Any tips on Red Sea sump modification for Reefmat?

nim6us · Aug 3, 2022

I just received my Red Sea Reefmat today, I've been putting it off for while just getting by with filter cups and floss. However I must say for the price the build quality is excellent! I did a dry run of putting it all together so I could understand the mechanisms. It's all designed very well, you can tell a lot of thought went into it, and as I said it's solid, it's got heft, the parts are quality and all slot together with ease. I'm really excited to get it setup.

Which leads me to my question...

The main reason I'd been putting it off so long is I have a Reefer 425XL and I have to "modify" my sump. Which is a fancy way of saying you've got to cut all the silicone and remove the existing filter cup baffles. I'm looking for advice from anyone who's done it before. Are there any tips or things you'd do different? I purchased the official RS sump modification kit as I heard the tools provided are actually a big help. Anyone have anything more to add?

shovel · Aug 3, 2022

Hi , i have make it With a kitchenknife . One hours Work perfekt for my Theiling Rollermat .

Gedxin · Aug 3, 2022

Did you watch the video provided by Red Sea? It's a bit meticulous but well detailed.

nim6us · Aug 3, 2022

Yeah I did see that, it looks like a good resource. I just know sometimes with these things companies can gloss over difficult bits in an effort to show you how easy it is. Fingers crossed it's as easy as they make it look.

Either way the plan is to get it done this week so if there's no additional feedback I'll come back to the thread to share my experience.

NotoriousDMC · Aug 3, 2022

There’s a longer thread on this that I and others contributed to, but yes, the kits helps. I did mine wet and it took waaaaay longer than Red Sea says in the video. I’d do it the same way over again, though, versus draining the sump.

Careful cutting the PVC pipe. I cracked mine (as did someone else) and it was my fault using PVC cutters too close to the end. I’d remove the entire pipe and cut it with a saw, which is what I did when Red Sea sent me a replacement pipe.

The good news is the work is well worth it!!!

nim6us · Aug 3, 2022

Firstly I'm glad you mentioned about the pipe. I've got some PVC cutters and was planning the same thing. I may just use a Dremel instead.

And so glad to hear you love the result. After nearly 4 years of changing/cleaning socks and floss I VERY much am looking forward to simply swapping a roll out every other month.

Gedxin · Aug 3, 2022

For what it's worth, I am equally apprehensive to do the modification. I bought the kit, watched the video and I'm still hesitant to make it happen. Concerned most about all the silicon that may get sucked into the system if I don't do a good cleanup job.

NotoriousDMC · Aug 3, 2022

Jokes aside, you know what caught any tiny pieces of silicone (and, yes, there were plenty!), the Reefmat!!!

NotoriousDMC · Aug 3, 2022

I.AM.MR.MIKE · Aug 3, 2022

I used the Red Sea cutting kit but only used a single thin blade on a Reefer 250 V3 and a wet sump. I was amazed how easy that thin blade made it. I was done in 15 minutes even removing all glass rails. It was super easy.

This took the longest >>> I used my wet vac to suck up all the silicone bits. I removed the down pipe and cut it with a saw-a fine toothed wood saw but it worked and fast. I found the plumbing and prepping the flexible tube and gluing on the union took longer than cutting the sump. I cut the flex tube a little too short but it works. The flex tube has a slight leak where you screw the fitting on even with the dressing they included.

NotoriousDMC · Aug 4, 2022

Somewhat related, I was filling the media bag with carbon completely which was almost certainly unnecessary for an 80G tank. Anyway, the last time I did that I must have REALLY filled it and the fleece was barely getting dirty before it advanced. After a few mins investigating what was wrong, I took the carbon bag out and the water level in the RM immediately went all the way down. In other words, even if it fits, the media bag will impact the flow through the RM. Since then, I fill it about 1/4-1/2 and the fleece is as dirty as my old ClariSea, which means I am saving fleece and $.

nim6us · Aug 10, 2022

Well it's all installed, and I wanted to share my experience.

Firstly I wanted to say the videos Red Sea provide about initial setup, the sump modification and the ReefBeat app were SUPER helpful. With everything assembled, and power cables ran, I started by shortening the down-pipe on my Reefer 425XL first gen. Used a Dremel to cut my down-pipe without having to remove it which worked really well. It did cause a bit of a problem that I'll get to later, but that was my fault. With the down-pipe cut I glued the included union, I cut the flex-hose to length and glued the other end of the connecter. I did all my gluing ASAP so it could have the maximum time to dry.

For context I took the opportunity to clean my sump and return pump, so I had used a wet-vac to clear all the water out down to a 1/4 inch. I left this little bit of water intentionally to help make the silicone cutting easier. I'm very glad I bought the sump modification kit because the tools included were helpful. That said I found the actual cutting either SUPER easy or kind of painful. With some of the silicone joins the tool just slid through like butter, it was great! In the Red Sea video they advise you don't need to remove the ATO rails, but in their video they're demo'ing a newer sump and there's a big gap between the rails and the silicone joins holding the filter sock cup holders. However on my sump the rails were butted up right against the joins on the cup holders. This meant I had to remove the ATO rails, and they were a real pain to cut through. I bent the thin blade several times, and broke another. Luckily in the sump modification kit Red Sea does give you several spares. I ended up using a putty knife to pry off the more rigid bits. All total it took me about an hour to remove everything and vacuum up the silicone scraps.

After that the ReefMat slotted right in, the hose attached nicely and I refilled my sump. The only issue I had, which I mentioned at the start was with my down-pipe. In retrospect I don't think I got a clean 180 degree cut, it must have been angled a bit because when I glued it the fitting was little off center. When I fired up my return pump I noticed water beading around the top of union where I glued it. At first this did make me nervous, however I after a few days the saltwater sealed it and its now completely dry, no drips!

If I had it to do again I would probably remove the down-pipe and got a better angle cut. I just have some PTSD when I first setup the tank, the down-pipe was leaking like crazy for months so I really was trying to avoid taking it out.

But now that it's all done I'm REALLY happy I did it. Maybe it's in my head but the next day the water looked more clear, like put in fresh carbon. From the minute I fired it up it's been working perfectly, I can already see some nasty crap it's filtered out. It's only been 5 days, so time will tell but I think I'm going to be in camp fleece roller and never go back to socks/cups!

BEFORE