Red Sea Reefer XXL 625

[matthias_bln]

Hi all,

Here we go. Another build thread.

My daughter got a freshwater tank from her godparents in September and after messing with "her" tank for a month to make it look a little more like something I am willing to look at daily, I decided (as in my wife told me) that I should rather have my own tank vs. messing with hers. Little did my wife know what this "accidental okay" would mean.

I grew up with freshwater tanks and I don't ever remember thinking about saltwater growing up, however - the nerd I am - I started venturing into some reef YouTube channels a few months ago and got hooked. Many (many!!) hours later I was through all of the BRS series and a good chunk of other folks content and started ordering bits and pieces here and there.

Here are the big decisions I made:

1. Red Sea Reefer 625 XXL.
The biggest one I can fit comfortably and - knowing me - I rather go big from the start. Once I regret the whole thing, it at least won't be because of the size ;-)

2. APEX everywhere.
I work in tech and part of the fascination with saltwater tanks is the combination of technology and, well, life. I will most likely go absolutely overboard on the gadget-side of things and surely rely way to much on it, but hey, that's what I chose (yep, there is an ApexEL on my daughters freshwater tank).

3. Automatic Water Changes via Neptune DOS.
Carrying buckets of saltwater across our wood floors and through my kids play area might not be a successful path to keeping a happy marriage.

4. RO/DI and Mixing Station in the Garage.
The big question here was not the Mixing Station, but rather how I connect to water and waste lines for RO/DI. While I first thought of the laundry room upstairs, I was not liking the mental acrobatics to think through how I would get the water into the garage. Eventually I just decided to hook the RO/DI into the water heater cold water and emergency drain lines. And yes, I really thought it through.

5. Quarantine tanks for (a) fish and (b) invertebrates and coral.
I better try hard to stick to the hobby for a while. I'm quite certain that I will encounter tons of issue while learning, however avoidable pests in the display tank should ideally be not one of them. Two additional tanks and the setup I'm thinking of are also costly, however in my mind it's worth it.

That's it for now. The mixing station is already up and running and I'll follow up with a more detailed post and photos shortly.

 

[El_Guapo13]

Hi all,

Here we go. Another build thread.

My daughter got a freshwater tank from her godparents in September and after messing with "her" tank for a month to make it look a little more like something I am willing to look at daily, I decided (as in my wife told me) that I should rather have my own tank vs. messing with hers. Little did my wife know what this "accidental okay" would mean.

I grew up with freshwater tanks and I don't ever remember thinking about saltwater growing up, however - the nerd I am - I started venturing into some reef YouTube channels a few months ago and got hooked. Many (many!!) hours later I was through all of the BRS series and a good chunk of other folks content and started ordering bits and pieces here and there.

Here are the big decisions I made:

1. Red Sea Reefer 625 XXL.
The biggest one I can fit comfortably and - knowing me - I rather go big from the start. Once I regret the whole thing, it at least won't be because of the size ;-)

2. APEX everywhere.
I work in tech and part of the fascination with saltwater tanks is the combination of technology and, well, life. I will most likely go absolutely overboard on the gadget-side of things and surely rely way to much on it, but hey, that's what I chose (yep, there is an ApexEL on my daughters freshwater tank).

3. Automatic Water Changes via Neptune DOS.
Carrying buckets of saltwater across our wood floors and through my kids play area might not be a successful path to keeping a happy marriage.

4. RO/DI and Mixing Station in the Garage.
The big question here was not the Mixing Station, but rather how I connect to water and waste lines for RO/DI. While I first thought of the laundry room upstairs, I was not liking the mental acrobatics to think through how I would get the water into the garage. Eventually I just decided to hook the RO/DI into the water heater cold water and emergency drain lines. And yes, I really thought it through.

5. Quarantine tanks for (a) fish and (b) invertebrates and coral.
I better try hard to stick to the hobby for a while. I'm quite certain that I will encounter tons of issue while learning, however avoidable pests in the display tank should ideally be not one of them. Two additional tanks and the setup I'm thinking of are also costly, however in my mind it's worth it.

That's it for now. The mixing station is already up and running and I'll follow up with a more detailed post and photos shortly.

