Centerline's RedSea Reefer 525 XL +25 +25 Build

Centerline

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Ironically, I'm sitting at my desk looking at a RedSea 450 I set up a couple of months ago at my office (not the picture before you) and did not manage to get enough good pictures to really consider a build thread. I plan to do better with the 525 XL +25 +25 and am looking forward to hearing from you folks as I put the system together.

So here we go.
20161219_163703.jpg


With respect to the gear, Ill be using the following;

Lights for main tank -
Giesemann Spectra 48" MH/T5 hybrid. Ill be running 2 250 SE Radiums and 2 KZ New Generation T5s and 2 ATI Blue Plus bulbs. I also have a pair of 48" XHO ReefBrite LEDs I may run for a little late night viewing - maybe not. I have 2 LuxCore 400/250 ballasts to drive the Radiums with.

Lights for 25 gl tanks -
I have Hyrdra 52 HDs, Radion G4 Pros and a nice new Hamilton Cayman Sun a 250/20k Radium MH and M80 ballast. One too many lights to run on two tanks! I have them all because I intend to run a couple of experiments. Should be interesting!

Flow - 2 x Gyre 250s with the new controller. I know it seems like a lot of flow but I run the same setup on two other tanks and find that if I run them at 30% on alternating cycles I cannot hear them at all and get amazing flow. For the attached 25s I am just not sure yet. I love the Gyre pumps though so its likely Ill run a smaller one in each tank or maybe the Ice Cap Gyres.

Skimmer - Vertex Omega 180i. Vertex is a new brand for me - always been a Reef Octopus guy. So I'm hoping I have made a good choice here.

Controller - Apex

Dosing - 2 Apex DOS units for CAL/ALK/MG/NOPOx
1 Jebao DP4 for Red Sea Colors


Water Change - Plumed in Varios S4 with water tank in the garage.

Return - Varios S8 running on a manifold that services all three tanks.

ATO - Hooked straight up to RODI via a series of floats and switches.

I've changed a bunch of stuff over the year its taken to get water in it the tank - lots of equipment changes. So if you have seen my build before and think your crazy because you could have sworn there was different equipment - dont. I've changed a lot of stuff.
 
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Centerline

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With respect to infrastructure of the reef itself I plan to use branch rock almost exclusively. Starting off I plan to create a structure that wraps the center overflow and is capable of supporting 50 to 75 lbs of rock configured in a classic "bonsai on rock" (seki joju) style. I decided on this format option for a couple of reasons. First I love bonsai and have been working with them for years. I have seen several tanks that capture the symmetry and ratio proportions that one might apply to bonsai and find them incredible. Secondly I have a bunch of chalice and other lower light corals that will need a little shade from the lights. I would love to be able to do this with my own tank. So why not? It will be time consuming but no more so than anything else in this hobby.

On that note below are a few images of experimental rocks that I have cobbled together from various smaller chunks. For some reason it seems that no matter who I order branch rock from it arrives beat up and broken. To assemble the rock in a format I can use and is durable I start with a thinned out layer of epoxy where I plan to glue them together. The thinned out layer acts as a penetrating agent and creates a foundation for more robust layers to be applied to. Once the initial layer has had a chance to dry I then use a quick set 2 part epoxy, wraps and clamps to tack the initial structure together.
20161016_163643.jpg

20161016_153943.jpg

20161016_153940.jpg


Once everything is tacked together I use West System epoxy to actually hold it all together.
20161020_190520.jpg
 
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Centerline

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So here it is almost a month after I took delivery of my new tank and it's still not up. I've got most of my gear though and have made a few changes.
20170202_200737.jpg

We are looking at the following;
RedSea 525xl
1/4" starboard to protect the bottom of the tank.
Apex Gold controller
2 Apex DOS for alk/cal/mag/carbon
Sicce Syncra 4 return pump
Apex probe holder
2 cheapo tubing holders
Apex Pmup utility pump
Jebao dosing pump for trace
4 1.5 liter containers for dosing
Rack mount APC power backup
Vertex Omega 180i skimmer
Gyre XF 250 with new controller
Dimmable ATI 48" 8 bulb T5 fixture. Not show as it at my shop.

Waiting on

BRS Tonga Branch
Second Gyre XF 250
Premium Aquatics kalk reactor

And believe it or not, my wife to make up her mind about kicking the hardwood floor to the curb and replacing it with tile. (Black is a lot of work).
 

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Looking good so far - I wish I had the patience for putting together a bonsai structure from branching rock. Should be a good build once it gets going :)
 
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Looking good so far - I wish I had the patience for putting together a bonsai structure from branching rock. Should be a good build once it gets going :)
Sigh.... BRS was supposed to have delivered the rock yesterday. Just got an updated UPS notification - looks like Monday now. Really had hoped to start working on it this weekend.
 
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So I have yet more gear that came in today. A 175 gpd rodi unit
20170203_181517.jpg


from bulk reef. I already have one of these in my garage for another tank and I know it may seem excessive however I have one of these

20170203_183946.jpg


in the living room that I used on a 180 that used to occupy the space.

