House on a Hill Red Sea 750 XXL

[Diesel48]

Current full tank shot 10/31/2021

Full tank shot 1/23/2021

Full tank shot 11/25/2019 - Tank is 9 Months old.

Hi Everyone!

Just a little background, I had 75 gallon saltwater tank from 2003 - 2008. It was a mixed reef, no sump, hang on back refugium and protein skimmer. It was very successful and was setup with live rock and sand. It survived a whole tank move from one house to another. Had to take it down due to painting our basement. Got married in 2007 and it had to come down. I told my Wife that at some point I will be getting another tank!

And that brings us to today. 2 kids later and another on the way I am ready to start another tank! The older kids (5 and 4) are at a great age to enjoy it and help out. Hopefully stimulating their desires to become marine biologists, lol.

It seems somethings have changed in 11 years but a lot of the methods are the same. I am excited to have a controller and automate some of these processes. This will also be the first time I have a reef ready tank with sump.

I feel like the timing is great as I want to follow the BRS/WWC hybrid setup to a certain extent.

The current Plan:
Tank - Red Sea Reefer XXL 750
Sump - Red Seas Sump
Protein Skimmer - Reef Octopus 200 INT
Return Pump - Varios 8
Run the Compact Roller Mat instead of filter socks
Controller - Apex
DOS Pump for AWC - run remote to my water mixing station
Auto Top Off - Spectapure I want to run this remotely to my water mixing station
Tank Flow - 2 MP60's and MP40s for maximum flow
Lighting - T5 / 61" LED Hybrid - Currently looking at 4 Kessil 360X for the LED's
100 LBS of Reef Saver Rock
3 Bricks of Brightwell Bio Xport Ceramic Rock
Run a bare bottom setup
BRS Carbon Reactor

I purchased the rock last month and did a mock aquascape. Check on the attachments.
The rock is now in a Brute trash can with a heater and 2 power heads. I dosed Dr Tims and one other bacteria in a bottle. I then added Doctor Tims Ammonia to give the bacteria something to eat.

I am not sure exactly when I will get the tank but it will be sometime this year. I wanted to get the rock cycling as soon as I got the go ahead from my wife

Thanks for following along!

 

[Ruben's Reef]

!!! Welcome to R2R !!! that will be a great build so will be following along>>>

 

[dantimdad]

Welcome aboard!

 

[SPR1968]

Sounds very exciting and looking forward to the pictures

And welcome to R2R as well, it’s great to have you with us!

 

[Ultra Aquatics]

Looks like a good start. MP60's might be overkill though. MP40's should be more than capable for that size tank IMO.

 

[Devaji]

i'll be fallowing along too as I am setting up the same tank!

 

[Diesel48]

Looks like a good start. MP60's might be overkill though. MP40's should be more than capable for that size tank IMO.

Thinking about the 2 - MP60s and 2 MP40s based on the WWC/BRS method for SPS. From their findings it seems like high flow is pretty important. I know it is their opinion but based on the video it seemed pretty legit. I was thinking of putting the two MP60s near the front and the MP40's in the back. Depending on the programming not all pumps will be running full blast at all times so flow will not be maxed out all of the time. I thought with the 4 I would be able to create random flow and keep all the detritus of the bottom. I will not be using sand so no worries there.

 

[Diesel48]

For water I am using the BRS 6 Stage RODI unit. Currently it is the 100 GPD RO membrane. I am thinking about adding the water saver option to not only save water costs but also double my output. I did add the booster pump to keep the system at 75PSI when making water. My water storge containers are two 32 gallon Brute trash cans. I was tempted to purchase nice water containers but could not justify that cost at the moment.

I have a float switch on the left container which is my RODI container. A full batch of water is roughly 27 gallons. When I move my ball valves in the correct manner it pumps the fresh water into the saltwater mixing container.

Long term plan is to use the APEX DOS and the Spectrapure ATO to pump water from these containers to the tank for water changes and top offs. I am open for suggestions on the top off system, knowing the pump needs to be able to pump water 8 feet high or so. I have heard good things about the spectrapure and it is a peristaltic pump which meets the requirements for head height.

I do have a T valve that allows me to make RO water or RO/DI water. I use the RO water for beer brewing, drinking or coffee.

I will be installing a quick connect water out for the ball valve just above the pump. That will allow me to do water changes directly out of the mixing station until the DOS system is ready or if I want to do a manual water change.

Here is my 40 gallon brute holding my 100lbs of Marco rock. It has been in 75 degree saltwater now for about 2.5 weeks. I dosed some Dr. Tim's one and only and I think "seed" from another company. I used Dr. Tims Ammonia to get it up to 2ppm to kick it off. As of Sunday I was still reading 2ppm or so of Ammonia. The surface of the water looks slickish. I used the egg crate (light diffuse panels) to keep my 3 aquascape sections separate. Hoping I can recreate what I made before starting the cycle.

For Christmas I received a gift card to my LFS. I ordered 3 Brightwell Bio Bricks from them to help with biological filtration. I plan on putting this in my sump. As soon as they are in I will put them in the Brute to they can start populating with bacteria.

 

[Diesel48]

Did another test on my cycling rock. The Fluval ammonia test still showed 2.5 which seemed strange as it has been a month. On my last BRS order I picked up the Safi Alert Ammonia test. When I did this it appeared to show 0. Hmm...... Interesting results. I was headed to my LFS to pick up my 3 Bio Bricks and brought some water with me. They ran the test and they showed ammonia at .5, nitrite at 0 and nitrate at 5ppm. Well I guess I am throwing out that Fluval test kit I bought. When I got home I added the bricks and dosed some more ammonia to feed the bacteria.

