Vangvace's Red Sea Max S 650

[vangvace]

A preview...

From left to right: stock emergency drain, modified downpipe, stock return. I was too lazy to put the cap on the ATO container, but this is still a dry fitting run. For the main downpipe Frankenstein: it is a Varios 1 1/4" coupler piece, threaded reducing bushing, thread to slip coupler, and finally the red BRS 1" PVC.

Getting the sump in place took waaaaay longer than I expected. the missing manifold clips is going to be a concern and will either order replacements from Red Sea or the hardware store. I have the flow meter dry fitted and pretty happy with its location.

The red pipes is the rough idea of flow. The Clarisea is hanging off the back of back of the sump. I need to look at more sump water level pictures, but I think it is low enough to work silently with plenty of water pressure. To be added to the red line: gate valve,coupler, and some 45s/90s depending.

The holes in the back cabinet are from the previous tank owner. He ran his sump remotely. He also kept a minifrdge under the stand so the other two holes were for an exhaust fan.

Lastly, the future power center. The black rail is the bottom of the Red Sea power thingy. Two GHL powerbars are going to be mounted on the left side along with @Brew12's extension cord/dual GFCI outlet idea. I foresee 2 more GHL boxes in the fall.

A concern I have is that I plan on using a Geo 612 CaRx in this compartment like @GoVols does and making sure everything safely fits.

More pictures and close-ups to follow, but as always, I value y'alls inputs and help.

 

[GoVols]

A concern I have is that I plan on using a Geo 612 CaRx in this compartment like @GoVols does and making sure everything safely fits.

Yeah,
I got the 612 with the GEO UMC415 for stage two. It fits real nice with my 5 gallon Co2 tank in there. Not sure about your GHL. My Apex Jr. is mounted on it's side to my (inside,back) left panel.

If your GHL fits, since your S-Series power center has been removed, you should be home free.

Thanks for the ping. Your build looks great!!

Freddie

 

[vangvace]

Dry fitted into place.

I have the pipe clips from red Sea on order to fix the wonky dangle angle of the return. The flow meter goes right over the drain with room to spare, though I have some minor tweaking of the drain still to go. The horizontal piece goes upward so I have to check it again once I reach that glue point. Oh, and check out that swanky gate valve!

Last but not least, the obligatory water going in shot. I plan on filling the display half way until the plumbing is complete and then so the circulation pumps can run while I contemplate the aquascape

 

[vangvace]

Time for some glue.

I didn't like the idea of using the red Sea valve, but since it is harder to remove on the max series I will run it wide open and use a gate valve to control things. The top connector is part of a reef octopus union because a standard 1 1/4 doesn't thread properly. From there, it goes into a reducing bushing and 1" threaded to slip. The bottom union connects into...

Here. The other union, PVC pipe, and elbow are dry fit for maintenance purposes and easy of removing the clarisea if need be.

As I am still waiting for things to arrive I am going to shift gears next to routing pumps and cables. Maybe start on the aquascape. I found shelving at the hardware store that fits nicely in the power center side of the cabinet. The width of the GHL products and the length going to the back of the cabinet. I wish I knew the ion director's inputs but that will have to wait for now.

 

[GoVols]

Your roller filter setup, is too cool...

 

[vangvace]

Made a little more progress, but need a small extension for the drill to mount the powerbars. I did decide to mount this on the back of the power station. Each GFCI goes to its own power plug in the wall and my equipment will all come off of this. Debating about putting an outdoor cover on it just to be extra careful.

Nextup is the rough mock-up of the brains of the operation.

Behind the ghl equipment will be 2 of their powerbars mounted vertically. The Fritz box and heater is about the right size for the Geo 612 reactor. It'll be tight, but should fit the 2nd Geo chamber, co2 tank, continuous duty pump, and future ghl stuffs.

 

[vangvace]

Closer....

The remaining rock is still in the garage in various piles waiting for a creative spark. Hoping to have it cemented together tomorrow. I used Marco's e-400 for the first time and it is amazing stuff. Getting the consistency is a little tricky depending on where it was going, similar to thick drywall mud.

Water is up to the circ pumps on the back and 1 is running just to feel like progress progress.
Powerbars are installed in the stand. A heater, Calrisea, and in cabinet lighting ran and labeled.

The return line is technically fully plumbed, but I want to add the AquaUV 25W unit in line and fretting over where to place it. I would like it in sump and on the right side, but... not quite the usable space I need over there. I think in the original drain area might work or where Red Sea wants your media bags to go.

I'm also fretting over the Calcium reactor and GHL placement in the power cabinet. It might be that I am worried about flooding... and knowing that I will flood something. It might also be looking for the "perfect" shelf.

 

[ibondy]

Made a little more progress, but need a small extension for the drill to mount the powerbars. I did decide to mount this on the back of the power station. Each GFCI goes to its own power plug in the wall and my equipment will all come off of this. Debating about putting an outdoor cover on it just to be extra careful.

Nextup is the rough mock-up of the brains of the operation.

Behind the ghl equipment will be 2 of their powerbars mounted vertically. The Fritz box and heater is about the right size for the Geo 612 reactor. It'll be tight, but should fit the 2nd Geo chamber, co2 tank, continuous duty pump, and future ghl stuffs.

Great job! I took my power panel out to gain more space as I am using Apex to control my equipment. Most of my controllers are on the right wall and dosing pumps are on the left wall with plenty of room for dosing fluids in the middle.

