Kaushiks Red Sea Reefer G1 525 XL (Used)

[Kaushik]

Hi,

Starting up a new build thread for my new tank.

I’ve had a 90 litre tank for a couple of years but was limited on what I could add to the tank so decided to upgrade.

I know people are wary of a second hand tank but it’s all I could afford so got a Red Sea gen 1 525 XL.

 

[blaxsun]

Pictures are always great!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Can't wait to see pcitures!!

 

[Kaushik]

Original state of the tank at the previous owners house back in October 2022.

 

[Kaushik]

Tank in so started aquascaping in Jan 2023.

• 40 pounds of Marco foundation rock
• 40 pounds of Marco reef saver rock
• 3 tubes of Seachem purple tubes (114g) (only 2 required)
• 2 Kg of Marco shelf rock (didn’t use as looks quite different to the reef saver)
• 5 pound Marco E-Marco cement - grey
• 6 tubes of Gorilla glue gel 15g (only used 3)
• Charnwood Ultra Thin Cyanoacrylate Superglue, Wicking Bond, 50g (should have got 100g)

In the end I think I overdid it with some of the items as indicated above.

The rock was glued with the gel superglue, reinforced with the Marco cement and where not possible to reach I used the Seachem epoxy.

Finally covered the cement and epoxy with the Marco rock dust and super thin superglue.

Very pleased with the results.

Followed the usual tips of rule of thirds, not going above 50% of the height of the tank.

 

[Kaushik]

Test filled the tank to check for leaks but realised that the 700kg of extra weight was causing the floor boards to flex and bounce.

Slight setback as I had to move the tank and reinforce the floor.

Some background research showed that C16 grade timber is more than enough for the job and the span between the supports. The tank covered 3 beams going the length of the tank (not ideal but good enough).

 

[Kaushik]

Got my Inkbird temperature controller with dual probes for redundancy.

If the probes read a temperate difference greater than 3 degrees C then an alarm goes off to indicate one of the probes is faulty.

The controller also cuts the power off if the temperature goes above a threshold (set to 28 degrees whilst I cycle the tank) or falls below a set threshold.

Im building in redundancy from the start since heating failures are the primary reason for tank failures.

I’ve gone with dual Inkbird 300w heaters set at 25 degrees and 23 degrees. The two temperatures will ensure that one heater is used primarily whilst the second is backup unless the temperature drops dramatically. Kept to Inkbird heaters so that they communicate with the controller.

 

[Kaushik]

Sand has been added now (Ocean direct Caribsea live sand 80 lbs).

decided to cycle using the old school method of a frozen prawn being thrown in.

To speed up the process I’m adding Aquaforest Life Source mud from Fiji. As per BRS video this should increase the diversity of the bacteria population, hopefully reducing the ugly phase later on.

 

[Ranjib]

off to a great start kaushik da. Looking forward to this build

 

[chad.wick]

looks fantastic! Any updates? I bought a used 525 XL recently and love the scape design.

 

[Kaushik]

Thanks. Yes things progressing albeit a bit slowly - I have my other Aqua 90 going on to keep me occupied as well.

So the key developments are

• The addition of a Bubble Magus Curve A5 skimmer. The skimmer is so quiet compared to the one on my Aqua 90 it’s night and day. Once the cabinet doors are closed it’s hard to tell it’s on. I’ve put an airline in from the outside to help keep PH up when I get some corals in
• Managed to get 2 new Radion XR30 Blue Gen 5 for £800 total. Was going to get the AI blades to get distributed light to minimise coral shadowing from the start but couldn’t say no to the bargain XR30s. I will revisit the issue a year down the line when I consider adding SPS
• The tank is well and truly cycled
• I set up a small quarantine tank. Just some pvc piping, heater and airstone
• 3 small green Chromis (Chromis Viridis) have spent 4 weeks in the QT tank and are now in the main tank, helping to kick off the secondary ammonia cycle. I was going to use Copper Power as a treatment but thought to keep them under observation and treat only if I found issues. Couldn’t source Copper Power in the UK so had to get it from the US.
• Still no coral yet but may look to get a small tester coral soon. Trying to research the best way to QT/dip corals but no definitive direction yet
• On a slightly negative note I have noticed a few scratches on the tank now that it’s illuminated with the XR30s but they are only visible if you crouch down and look up to the lights so it’s not a big issue but if you are buying second hand then it’s something to check (in addition to the seals)

Next steps are

• to add an air pump so that I don’t need to keep the skimmer on all the time. I’m thinking that keeping a certain amount of protein in the water is a good thing for corals so will limit skimmer operation but will need to keep the water oxygenated
• Need to up the flow so on the lookout for some wavemakers
• Try to find spectacular looking fish that are coral safe, will fit in a 525 tank, won’t pick on other fish, etc, etc

And for some pictures…