Welcome to R2R!!! I actually made the decision to start a saltwater tank after I had gotten into watching saltwater youtubers and so a year ago(almost literally as it was last November) I bought a tank and stand for a 16 Gallon Biocube (at a huge discount as the LFS was sadly closing down for good). Now, my tank looks like this:
Front

Right side

Left side

Can't wait to see what your (much larger) tank looks like a year from now!!

 

[matthias_bln]

Thanks, @El_Guapo13! Looks great! We'll see where I land

Maybe to add more context, here's the rather large and way-to-expensive list of equipment I either already have sitting here or is on the way to be delivered within the next days:

RO/DI Corner
1x BRS 7 Stage Pro Plus RO/DI
1x Aquatec Booster Pump
1x Apex EB832
2x Apex FMM (one for flow meters, one for leak sensors)

Mixing Station
2x 65 Gallon Norwesco tanks
1x BRS 300 Watt heater
1x BRS 200 Watt heater (the 300 was out of stock and 200 also works well)
2x Hydor Koralia Powerheads (2450 GPH - for mixing salt and distributing heat).
1x Iwaki MD-55RLT Pump
1x EB832
1x Apex PM1
1x Apex PM2
2x Apex FMM (one for Neptune optical sensors - which didn't work out (more later), one for leak sensors)
2x Avast Marine breakout boxes for Neptune (one for float switches, one to manually switch things on/off)

Quarantine Tanks (Garage)
2x Nuvo 20
2x EcoTech VorTech MP10
2x Sicce Synchra Silent pumps to replace the MightyJet pumps the Nuvo comes with
4x Cobalt Neotherm 100 heaters (the garage is cold and I definitely don't want anyone to freeze ;-))
2x Tunze 3155 ATO
1x Radion XR15 G4 Pro (for the coral quarantine to match display)
1x Fluval Aquasky LED (for fish quarantine)
1x Apex PM1
1x Apex PM2
1x Apex Autofeeder
1x Apex EB832

Display Tank (Family Room)
1x Red Sea Reefer 625 XXL
140lb of Marco rock, including shelf and foundation rock
1x ClariSea SK-5000
1x Reef Octopus Elite 200SSS
1x Torq Media Dock + Reactor 1.0 (for Carbon)
4x EcoTech Radion XR15 G4 Pro
1x Kessil H160 (refugium light)
2x 300 Watt heaters (still have to decide on those)
1x Neptune COR 20 (as return pump)
2x EcoTech Vortech MP60
2x EcoTech Vortech MP40
2x Apex EB832
1x Apex Trident
1x Apex WXM
1x Apex FMM
1x Apex Breakout Box
3x Neptune DOS (for automatic water changes, dosing)

I'm sure I forgot something, but that's the list of bigger things I kept track of. Almost everything is going to be here by end of week.

 

[DMG Reef]

You've got my attention! Definitely following your build!

Welcome to R2R!

 

[Scurvy]

Sounds like a good time to me, I'm in!

 

[AZMSGT]

Looks like one heck of a set up.
Just an FYI, don’t waste money on heaters in your AWC and ATO tanks. Such small amounts of water will be exchanged that it won’t effect your main tank at all.

Also no need for powerheads in mixing station. Just use PVC and direct water in a circle pattern inside. This method uses the main transfer pump to stir water.

like this

 

[matthias_bln]

Looks like one heck of a set up.
Just an FYI, don’t waste money on heaters in your AWC and ATO tanks. Such small amounts of water will be exchanged that it won’t effect your main tank at all.

Thanks for your feedback! That angle totally makes sense. However - here's why I decided on the heaters in the tanks:

1. RO/DI Tank - I am using water from the tank also for our freshwater tank (after adding minerals and trace elements back) and and the cold water was having a significant impact on the little 20 gallon planted tank. Now I get 78 degree-water out of the tank and by the time it gets into the planted tank, it's still at a nice 70+ degrees.

2. Saltwater Tank - After watching BRS Investigate, I am fairly convinced that heating the tank is helpful to keep the parameters in the saltwater where they need to be. Maybe not a must, but it won't hurt.

3. Powerheads - I started without a power head in the RO/DI tank and heating took forever. Once I added the Hydor, the water was heating well - therefore I just keep it in there for now. On the salt-side I did actually go with the setup you proposed, but as I want to keep the water going also for heating-purposes, I figured that the powerhead was still a good idea.