Why? Because I'm one of those people that plumb the rodi directly into the ato. I also run a splitter for water changes and over the years it has saved me a bunch of trouble.

The ATO system I use has triple redundancies and a limited run time each day. It has worked flawlessly for the last few 16 years so I'm feeling confident that I'm not about to flood my house. Of course I'll post exactly what I have going on there because no one else besides you Dear Reader actually cares if I flood my house or not. And, ah, my wife might care a little .
 
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Centerline

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Where can you buy the starboard material at?
I got mine at Piedmont plastics in Daytona, I live about a half hour away and just picked it up. Online the best place to buy it at is cuttingboard dot com. Go to plastics / custom. The material is HDPE. And their prices are much more reasonable than brand name starboard. I have done 4 tank bottoms with this stuff and I think the 1/4" stuff is perfect. I'll be putting mine in place in the next few days and do a write up about it.
 

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I got mine at Piedmont plastics in Daytona, I live about a half hour away and just picked it up. Online the best place to buy it at is cuttingboard dot com. Go to plastics / custom. The material is HDPE. And their prices are much more reasonable than brand name starboard. I have done 4 tank bottoms with this stuff and I think the 1/4" stuff is perfect. I'll be putting mine in place in the next few days and do a write up about it.

Awesome thanks.
I was thinking of using travertine tile and then I came across your thread.
Now it's up in the air.
 
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Awesome thanks.
I was thinking of using travertine tile and then I came across your thread.
Now it's up in the air.
I'm sure the tile will be fine and look intresting as well. I use the board as a safety measure. Between the silicone under it and the flex in the plastic Im looking for a shock absorber.
 

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Very nice!
 

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@Centerline looking good. Get those pics up of the rockscape. I'm thinking of a few pieces of tonga branch to add to the center rocks on my setup. I just added water a couple days ago and transferred some of the livestock I had.

Do you have to cure the tonga or you putting it right in?
 
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@Centerline looking good. Get those pics up of the rockscape. I'm thinking of a few pieces of tonga branch to add to the center rocks on my setup. I just added water a couple days ago and transferred some of the livestock I had.

Do you have to cure the tonga or you putting it right in?

I would recommend curing it, maybe in a new tank or trash can. The rock doesn't have a lot of biologicals that are obvious, its fairly clean and white with little bits of stuff still left on it here and there. But you can certainly smell it and that of course means that there is enough stuff to cause a cycle. I have put Tonga branch from BRS in an existing tank in the past with very little cycle though. After taking a good look at what I received and considering my overall plan I may do a fast acid wash and dry before I get started. A lot of the joints are going to be epoxied and glassed together so I need nice clean rock to ensure maximum penetration when wetting them out.

Here is a picture of some of the rock I received. NOT AT ALL what I requested, lots of big sections that can not be used for branches so I may have to dig around for those or consider shelf rock or something. None the less there are mostly really cool looking rocks in the batch so over all I'm happy.

20170210_153634.jpg
 

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I just finished my tonga branch (from BRS) aquascape. I like some of your pieces better. :eek:
I cured mine for a few weeks, but the tonga branch was pretty clean. The pukani on the other hand has tons of sponges. When I cut the rocks there were a lot of sponges inside still.
 

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I would recommend curing it, maybe in a new tank or trash can. The rock doesn't have a lot of biologicals that are obvious, its fairly clean and white with little bits of stuff still left on it here and there. But you can certainly smell it and that of course means that there is enough stuff to cause a cycle. I have put Tonga branch from BRS in an existing tank in the past with very little cycle though. After taking a good look at what I received and considering my overall plan I may do a fast acid wash and dry before I get started. A lot of the joints are going to be epoxied and glassed together so I need nice clean rock to ensure maximum penetration when wetting them out.

Here is a picture of some of the rock I received. NOT AT ALL what I requested, lots of big sections that can not be used for branches so I may have to dig around for those or consider shelf rock or something. None the less there are mostly really cool looking rocks in the batch so over all I'm happy.

20170210_153634.jpg


How many pounds is that order in pic?
 

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I just finished my tonga branch (from BRS) aquascape. I like some of your pieces better. :eek:
I cured mine for a few weeks, but the tonga branch was pretty clean. The pukani on the other hand has tons of sponges. When I cut the rocks there were a lot of sponges inside still.


Any pics @spiraling ?
 
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I just finished my tonga branch (from BRS) aquascape. I like some of your pieces better. :eek:
I cured mine for a few weeks, but the tonga branch was pretty clean. The pukani on the other hand has tons of sponges. When I cut the rocks there were a lot of sponges inside still.
Thanks man, there is a bunch of it. I actually order about twice what I thought I would need so I could have a good selection but some of the stuff they sent is so big it ate up the poundage. Over the years I've bought a bunch of live rock that seriously needed to be cured so I feel your pain ;)
 
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