2's Custom Red Sea Reefer MAX 200 G2+ System

[2Plus2]

Hi everyone! I want to share my journey getting back into reefing!
It's been far to long, an if I can put a number on it, it's been roughly 15 years since I've owned a tank.
After weeks of being indecisive, weeks of heading to every available aquarium store, weeks of canceling orders, I have finally settled on a tank.
I couldn't win every battle, If one thing was perfect the other wasn't... Tank dimensions, Tank stand, Plumbing, AIO, Sump, etc...
I will work on pictures showing where I am as of now, I will provide a list of what I've purchased and what was removed.
Hopefully this build can help someone, someone as picky as me because I couldn't just let it be.

***I will update this post when any changes are done to the tank!***


Tank purchased:
1. Red Sea Reefer MAX 200 G2+ System (Just tank, sump, ATO version)

Equipment Removed:
1. 100% of Cabinet plumbing
2. Red Sea ATO system
3. Sump

Current Equipment:
01. 100% Custom plumbing inside cabinet
02. Fiji Cube Fiji-20 Advanced Reef Sump 2nd Gen
03. BRS GFO & Carbon Mini Reactor - 5" Single
04. Helio (200 Watts) PTC Smart Aquarium Heater
05. Aqua Ultraviolet 15 watt classic uv sterilizer
06. EcoTech Vectra S2 DC Return Pump
07. EcoTech VorTech MP40wQD x2
08. EcoTech Marine Radion XR30 G6 Pro
09. AquaIllumination Blade 12" - Glow x2
10. AquaIllumination Blade 12" - Refugium x1
11. AquaIllumination Axis 40 Centrifugal Pump
12. CoralVue Hydros Control X4
13. CoralVue Hydros Control X10
14. CoralVue Hydros Control XP8
15. CoralVue Hydros Kraken 24V Power Center
16. Renogy 12v 100Ah Lead-Acid Battery
17. CaribSea Arag-Alive Special Grade Sand, 40 lbs. (2" sandbed)

Current Fish Live Stock:
01. Pink-Streaked Wrasse
02. Yasha Goby
03. Yellow Clown Goby
04. Hector's Goby

Current Invertebrate Live Stock:
01. Cleaner Shrimp
02. Hermit Crabs
03. Cerith Snails
04. Red Banded Pistol Shrimp

Future Planned Purchases:
01. Premium Frostbite Clowns
02. Green War Paint Goby
03. Helfrich Fire Fish

Current Salt/Trace/Care/Test:
01. Nyos Pure Salt Mix
02. Nyos Active Carbon

Folder with all STL files used in this project.

Red Sea Prints - Google Drive

drive.google.com

 

[2Plus2]

@d2mini

 

[d2mini]

Need pics!

 

[2Plus2]

Ill start with the cabinet... Working with the given sump and piping that came with the system wasn't going to work with my ideas, so i gutted it all out.
My thinking with all the threaded fittings was not to be wasteful, It's expensive when you have to toss out everything and re-pipe, so now I can just dismantle a good portion of each run if i need to do any rework and only throw away a bit.

I purchased 2 additional sump pump return connectors to make this work. (They have pink stickers in the pic.)
If anyone is interested, this is where I bought them from:

Red Sea G2 Reefer 170/200 Sump Pump Return Connector

Fish Tanks Direct specializes exclusively in freshwater aquariums and saltwater fish tanks. Buy your aquarium fish tanks direct and save with free shipping.

fishtanksdirect.com

 

[2Plus2]

Need pics!

LOL, I got you!

 

[2Plus2]

Don't mind the drywall I'm fixing it up lol.
After mounting the lights, I didn't feel comfortable leaving all that weight on the glass, luckily I found a cable on amazon with the perfect fitting.
I didn't use the light mount end cap since that screw was used for the cable.

 

[d2mini]

Have you thought about just hanging the light with two cables instead of using both mounting systems?
I just hung mine because I wasn't able to get the light hight enough with the mounting arm, and I've always had them hung from the ceiling on past builds. Infinite height adjustment.

