Our mission

Mike's RS 425XL Build (July, 05/2019)

Hi all-

I've been supporting member, but lurking and not too active. Hope to change that and participate more, so I'd like to post my year-old build and progress to date.

As way of background, I've been in the hobby for 15 years and have maintained a beautiful 92 bow-front for 9 years. About a two years ago, we were in construction, and the crew killed the power to our house for 3 days over a holiday weekend while we were on vacation, and I lost all my fish, every SPS and nearly every softie. I let the remnants of tank limp along for a bit over a year, and finally took the plunge with a post construction build.

After the mass extinction event, I had taken out 90% of the rock out to bleach so I could start off with a (relatively) pest free system. After a thorough cleaning, I had it in cold saltwater for months, and about two months before I started the build, I began to heat and add bacteria so I could get the cooking process going.I think this actually made some difference overall, because although I still battled algae, my initial ugly period was relatively short lived.

I added my soft coral survivors to the new tank at about two months, and everything went well. I was so confident in my stability that i added some SPS at about three months, and everything continued to thrive. 6 weeks later I added more SPS and things just fine.

It wasn't until about 6 months into the build that I had some nasty dinos and possibly ostreo that killed a few SPS. I incorporated UV, Vibrant dosing, and some manual scrubbing and siphoning to beat it, which took about 8 weeks to get it all.

Next post will have some pics and dates.
 
July 5th to July 9, 2019

Starting Kit:
Red Sea Reefer 425XL (white)
Apex EL kit, WXM module
Reef Octopus regal 150SSS varios (apex ready)
Neptune COR-20 return pump
3 Radion XR30 G4 Pros, tank mount, diffusers
2 Neptune WAVs
 

Attachments

  • B25842B6-FDF6-48A3-955E-039929B46D39.jpeg
    B25842B6-FDF6-48A3-955E-039929B46D39.jpeg
    60.1 KB · Views: 253
  • DF00EEDB-0604-47F0-9673-EA103DDB235C.jpeg
    DF00EEDB-0604-47F0-9673-EA103DDB235C.jpeg
    112 KB · Views: 255
  • 292D8F4D-76FA-488E-8617-B05560BDCE13.jpeg
    292D8F4D-76FA-488E-8617-B05560BDCE13.jpeg
    73.8 KB · Views: 246
As mentioned, about 6 months into the build that I had some nasty stuff begin to take hold which killed about 6 frags. I came out of it pretty well and things started looking really good - things were coloring back up and encrusting improved quite a bit.
 

Attachments

  • _JAM4327.jpg
    _JAM4327.jpg
    98.7 KB · Views: 229
  • _JAM4328.jpg
    _JAM4328.jpg
    88 KB · Views: 239
  • _JAM4338.jpg
    _JAM4338.jpg
    123 KB · Views: 235
  • _JAM4337.jpg
    _JAM4337.jpg
    89.6 KB · Views: 236
  • _JAM4336.jpg
    _JAM4336.jpg
    111.9 KB · Views: 226
  • _JAM4334.jpg
    _JAM4334.jpg
    103 KB · Views: 226
  • _JAM4329.jpg
    _JAM4329.jpg
    85 KB · Views: 226
  • _JAM4340.jpg
    _JAM4340.jpg
    124.1 KB · Views: 233
  • _JAM4354.jpg
    _JAM4354.jpg
    80.4 KB · Views: 239
  • _JAM4366.jpg
    _JAM4366.jpg
    92.2 KB · Views: 225
In late April 2020, I started to have some wild swings in Alk (which I was testing 3x per week). Mag and CA were stable, so I assumed it wasn't coraline algae that was taking off at the time. I was on an auto doser using Red Sea Foundations liquids, so I was not really sure of the cause besides a vast increase in uptake - literally overnight.

April 2020

To get a better handle on it, I decided to fork out for a Trident and pair it with a DOS for the 2-part.
 
June 25, 2020 picture update. New additions were the PRC Infidel and RRU OP.

Since these pics were taken in late June, corals have continued to thrive a grow.
 

