Doom's Ea Reefpro 1200s Build

[Doom]

Hi, all welcome to my EA ReefPro 1200s build.


I have been away from marines for approx 3 years now. I shut my 2-foot cube down because of work and not really having time to commit to maintaining it properly. O I did have a flood once which upset my neighbour downstairs.


Back in March last year, my partner and I were in a position to buy my mum’s house where I grew up. (Mum’s still with us too). One of the things discussed was putting in a 4 footer marine tank once the renovations were done. So I set upon our old house to new house March 2017 and literally took it back to brick in every room, gutted it in fact. A few walls knocked down/moved and 12 months later we were able to finally move in.


The main dilemma was what tank we wanted, custom build, tank breakdown or brand new, “ Red Sea, Ea ReefPro etc “. I had a place for it to go which was 1400mm. ( shame not 1600mm )


As a driver for Ford I have the opportunity to travel the country and therefore call into any Marine shops along the way, I Saw many tank setups from different makers and my mind was set on Ea ReefPro 1200s in the end.


I Loved the red sea, but the cost and lack of cabinet colours swayed me to go for Evolution Aqua and after showing my partner it was finalised. This hobby never leaves us.


So before I bore you here is my build.


Equipment:-



Ea ReefPro 1200s with concrete grey cabinet ( L1200 x W600 x H600 mm)

Vortech MP40W Quiet drive x 2

Vectra M1 Return Pump

Maxspect Ethereal Lights x 3 (1 as spare)

Maxspect ICV6 wifi controller

Clarisea roller mat filter gen1

Deltec SC1456 protein skimmer

TMC V2 Ozone

Aqua Medic T controller twin

Fish:-

4 x Banghai Cardinal

1 x Red Scooter Blenny

Water Test:- DKH 8.3 ( need more test kits )

Dosing 5 ml NoPox 2 times a week. Just started dosing Aqua forest Pro Bio S & F 04/05/18

Was close to selling my Clarisea Roller Filter due to size but glad I took another look at fitting into the sump, Made a huge difference to water clarity.

Planning on going down Aqua Forest component 1+, 2+, 3+ dosing. No room in the sump for an algae bed.

The tank has been running for 4 weeks now so still early days yet. Don’t want to rush things this time around and hope not to make my mistakes of the past, (running before I can walk

 

[Doom]

Some updated pic's. Please feel free to comment

 

[penzo]

Welcome back to the hobby, nice looking tank and kit,,what are your plans fish and coral wise?

 

[Doom]

Not sure on fish yet apart from wanting a yellow/purple tang oh and a pair of clowns ( preferably snowflakes/picaso ). Added these zoas and toadstool last weekend too

 

[Sailor467]

Tank looking good
Can I suggest you replace the metal securing strap you have attached to the hose on the return pump, eventually it will rust and put contaminants into your water
I have the previous model version of this tank and those door hinges will soon become very rusty

 

[doug_amanda]

The eareef tanks are superb and you’ve certainly got the most out of every inch of that sump.
I think the jubilee clips supplied with the tank are now made of stainless steel, mine haven’t gone rusty yet but as above the door hinges rust easily and quickly so worth coating them with some Vaseline.
Looking really good so far and keep us updated with progresss.

 

[Doom]

Very good advise. Will defo grease those hinges to stop rust. As

think the jubilee clips supplied with the tank are now made of stainless steel

so may not be an issue but will keep my on them.

Glad also that I installed the moister fan above the tank on outside wall as it defo helps to expel the evaporation. Working out an average of 20 litres a week.
Well happy that I retrofitted the Clarisea as this helps keep the water crystal clear without the hassle of cleaning filter socks. Had to do some DIY on it though for it to work and fit.

Will say that I have been dosing Aquaforest Pro Bio S + F, for 4 days now and seems to be making a difference based on skimmer output considering only go 5 fish in the tank at moment. Will keep updating on this as we go.

 

[Doom]

Got a new fixture for above the tank. Looks wicked.

 

[doug_amanda]

Pretty smart that.

 

[Doom]

Ati Water test is done. Good news with param's except for high copper/zinc so not a good start. Treating with Cuprisorb 500 ml in a reactor. Done a 100 lit water change to see if I can bring it down any. Other than that it looks like a restart by bleaching rock and Siporax.

Link to test done http://lab.atiaquaristik.com/share/b8325731e6ddadbec2de

 

[Doom]

Update on my excessive copper issue. Was contemplating taking all my rock ( didn't want to lose my rockscape) and Siporax out the tank and bathing it all in a solution of Ro & Muriatic Acid to clean top layer of rock and the reseed and start again.
After visiting a marine shop while on holiday I was told about a treatment that would work far better and less hassle.

The treatment is " Triton Detox, Metal remover" so I bought some and thought I'll give it try. Got nothing to lose. I dosed the recommended amount for my tank 440 lit = 12ml. Did 2 doses a week apart, 3rd week I did a 50% water change. Added Cuprisorb to my reactor to soak any excess.

Allowed it to all settle down a week and sent off my ATI Water test off again, thinking not going to be much different. I did see a small change in some Zoa's I had in were opening up again but put this down to the water change. But OMG how surprised was I to see a massive change. so glad I tried this as my high copper has come well down from 226.5ug/l to 19.22 ug/l as per my water test

//lab.atiaquaristik.com/share/3a5723cdd73ecc8011c2

So now after this latest result, I will do 1 more dose and a water change to get it to a safe level for soft corals.

On a side note, I acquired this bad boy ( ALR 1 ) from Steve over at Burscough Aquatics which I plan on adding to the system this weekend hopefully.

 

[doug_amanda]

Glad to hear your copper problem is in check,
I’ve wondered how efficient these new algae reactors are so will be interested in hearing how you get on with it.