eddius-maximus's Reefer 750XXL. A convergence of incompetence and luck.

[eddius_maximus]

Sup my dudes. First some completed tank shots for those who don't care about details:

Tank: Red Sea Reefer 750XXL
Lighting: 2 Orphek Atlantik V4s and 1 Orphek Compact
Return: Reef Octopus VarioS-8
Skimmer: Reef Octopus Elite 220-Int
Flow: 2 Maxspect Gyre XF250s and 2 VorTech MP40wQDs
Algae Scrubber: Turbo L2 Turf Scrubber

I try to keep my tanks as simple as possible. I'm positive my good luck is running out soon. I don't do water changes. I don't use GFO, or dose carbon. I tossed my filter socks long ago. My sumps are typically covered in detritus. I overstock and overfeed. I never test for nitrate or phosphate or pH. My salinity is almost always too high (1.027-1.028 is where I'm typically at). I've never owned a quarantine tank in my life.

Basically I should probably be barred from the hobby but for whatever reason I've honed my incompetent laziness into a pretty successful methodology. I have a splash of every algae imaginable - never in excess and everything keeps everything else in line and ultimately proves to a source of food. The tangs eat the hair algae, the foxface shares the bubble algae with my emerald crab. The Melaranus Wrasse eats the bristle worms that eat the detritus in my sandbed along with my CUC. One weird happy family!

 

[eddius_maximus]

Here's my previous tank, a Reefer 450. I ran out of room! My small fish grew to be big fish. Likewise with my coral. I felt like I was bursting at the seams so I opted for an upgrade. I put out quotes for a custom tank to several different manufacturers. Half of them didn't respond. The others way exceeded the price of Red Sea Reefers -- the beauty of mass production. Since I knew first hand the quality of the Reefer glass, I was happy to upgrade to the 750XXL.

Here's my old tank prior to breakdown and transfer:

 

[Helfish]

Great and very modern looking set

 

[eddius_maximus]

Delivery day!

The delivery driver was pretty great. I could tell he was curious what on earth he was delivering that exceeded 1,000 pounds. When I told him it was a fish tank, he opted to stay while I opened it - he was genuinely curious!

 

[LBReefer]

How is your water so clear?

 

[eddius_maximus]

Life is full of concessions. The agreement I had with my wife was, if I sell my pool table and she gets to turn that room into a fish tank room, she's down. Agreed.

Breaking down the table for the new buyer. Slates are brutal heavy.

Painting the new room.

Paint finished, furniture and rug added.

 

[eddius_maximus]

How is your water so clear?

I think it's the backing removed from the tank so you see the wall behind it.

 

[eddius_maximus]

The best part about new tanks is unboxing all the crazy new gear! I'm positive our UPS delivery guy hated our guts for about a week straight.

Before Pukani was discontinued, it was my favorite rock. Used it for everything. But BRS Reef Saver has pretty a fantastic alternative. I tried their 'Shelf' rock for the first time this build and wow! It's absolutely amazing!

Return line upgrade by Vivid Creative Aquatics. I'd normally make this myself but was intrigued by the random flow generator nozzles.

 

[eddius_maximus]

This tank is so ridiculously heavy. Out of sheer force of will my wife and I were able to move it from the crate onto dollies. From dolly to stand however we opted for professional help. Two guys from Fish Gallery in Austin stopped by, picked it up, and moved it from the garage to my stand. No suction cups, no help, just brute force. Still in absolute amazement that they did it so effortlessly.

 

[Helfish]

It really was a great choice to leave the back glass clear and remove the black foil. Makes the whole tank look crystal clear and gives it more depth. When the corals grow larger, it will look even better.

 

[SPR1968]

The tank looks beautiful and extremely modern looking design and rockwork

Very nice indeed!

 

[eddius_maximus]

For the electronics I used an Ikea medicine cabinet with two holes drilled in for cables.

My wife inspecting the situation.

 

[eddius_maximus]

BRS Reef Saver. I love this rock. I typically take the larger chunks and smash it with a hammer and then make interesting shapes out of the remnants. This was the first time I used E-Marco 400 mortar and holy cow it's absolutely amazing!

I typically use reef puffy (like Aquastik) and super glue to 'sketch' out the rock layout. It'll hold but not longterm. Once I'm happy with the shapes I go over everything with the mortar. Once that settles, it's done.

Propping up the shelf with books while the mortar cures.

 

[eddius_maximus]

Fellow R2R member Caravanshaka is a neighbor and friend of mine. He helped with this build immensely! One of his many awesome ideas was to attach all the Orpheks together with 80/20 extrusions. It came out so clean!

As a side note I notice Orphek gets some flak on these boards about questionable customer service. I've been an Orphek customer for a couple years now and in my experience they have some of the best customer service in the industry. If they're awake, they're e-mailing and making things happen. Love them.

To find center when mounting lights I found the center of my tank and marked it with painters tape (and one random yellow Popsicle stick). Then used a plumb bob to mark holes on the ceiling to drill.

 

[eddius_maximus]

Filling with water.

Before filling I got everything dead plumb level. A couple days after things settled and it was a completely different story:

Filled with dread and irritation, I hit up Caravanshaka and he came over with lasers.

We eventually got it plumb level, arguably the most stressful part of this build!

 

[eddius_maximus]

New arrivals! 8 Reef Chromis, 1 Yellow Wrasse, and 1 baby Hippo Tang. I'm slightly concerned for the tang. It's hard to tell in the pictures but he is *tiny*. Around 1.5" across!

 

[ESH]

Looking good! Really liking all the new 750 builds I’m seeing these days! Can’t wait to see more pictures of your build!

 

[eddius_maximus]

Looking good! Really liking all the new 750 builds I’m seeing these days! Can’t wait to see more pictures of your build!

Thank you!

 

[eddius_maximus]

It really was a great choice to leave the back glass clear and remove the black foil. Makes the whole tank look crystal clear and gives it more depth. When the corals grow larger, it will look even better.

Totally agree. It was scary doing it as there really is no going back but I’m so glad it was done.

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

Great build! I love the XXL 750! Great idea on the lights. Really looks sharp!