Attachments

  • TSA Carolina Reaper.jpg
    TSA Carolina Reaper.jpg
    114.8 KB · Views: 214
  • TSA Daydream.jpg
    TSA Daydream.jpg
    142.2 KB · Views: 215
  • TSA Princess Peach.jpg
    TSA Princess Peach.jpg
    96 KB · Views: 215
  • TSA Spyro the Dragon.jpg
    TSA Spyro the Dragon.jpg
    156.4 KB · Views: 208
  • TGC Cherry Bomb.jpg
    TGC Cherry Bomb.jpg
    139.1 KB · Views: 211
  • RRA UOP.jpg
    RRA UOP.jpg
    76.5 KB · Views: 221
  • RMF Acid Trip.jpg
    RMF Acid Trip.jpg
    107 KB · Views: 220
  • PRC Infidel_blue.jpg
    PRC Infidel_blue.jpg
    64.7 KB · Views: 211
  • AV99 O Crush.jpg
    AV99 O Crush.jpg
    109.2 KB · Views: 238
  • ASD Rainbow.jpg
    ASD Rainbow.jpg
    137.6 KB · Views: 215
So the rock was all from the 92, but this Red Sea tank is new?

it looks like the corals are happy and off to a nice start growing. Thanks for sharing the journal
 
So the rock was all from the 92, but this Red Sea tank is new?

it looks like the corals are happy and off to a nice start growing. Thanks for sharing the journal

Yes, the rock is from the 92. I had small and large zoa rocks that came in and a smaller ricordia rock as well that added the bulk of bio diversity and coraline seeding.

Some of the remainder rock ended up in my sump and some to brother-in-law to set up an old 35 cube I gave him.
 
Would love to see the 9 year old tank pictures. Glad you are able to make a comeback. Looking forward to your progress.

Thanks! Here are some old shots. These were roughly 7 months before construction. I have the heart breaker last as well.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0037.JPG
    IMG_0037.JPG
    186.6 KB · Views: 243
  • IMG_0038.JPG
    IMG_0038.JPG
    222.7 KB · Views: 242
  • IMG_0039.JPG
    IMG_0039.JPG
    237.8 KB · Views: 218
  • IMG_0040.JPG
    IMG_0040.JPG
    216.3 KB · Views: 226
  • IMG_0636.JPG
    IMG_0636.JPG
    132.3 KB · Views: 231
  • IMG_0638.JPG
    IMG_0638.JPG
    133.6 KB · Views: 228
  • IMG_0705.jpg
    IMG_0705.jpg
    88.7 KB · Views: 216
  • IMG_0713.jpg
    IMG_0713.jpg
    90.7 KB · Views: 216
  • IMG_0855.JPG
    IMG_0855.JPG
    61.3 KB · Views: 226
SPS look a lot nicer top down and macro shots. That cherry bomb is OMG.

Mature tanks are the best I think this new tank will look even better than your last tank.
 
Pic heavy update. I want to try to maintain an every 3-month photo journal
 

Attachments

  • ASD Rainbow.jpg
    ASD Rainbow.jpg
    59.4 KB · Views: 191
  • BC Rainbow Melon.jpg
    BC Rainbow Melon.jpg
    86.7 KB · Views: 200
  • BC Rainbow Melon (2).jpg
    BC Rainbow Melon (2).jpg
    55 KB · Views: 207
  • Cherry Bomb.jpg
    Cherry Bomb.jpg
    61.5 KB · Views: 197
  • Confetti_rescue.jpg
    Confetti_rescue.jpg
    77.3 KB · Views: 198
  • Mad Hatter.jpg
    Mad Hatter.jpg
    89.4 KB · Views: 198
  • OG Bounce.jpg
    OG Bounce.jpg
    120.2 KB · Views: 175
  • Palmer's Blue_DBTC_CR.jpg
    Palmer's Blue_DBTC_CR.jpg
    48.2 KB · Views: 176
  • PC Superman.jpg
    PC Superman.jpg
    89.2 KB · Views: 164
  • Peyote Party.jpg
    Peyote Party.jpg
    57.1 KB · Views: 177
More
 

Attachments

  • PRC Infidel.jpg
    PRC Infidel.jpg
    96.4 KB · Views: 157
  • PRC Infidel_SB+.jpg
    PRC Infidel_SB+.jpg
    50.5 KB · Views: 167
  • Purple Passion.jpg
    Purple Passion.jpg
    116.9 KB · Views: 164
  • RMF Acid Trip.jpg
    RMF Acid Trip.jpg
    116.5 KB · Views: 156
  • RR Aussie Gold_DBTC_CR.jpg
    RR Aussie Gold_DBTC_CR.jpg
    86.3 KB · Views: 153
  • TSA Blockbuster.jpg
    TSA Blockbuster.jpg
    97.2 KB · Views: 167
  • TSA Carolina Reaper.jpg
    TSA Carolina Reaper.jpg
    101 KB · Views: 151
  • TSA Daydream.jpg
    TSA Daydream.jpg
    78.6 KB · Views: 157
  • TSA Princess Peach.jpg
    TSA Princess Peach.jpg
    79.6 KB · Views: 167
  • TSA Spyro the Dragon.jpg
    TSA Spyro the Dragon.jpg
    92.8 KB · Views: 166
Back
Top