Whip’s Red Sea Reefer XXL 750 Hybrid Bare Bottom Build

[Devaji]

I had been asking for help over in the Aquascape Forum and I got some great advice... another reason I love this community. The input I got over there really helped make the scape better.

Cementing starts today, so let me know what you guys think... there is still some time to make changes.

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And a YouTube video to help get a sense of depth...


Let me know what you think!

I think that is one of the best BB scapes I have every seen. I think it's gonna look so amazing when you get some growth on it.
excited to see it come together over the next year...or less if you have deep pockets and buy colonies...lol

 

[Whip]

I think that is one of the best BB scapes I have every seen. I think it's gonna look so amazing when you get some growth on it.
excited to see it come together over the next year...or less if you have deep pockets and buy colonies...lol

Thanks Devaji. It means a lot coming from you. I also appreciate your help (among several others).

Next week (traveling on business this week) I will rinse three gallons of MarinePure Spheres, land them in the sump, and fill it with saltwater.

Here is the final “dry” full tank shot.

 

[Devaji]

Thanks Devaji. It means a lot coming from you. I also appreciate your help (among several others).

Next week (traveling on business this week) I will rinse three gallons of MarinePure Spheres, land them in the sump, and fill it with saltwater.

Here is the final “dry” full tank shot.

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love it!!!

and man every time I see inside your stand makes me wish I painted mine...or that we did no need to even more.
hmm wonder if some killz and semi glass white paint would do the trick? maybe with some sanding 1st? i'll have to go back and see what you used on yours now is the time to do it if I am going to...

 

[Devaji]

Busy day today...

First, let me say I am not a painter, but my OCD ways help out a bit.

I’ve been watching a lot of builds and I knew RSR XXL 750’s came with a black interior. I’m not a fan. I am sure it is a method to reduce cost in the manufacturing process, but it sucks nonetheless. I really like the look of white interiors. With that said... GAME ON!!!

I was reading an old thread where Daltrey was thinking about painting his interior (I don’t think he ended up doing it) and mentioned Rustoleum Appliance Epoxy. I watched a video, read some reviews, and decided to pull the trigger (literally).


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If you decide to do this, spend the extra $6 and get the spray can trigger.

Here is the primer:

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Since I couldn’t find anyone that had painted the interior of a RSR, I ran an experiment on the extra toe board piece Red Sea gives you for the white or black option.

I did the following:

• Sand + Prime + Paint
• Sand + Paint
• Prime + Paint
• Paint

Here is my test coupon:

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Here is the difference when sanded with 220 Grit:

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Here is the particulate that comes off when sanded:

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Now I wanted the “just paint” to work, but my results were as follows:

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Even though I didn’t wait for the entire cure time, I could tell what was going to work and what wasn’t. My project just got a bit more work intensive... I had to Sand + Prime + Paint. Brutal.

I had to intensely review the instructions to see and understand which pieces would have black exposed interior surfaces. I have my fingers crossed that I painted the right side. We will find out tomorrow.

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Time to sand...

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Now to wipe off the particulate...

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Primer (first coat)...

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After several coats of primer and paint, I had to put them inside to fully cure... my garage was too cold.

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I went through about five cans of paint and primer.

If you do this, there is a re-coat and/or top coat window that you should follow religiously... the prime was 30 minutes and the epoxy was 60 minutes.

to be clear is that 5 cans of each the primer and paint or 5 cans total?

 

[Whip]

to be clear is that 5 cans of each the primer and paint or 5 cans total?

Five cans of each; bought at Home Depot.

I painted while everything was horizontal and disassembled. If you paint assembled, watch for runs; they will drive you nuts!

If you paint assembled, to reduce runs, you will have to put on multiple coats. When putting one multiple coats, you MUST apply the coats within the time on the can. Failure to do so will cause cracking because the underneath layer is curing at a different rate than your most recent coat. Stay within the application window and it is a non-issue.

 

[NY_Caveman]

This is really coming along well. One of my original aquascape ideas in my 45 AIO was to use shelf rock similarly, but with smaller pieces. I even had a thread for it early on. I ended up with black Starboard and used the shelf on about 1/3 of the bottom. Mostly through the center and to the right half to support the anemone rock.

It is great to see how someone else approached this and I think the large pieces actually make it much better. Great job on the build so far.

