Red Sea XL425 after 20+ years without a tank!

[Requin]

My project has begun, let the fun begin!

Night one:
- paid for the aquarium, which prompted a call from the bank checking on my sanity

- brought it home but was too heavy for wimps who live with me. Recruited a friend but lost a beer in the process. R.I.P. my last IPA

- sorted parts, thinking this company is high on something. These all look like IKEA parts and my nightstand falls apart when I set my phone on it. How is this thing going to hold 1000lbs?

- stand was built, still questioning this structure.

- lifted tank onto the stand, me on one end and the other four lifting the other end. Wimps.

- it’s 1am, I think we are done. I’ll post in the morning.

 

[P-Dub]

WooHoo! 20 years is a long time. Their stands do seem as wimpy as your helpers.

Take your time as you progress. It's been 20 years... What're a few more months?

 

[Requin]

WooHoo! 20 years is a long time. Their stands do seem as wimpy as your helpers.

Take your time as you progress. It's been 20 years... What're a few more months?

Eager to see something living but know the value of patience. Working on the aquascape today, should have new pictures tonight!

 

[PanchoG]

Great! looking forward for the next steps.

 

[Requin]

Almost done with the rock. One more piece to connect tonight and then place in tank.

 

[PanchoG]

Almost done with the rock. One more piece to connect tonight and then place in tank.

The video doesn’t seem to be available.

 

[Zakery Murray]

Following along for the narrating alone...

 

[Requin]

The video doesn’t seem to be available.

Sorry, tried to upload it and that clearly failed.

Here it is:

 

[PanchoG]

Nice aquascape!

 

[Requin]

This is getting real!
Life lesson kids: don’t drink and glue.
The hair on my arm, and attached skin, should grow back right?

Not that I care, building this was fun!! The sand makes it so much more real. I have 30 gallons of water mixed and ready and 55 gallons of RODI on hand. I’ll get the dry-side finished and water should be moving today!

Celebrated this step with a whiskey

 

[Requin]

It’s not midnight and I have water in the tank and sump and have tuned the overflow!
Time to drink, and maybe add some bacteria?!?

 

[SuncrestReef]

- it’s 1am, I think we are done. I’ll post in the morning.

View attachment 2108993

Did they forget the cabinet floor panel??? Hopefully you found and installed it before filling the tank, but none of your followup photos revealed it.

Nice tank! I've had my XL 425 for 3 years now.

 

[Requin]

Did they forget the cabinet floor panel??? Hopefully you found and installed it before filling the tank, but none of your followup photos revealed it.

Nice tank! I've had my XL 425 for 3 years now.

I did find the two floor panels. Thanks! How's your tank after 3 years? Any issues?

 

[SuncrestReef]

I did find the two floor panels. Thanks! How's your tank after 3 years? Any issues?

Structurally the tank and stand have been perfect. Unfortunately, I had a crash recently due to high nutrients, so I just tore it down to clean and rebuild, with a new larger sump including a roller mat to help with filtration.

My original Reefer XL425 build thread here:

Build Thread - SuncrestReef's Red Sea Reefer XL 425 build

Tank status as of Oct 2019: (original build thread begins below: ) --- After months of planning, I'm finally ready to start my official build thread. This will be my first aquarium, so please be patient with me as I'm completely new to this hobby. A couple weeks ago I first joined R2R and...

www.reef2reef.com

My current Reefer XL425 rebuild thread here:

Build Thread - SuncrestReef's Reefer XL 425 Rebuild

In February 2018 I started the original build of my Red Sea Reefer XL 425, and it was a very successful tank up until mid-summer 2020 when I started losing some SPS corals. Over a period of several months, I lost many more corals, including whole colonies. My nutrient levels were higher than I...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Requin]

Finished getting cords routed and plugged in!
Doors are on the wannabe-IKEA stand and it seems to be holding up!

Tomorrow I’ll start dosing bacteria and daily testing. In 6-8 weeks fish probably. I need to figure out this ATO. We will be gone seven days and not sure what to do yet.

Cheers fellow reef-addicts!

 

[Requin]

A few days into the cycle. Ammonia has risen, no signs of Nitrite or Nitrate. Seeding bacteria with bottle from LFS. Back when I did this it was all about stealing a bag of sand from the beach. Guess we will see how this goes.

Question friends, should I bother testing phosphates or just wait for Dia and algae to grow and then worry about combating it? I’ll run a refuge with Chaeto but figured that would come when I add my first fish maybe.

No lights on the tank. Trying to keep algae at bay and fish don’t care. Plus I’m not sure what to get yet anyways.

I did light the dungeon that is the sump area. I’ll wire in a pressure switch so it turns on and off when opened and closed.

 

[PanchoG]

Good progress, no need for phosphates testing IMO, simply not relevant yet.

 

[Requin]

Cycle is going, although the wheel is off center. Very high Ammonia but a little Nitrite and hardly any Nitrate. More than two weeks I’m really hoping the Ammonia will decrease.

So while I wait I think about future fish. Here is where I am right now. Chime in, tell me what’s wrong.

 

[PanchoG]

Nice list, I see two issues, the emperor angel and the hummer trigger both need a larger tank and are not reef compatible.

I love the hummer triggerfish they absolutely beautiful though.

 

[Requin]

Nice list, I see two issues, the emperor angel and the hummer trigger both need a larger tank and are not reef compatible.

I love the hummer triggerfish they absolutely beautiful though.

I like it as well, guess I’ll have to wait until I upgrade.
LFS said the angel gets 8”-12” and would be fine. I’ll challenge them on it. Thanks for the advice.