NickFs Reefer 350

NickF

Well-Known Member
Hi all, thought I’d start a new thread for my new build. Athough I haven’t ordered the tank yet I’ve already ordered some equipment and today I went to Abyss Aquatics to check out their Aquaroche as I’d decided against going with live rock again. I was never happy with my scape in the C130, I pretty much chucked it in when I got the tank set up because I needed to keep it wet, couldn’t scape it very well because it was under water and was constantly knocking it over until I finally gave in and had it leaning against the back wall.
I liked the thought of being able to try out different scapes before adding the rocks to the tank and I was really impressed with the Aquaroche so I ended up picking this up:

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I’ve also got a few extra shelves to play around with.
I asked about the recommendations regarding cycling a new tank with Aquaroche, thinking it would would be longer than using live rock and as I’m in no hurry I had no problem with that. They said that they use JBL Denitrol with all their Aquaroche tanks and that fish should be added within 24 hours of adding it. I couldn’t get my head around this as I was planning on taking my time with the cycle and was thinking 2-3 months before adding any fish. I understand that the fish needs to be added immediately for their waste to feed the bacteria and any delay would cause the bacteria to die off from a lack of a food source but I’m still not sure.

Here’s some blurb from the JBL site:
https://www.jbl.de/en/blog/detail/2...ng-an-aquarium-without-a-run-in-phase-part-1?

I’ve also ordered:
Nyos Quantum 120 Protein Skimmer
2x Maxspect Ethereal LED lights
Maxspect Gyre XF250

Still need to sort out a return pump and was thinking Eheim CompactON 3000, anyone here using this pump? Looking for something quiet an this seems to have good reviews.
Also need a heater, any suggestions for a good heater for a 350?
Oh yeah, also need to order the tank :)

I used to use Chemipure,Purigen and RowaPhos in the media rack of the 130 and with weekly water changes apart from the occasional issue overall I was pretty happy with my tank considering it was my first marine tank and I didn’t have a clue what I was doing when I started. As I’ve never had a tank with a sump before I want to try and keep it simple when I get the 350 up and running while I get used to it, can I just put these in the sump or should I be running carbon/gfo through a reactor? I’ll be doing 10% weekly water changes once it’s cycled.
Is there anything else I should be thinking about, what’s people’s opinion of the ATO in the Reefer? I’ve heard complaints about the small reservoir but I didn’t have an ATO in my 130 and was used to topping up every couple of days anyway.

Really looking forward to having lots of extra room to work with in the new tank, gives me more options for fish/corals (the 130 was beginning to get cramped) athough that also means more expense o_O, think I’m going to have to get lots of overtime in at work!

All comments and suggestions welcome, cheers.
 

Pat24601

Well-Known Member
Also, I can’t speak intelligently about JBL Denitrol or Aquaroche. I hadn’t heard of either before your post.

But, I did go with man made “live rock” on my tank (Purple Reef, Real Reef, and CaribSea shapes) and I was told the advice was to add fish immediately because they supposedly already have the bacteria they need and don’t require a cycle.

I was skeptical and asked my (reputable) LFS and they said yes their customers had done that and it worked well.

So, I closed my eyes and added 3 fish a day after setting my tank up and monitored like crazy.

It all went very smooth. No ammonia or nitrite spikes.

So, it is possible, apparently, to have set ups that don’t require a lengthy cycle. There is still something about it that feels awkward to me, but I saw it work.

I’m not sure if that applies to your set up or if they are de facto recommending a live cycle, which I am not a fan of. I’d need to read up on those products to find out.
 

SPR

Well-Known Member
Hi Nick

I’ve not tried the JBL product but I have used ATM Colony on 2 occasions in my original Max E260 and then Max S 650 and it’s works as advertised. I was new to aquariums last year so I’ve never done a long drawn out cycle and in 2017 there is no need to anymore. Basically you fill the tank, add the product (Colony anyway) and then add the fish. Cycle done.

I think a few of the manufacturers including JBL/Red Sea etc., are finally coming out with these types of products and the need for a 3 month cycle is over, unless you want to do that, and I’m not saying there is anything wrong with that at all, it’s just there are new ways.

On the heaters when I’m researched these I went for 2 Eheim Jaggers which have there own thermostats but after a few months I also got a Simply Aquaria temperature controller to have a bit more control and I’m just about to plug this into my Neptune Apex as a final fail safe. I went for 2 heaters for redundancy, but to be honest here in th UK the heaters are hardly ever on and my tank runs at around 25-26c without any input from the heaters.

I don’t have the Eheim 3000 but I do have the 1000 which are silent and to be honest when I need to change my rear circulation pumps I will probably get the Eheim pumps as they seem to be highly thought of.

The NYOS skimmers are very good (I have the 160) and virtually silent and for ease of removing the cup, put some food grade silicon around the joint and it will come off smooth as silk every time. I would just check if the 120 has a drain pipe otherwise you will need to empty the cup on a regular basis. I have the 160 draining into a large plastic tub which will last a few weeks between emptying, mainly to cover weeks when I am away. I remember the pictures of the 120 don’t show the drain outlet if indeed it has one from when I’m researched them.

The live rock is personal choice but you don’t need to use real live rock from coral reefs anymore as the man made stuff is excellent but just expensive. I used Reel Reef Rock throughout my tank, but it cost probably around £700 for the amount I have in the S 650 but it looks just like the real stuff but as you’ve found there are other types available

On the ATO it’s fine to top up every few days if you around but if your away you may need something better and a larger RO reservoir. I originally had an Autoaqua Mini but that failed after a few months so again have loads of research I purchased the Tunze Osmolator which is hooked up to a 90litre RO bucket and this is now the primary top off and the inbuilt reservoir is a back up. Overall it will last 2 1/2 weeks without filling although in reality I do it every 10 days or so. There are pictures of this set up on my build thread.

