Broadfield's Red Sea Reefer 450 Build - OCD Inspired... Going Back To a Reef

[sheldonjjessup]

Speaking about reefbrite's customization, I saw their violet XHO led at reefapalooza NY last year, and it brings out greens like crazyyyyyy.
I wonder if they would do maybe a mix if the usual blues with the violets for even more pop. Their blues also make greens look like almost yellows, pretty awesome.

Sometimes I feel like getting a spectra, sending it to get it powdercoated, maybe a glossy white...customize some cool leds. That unit just is very appealing to me

You can get the infinity in white, that's what I have, but from giesmann you can get the spectra in several colors

 

[Broadfield]

The drain line definitely necks down to 3/4" at that fitting, correct?

Yes, it does neck down. But there are zero adverse affects from it. It can flow a ton through the drain.

Tank is looking great as always! I've got the Aurora over my 66g right now. I'm going to be upgrading when I move next month to a 5ft tank and would love to put an Aurora over it but the price keeps putting me off. Do you think the Spectra is a better option overall?

I like the Spectra better personally. It's just a matter if you want MH or LED. I wasn't super happy with the spectrum of the Aurora LED section. I couldn't get a color that I really liked, regardless of what T5 bulbs I was mixing in with it. But that's just personal taste to my eyes... the corals grew just fine.

Toby, do you use powerhead in the sump to keep the sump stirs up? I have reefer 350 and the middle chamber seems very calm so I added small powerhead and turn on about 12 hrs/day, not sure if it's needed

I do not use a powerhead in the sump. I imagine that keeps detritus suspended and shot back into the DT for coral consumption and/or to be taken back down the overflow and caught by the filter socks. Not a bad idea though. I actually take a brush and scrub the inside of the sump, for a couple of minutes, every Sunday when doing a water change. Keeps it nice and clean.

 

[Broadfield]

Is there a guide or instructions in this thread on changing out the Red Sea valve to a gate valve? I really would like to do this!

Actually, I just answered that in the following thread:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/drain-pipe-valve-issues-on-a-reefer-250.325821/#post-4059463

 

[CDavmd]

Hi Toby- amazing tank and photos. I saw photos on your Flickr feed of a Pax Bellum. Are you using it? Where did you plumb it in?
Thanks!

 

[Broadfield]

Hi Toby- amazing tank and photos. I saw photos on your Flickr feed of a Pax Bellum. Are you using it? Where did you plumb it in?
Thanks!

Thanks! No, I am not using it. When I bought the Pax, it was about a 4 month waiting time to get it. Well in that time, I decided to change over to my current sump setup, which the Pax wasn't going to fit. So I sold it.

 

[d_adler]

Do you run a chiller with the halides? What fixture do you use?

 

[Philt56]

So the entire time I have had my pair of clowns, they refuse to host my Rainbow Bubble Tip. In all honesty, I actually could care less... I'm not one of those that gets upset when the clowns won't host an anemone. They do however host my large purple Goniopora... have from the beginning. Well, I get home yesterday from work and notice that the Goniopora is completely closed up. Which is not uncommon since the clowns completely harass it, keeping trying to feed it large chunks of LRS food etc lol. But something was different this time. I spotted something I had never seen before on the rock that it typically covers up...

Oh man.... I’m a late joiner and it says video unavailable! Don’t leave me hanging!

 

[Philt56]

Had a good friend come over tonight to help teach me how to take proper images with my Canon 50D. He also quick schooled my on processing RAW images and some basic Photoshop skills to make sure my images look like they do in real life.

IMG_4434 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

IMG_4278 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

IMG_4421 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

IMG_4402 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

Are those star polyps in the front right corner? Are they isolated so they won’t spread? My whole back wall of 65g tank is covered with them. Luckily I swap out rock with my LFS to get new clean rock and then he sells my colonies. They are gorgeous, just a royal pain in the ....

 

[Broadfield]

Are those star polyps in the front right corner? Are they isolated so they won’t spread? My whole back wall of 65g tank is covered with them. Luckily I swap out rock with my LFS to get new clean rock and then he sells my colonies. They are gorgeous, just a royal pain in the ....

Yes, they are on their own island/rock. However, I gave that away a long time ago.

 

[Broadfield]

Do you run a chiller with the halides? What fixture do you use?

