Jarhead's Red Sea Reefer 170

[FortLivingRoom]

Day Zero

I was supposed to pickup a used Reefer Nano this morning, but last night I came across this on FB marketplace. Includes upgraded sump, Ecotech M1 return pump, and Ecotech XR15 Pro Gen 4 (no arm or power supply) for $850. I still have an MP10 that hasn't been touched in ten years...hopefully it works!

Still lots to do, aiming for ULM tank, but still pondering whether I need a skimmer or not. It's been 10 years since my last tank which I didn't commit enough time to. I'm a little older with a little more patience, so hopefully after thoughtful planning and patience this will be more successful with less time spent on water changes/top-offs.

Edited Equipment List 1-10-2021:

Tank Red Sea Reefer 170 (34 gallon display)
Sump Proclear Aquatics Freedom 4-in-1 16” Cube (10 gallons @ 9” water level)
Lighting Ecotech Radion XR15 G4 w/Reeflink
Return pump Ecotech Vectra M1 with backup Vectra M1 when it fails.
Controller NeptuneApex with EB832
Doser Neptune DOS
DT Circulation 2x Ecotech Vortech MP10
Heater/Controller Eheim 125W Thermocontrol-E w/Inkbird ITC-306a
Skimmer Tunze 9004 DC
ATO Neptune ATK v2
ATO Reservoir 32g Brute
Saltwater Reservoir 32g Brute
RODI BRS 6-Stage Deluxe Plus 100 GPD
Rock 50lbs Caribsea Liferock (shelf and shapes)
Sand 20lbs Caribsea Special Grade Arag-alive (only used about 10lbs)
Salt Tropic Marin Pro

Cycled using brightwell quickcycl, start XLM, and microbacter7 (14 days)

Current Livestock List as of 5-9-21

Fish
Ocellaris Clownfish x2 (TSM Aquatics)
Firefish (TSM Aquatics)
Orchid Dottyback (Dr. Reef)
Yellow Tang (Biota)

Coral
Jingle Bells Cyphastrea
SPS
Purple Stylophora
Red Montipora
Green Montipora
LPS
Green Torch
Indo Hammer
Red Goniopora
Green Goniopora
Green Candy Cane
Green Duncan
Orange & Green Favia
Orange & Green Favites
Green Favia
Toxic Green & Red Favites
GI Joe Favites x2
Red & Green War Coral Favites
Soft/Shrooms
Green Ricordea Mushroom
Orange w/ Green Mouth Ricordea Mushroom

 

[Reverend Turtle]

Yes, with ULM you want a skimmer.
Good luck!

 

[FortLivingRoom]

Day Two

Started cleaning things today with a 1:5 vinegar:water solution and ordered a bunch of parts. Had to get an arm and bracket for the Ecotech XR15 Pro Gen 4, fortunately the Gen 5 parts are backwards compatible! Trying to figure out what I’m going to put in the sump inside the far right compartment, I guess that’s a refugium? The blue piece moves and can divert more flow to it, then there is a piece screwed in that is removable and would allow flow through a filter media like aqua mesh? I need to do more research on sump functions. Here are before and after of sump...tank still needs to be scraped I’ll do that in the morning after the vinegar has ran a bit.

 

[Reverend Turtle]

I would agree that the chamber can be used as a refugium. It looks like it was designed for multiple purposes. The opposing acrylic shelves are for trickle plates. If used for bio filtration you would remove that piece screwed in so that water could flow through to the return chamber.

 

[SFREEF3R]

Following along! Have you decided what additional equipment you'll get?

 

[FortLivingRoom]

I would agree that the chamber can be used as a refugium. It looks like it was designed for multiple purposes. The opposing acrylic shelves are for trickle plates. If used for bio filtration you would remove that piece screwed in so that water could flow through to the return chamber.

So I was thinking of using MarinePure spheres in chamber 2 and Aquamesh in chamber 3. Should I put anything in chamber 1 or would that just be a bubble trap?

 

[FortLivingRoom]

Day Three
Things will start going a little slower now as I wait on parts. Today I scrubbed the glass after the tank ran with vinegar solution all night, only got 4hrs of sleep Disassembled everything and rinsed with tap water so there wasn’t any residual vinegar to react with the bleach and create chlorine gas. Used a tube brush as best I could to loosen up any biofilms adhered to pipe surfaces. Some I was not able to reach. However, now that the bleach solution is running there is more crud in the tank that I’m hoping is from the biofilms that the bleach sanitized. Everything I read says to use 1/10 bleach or 1:9 bleach solution. But that assumes regular strength bleach. All the store had was concentrated (7.5% vs. 5.25%) so I multiplied the quantity I needed (4.3 gallons) by a factor of 0.7 which came out to exactly 3 gallons Not that I think it would have mattered much, my sump isn’t factory anyways so Anyways, I have to drain the bleach then rinse with water and I’ll let it dry out for a few days and let the sun neutralize any residual chlorine. Then I’ll rinse with RO water once I get that set up.

I definitely don’t think I needed to wait all night to scrape the tank, while it WAS pretty easy, I think letting it run for an hour would have done the same. First pic is before

Following along! Have you decided what additional equipment you'll get?