 

[NY_Caveman]

By the way, I loved the "dragging the rock" photos as well.

 

[LBCobra]

looks good cant wait to see it in the tank.....

 

[Whip]

This is really coming along well. One of my original aquascape ideas in my 45 AIO was to use shelf rock similarly, but with smaller pieces. I even had a thread for it early on. I ended up with black Starboard and used the shelf on about 1/3 of the bottom. Mostly through the center and to the right half to support the anemone rock.View attachment 1012961
It is great to see how someone else approached this and I think the large pieces actually make it much better. Great job on the build so far.

That is a beautiful tank and thanks for sharing the link. Having shelf rock as a substrate is a pretty cool concept. After reading your post, I landed on another post where people are using Reef Saver Shelf Rock to coat the back walls an overflows. I am guessing someone probably already has coated the bottom glass with it. I remember a while back, I saw a beautiful aquascape that used the MarinePure Cubes. It was probably more of an inspiration than anything else I can think of.

By the way, I loved the "dragging the rock" photos as well.

I wish i was quick witted enough to tell my neighbor I was doing CrossFit!

looks good cant wait to see it in the tank.....

On April 1st, it got wet. I threw a bunch of old frozen fish food in there, poured in a 16 oz bottle of Dr. Tim’s One and Only, 30 Prodibio Startup viles, and half a bottle of MicroBacter7. It was a steamy and stinky cesspool of nastiness.

After one week... the water cleared up a bit and all looks well. I am going to pick up a test kit today and see how things are doing.

 

[krakenwrangler]

What did you fill your media cups with? Looks like a combination of marinepure and fleece

 

[Whip]

What did you fill your media cups with? Looks like a combination of marinepure and fleece

What you see is just soiled filter floss. I use pillow stuffing bought from Walmart. I’ve used it for years with no ill effects.

I have MarinePure spheres (three gallons) under the cups and on the floor of the refugium. I just ordered six 8” X 8” X 4” blocks. I have a Maxspect Gyre XF150 on full blast to suspend and tumble a ball of Chaeto and the spheres dislodge and roll around. The blocks will help stabilize everything and I’ll reposition the spheres to fill in the voids around the blocks.

After one month from the date of the photo, the display is crystal clear and no sign of algae, diatoms, or cyano (keep in mind my DT is still lightless with no water changes yet). The refugium, on the other hand, was subject to a massive GHA outbreak. The Kessil H380 turned my Chaeto from a golf ball to a softball in a few weeks, but did the same with GHA. I painstakingly cleaned EVERY sphere with a tooth brush and it hasn’t come back.

What I am working on now is the Neptune DOS AWC System. I’ll have photos of that pretty soon!

 

[Firemanreefkeeper]

Looking good. Slow and steady gets it done.

 

[Shane808262]

Hi I have a 29 gallon tank and flame angels are only $25 were I live and I really really really want one I currently have 2 fancy Ocellaris clowns and really want a flame angel. Do you think I could get away with a small one in my 29 gallon I know all the care requirements and I don’t have coral so what is your opinion. I have open rock work with a lot of caves for the flame to swim through and none of my rock touches the glass.

 

[Whip]

Looking good. Slow and steady gets it done.

Thanks @Firemanreefkeeper

I know I am doing the four month cycle thing, but it is killing me a bit. One month has gone by and it feels like forever. The good news about waiting is it allows my bank account a time to rest before I blow it up on lights! I am looking to be ready for lights around July... so maybe I can hit one of those big Fourth of July sales. I am likely to go Kessil with an Aquatic Life hybrid fixture, but I’ll be watching the reviews on the Red Sea ReefLED.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by my build thread! It reminds me to go catchup on yours.

Hi I have a 29 gallon tank and flame angels are only $25 were I live and I really really really want one I currently have 2 fancy Ocellaris clowns and really want a flame angel. Do you think I could get away with a small one in my 29 gallon I know all the care requirements and I don’t have coral so what is your opinion. I have open rock work with a lot of caves for the flame to swim through and none of my rock touches the glass.

$25 Flame Angels sounds like a smoking deal!

IMO, your tank is too small for a fish like that. You can always get a small one, keep it until it grows, and upgrade to a larger tank or give it back to the fish store.