Thanks,
Matthias

 

[AZMSGT]

Thanks for your feedback! That angle totally makes sense. However - here's why I decided on the heaters in the tanks:

1. RO/DI Tank - I am using water from the tank also for our freshwater tank (after adding minerals and trace elements back) and and the cold water was having a significant impact on the little 20 gallon planted tank. Now I get 78 degree-water out of the tank and by the time it gets into the planted tank, it's still at a nice 70+ degrees.

2. Saltwater Tank - After watching BRS Investigate, I am fairly convinced that heating the tank is helpful to keep the parameters in the saltwater where they need to be. Maybe not a must, but it won't hurt.

Thanks,
Matthias

If your going to daily water changes at 2g per day. Most people will spread that out through the day. So 0.67g every 8 hrs will get changed in a system that is about 160g will not have any effect on water temp on a well circulated system. Also keep in mind that that water is getting pumped in over about 20-40min. Again a very slow rate..

 

[AZMSGT]

Also noticed you want to run a Torq and a Reef Oct 200.. since you are going to run a Fuge you will need to fit both of the above in the same space of the sump. It’s gonna be very tight. You might want to look at a different option for the Carbon.

 

[matthias_bln]

If your going to daily water changes at 2g per day. Most people will spread that out through the day. So 0.67g every 8 hrs will get changed in a system that is about 160g will not have any effect on water temp on a well circulated system. Also keep in mind that that water is getting pumped in over about 20-40min. Again a very slow rate..

Yep, not arguing with that. I don't expect any benefit to heating when doing the AWC.

For storing the water though, there are two videos I got my knowledge from:

1. How long will premixed saltwater storage last with heat and circulation? | BRStv Investigates - it's a good idea to heat and mix the salt when mixing.

2. Do you really need heat and flow in your saltwater mixing station? | BRStv Investigates - yes, it's also a good idea to store salt heated.

I also will use the saltwater to do larger water changes in the QT tanks. For this purpose it might be beneficial to have it already heated.

Matthias

 

[matthias_bln]

Also noticed you want to run a Torq and a Reef Oct 200.. since you are going to run a Fuge you will need to fit both of the above in the same space of the sump. It’s gonna be very tight. You might want to look at a different option for the Carbon.

Yeah. I feared something like that. I will need to wait for the tank to be here to figure that out. I do have my home office on the other side of the wall and could potentially build an external refugium, but that does sound like a project I might not want to tackle immediately. Are you happy with your algae scrubber?

 

[AZMSGT]

Yep, not arguing with that. I don't expect any benefit to heating when doing the AWC.

For storing the water though, there are two videos I got my knowledge from:

1. How long will premixed saltwater storage last with heat and circulation? | BRStv Investigates - it's a good idea to heat and mix the salt when mixing.

2. Do you really need heat and flow in your saltwater mixing station? | BRStv Investigates - yes, it's also a good idea to store salt heated.

Matthias

I have seen those, I agree on mixing it once in a while but the heating isn’t really needed. But let me say I think it would also depend on the Salt you use too. I use Tropic Marine Pro so I don’t really worry about it. A cheaper salt.. Not so much. Take a look at the BRS videos on salt mixes. It might help with where I’m coming from.

 

[AZMSGT]

Yeah. I feared something like that. I will need to wait for the tank to be here to figure that out. I do have my home office on the other side of the wall and could potentially build an external refugium, but that does sound like a project I might not want to tackle immediately. Are you happy with your algae scrubber?

It does the job, I have had to clean it a couple times. As my tank continues to mature the algae is doing it’s thing. Still though.. my tank is young.

 

[matthias_bln]

I have seen those, I agree on mixing it once in a while but the heating isn’t really needed. But let me say I think it would also depend on the Salt you use too. I use Tropic Marine Pro so I don’t really worry about it. A cheaper salt.. Not so much. Take a look at the BRS videos on salt mixes. It might help with where I’m coming from.

I did decide on Tropic Marine Pro as well and have two buckets here already. So maybe I will re-think my approach. I could re-purpose the 300 watt heater for the DT..

 

[esther]

Hi all,

Here we go. Another build thread.

