That Fish Blog – Aquarium Advice and Information
Last year, a nice Christmas gift was delivered to That Fish Place from Red Sea. In early December, their brand new Red Sea Max 250 made its grand entrance. After running the smaller version of their aquarium kit, the Red Sea Max 130D, for nearly a year and a half, I was running out of room. So the upgrade started. Now, a little over a year later, I thought I’d share the tank’s progress!
Right out of the box I knew the Max 250 was going to be a nice set-up. The system included six 39w High Output T5 bulbs. I knew I was going to run with a mostly SPS dominant tank (montipora/acropora) with a handful of zoanthids. I also brought over the established Onyx Clowns, along with the hairy mushrooms and Frogspawn they liked in the smaller model. After the combo was assembled and filled up, I slowly moved the established livestock from the smaller Red Sea Max to their new home.
Between the mature rock from the smaller tank and a nice mix of Special Blend and Nite Out II, I never even noticed a cycle. First couple of months went very well, and the corals looked great in no time.
A few weeks in, I discovered that somehow montipora-eating nudibranchs had made their way into the system. Over the next couple of months, I watched some of my beautiful 2-year old colonies go right down the drain. The nudis seemed to really go after the larger purple Montipora capricornis. With the help of a six-line wrasse, some peppermint shrimp, coral dips and manual removal, I was able to eliminate them from the tank.
Since I got the nudibranch issue under control, the tank has been running smoothly with really no other issues. I have upgraded the stock bulbs to 4 Giesemann Actinic Plus(460nm), 1 Aqua Blue(15k) and 1 Midday(8k). I have also added 3 Ecoxotic 453nm Stunner strips to help with coloration. The addition of a Super Reef Octopus LX1000 HOB skimmer and a reactor of Two Little Fishes BioPlastics have really helped keep nutrients low enough to have happy and thriving SPS corals.
All in all, this is a very nice complete system. I am very happy with the results I am getting with this setup. Anyone looking for an all-in-one aquarium kit will not be upset if they take the dive into one of the Red Sea Max systems. Be sure to check out more display photos of the Red Sea Max and other retail store displays in our facebook gallery.
Thanks, please share your quesions and comments,
Doug Fries, TFP Salesfloor Supervisor
Second Photo Courtesy of Felicia McCaulley of Felicia’s Aquarium Adventures
On your website, does the Red Sea Max 250 Aquarium kit include the stand for the listed $1610.99?
Thank you!
It does include the stand.
How did you hook up the reactor to the Red Sea Max 250?
Shelley, unfortunately this tank is no longer set up, but I believe that the reactor was hanging on the back of the aquarium, run off a small powerhead in the filter compartment.
Thank you for your response Dave. I will consider this. I may have to attach one to a wall as there is not enough room at the back of my aquarium. While I love this tank I do not love algae!
Shelley