Broadfield's Red Sea Reefer 450 Build - OCD Inspired... Going Back To a Reef
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- Thread starter Broadfield
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@Broadfield any updates?
Just finished reading the thread
Ur attention to detail and fabrication skills are amazing.
I truly enjoyed reading the thread until the end.
I am sorry for ur loss.
The build thread was inspirational and the pictures were fantastic.
Thanks for sharing.
Can’t wait to see what u do next
Best of luck!
Ur attention to detail and fabrication skills are amazing.
I truly enjoyed reading the thread until the end.
I am sorry for ur loss.
The build thread was inspirational and the pictures were fantastic.
Thanks for sharing.
Can’t wait to see what u do next
Best of luck!
OP
OP
As @BigMo noted, I sold my entire sump/plumbing/reactor setup, skimmer etc. I am officially done having a reef tank until further notice. I was running the Triton Method for about six months with mega success... like the best success I had ever had. Until I wasn't having success lol. Tank took a dive again and I couldn't recover it. So I tossed in the reefing towel for now. I will be back at some point... hopefully with a larger tank.
But there's no reason to let a perfectly good Reefer 450 go to waste. So I am changing it up a bit. As noted, I ditched all of the plumbing, sump, skimmer, reactors etc. I completely ripped out my Apex display and am building something new/different to house it... to match the new green theme. I'm sure some of you already know where I am going with this. Like a lot of us, I started with freshwater tanks and always loved a planted tank. But I was young and never put forth much effort into keeping a decent planted setup. Back then, Co2 injection wasn't even a thing, unless it was DIY with a 2 liter bottle lol. So I decided I wanted to get back to my roots, pun intended, and build a really killer planted tank. Reuse the 450, reuse the Apex system, reuse my DOSs and so on. I am obviously going for the green theme now instead of the old orange setup. This is what I have so far...
I will be using one of my DOS to do automatic water changes throughout the day. I will be adding black John Guest 1/4" bulkheads on the top, left side of the sump and heat bending 1/4" acrylic tubes to lead out of the bulkheads and down the left side of the sump, hugging it pretty tightly. They will drop down to a bulkhead plate that leads out the bottom of the stand and disappear into the basement. I will have additional matching hard tubes that will also lead to the basement for dosing fertilizers.
I am reusing my Giesemann Spectra and running Hamilton 6500k 250 watt bulbs. I added a Pentair UV sterilizer and fabricated a custom CO2 diffuser. The planted style I am shooting for is a combination of Dutch and Iwagumi. I have my soil and hardscape already in, but will post pictures of that later once there's some green stuff in there.
But there's no reason to let a perfectly good Reefer 450 go to waste. So I am changing it up a bit. As noted, I ditched all of the plumbing, sump, skimmer, reactors etc. I completely ripped out my Apex display and am building something new/different to house it... to match the new green theme. I'm sure some of you already know where I am going with this. Like a lot of us, I started with freshwater tanks and always loved a planted tank. But I was young and never put forth much effort into keeping a decent planted setup. Back then, Co2 injection wasn't even a thing, unless it was DIY with a 2 liter bottle lol. So I decided I wanted to get back to my roots, pun intended, and build a really killer planted tank. Reuse the 450, reuse the Apex system, reuse my DOSs and so on. I am obviously going for the green theme now instead of the old orange setup. This is what I have so far...
I will be using one of my DOS to do automatic water changes throughout the day. I will be adding black John Guest 1/4" bulkheads on the top, left side of the sump and heat bending 1/4" acrylic tubes to lead out of the bulkheads and down the left side of the sump, hugging it pretty tightly. They will drop down to a bulkhead plate that leads out the bottom of the stand and disappear into the basement. I will have additional matching hard tubes that will also lead to the basement for dosing fertilizers.
I am reusing my Giesemann Spectra and running Hamilton 6500k 250 watt bulbs. I added a Pentair UV sterilizer and fabricated a custom CO2 diffuser. The planted style I am shooting for is a combination of Dutch and Iwagumi. I have my soil and hardscape already in, but will post pictures of that later once there's some green stuff in there.
Gorgeous Toby! Happy to see you back in the fold. I was into planted tanks back in the day....love the Iwagumi style and scapes....looking forward to seeing this develop.
Cheers
Carlos
Cheers
Carlos
Thank you for keeping us updated, I’m glad to see you post again, I have learned so much from your thread, it has so much great ideas. Hope to see you around more often. Happy planting [emoji271]
Where can we follow your progress with the planted tank? Hopefully on this thread but please let us know if it is elsewhere as very interested to see how it turns out [emoji1303]
Paul
Paul
OP
OP
Thanks guys, I will update this thread as I have done in the past. Planted forums seem to be pretty lame compared to R2R.
OP
OP
Yes, much more forgiving. However, with halides and Co2 injection, I'll be trimming VERY often. So it will actually be more work.
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Best Planted tank forum is https://www.ukaps.org/forum/ started by George Farmer years ago now.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC210QPUiYoCjm9IEuu5SHLQ
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC210QPUiYoCjm9IEuu5SHLQ
Do you have a thread somewhere for it, I’m a huge high tech planted fan. I tore mine down when I moved and haven’t set it back up
OP
OP
Thank you sir... I already happened to follow the Youtube channel, but I didn't know about the forum!
I will once the water clears back up.
You are looking at it! I will probably just continue update this thread.
Great, what lighting are you using, any concerns about CO2 loss with the sump or will you plan on using the apex to inject more CO2 based on potential loss
Len
OP
OP
I am reusing my Giesemann Spectra. Which gives me a total of four 4ft T5s and two MH SE bulbs. To start off with, I am running two 250-watt Hamilton 6500K MH bulbs and nothing in the T5 slots. I am also dimming the MH bulbs as low as they will go to start off.
For CO2, I built a large, custom CO2 diffuser. It's the large assembly at the front, left of the stand. The main feed out of the return pump goes into the top of it, the CO2 is injected about a 1/3 of the way down. The principle is that the CO2 bubbles will rise, as the inlet is pushing water downward... that alone should diffuse most of it. It will also be filled with bio balls for the sole purpose of diffusing anything that is left.
I’m excited to follow along, can’t wait to hear how you do your nutrients and with all your automation doing the large water changes tht are typically needed for a good high tech planted tank can be automatic. I use to do 50% weekly changes as I followed the EI “estimative index” approach.
https://greenleafaquariums.com/glan...zer-estimative-index-ei-fertilization-method/
GLA is a great place for CO2 equipment and nutrients
Len
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