Seastar's Home Office RedSea 525xl Build

[seastar]

Great system you put together, I've been following your thread! My 525xl Reefer is finally ready and I will pick it up next week. Thus my question...my LHS has said for $300 they will deliver it. My son in law has p/u truck so I can get it however wondering about he and I being able to move it. Can it easily be broken down enough so two people can move it? Thanks for the advise here!

I did it with two, but that was definitely pushing it and taking some pretty big risks to our backs and the tank. 4 would be my recommendation as well. I ended up building the stand in place and using dollies to get the actual tank as close as possible to the stand (about 15ft). Pizza and beer sounds like a very solid plan!

 

[mlew12]

Any updates?

 

[Fishnugget]

Great start, you have some nice hardware. Looking forward to seeing it all together.

 

[seastar]

Any updates?

Wow, it's really been a long time, I'm going to try to get better about that. Life events got the better of me for a bit there but Im back and ready for some updates!

A photo of the latest before I get too far along - an explanation of the lack of coral coming soon!

 

[seastar]

So my cautionary tale of how amazing a frag tank can be....

I began to put together a small collection of corals from various sources including both online and several LFS for the tank and dipped/scrubbed them more or less as recommended, then they went in the frag tank for observation, well...

They also came with :Aptasia, Red Planaria flatworms, and bubble algae. All of which will never see the light of day in my DT thanks to some careful observation and treatment - or at least thats the plan!

I give you the frag tank flatworm apocalypse! Hahahaha.

 

[nzxtguy123]

All of those red dots are dead flatworms ?

 

[seastar]

All of those red dots are dead flatworms ?

Yeah isn't that nuts? I have have a lid on my frag tank now so that I can has a 6 line to help wipe them out. I did a couple of treatments to get their numbers manageable and I'm waiting to see if I'll need to do another.

 

[nzxtguy123]

It seems like u have to do everything in the world to avoid adding stuff like this to your tank.
Its like a war on stuff u paid hard money to show off but will kill your whole army if your not careful.

 

[seastar]

You pretty much nailed it on the head. I was lucky with my first tank by just adding stuff... until I no longer was. I got Marine Velvet and had to QT everything. That would a tough experience and now I even have a coral frag tank/QT so I can watch corals for a couple of weeks of any nasties.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

WOW! Crazy worm invasion!

 

[mcarroll]

Major bummer to hear all the downs your system has had already!!!

It's become so normal to buy livestock sight unseen, whether online or otherwise. Even so, that's always been highly risky behavior. Only one of many angles: now you (and we) may have little or now idea where the infections came from.

Are folks you don't know and who you can't even see going to shut down their business, deny your sale and send your money back just because they have pests? Maybe....in a wonderful world....but YOU DUNNO! I bet they're willing to offer lower prices or bigger frag packs though!

IMO shop local if the option is available. You get the ability to be SO MUCH MORE CHOOSY.

Buying and QT'ing and stocking in large lots is also a problematic move....and almost a given if you aren't buying locally. Gotta fill the box, right?

Higher livestock density is directly related to a higher frequency of disease outbreaks – especially in a weak environment like a typical QT tank. If higher frequency of outbreaks isn't enough to change your mind: Outbreaks are also known to be FAR WORSE in severity in environments that.

Keep the QT very lightly stocked, and set it up more like a FOWLR. Don't add more than 1-2 livestock items at once....and make sure to wait several weeks between all additions. (This works for adding to the display tank too.)

 

[seastar]

Aaaaaaaaaaaand now I have dinoflaggellates...

To date:
I've had marine velvet in a fish QT tank (several times, 3-4 different vendors).
I've have red flatworm in a Coral QT tank - this was a massive battle.
Somehow... I managed to get dinos into my DT. Argh! At least I'm learning a lot? Someone give me something to go on here, hahahaha!

@mcarroll Excellent advice above, that deserves to be a sticky on it's own somewhere, not just relegated to my humble little build thread!

