SuncrestReef's Red Sea Reefer XL 425 build

[DS204]

How tall will something like that Golden Basket Fire Gold grow? Do you typically put something like that lower or higher in your tank (depending on par)? Curious for when I do something similar on my own tank, thanks!

 

[SuncrestReef]

How tall will something like that Golden Basket Fire Gold grow? Do you typically put something like that lower or higher in your tank (depending on par)? Curious for when I do something similar on my own tank, thanks!

I honestly have no idea how tall it will get. Typically I place acroporas high on the rocks since they usually benefit from high PAR. The top of my rocks are about 6" below the surface of the water. On my next build I will probably build my rockscape a bit lower, maybe 9" below the surface, to give more room for growth.

 

[DS204]

I honestly have no idea how tall it will get. Typically I place acroporas high on the rocks since they usually benefit from high PAR. The top of my rocks are about 6" below the surface of the water. On my next build I will probably build my rockscape a bit lower, maybe 9" below the surface, to give more room for growth.

Cheers, thanks. I am setting up a 525XL and when I finished with my rockwork design I think I made it too high. This is primarily why I asked- because I think I need to lower my whole scape by a few inches now. Most of my rockwork is at 12-14 inches except I have one pillar going to the 17 inch mark. I think the water level in the Red Sea XL tanks is at 19.5 inches approx.

I think 9 inches below the water surface as you suggest, would be about 10 inches height in the display.. correct me if i'm wrong. Maybe this is what I should be aiming for based on your advice!

Thanks for the info, this helps a bunch!

 

[truetricia]

I'm writing up a series of tutorials on Apex programming here on R2R. The first article was published yesterday, and there will be a new topic published each Friday for the next 7 weeks. Check it out:

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/apex-neptune-programming-tutorials-part-1.685/

• Week 1 - Introduction and programming basics
• Week 2 - Timers: OSC, If Time, DOW, Defer, When, and Min Time
• Week 3 - ATK programming and troubleshooting
• Week 4 - Power Monitoring
• Week 5 - Virtual Outputs
• Week 6 - Alarms
• Week 7 - Feed Modes
• Week 8 - Lunar Schedule and Lighting Profiles

I love this series! Thank you for writing them! I haven't had a reef tank since 2016 on an Apex due to moves, deployment, etc., so I've forgotten so much about the programming. And back then, I was a new reefer getting by on cheap minimal equipment. Now, I have a lot more tech to setup on my 120g to make it as ULM as possible, and your guides are very helpful refresher and learning tool for the Apex! Again, I cannot say enough good things about the clarity with which you explain complex concepts, provide examples to learn from, and provide the illustrations to see. Thank you!

 

[SuncrestReef]

I love this series! Thank you for writing them! I haven't had a reef tank since 2016 on an Apex due to moves, deployment, etc., so I've forgotten so much about the programming. And back then, I was a new reefer getting by on cheap minimal equipment. Now, I have a lot more tech to setup on my 120g to make it as ULM as possible, and your guides are very helpful refresher and learning tool for the Apex! Again, I cannot say enough good things about the clarity with which you explain complex concepts, provide examples to learn from, and provide the illustrations to see. Thank you!

Thank you! I'm really glad to hear how the Apex tutorials have helped fellow reefers.

 

[SuncrestReef]

Lefty (my hermit crab with a large left claw) keeps growing, so today I put a new shell in the tank for him. Within 2 minutes he moved in:

 

[SuncrestReef]

Last night I discovered hundreds of tiny shrimp drifting with the current in my tank. It turned out my two cleaner shrimp mated! I captured and examined one of the baby shrimp under my microscope:

 

[Crabby48]

Last night I discovered hundreds of tiny shrimp drifting with the current in my tank. It turned out my two cleaner shrimp mated! I captured and examined one of the baby shrimp under my microscope:

Wow This is amazing! Thanks for sharing
@NY_Caveman @Katrina71 check this out

 