My daughter got a freshwater tank from her godparents in September and after messing with "her" tank for a month to make it look a little more like something I am willing to look at daily, I decided (as in my wife told me) that I should rather have my own tank vs. messing with hers. Little did my wife know what this "accidental okay" would mean.

I grew up with freshwater tanks and I don't ever remember thinking about saltwater growing up, however - the nerd I am - I started venturing into some reef YouTube channels a few months ago and got hooked. Many (many!!) hours later I was through all of the BRS series and a good chunk of other folks content and started ordering bits and pieces here and there.

Here are the big decisions I made:

1. Red Sea Reefer 625 XXL.
The biggest one I can fit comfortably and - knowing me - I rather go big from the start. Once I regret the whole thing, it at least won't be because of the size ;-)

2. APEX everywhere.
I work in tech and part of the fascination with saltwater tanks is the combination of technology and, well, life. I will most likely go absolutely overboard on the gadget-side of things and surely rely way to much on it, but hey, that's what I chose (yep, there is an ApexEL on my daughters freshwater tank).

3. Automatic Water Changes via Neptune DOS.
Carrying buckets of saltwater across our wood floors and through my kids play area might not be a successful path to keeping a happy marriage.

4. RO/DI and Mixing Station in the Garage.
The big question here was not the Mixing Station, but rather how I connect to water and waste lines for RO/DI. While I first thought of the laundry room upstairs, I was not liking the mental acrobatics to think through how I would get the water into the garage. Eventually I just decided to hook the RO/DI into the water heater cold water and emergency drain lines. And yes, I really thought it through.

5. Quarantine tanks for (a) fish and (b) invertebrates and coral.
I better try hard to stick to the hobby for a while. I'm quite certain that I will encounter tons of issue while learning, however avoidable pests in the display tank should ideally be not one of them. Two additional tanks and the setup I'm thinking of are also costly, however in my mind it's worth it.

That's it for now. The mixing station is already up and running and I'll follow up with a more detailed post and photos shortly.

Looking forward to following along.

 

[AZMSGT]

I did decide on Tropic Marine Pro as well and have two buckets here already. So maybe I will re-think my approach. I could re-purpose the 300 watt heater for the DT..

I’m full of suggestions, save the Tropic Marin for future water changes. Use a cheaper salt to fill and cycle the tank. Instant Ocean is a good start up salt.

Here’s a shot of the Skimmer you are looking at in the sump. I just installed it today.

 

[45ZoaGarden]

Better to use two heaters in the dt than one heater. It gives you a fail save. Heating the salt water is pointless. Once it gets into your tank, the small amount of cold will be dispersed and your heaters will compensate. No need to waste money on heating water that will get reheated once it gets into your main tank. Also agree that your reactor and skimmer compartment is going to be tight with that oversized skimmer and rectors. You should check out external ones like the reef octopus or aquamaxx.

 

[matthias_bln]

Better to use two heaters in the dt than one heater. It gives you a fail save. Heating the salt water is pointless. Once it gets into your tank, the small amount of cold will be dispersed and your heaters will compensate. No need to waste money on heating water that will get reheated once it gets into your main tank. Also agree that your reactor and skimmer compartment is going to be tight with that oversized skimmer and rectors. You should check out external ones like the reef octopus or aquamaxx.

Absolutely. I will have two heaters in the DT. I am planning on 2x300 watt, however was just saying above that I might repurpose the one from the saltwater tank for the DT. We'll see.

I'll re-think my plans for the sump when the tank is here. Tough to make decisions without seeing it in front of me

 

[matthias_bln]

Here are some photos of the current status of RO/DI Corner and Mixing Station. Needs some clean-up, but it's a work-in-progress.

Each of the tanks has a low and high float switch. On the RO/DI side this is used to shut on and off the RO/DI valve. On the Salt and RO/DI side it also does start/stop the heater & powerheads if water gets above/below the low switch.

The DOS is going to be used for the automatic water change. It's sitting here (a) because no one minds the noise in the garage and (b) because the waste line will be just a few feet away. RO/DI Corner and Mixing Station are about 15 feet from each other on opposite ends of my garage. Water lines to the DT will run from the garage through my home office into the family room.

 

[45ZoaGarden]

Oh no! You’ve dropped the apex brain!!!