BTW, I feel your pain. With my RSM130, I really wanted a Coral Beauty, but refrained due to my tank size. Now that I have a RSR 750... I am gonna go nuts on tangs!

 

[Whip]

After a month and a half, time for a quick update...

The remote Neptune DOS is successfully auto-filling my ATO reservoir every day and another remote Neptune DOS is performing an automatic continuous water change on a daily basis. It is quite nice to have all of these things automated!

The tank is doing well and things are clipping along nicely. No algae in the DT, but I am still lightless and just using ambient natural light in the room.

As mentioned earlier, the Kessil H380 is doing a good job on the Chaeto, but the GHA is benefiting too. My sump looked like a 70’s green shag carpet was rolling in there. I manually removed a bunch once (see earlier in the thread), but it came back. I then manually removed it again and went on a full sump blackout on 5/25. As of today, the Chaeto is still alive, but the GHA pretty much all gone (winning!).

I plan to go lights on today. This time I am dosing H2O2 via a Söchting Oxydator using one catalyst and 6% hydrogen peroxide. I started dosing this on 6/15 and my ORP trended in a positive direction.

If the GHA comes back, I’m fine with it living in the sump. I was just wanting a nice clean sump, but if my sump can keep the GHA out of my DT, then I consider it a win.

I also bought a new camera, so I am testing the waters in photography... it’s harder than it looks!

On 6/1, I transferred a dragonet from my RSM 130, then decommissioned the tank to the garage. I’ve had her for a long time and made sure my pod population was solid in the new tank prior to transferring her. Over the past three months, I have dropped 10 jars of AlgaeBarn 5280 Pods in there. Hopefully she does well.

On 6/2, I purchased this bonded pair from Petco (it’s a good Petco).

I am kind of bored with this long four month cycle, but it’s good to get the tank stabilized (both chemically and physically). Some good examples are:

- I tripped a breaker and lost power for a couple hours. Like the BRS Team... I didn’t have the Apex heartbeat on. I also found out that a plasma TV and two 800W heaters all on at the same time aren’t good for a 15A circuit.

- My salinity started dropping after I deployed the continuous AWC (one gallon per day) and I found that the tubing in my fresh saltwater storage bin was too long, surfaced, and lost its prime. I zip-tied a glass cup to it and anchored in the bottom of the bin.

IMO, these instances (and a few others) are good reasons to let a new tank sit and run for a while. It has helped immensely to tweak things and learn the nuances of a new tank when not much is on the line ($$$ and livestock).

 

[Whip]

As mentioned above, just hanging out with a semi-empty tank helps to understand the nuances of the tank and system with reduced risk to high dollar livestock. While I wait to be ready for coral and more expensive fish... I kind of get to do an extended dress rehearsal.

For instance, my 12.5 gallon Advanced Acrylics ATO reservoir is replenished via a remote Neptune DOS. It is “semi-automated” in that I have it dumping in two gallons of fresh RODI water every morning. The problem is, my tank can consume 1.5 gallons or 2.5 gallons depending on the day (I live in Nevada). If I get a few days of 1.5 gallon consumption and I am backfilling 2 gallons daily... you can predict the outcome. So I have to keep an eye on it and adjust the backfill occasionally.

Mathematically, I figured out where to scribe lines on my reservoir to indicate one gallon. I put them on scotch tape for now, but will figure out something a bit classier.

When I feed, I make sure I have at least two gallons of room left and if I don’t, I adjust my automated backfill as needed.

In the meantime, I will be looking for ways to easier automate this, but it works for now.

 

[Firemanreefkeeper]

Looks great so far! Like I said, slow and steady. I keep looking at my bare tank and force myself not to head to the frag tank and pull some frags out.
AWC sounds nice and maybe something I might do down the road but for now I continue to haul water in and out. My arms are getting huge though.

 

[Blackice615]

Love your setup

 

[AZMSGT]

Just started looking at your system.. good job

 

[Diesel48]

Maybe take a look at this for your ATO pump. You can extend the sensor tubing 50 ft. I run this with a remote 40gallon brute. I use RODI lines to run to my sump which connect to this pump. So far it has worked out great.

https://www.spectrapure.com/product...-with-magnetic-probe-holder-llc-uplc-ato-115/