I do not run a chiller.... tank never really gets over 82 degrees. I am running the Giesemann Spectra

 

[Philt56]

My water changes are not automated in any way. I have thought about getting a second DOS to perform constant water changes, but it's sooooo easy for me to do a water change, that I actually enjoy doing it. I open the "drain" valve in the basement, then open the valve in my sump... instant siphon. It drains the entire sump except for about 1/4" of water. I then shut the basement drain valve, open my fresh salt water valve, turn on the pump with my phone through Apex fusion and fill the sump back up. DONE!

So you pretty much are replacing “clean” old water with new. Do you ever vacuum your sand as part of awater change like others do? Could you drain from the main tank and then still refill the sump with your pump? I assume since the sump level will lower as the display is drained.

 

[Philt56]

Yes, they are on their own island/rock. However, I gave that away a long time ago.

Ok, it seems like mine propagate to other spots even without touching. I’m going to make sure any rocks moved from the current tank to the new reefer are devoid of any GSP! Even if I have to chisel them off...

 

[Philt56]

That leads down to my water change, mixing station area. My ATO is pulled directly out of the right container via a black 1/4" line tha goes up to my sump. ATO duties are handled by a Puratek Auto Level Controller.

IMG_4021 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

IMG_4022 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

Reefer 450 ROI by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

Reefer 450 Salt Mix by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

Reefer 450 Drain by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

Reefer 450 Fill by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

How do you mix the salt water? Wait til it’s at some known level, say 10 gal, then add a 50 gal bag of salt, then add RO until it’s at the 60 gal mark?

 

[Broadfield]

How do you mix the salt water? Wait til it’s at some known level, say 10 gal, then add a 50 gal bag of salt, then add RO until it’s at the 60 gal mark?

I measure my salt by weight. So I can easily mix however much I want to an exact 35ppt. The salt I use requires 159 grams, per gallon of RO, to get 35ppt. So I simply add however many of gallons I want to the salt water storage bin and then multiply the number of gallons by 159. Then that answer is how many grams of salt I weigh out.

 

[mr.Green]

Your tank looks absolutely superb! I love it how you run with a lot of very common and dominating sps corals, but still have the tank looking unique. Thanks for the sand cleaning tips! I guess the bottom black line in the above picture is the tank bottom? So sand is max 1"? Do you think your method disturbs any infauna? Do you still have sand living inverts around?

Cheers and thanks for the inspiration!

 

[lester lloyd]

Wow great set up I would like to see more pictures I have a reefer 250 now and I’m interested in a peninsula for my next purchase do you have a refugium chamber and can you seen me more pic’s of your set up it’s the best I’ve seen so far

 

[Broadfield]

Your tank looks absolutely superb! I love it how you run with a lot of very common and dominating sps corals, but still have the tank looking unique. Thanks for the sand cleaning tips! I guess the bottom black line in the above picture is the tank bottom? So sand is max 1"? Do you think your method disturbs any infauna? Do you still have sand living inverts around?

Cheers and thanks for the inspiration!

The black silicone line comes up about a 1/4" or so above the bottom glass. So there is a tad bit more of sand depth than it appears. I would say it varies from about an 1" to 1-1/2". I don't have any sand living inverts... heck, I don't even have crabs or snails.

Wow great set up I would like to see more pictures I have a reefer 250 now and I’m interested in a peninsula for my next purchase do you have a refugium chamber and can you seen me more pic’s of your set up it’s the best I’ve seen so far

I do not run a refugium. I may turn one or two of my reactors into macro algae reactors... but we'll see what happens. As for pictures, you can see all of the ones I have taken here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/132432358@N04/albums/72157659875125326

 

[Broadfield]

Well, my Vectra L1 bit the dust Sunday night. Luckily I have 2 weeks left on my warranty... yeah, that close! If you recall, the power supply went bad on my M1 back when I had it on this tank originally. So I'm not having the best of luck with these Vectra pumps. This time around it is not the power supply, but the actual pump. I thoroughly cleaned it in hopes of getting it to kick back on, but to no avail. As I was cleaning it, I noticed that there was a small melted section in the plastic, around where the magnet resides. So I'm not sure if this was an isolated issue or what. I tossed in my backup pump(Sicce) and it's good-to-go until I get the new L1 in my hands.

I will say that Ecotech support has been on top of it both times. I mean on top of it!!! From the time I sent the first email to support to the point where I had a tracking # for the new replacement pump... 2 hours!

 

[Haggisman14]

I must say...your tank is a work of art! The tank aquascaping is great, but your plumbing work is just a sight to behold! I hope you're very proud of what you've done here....all around beautiful setup!

Once I can hope to model after in the years to come!

 

[1bitereefer]

What substrate area you using in your tank, I’m starting a build and really like the look of that sand