 

[seastar]

Here is Day 1 of treatment for Dinos.



Following the amazing advice on the thread @mcarroll has setup and many people have contributed to, I will be (actually have been for a few days) raising my N03 to 10ppm (I'm liking the idea of the higher end of the suggested 5-10ppm) and P04 to .10 ppm.

Today's values:
N03: 10 (Nyos)
Po4: .09 (Hanna) This read .17 yesterday - so not sure what's going on there. I'm going to dose for .01 and read again tomorrow.


I have other threads confirming I have two types, Amphidinium sp. and Ostreopsis sp.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/dinos-diatoms-cyano-oh-my.318283/#post-4005841
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/can-dinos-cause-really-low-orp.325625/#post-4042935

 

[mcarroll]

If you aren't totally adept with the phosphorus meter yet, it's not hard for some minor procedural variances to cause added uncertainty in the reading. Prints or water spots on the cuvette. Bubbles on glass inside the cuvette. Using 2 cuvettes instead of one. Etc.

Any chance you think something like that could be behind the strange reading? I generally discount strange readings for this reason....and if it's crucial to know I re-test. I'm pretty good with the meter by now and every once in a while I still get an oddball result. Double check all of Hanna's guidance on the meter (videos, etc) because every one of their tips is excellent....might be one or two new ones you don't know about.

 

[seastar]

Ok, time to update with some good news!

I have finally gotten my dinos down to a point where I think I can claim a victory with a capital V! Im at the point where I can add snails and hermit crabs, as sand sifting goby, I've removed my UV and didn't get an explosion, so I'm beginning to enjoy my tank again..

On that note, I was finally able to complete a project that I have been holding back on forever because I the dinos immediately smothered any micros I added.

I give you my reefer ATO converted into a refugium. I'm treating it like a mini display. There ae already two sexy shrimp in there, a ton of pods for my 3 leopard wrasse and the new copperband butterfly I picked up.

 

[seastar]

I also made a change to my approach to reefing to going to a more natural tank. I had purchased a bunch of reactors and loaded them up with everything out there and honestly at the moment I've taken them all down. I occasionally throw some ROX carbon into one to clear up any clarity issues (and I was using it heavily during the months of dinos).

With that in mind, in addition to converting my ATO into a mini refugium, I also purchased a plexiglass sump divider to make additional space for a larger refugium.

Not great photos, but hopefully enough to share the idea.

 

[seastar]

A guided tour through the zones of interest in my little glass box.

The Rock of GSP isn't in contact with any of the main structures, it did exactly what I wanted it to do and completely filled in all from three tiny little pieces.

 

[lbacha]

Looks good

 

[DLHDesign]

Nice! Looking great so far!

I altered my fuge in much the same way. Long story short; it didn't work out for me. Pretty sure it was because I didn't have the right light involved. I did enjoy having that tank down there, though...

 

[lbacha]

I also made a change to my approach to reefing to going to a more natural tank. I had purchased a bunch of reactors and loaded them up with everything out there and honestly at the moment I've taken them all down. I occasionally throw some ROX carbon into one to clear up any clarity issues (and I was using it heavily during the months of dinos).

With that in mind, in addition to converting my ATO into a mini refugium, I also purchased a plexiglass sump divider to make additional space for a larger refugium.

Not great photos, but hopefully enough to share the idea.View attachment 702446 View attachment 702447

I have a dual refugium setup as well and I really like the control I have over what I grow. In my first refugium chamber I have only cheato with a Kessil h80 on a reverse cycle from my main lights. I also have a ebay grow light panel on the side of the fuge that comes on if the ph drops to raise it back up (I also use this light if I overdose nutrients or they get high to burn them off).

My second fuge is more of a display tank full of Xenia. It houses a couple Black domino clowns and a bunch of lps frags. I love the display fuge as it has a ton of microfauna that makes it into the main tank.

The cheato is actually in the skimmer chamber in the back left of the sump