I also had a large order come in. I now have my Reef Octopus 200int skimmer, Apex controller, 2 - MP60s, 1 - MP40, Compact Roller Mat and the reeflink. No more money this month for the fish tank lol.

 

[Blackice615]

Enjoy your new toys

 

[Diesel48]

Not a whole lot to add. Waiting on more $. The 100lbs of Marco Rock and 3 Bio Bricks are cycled in the Brute. I can dose to 2ppm of Ammonia and have it to 0 in less than 24 hours. I did a 13 gallon water change on it today. I have 2 pieces of rock I did not plan on using for my scape sitting in the barn yet. I may dump them in the brute to potentially use them as coral islands or for an observation / QT tank.

 

[Diesel48]

A few big purchases this week, the biggest being the Red Sea 750 xxl! I live in Michigan and on a hill. Hope the trucking company sends a smaller truck with lift gate instead of a full size semi. If not I might need to borrow my Dad's tractor with forks to bring the crate up to my house.

I cannot believe how much this setup is costing me before even loading it up with corals. Trying to do it as my dream tank with premium products but dang. Hopefully it is a piece of art in a few years. LOL

 

[Diesel48]

Boom! Tank has arrived!!!!!

 

[lifeguard101284]

Wow this seems like a great build. Congrats on the dream tank.

 

[Blackice615]

Jealous! GLWB! Believe you may be one of the last few to score one after they were removed from sites

 

[Whip]

Boom! Tank has arrived!!!!!

YES!!! Congratulations! I look forward to watching this build develop. I’ll really be watching for the Roller Mat install.

 

[Diesel48]

Jealous! GLWB! Believe you may be one of the last few to score one after they were removed from sites

Oh man. Wonder why they are retired? Hope it was not a defect design or something. Not sure how I feel about that. Does anyone know more about this?

 

[Blackice615]

No, appears to be due to them upgrading deluxe model for lighting and possibly switching from AI lights

 

[Diesel48]

I got the tank on two furniture dollies last night with the help of my brother and his friend. I then proceeded to bring all of the stand pieces to the basement. The next day I assembled the stand. I am very satisfied with the quality of the stand and assembly tolerances. I spent 7 years of my career working with product similar to this and can say this the cam lock / dowel system / and the quality of the wood Red Sea used for the stand is top notch.

So I have a few questions about placement. Red Sea recommends 24" from a corner and at least 4" from the back wall. I placed the tank at 24" off the corner and 6" off the wall. 6" does not seem like to much but having that hutch next to it my throw that off visually. The hutch will be going some where else. My wife will probably want something a bit smaller to fill the open area on the back wall. Based on your experiences what is a good distance to keep the tank off the back wall? Of course from a looks perspective the closer the better but I also like the appeal of being able to get to my outlets.

Last question regarding carpet. I would say the carpet we have is a medium ply. Not short but not long. Is it ok for the tank to be on carpet when it comes to leveling it off? Or should I cut a sheet of nice plywood, round over all of the corners with a router and paint it black. Use it as a platform that the tank will sit on. I have always had my tanks directly on carpet before but this is the first tank over 75 gallons. If the tank is 4" to 6" off the wall the carpet tack strip should not be an issue I would think.

 

[Whip]

I got the tank on two furniture dollies last night with the help of my brother and his friend. I then proceeded to bring all of the stand pieces to the basement. The next day I assembled the stand. I am very satisfied with the quality of the stand and assembly tolerances. I spent 7 years of my career working with product similar to this and can say this the cam lock / dowel system / and the quality of the wood Red Sea used for the stand is top notch.

So I have a few questions about placement. Red Sea recommends 24" from a corner and at least 4" from the back wall. I placed the tank at 24" off the corner and 6" off the wall. 6" does not seem like to much but having that hutch next to it my throw that off visually. The hutch will be going some where else. My wife will probably want something a bit smaller to fill the open area on the back wall. Based on your experiences what is a good distance to keep the tank off the back wall? Of course from a looks perspective the closer the better but I also like the appeal of being able to get to my outlets.

Last question regarding carpet. I would say the carpet we have is a medium ply. Not short but not long. Is it ok for the tank to be on carpet when it comes to leveling it off? Or should I cut a sheet of nice plywood, round over all of the corners with a router and paint it black. Use it as a platform that the tank will sit on. I have always had my tanks directly on carpet before but this is the first tank over 75 gallons. If the tank is 4" to 6" off the wall the carpet tack strip should not be an issue I would think.

I was also wondering how far to place it from the wall, so I put a survey up to get a feel for who did what.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/vote-what-distance-from-the-wall-do-you-have-your-aquarium.539682/

The general response was greater than four inches, but less than or equal to six inches. I went 6”. I just stripped the black background off of my tank and will be trying to keep my back glass as clean as possible, so the extra room back there is great to have.

I am not sure about the 24” thing. Seems strange that it would be a thing. I’m an engineer, but I don’t build houses... maybe because a corner on a load bearing wall (statically) is not a distributed force, but rather a point force? Landing 200 gallons of water there might pose some foundational issues? I live on a slab, so for me it isn’t a big deal.

I, too, was thinking about putting my tank on carpet, so I did a ton of research. There are some drawbacks, but none of them deal-breakers. The biggest issue was leaks and general housekeeping issues. If you stay away from the tack strip, you shouldn’t have any issues with keeping it level.

In the end, I ended up putting my on a hardwood floor, so the point was moot for me.