Red Sea Reefer G2 One Year Later…My Biggest Regrets!

[@LordFarquaad007]

Great tips, good ideas to consider

[@Lewis-gf6on]

You could just make notches in your lid with a drill or router its not difficult its only acrylic. Happy Holidays.

[@kennethcress9035]

Keep it simple and do only as needed. Great job.

[@76honda76]

Thanks for making this vd! So the cut outs on the lid, try using a dremel tool and slowly grind / sand down few small slots ?

[@zburnreefing]

Good idea. I reached out to Kraken as well and they said as long as I take it really slow should be fine. Trying to decide whether to give that a go, or add a couple mp10s in place of the jebaos.

[@steevareno2002]

I went with heavy tiles to mount my across to this time so I can move them and take them out for fragging. Love and learn in this hobby.

[@zburnreefing]

I’ve seen that quite a bit too. Another good option! Yea….the hobby keeps me humble for sure…always learning.

[@fletcherwright7042]

The corals are looking good 👍

[@steved7855]

Sliding panel would work if u put time into wire management. I love my panel from Red Sea and it’s so beneficial to have it.

[@zburnreefing]

I think that is fair. I get a little motivated to do wire management and then I’ll need to clean a pump or something and to pull the pump it requires a 30 minute battle with all the cords so I give up easily. I must be doing something wrong. Is there a way to clean up the appearance of the wiring while also making it simple to pull the gear at times for citric acid baths?

[@steved7855]

@@zburnreefing I actually have the same Red Sea tank u do but went with all RS components. I used a Toyke Large Cable Management Box, Cord Organizer to Hide Power Strip, Extension Cord, Surge Protector to put inside that I got on Amazon, then opened panel all the way. Next I wrapped up all the stuff I wanted in there and there u go. That way u have left enough cords to always be able to open the panel to its full extension. Other things like the power bricks and the like I have in a hanging basket behind the cabinet that sits next to tank like u have. Actually got that idea for the cabinets from watching ur channel. By using the box it actually adds a table top so to speak that I set my extra dosing containers on so they are close by. Hope that makes sense. Have to help our fellow AZ reefers. 😊

[@brianvickery4071]

@@zburnreefing Got to agree. Also, seems the slide out panel he got was the smallest one so his stuff is all crammed, the larger one would have allowed for better cable management. And it does come down to planning the runs and making sure there is slack.

[@airbats801]

just block that feeding trough off and dump through the mesh. eliminate a jumping hole. I lost a bsj and a pintail wrasse with one of those. I love the lighting!

[@jeremiahminardo1329]

Died off cause the heaters were right there imo but def agree with you

[@jtdr2023]

No Regerts ! Tank looks great. You give some good tips about the custom lid and placement on the tank. Also, when I saw those pull out organizers I wondered how well they would work with the cords. How do you like your UV ?

[@zburnreefing]

No regrets on the UV! Really like it, except wish it was black…but I bought it used. Beggars can’t be choosers I suppose. Thanks for tuning in!

[@jakebrabec1141]

Do you think filling your sump with live rock would be wise early on?

[@zburnreefing]

Yes, I filled mine with rubble from Tampa Bay live rock. It helped add biodiversity, seed the tank, and minimized the “ugly” stage. Definitely will move your tank in the right direction early on.

[@timkorn2102]

Would you buy this tank/strand again or switch to something else?

[@zburnreefing]

Tbh, I’d probably go with something else. For 2 reasons…1) this downflow valve is so finicky and a constant annoyance to adjust and 2) I hear of too many horror stories of the G1 tanks busting a seam. I think the G2s are much better built now but I just despise the downflow valve. Some say if you swap it for a gate value it’s more easy to tune, so perhaps I’ll give that a go.

[@chicagorc3967]

very nice video, im new to your channel but i like your honesty. what salt are you using?

[@zburnreefing]

Hi there, thanks for checking out the channel. For salt, I’ve been using just old reef crystals. I’ve tried several but end up just going back due cost and accessibility and my corals have always done pretty well with it.

[@chicagorc3967]

@zburnreefing I was using Reef crystals and switched to red sea the 12 dhk black 100$ bucket and I've been having high nutrients. I have a 12 gallon long and I'm upgrading to a 65 right now with a sump and am going to try cheato and hope for the best. But if not I'm going to go back because it'd very expensive and I have to drive 40 mins to a special store. So I don't blame you. Reef crystals is a hell of a lot cheaper and is at petco, petsmart and very accessible. Merry Christmas my friend. I hope to learn alot and I hope to have a beautiful tank like people on KZbin some day.