Right now I’m leaning towards Apex, a DOS for automatic water changes, and an ATK V2. RO and saltwater mix will stay in the garage and will be fed through the wall to the tank. I think I’m gonna do the dual Eheim heaters, but not sure if I can fit two. I was gonna get a curve 5 skimmer, but it won’t fit this sump, so I’m researching that now since I won’t need one for a couple weeks while I cycle.

 

[FortLivingRoom]

Following along! Have you decided what additional equipment you'll get?

Forgot to mention the tank came with a Vectra M1 and an XR 15 Pro Gen4. I also have an MP10 that hasn’t been used in 10 years that I need to test out.

 

[Reverend Turtle]

I wouldn't put anything in chamber 1. Not unless there are a ton of bubbles making it to the return pump. Then I would put a coarse filter sponge in it.

 

[FortLivingRoom]

So I noticed this bubble in my silicone...hoping for the best...will monitor while tank is empty (just filled with water) for 2 weeks.

 

[Reverend Turtle]

Uh-oh!

 

[FortLivingRoom]

Well, this is the most recent pic of the bubble, it moved and expanded some. FORTUNATELY, Red Sea is working with me. The warranty does not transfer owners, and it’s just past the three year mark, but they will provide a replacement tank for $250 instead of a retail price of $620. So it stinks I have to drop more money, but I’m thankful I’ll have the peace of mind of a new tank. Still a bit worried about the stand. It seems sound structurally, but it just makes me wonder if there was an issue with the stand that led to the issue with the tank, who knows? Still waiting to hear back from Red Sea about shipping costs.

 

[Reefacist]

Well, this is the most recent pic of the bubble, it moved and expanded some. FORTUNATELY, Red Sea is working with me. The warranty does not transfer owners, and it’s just past the three year mark, but they will provide a replacement tank for $250 instead of a retail price of $620. So it stinks I have to drop more money, but I’m thankful I’ll have the peace of mind of a new tank. Still a bit worried about the stand. It seems sound structurally, but it just makes me wonder if there was an issue with the stand that led to the issue with the tank, who knows? Still waiting to hear back from Red Sea about shipping costs.

Well bright side you get a brand new display tank.

 

[FortLivingRoom]

Well bright side you get a brand new display tank.

I’m thankful for that, might have thrown in the towel if I had to buy a brand new tank!

So Red Sea gave me a deal on the tank and threw in an extra pair of o-rings. It was going to be $150 for shipping to a business or $200 for shipping to a residence. Fortunately, I’m only 2hrs away from the Houston distribution center. That was a long day! Up at 5:30am for drive to Houston, work from 9-7, and home around 8. Alas, I have the tank, just waiting on fittings to plumb the manifold.

 

[JMac82]

Glad Red Sea came through for you. Sucks you had to stop. Looking forward to seeing the finished product.

 

[FortLivingRoom]

The hits keep coming! Had a guy come by today and bought the damaged tank, so I was getting ready to mount this fresh, new, shiny tank on its stand when I figured I better just check this stand. There was a bit of daylight showing between the left and rear panels, more than the right side. I took the left panel off and noticed there weren’t even cams securing the top corners of the panels!!! Then the plastic that stays inside the panel looks like it isn’t seated all the way. Now I’m no carpenter, but I’m pretty sure that white plastic is supposed to sit flush, so I took a mallet to it. Gonna head to Lowe’s tomorrow for 2 cams.

Since I bought the used tank, stand, sump, pump, and light for $850 I’ve probably dropped at least another $4,000 on other hardware/supplies. The Vectra M1 power supply didn’t work had to buy a replacement of that. I’ve definitely learned one hard lesson through this: no more used equipment.

I guess that’s what happens when you‘ve been out of the hobby this long and don’t know what to look for in used equipment. My fault for not doing more research ahead of the purchase. Either way, it has definitely given me plenty of time to study up on reef chemistry/biotopes. Hopefully it will all be worth the wait.

 

[mar.deezy]

Looking awesome!! Im following along hopefully everything is smooth and steady

 

[FortLivingRoom]

Well, any progress is good progress? Mounted a cabinet light lol.

LED Closet Light,100-LED Dimmer... Amazon product

Also got the new tank out of the packaging after neglected garage maintenance, and put it on the stand. My final plumbing parts should be arriving tomorrow.

I started this journey not even knowing what a manifold is, now I’ve got more ball and gate valves than I know what to do with lol. Also picked up a cheap skimz macroalgae reactor on clearance during the giveaways. I got two RO membranes for free woohoo!!!

Anyways, my brother and mom will be visiting for a week for my daughter’s birthday, and I’ll be on vacation the whole time, so I should be able to make some progress with the free babysitters

 

[FortLivingRoom]

Ok, got the overflow converted and plumbed with 3/4”, and also converted the drain pipe and installed a 1” gate valve. But this manifold is throwing a curveball at me. I have so many different ball and gate valves and unions it’s crazy! Unfortunately, the cabinet is so small and the unions take up so much space I don’t thing I’ll be able to use them like I wanted. This is just rough what I laid out for the manifold. I don’t know where I should put the union on the 1/2” gate valve for reactors. If I put a union before and after the gate valves this manifold is gonna hang down almost 9” from the top of the cabinet. I think I may just put a union between the tee and each gate valve. I’ll also have a 3/4” gate valve on the main trunk right before it goes back into the tank.

 

[tricky_tran]

sounds like an adventure.