When do you think you'll be filling the tank and starting her up?

 

[Bartanto]

Ill start with the cabinet... Working with the given sump and piping that came with the system wasn't going to work with my ideas, so i gutted it all out.
My thinking with all the threaded fittings was not to be wasteful, It's expensive when you have to toss out everything and re-pipe, so now I can just dismantle a good portion of each run if i need to do any rework and only throw away a bit.

I purchased 2 additional sump pump return connectors to make this work. (They have pink stickers in the pic.)
If anyone is interested, this is where I bought them from:

Red Sea G2 Reefer 170/200 Sump Pump Return Connector

Fish Tanks Direct specializes exclusively in freshwater aquariums and saltwater fish tanks. Buy your aquarium fish tanks direct and save with free shipping.

fishtanksdirect.com

Nice plumbing!

 

[2Plus2]

Nice plumbing!

TY TY TY

 

[2Plus2]

Have you thought about just hanging the light with two cables instead of using both mounting systems?
I just hung mine because I wasn't able to get the light hight enough with the mounting arm, and I've always had them hung from the ceiling on past builds. Infinite height adjustment.

When do you think you'll be filling the tank and starting her up?

D2!! I have thought about that, the problem is the wiring, I'm a stickler for it and i hate any random wires just hanging around.
This is the cleanest option IMO, but yes I'm now limited to one set height, so now all my marbles are on this arm.
Today today is the big day, im filling her up right now with just RODI, Ill be adding salt slowly as the pumps run to see the flow.

 

[JustAnotherNanoTank]

This will be awesome!! I’m happy with my Fiji sump. Excited to follow along.

 

[2Plus2]

This will be awesome!! I’m happy with my Fiji sump. Excited to follow along.

Were literally twins, we both have the same sump n skimmer lol.
I'm following yours now!

 

[2Plus2]

I custom designed and 3D printed a mount to slide into the given slots of the Fiji Cube, If anyone is interested I can send you the STL, this will only work with the AquaIllumination Blade Smart LED Strip.
There is a nice gap of 8MM from the strip to plexiglass of the sump, so no heat build up.

You will also need to purchase a 8mm screw thats 10mm long.

@JustAnotherNanoTank Since you have the same sump, just another ID if you need.

 

[JustAnotherNanoTank]

Were literally twins, we both have the same sump n skimmer lol.
I'm following yours now!

I Love that skimmer it was just too much for my system early on at least. I’m running a tiny Fiji Cube NSK-70 skimmer now and love it.

The curve 5 elite really seems to want to be in 9+ inches of water depth too for it to not produce micro bubbles like crazy. I needed bubble trap media but didn’t want to deal with it.

I’m just gonna see how this tiny skimmer does for now!

 

[2Plus2]

Final shots of the sump, I still have enough room to place a few sensor wires, I will probably add another rail for the dosing pump hoses since I wont want those pinched.

 

[2Plus2]

I Love that skimmer it was just too much for my system early on at least. I’m running a tiny Fiji Cube NSK-70 skimmer now and love it.

The curve 5 elite really seems to want to be in 9+ inches of water depth too for it to not produce micro bubbles like crazy. I needed bubble trap media but didn’t want to deal with it.

I’m just gonna see how this tiny skimmer does for now!

I won't be running this skimmer for many months, hopefully I can run it in 10.5-11 inches of water.

 

[JustAnotherNanoTank]

I won't be running this skimmer for many months, hopefully I can run it in 10.5-11 inches of water.

Oh yeah, it’ll run great at that depth!

 

[2Plus2]

Ordered a few pieces, should have an update with pics in about a week.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Final shots of the sump, I still have enough room to place a few sensor wires, I will probably add another rail for the dosing pump hoses since I wont want those pinched.

Sump looks great!

 

[2Plus2]

TYTY!! I wanted to make sure it was as clean as possible.

Sump looks great!