The sump will make life much easier for you with all the space etc. You don’t need a reactor for the activated carbon, just drop it in somewhere in the bag with adequate flow and that’s it. You will need a reactor if you run Rhowaphos but you can add all of this as you learn.

I would really recommend you study the Red Sea Reef Program including NoPox from the start and learn as much as you can. I’ve followed the program since I started out and it’s very useful and if you follow the program, test etc., you can avoid the potential pitfalls such as nuisance algea etc etc.

Anyway good luck and we like Pictures on here!! Lol
 

Nobbygas

Well-Known Member
I used Dry Reef rock for the startup on my S-650. I also used ATM Colony, and this gives an instant cycle. A couple of Clown's were added the same day, and it all went smoothly. Nothing wrong with the long wait while your tank cycles, but things are changing in the reef world, and just because something is new it doesn't mean it's rubbish.
 

NickF

Well-Known Member
Tank is ordered for 18th December :). Should give me time to pick up a few more things and put some new sockets in the wall behind where the tank is going. I’ve got 10 sockets in the room and I’ve managed to pick the only bloody wall that doesn’t have any!
Decided to go with the instant cycle, like you say times change and people are going with new methods with good success. Planning on taking my time after that though but at least I’ll have some life in the tank to look at while it goes through it’s ugly stage. One thing I did enjoy about the live rock was checking out all the stuff on it when I set my old tank up, but that wore off when when the turf algae on it spread.
Can’t wait to get going, roll on the18th :clink:
 

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
So, it is possible, apparently, to have set ups that don’t require a lengthy cycle. There is still something about it that feels awkward to me, but I saw it work.

This would be able to happen as long as the live rock is mature (e.g. fully functioning mature bacteria). This is how people are able to move tanks from one location to another when they move houses, and not have serious cycling issues.
 

NickF

Well-Known Member
Got a delivery of goodies for the tank yesterday

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10% discount on everything so it was just expensive rather than very expensive :woohoo:

Had a go at trying the scape at home today

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I think it looks ok so I’ve numbered the shelves so hopefully I can get something like this in the tank.

Been looking for a new test kit and came across this

https://www.simplexhealth.co.uk/exact-idip-570-photometer-marine-starter-kit-salt-water-p-554.html

I like the idea of it downloading the results, makes it easier to keep track. I’ve got a couple of the Hanna checkers and I do prefer the digital testers rather than the colour chart ones.
Was reading about the Apex one that’s coming out, but that’s going to cost big bucks.
 

NickF

Well-Known Member
Got the tank built

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Looks great quality, the cabinet weighs a ton, was harder work carrying that in than the tank. I managed to get the cabinet built without any problems and got a hand lifting the tank.
I cut the thick mat I’d got for under the tank and left a bit round the edge, it’s done a good job of levelling the tank on the floor. It’s dead straight across the tank, but it’s 1/8 inch lower at the front than the back but it’s the same on the whole of the tank so I’m not sure if that will be a problem as it’s not like it’s off on one side but level on the other so it’s not causing any stresses on the tank.
I’ve got the plumbing in, the instructions that come with the tank are very minimal but luckily there’s loads of YouTube videos around to help.
I’ve got 20 kg of Red Sea live sand and I’m gong to get some dry sand and mix. I’m not sure how much I’ll need, I want the same depth as I had in my 130 which I think was about 2 inches, anyone know how much I’d need?
Then all I need to sort out is 350l of water, I get my SW from the LFS, going to take a few trips!
 

NickF

Well-Known Member
Cheers Glenn, just what I was looking for. A 2 inch sandbed will be 78 lb, which is about 35 kg.
We use a mix of imperial and metric in the uk which can be confusing, I still like to measure height in feet and inches & weight in stones and lb, probably because I’m old.
 

NickF

Well-Known Member
Got my lights sorted:

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I love the look of these lights & they were really easy to set up. I downloaded the app, synced the lights and paired them together. Worked first time, you can manually set any of the five channels or there are 8 pre-set profiles you can choose from. You can get it to run through the 24hr cycle in preview mode, takes about 5 minutes. There’s also a mood light in the centre where the fan is that you can set to any colour, think you can use it as moonlights as well but I’m not sure how bright that would be, I’ll probably set the blues at a few % overnight like I did with my Steve’s on the 130.

Here’s the app, seems really easy to use:

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The lights have passive cooling, so the fans are only on when needed and they are very quiet.

I realised earlier that I’d forgotten to take the overflow box into account when I’d made my mock up scape :confused:. Shouldn’t be too much of a problem (I hope), I’ll just have to tweak it a bit.

Hope to get the tank wet next week :), thinking I might get a UV steriliser as well and I’m still not sure what media I’m going to run, shouldn’t be a problem for a while though, I’m just going to add a couple of fish and run for a few weeks before adding anything else. Well, that’s the plan.
 

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
I also like the art work on the wall behind the tank. Captures the light in an interesting sunset like landscape. Is it a rug or textile?
 

NickF

Well-Known Member
The tank is up and running! Got the water in this afternoon, think I’ve got the overflow valve dialled in, I’ve got it set just below the emergency overflow. Wow, it made a racket when I first turned the pump on and the water was running down the return pipe. Don’t know why the instructions tell you to have the gate flow valve fully opened before adjusting, took a few complete turns before it raised the water level in the overflow box at all. It’s running silent now though, although the return pump is a bit noisier that I expected. Maybe it just needs breaking in.
Not got the ato set up yet, I’m not sure what level I’m supposed to set the float at. Is the line in the middle of the float supposed to be level with the water when it’s set at the right water level, 6” in the pump return chamber?
I’ll take some pictures later when the water clears a bit.
 
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