SuncrestReef's Red Sea Reefer XL 425 build

[Flameback Pair]

@SuncrestReef tank looks great !!!! Do you have a dipping protocol for your corals and have you ever dealt with coral pests?

 

[SuncrestReef]

@SuncrestReef tank looks great !!!! Do you have a dipping protocol for your corals and have you ever dealt with coral pests?

Thanks, glad you like the tank!

I dip all new corals in ReVive coral dip for about 15 minutes before placing them in my tank:

MediCoral Coral Dip

Use MediCoral Dip to protect your new coral additions and frags from secondary infections and parasites. Experienced hobbyists are well aware of the delicate nature of the soft tissue that constitutes the living coral polyp, particularly in the case of stony corals. Inspection of a bare stony...

www.marinedepot.com

In December 2018 I lost a lot of corals to brown jelly syndrome. I also have red bugs on several of my SPS corals, but even after a year the corals still seem to be unharmed by them. Here's a macro video I shot of the red bugs last year:

 

[SuncrestReef]

My little Red Sea ATO converted into a refugium has worked out really well. The chaeto grows like crazy. Today I pulled out a bunch the size of a basketball.

 

[SuncrestReef]

My wife & I spent a great weekend away on the Oregon coast at Manzanita. Between my Apex and my webcams aimed at my aquarium, I was able to relax knowing that my reef was safe and healthy. I'm not sure I would be comfortable leaving town without these safeguards!

 

[Flameback Pair]

Wow what a view @SuncrestReef . The Oregon coast is beautiful. I was able to visit Canon Beach of the Oregon coast once during December and we only needed light jackets. When we got back here to Montana just after Christmas it was subzero weather here. Big difference.

 

[xiaoxiy]

Tank loos great! What webcam do you use to monitor your system?

 

[SuncrestReef]

Tank loos great! What webcam do you use to monitor your system?

I'm using a couple of older Foscam units.

 

[SuncrestReef]

About a month ago I noticed a small patch of algae starting to grow from a fork in my WWC Yellow Tips colony. Over the past several weeks, that patch started growing wider and I realized it was losing tissue which gave the algae a foothold.



Today I decided I needed to take some action because the colony was losing tissue faster each day. I managed to salvage about 10 frags ranging from 1" to over 3" and placed them on a frag rack right next to the original colony so the lighting will be similar. I'll keep an eye on these frags and the rest of the colony to see if the damage continues to spread.

Here's a followup on the WWC Yellow Tips tissue loss from a couple weeks ago. The mother colony is looking fine since fragging off the damaged area, and I only lost one of the 10 frags. I also sent in a water sample for ICP analysis and the results didn't reveal anything too far out of desired range:

 

[Toadpapa]

Love this post. very helpful. My 17 year old and I are just starting researching to build something and this thread is exactly the one we are going to follow for guidance. Plus your in the portland area as are we so its nice to have local references
The end goal someday is to have a try at cuttlefish. The 17 year old has been very into them for a few years now. Thanks to a friend we were lucky enough to go behind the scenes of the monterey bay aquarium cuttlefish breeding area and learned a lot. Also made a couple great contacts to ask questions.
But first things first, learn everything we can about saltwater tanks, keeping things alive and thriving. So very excited to follow your build and do the research on what you used. I must say the most intimidating thing for me is figuring out the plumbing if we do go with a mixing station. Anyway just a long rambling post to thank you for your documentation.

 

[SuncrestReef]

Love this post. very helpful. My 17 year old and I are just starting researching to build something and this thread is exactly the one we are going to follow for guidance. Plus your in the portland area as are we so its nice to have local references
The end goal someday is to have a try at cuttlefish. The 17 year old has been very into them for a few years now. Thanks to a friend we were lucky enough to go behind the scenes of the monterey bay aquarium cuttlefish breeding area and learned a lot. Also made a couple great contacts to ask questions.
But first things first, learn everything we can about saltwater tanks, keeping things alive and thriving. So very excited to follow your build and do the research on what you used. I must say the most intimidating thing for me is figuring out the plumbing if we do go with a mixing station. Anyway just a long rambling post to thank you for your documentation.

Glad you liked my build thread! And nice to meet another local reefer. Are you a member of PNWMAS, our local reefing club? If not, check us out at http://pnwmas.org. It's a great way to get to know other local hobbyists.

 

[Rudzbrewski]

Any complaints or feedback on the Aquamaxx reactors for carbon and GFO? I am planning on ordering some for my build. I like that there seems to be an easy mod to convert the reactor to use with standard pvc for a manifold vs the BRS reactors for example.