[3dvice]

I get a lot of questions about my mixing station, so I'll provide some detail here and a parts list:

A. (qty 2) Norwesco 75 gallon storage tanks with 1.25" threaded bulkheads
B. (qty 1) Mixing pump with 1" male threaded input and output
C. (qty 2) 1.25" threaded male to 1" slip adapters
D. (qty 2) 1" threaded female to 1" slip adapters
E. (qty 5) 1" slip unions
F. (qty 3) 3-way Y fittings
G. (qty 3) 1" T fittings
H. (qty 7) 1" ball valves
I. (qty 4) 1" 90 degree elbow fittings
J. (qty 3) 1" slip bulkheads
K. (qty 2) 1" male slip to 3/4" female threaded adapter
L. (qty 1) 3/4" male threaded to 3/4" camlock female coupler
M. (qty 1) 3/4" camlock male to 3/4" barbed hose adapter
N. (qty 1) 3/4" braided hose
O. (qty 2) Hose clamps
P. (qty 1) 3/4” male threaded to 3/4” barbed hose adapter

Optional parts for Apex automation:
Q. (qty 3) Neptune optical water sensors
R. (qty 2) Magnet mount for optical sensors
S. (qty 1) FMM
T. (qty 1) PM2
U. (qty 1) EB4
V. (qty 1) Heater
W. (qty 1) Temperature probe
X. (qty 1) Salinity probe
Y. (qty 1) DOS
Z. (qty 1) Long AquaBus cable to Apex (if in a different room)

Here are the parts annotated in photos:

This is a great breakdown for reference when I put something together thanks!

 

[NY_Caveman]

Last night I discovered hundreds of tiny shrimp drifting with the current in my tank. It turned out my two cleaner shrimp mated! I captured and examined one of the baby shrimp under my microscope:

That is totally cool Suncrest. I had a long lived pair in the 90s and it seemed the female was always filled with green eggs. Never saw any babies though, but the tank had a Mandarin and a Scooter Dragonet.

 

[SuncrestReef]

I'm very sad to report the death of my pipefish. I made a dumb mistake by removing the overflow weir for cleaning while I was feeding the fish yesterday, but the feed mode expired before I put the weir back in place and the pipefish got sucked into the overflow box. I made several attempts to rescue him last night but failed. This morning I discovered he went down the overflow pipe and got lodged in the diaphragm valve. By the time I got him out it was too late. I'm kicking myself for not switching the Apex to full maintenance mode to shut down all pumps when cleaning the weir instead of relying on the quick feed mode timer. So sad.

I posted full details of the rescue effort here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/pipefish-trapped-in-overflow.636592/#post-6345279

 

[NY_Caveman]

Ugh. That is a real bummer.

 

[Crabby48]

Sorry Sunceest

 

[Cristy17]

Sorry to hear this.

 

[SuncrestReef]

A new LFS opened in my area last week. They had a pair of mandarins, but their tanks were brand new and the order of live pods was delayed, so they didn't have any way to feed the mandarins.

Since I recently lost my pipefish and my tank has no other pod-eating fish, I rescued the pair of mandarins to give them a good home. My rock work has many caves and the mandarins are very good at hiding, so I don't see them very often. But when they come out, they're so beautiful to look at!

 

[SuncrestReef]

 

[Crabby48]

Beautiful rescues. Would love to have a pair some day.

 

[SuncrestReef]

A nearby reefer holds an annual $10 frag sale, so I picked up a handful of nice peices. Here are some quick iPhone photos, but I'll get some good macro shots over the next few days.

 

[Janci]

great additions.

 

[ibondy]

A nearby reefer holds an annual $10 frag sale, so I picked up a handful of nice peices. Here are some quick iPhone photos, but I'll get some good macro shots over the next few days.

I was hoping to stop by and pickup some frags, but was busy with the other stuff. Great frags!