hoping to find the C-250 verison with regular angled corners. Have any idea? Appreciate your help. I like the closed look of these tanks!

 

[dstockwell]

Very nice !

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Nice looking tank!

 

[60gallonrimlessYA]

You got exactly the same used tank and stand that I got! No one seems to remember them anymore but I bought mine (used, of course) from someone nearby -- they replaced it with a 135 gallon tank. My Red Sea 250 replaced my 40 gal tank. I set up mine last fall. I put a 15 gallon tank in the left side of the stand to use as a refugium. I used a HOB to take the water out of the 250 down to the sump. All it has in it is Cheato and a couple of snails & hermits. I did not use the old T-5 hood. I have a nice LED system. I wish I had some sort of top, though, as I have had more than one fish do some carpet surfing. I would love it if someone knew of a mesh top pre made for these older tanks which sport a proprietary rim. I went down to my local granite store and bought a remnant that I put between the tank and stand. It overlaps on all sides so there are never any drips that find their way to the stand. The left side overlaps several inches which protects the dosing pumps, etc. I used all live rock in the 250 and 2" sand bed. After a short ugly phase I added fish and a few corals from my old tank. (Zoa's, Paly's, & GSP -- I know, all the "tank weeds." I added candy canes, galaxia, & duncans.) So far, everything doing well. I'm looking at adding Acros next. Maybe I can find someone who would trade a huge successful Paly rock for a couple of colorful Acro frags. All in all I am happy with the old AIO Red Sea 250 product. It may not be state of the art but it was well built and is a beautiful and less expensive way into the hobby.

 

[60gallonrimlessYA]

This mine I upgraded to the Steve’s LEDs retrofit kit 1000$ but well worth what all it can do plus not buying bulbs every 6 months to a year. But now I will be selling and part of me doesn’t want to but having 5 tanks/ 6 tanks one has to go so we will see

 

[60gallonrimlessYA]

Hi, nice looking tank! How's it running? Just curious if you know if these are sold anywhere in the US? I know the Red Sea Max 250 with the curved glass is sold here but I'm hoping to find the C-250 verison with regular angled corners. Have any idea? Appreciate your help. I like the closed look of these tanks!

Check my reply

 

[60gallonrimlessYA]

This is the Steve’s led with the hood the one picture was my rimless 250 my buddy is getting cause I just got a Redsea 550 rimless. Now I’m getting another rimless that is 200xl

 

[60gallonrimlessYA]

Hi, nice looking tank! How's it running? Just curious if you know if these are sold anywhere in the US? I know the Red Sea Max 250 with the curved glass is sold here but I'm hoping to find the C-250 verison with regular angled corners. Have any idea? Appreciate your help. I like the closed look of these tanks!

Did you ever find one

 

[strich]

This mine I upgraded to the Steve’s LEDs retrofit kit 1000$ but well worth what all it can do plus not buying bulbs every 6 months to a year. But now I will be selling and part of me doesn’t want to but having 5 tanks/ 6 tanks one has to go so we will see

I gotta say the hooded tanks just seem so much better to me - So much light leakage into the room with the open top lighting rigs.

 

[Canuck007]

Did you ever find one

No I've never seen one come up on sale in the Phoenix area. I see them sometimes in LA area but too far for me to drive for a tank. Ended up doing a custom tank from SCA aquariums. But I still like the canopy look of the Red sea max.

 

[nuxx]

Looks like a great start!