[@zburnreefing]

@@chicagorc3967 Merry Christmas and I wish you the best in 2024 in your tank upgrade!

[@sbazain]

great tank how do you get your rocks like that or did they come painted like that

[@zburnreefing]

My rock was just plain white dry Marco rock. I seeded the tank with Tampa Bay Saltwater Live Rock/rubble, which came in with the maroon algae, so after a few months it just took hold on my new rock. Seeding can definitely speed up the process.

[@Medic7000]

Looking to get back in the hobby. Im leaning towards a Red Sea because their sumps seem to have room for their reefmat. Have you thought about getting a reefmat? You also posted that you would have looked into a waterbox. Any reason why WB would be better? Thanks

[@zburnreefing]

Honestly, after I purchased this tank, there were several stories of generation 1 tanks starting to blow out due to seam failure. I am not sure I’ve seen where at G2 has failed, but it has me on edge a little bit. Risk is probably low, but there has been just a few too many seam failures for me, at least enough to consider other options besides Red Sea…I’d also look at innovative marine, waterbox, and aqua forest. I like the reefmat for sure, I’ve just never gotten one because my tanks are always too clean. In fact, when I vacuum out my sump, my nutrients dive and some of my corals pale out on me.

[@DoitLiveit]

What’s the name of that yellow fish please and thank you.

[@zburnreefing]

@@DoitLiveit yellow coris wrasse!

[@johndanczak]

Are you happy with the tank overall? Would you recommend the 350?

[@zburnreefing]

Yes, overall I am fairly happy with the tank. I’d give it a 7.5 out of 10. If I were to do it again I would also have looked a little more closely at waterbox and the aqua forest plug n play systems. So if you’re considering a reefer 350, make sure to check out those other two manufacturers as well. Good luck!

[@austinbabler2165]

What fixture is that? And how high off the water is it? I think I want to dump my Orphek Atlantic for a T5 MH set up.

[@zburnreefing]

It’s a giesemann spectra. I’m running 2 250 watt radiums and 4 t5. Two are ATI blue plus and 2 are ATI coral plus. I love these fixtures. I ran one maybe 7-8 years ago and so when I saw one come up used in the forums and quickly grabbed it.

[@zburnreefing]

Oh, and I’m running it about 9 inches above the tank.

[@Windgoddess540]

I would honestly just keep a refugium to establish copepods and other organisms.

[@zburnreefing]

100% agree; great advice!

[@discol76]

A little bit rock rubble will do similar

[@Reef.Devils]

How do you keep your sand bed so white?

[@zburnreefing]

I have a fighting conch that is always working and keeping the sand stirred. Has to be my favorite member of a clean up crew. To this day I haven’t really vacuumed the sand bed. It’s hanging in there, but eventually I will siphon the detritus periodically to keep it looking good if it starts to look a little dingy.

[@Reef.Devils]

@@zburnreefing Ok thanks for the reply. I might order one. Do they eat all types of algae like hair algae, diatoms, etc?

[@zburnreefing]

@@Reef.Devils They mostly consume detritus. In short, they will consume what breaks down in your sand before it can turn into algae. They do a really nice job mixing up the sand and keeping it fresh preventing algae from taking hold. Remind me, how big is your tank? Most 3-4 ft tanks just need one. Larger systems can house probably 2 or 3, but you want to makes sure there is plenty of food, so would just go with one for a while and see how things look after a month.

[@Reef.Devils]

@@zburnreefing I have the same tank as you. So 4 feet long. 1 should be plenty. I hope he won’t knock over some of my Zoas is in the sand. Did you order yours online? Thanks!

[@zburnreefing]

@@Reef.Devils Mine seems to navigate things pretty well as long as you leave enough sand space/pathways for them to get around areas...I ordered mine online from reefcleaners...don't be alarmed if once you place the conch in your tank there is no movement for a week or two....when new, they take a while to wake up and get going it seems...

[@madlos123]

Yeah having space behind the tank is super nice. And yeah when they first came out with the sliding thing with red sea i thought it was a bad idea, looks cool but not practical in real world. About the cheato i also pulled mine out of service 2 weeks ago because my nutrient was getting too low and getting messy with other algae.

[@zburnreefing]

100% agree…the slide out panel a complete failure! My fault completely though…impulse buy and didn’t think it through. My chaeto would literally melt and create this mess of slime…no fun to shop vac out!

[@sbazain]

trying to get Coraline on my rocks is just impossible

[@zburnreefing]

See if you can get some rubble or a piece of rock from an established tank that already has coraline and you’ll be set in a couple months!

[@NorrMoto]

1

[@zachjohnson4657]

sussy intro

[@zburnreefing]

I’ll take that as a compliment