 

[PanchoG]

I do not know how I missed your thread, your tank is really nice! Following along from now on.

 

[vangvace]

Busy days and sandstorms...

I ordered a Sicce ADV 7.0 to replace my failing return pump. It is the same gph, but rumor has it handles head pressure better.

Next up for the sump is securing the upper portion of the UV, controller probe installation/calibration, and transfer of liverock over from my 10 gallon to the old return chamber. The gate valve is amazing for tuning flow!

It took a little bit of fiddling to get the motor to pull the filter fleece, but I sum that up to operator error and is now working like a champ. Quiet too.

Last up, it is cycling and I have light power cables to run.

 

[ibondy]

Great job on the sump. I would recommend you raise up your Clarisea, I found out that more you have roll in the water, faster you will use it. I put egg crate into middle compartment and put Clarisea on the top. Getting 4-6 weeks on the roll.

 

[vangvace]

@ibondy I might do that after the first roll. Mine is in the same section but a inch or two more submerged that yours. The bottom most bolt is where your egg crate would sit.

Thursday I dosed about 9 oz or so of Fritz turbostart 900 and some Dr Tim's ammonia. Friday I splashed a little more of both.

Sunday evening I am transfer 9 pounds of liverock from my 10g nano that I ordered from KP Aquatics 7 months ago.

I have more turbostart, phyto, and pods coming from @AlgaeBarn. Between their sale and veteran discount it will be a great start to the tank. I also took advantage of aquarium depot's BOGO sale on pods as well.

It is a start to the microfauna but I am still looking for more. My favorite rock I ever used was chocked full of small feather dusters and micro brittle stars. The rock in my 30g isn't being transferred. Something was always off with it and overgrow with bristle worms so I will trade it into the lfs.

 

[vangvace]

Slow going on the cycle front. I am ghost feeding a bit for the pods and transfered more of the liverock over.

I happen to catch a brs video that there was 20% off most in store items not MAP priced and... I have a Nyos 160 coming on an impulse.

 

[AZMSGT]

I saw that BRS 20% off Video too. Everything I added to my cart didn't qualify for the 20% off, so I didn't buy anything. BTW Tank is looking good.

Something in an older post of your said you would be needing a part. Just an FYI, you don't have to order direct from Red Sea for parts. I would actually suggest avoiding buying from Red Sea. Their shipping rate is NUTS! What's funny is Red Sea actually told me to try to shop at aquariumpart.com when they where out of stock on some stuff. The shipping rate from them was much better. Marineandreef.com owns aquariumpart.com so when you get notifications on items ordered it has their name on it.

 

[vangvace]

I saw that BRS 20% off Video too. Everything I added to my cart didn't qualify for the 20% off, so I didn't buy anything. BTW Tank is looking good.

Something in an older post of your said you would be needing a part. Just an FYI, you don't have to order direct from Red Sea for parts. I would actually suggest avoiding buying from Red Sea. Their shipping rate is NUTS! What's funny is Red Sea actually told me to try to shop at aquariumpart.com when they where out of stock on some stuff. The shipping rate from them was much better. Marineandreef.com owns aquariumpart.com so when you get notifications on items ordered it has their name on it.

Yeah, I ordered the drain pipes from red Sea directly, but the manifold clips came from marineandreef via Amazon for shipping reasons.


For a tank update, next week at the earliest to transfer fish over.

I almost have my kessils wired up. I had a kessils 1-10v cable to Apex that I cut the Apex plug off of, but the small thin strained wires were giving me fits. I ordered the kessils cable to digital aquatics and cut the pins out of the connectors. Pictures to follow

 

[vangvace]

Can you tell when I started running my UV? I'm getting too close to 82 degrees for my liking before I install my skimmer. Time to buy a fan...

 

[GoVols]

Time to buy a fan...

Teco Tank TK-2000 Aquarium Chiller

For Medium Sized Aquariums - 130 to 500 Gallons Efficient Cooling Technology Internationally-recognized high-end compressors and titanium coaxial heat exchangers provide high performance, low energy consumption and low noise levels. Digital Thermostat Intuitive controller with accurate...

www.aquariumspecialty.com

 

[vangvace]

Teco Tank TK-2000 Aquarium Chiller

For Medium Sized Aquariums - 130 to 500 Gallons Efficient Cooling Technology Internationally-recognized high-end compressors and titanium coaxial heat exchangers provide high performance, low energy consumption and low noise levels. Digital Thermostat Intuitive controller with accurate...

www.aquariumspecialty.com

Spoken like someone with that Abyss money.

A fan worked on the sump. Uncontrolled on high speed overnight drove the tank temps down to room temperature. Might decide on a chiller anyways though

 

[SPR1968]

Spoken like someone with that Abyss money.

A fan worked on the sump. Uncontrolled on high speed overnight drove the tank temps down to room temperature. Might decide on a chiller anyways though

Teco have a newer version of that certainly in Europe so might be worth checking it.

It’s the TK2000e R290 and it’s 50% more efficient and I’m about to order one.

 

[vangvace]

Alright, so still swinging in temps a bit, but I have been busy with other things to program a fan this past week. However, a 5 day trip to Michigan was great and let me know I can go about a week comfortably on the built in ATO.

Yesterday I picked up a proper wire stripper and wired up my Kessils to the controller. The pods I added are having a blast in the tank playing in the flow... At least until this weekend when I transfer the fishes.

Still to order this week is cable management stuffs