 

[SuncrestReef]

Any complaints or feedback on the Aquamaxx reactors for carbon and GFO? I am planning on ordering some for my build. I like that there seems to be an easy mod to convert the reactor to use with standard pvc for a manifold vs the BRS reactors for example.

The only thing I'd do differently is to use the smaller size AquaMaxx reactors for this size tank to conserve space in the sump. It turns out I only use about 1/4 of the capacity for my carbon and GFO, so the rest of the reactor is just water space, and their height makes it difficult to access other equipment without removing the reactors.

Other than that, no complaints!

 

[Rudzbrewski]

The only thing I'd do differently is to use the smaller size AquaMaxx reactors for this size tank to conserve space in the sump. It turns out I only use about 1/4 of the capacity for my carbon and GFO, so the rest of the reactor is just water space, and their height makes it difficult to access other equipment without removing the reactors.

Other than that, no complaints!

So for your xl425 you would prefer the XS? I was wondering if the specs would be close enough for this tank size with the major benefit of a much smaller footprint. Thanks for the advice! Glad I asked before purchasing.

 

[SuncrestReef]

So for your xl425 you would prefer the XS? I was wondering if the specs would be close enough for this tank size with the major benefit of a much smaller footprint. Thanks for the advice! Glad I asked before purchasing.

I use BRS Rox 0.8 carbon and BRS High Capacity GFO. Their online calculator recommends 0.7 cups of carbon, and 0.88 cups of GFO for the 112 gallon capacity of the Reefer XL 425. The AquaMaxx XS reactor can hold up to 1.6 cups, so this would be more appropriate than the Standard size which holds up to 6.7 cups.

 

[Rudzbrewski]

I use BRS Rox 0.8 carbon and BRS High Capacity GFO. Their online calculator recommends 0.7 cups of carbon, and 0.88 cups of GFO for the 112 gallon capacity of the Reefer XL 425. The AquaMaxx XS reactor can hold up to 1.6 cups, so this would be more appropriate than the Standard size which holds up to 6.7 cups.

Awesome! Thank you for the info! I didn't even think to check there for the volumes. Learned something new.

 

[Crabby48]

Great looking trip. Thanks for sharing. Having eyes and apex is truly nice when away from the tank.

 

[Shaveen]

Nice cam setup! I kinda had a similar set up a couple of home camera's from Amazon.

 

[PTangYangKipperBang]

Here's the new refugium in place under the cabinet. Everything fits, water is flowing, and no leaks.





I did a quick system shutdown to see where the sump water level ends up after adding the approximately 3 gallons to the refugium. After both the display tank and refugium siphon back into the sump, I have about 1/2" of clearance before overflowing. That's a little too close for comfort to me, so I might look into a check valve or anti-siphon for the refugium. Or perhaps I will adjust my normal sump level a little bit by draining out a couple gallons and lowering my optical sensors for the ATK.
[/QUOT
Love your set up and customizations dude. Forgive me but I am a bit of a newbie. What pump do you use to pump water into the Refugium? Is it pumped up from the skimmer chamber?

 

[SuncrestReef]

Love your set up and customizations dude. Forgive me but I am a bit of a newbie. What pump do you use to pump water into the Refugium? Is it pumped up from the skimmer chamber?

I'm just using a Neptune PMUP in the skimmer chamber powered from the 24v Accessory port on my Apex EB832. Its flow is just right for this small 3.5 gallon refugium.

 

[Desert Darthead]

Wow...not sure what else to say about your tank and the journey the past 2+ years. I've spent the past couple nights up late reading through all 1,000+ posts of this thread.

Bought a used 200 gallon tank and been planning out all the details for the past month while the stand and canopy are being redone. This thread has definitely challenged me to rethink several things (and the budget for all the automation). Definitely need to tackle dome honey dos to get away with the extra spend.

Already able to use this thread to complete my mixing station very similar to yours and planning AWS and ATO from garage to tank, with 12-14' rise and 50+' run and then back down. Ordered 100' 1/4' tubing and 100' aquabus cables as well.

I've been struggling with UV due to dimensions and plumbing. Been planning 2 separate UV's (Aqua Ultraviolet 57 watt), one dialed in on low flow in line with 1 of 2 return pumps and one with separate dedicated pump for high flow. Been struggling with plumbing design trying to have them upright with flow sensors, etc. and able to maintenance. Was glad to see yours with connection at 9 o'clock vs. standard 12 o'clock as they recommend. This would allow me to mount them on the underside of top of stand and not take up so much real estate. I have doors on each end so planned to have one open up to each end for easier maintenance. Would appreciate any feedback on this approach from using yours for the past 2 years.

Thanks again for all the effort and time you have put in to this thread to help educate others. Now need to tackle your Apex tutorials.