Lurch72's 350 Reefer build

[Lurch72]

So, I've taken the plunge and ordered a black Red Sea Reefer 350 Deluxe(with the new red sea 90's). The tank should be here by the end of next week. I've kept two saltwater tanks in my life, a 30 gallon under gravel filter which if I recall, didn't do very well and a wet/dry sump 55 Gallon FOWLR which did great till a huge storm and the subsequent week long power outage. I intend for this tank to be a mixed reef.

Reefer 350

Red Sea Reef LED 90s with mounting arms X2

Reef Octopus 110sss Skimmer

Reef Octopus VarioS-4 Return pump

Ice Cap 300 Gyre pump

Eiheim Jager 125w heater X2

Marco rock x75lbs


I'll post updates and pics as I go along.

Lurch

 

[steelwrap]

Sounds like a good start. Welcome to R2R

 

[Lurch72]

Well, the only progress to report so far is getting my RO/DI system mounted and running. I chose a unit with a DI bypass valve so I could use water from it for another hobby of mine, home brewing beer. I'm going to purchase a second Brute 33 can so I will have more water on hand when it's time to fill the tank. It's already part of the plan for my eventual saltwater mixing station anyhow.

I'm still waiting on the tank to be delivered to my LFS. I have received my skimmer, return pump and heaters. I have ordered sand, 75 lbs of Reef Saver rock, test kits, salt, etc. I think I'm going to wait until the tank is cycled to decide on the power head decision. Hopefully Red Sea's new gyre units will be out by then.

 

[Lurch72]

Still waiting on the tank. LFS says 10th at the latest. My salt, sand, test kits and 75lbs of Marco Rock arrived. I'm still waiting to see if the Red Sea Gyre pumps are released by the time I need them. The Marco rock seems nice but it came in pretty much identical sized and shaped pieces except for one long flat piece I'm going to use as a bridge. I went to work with a hammer and chisel to make some changes and with a few minor tweeks, this will be my rock scape:

 

[dantimdad]

Welcome aboard!

 

[Lurch72]

So it finally arrived! Picked it and two Reef LED 90's and mounting arms up at my LFS this afternoon. The cabinet assembly was kind of a pain but its looks great(well, it will once I clean it all up) and it's very solid. I'm done for the night, it's time for a beer.

 

[Lurch72]

Well, it's up and running! Fritz 900 going in today! I really like the ReefLeds. Had a little hassle getting one to connect but once it did, I've had no more problems with it. I love the shimmer!

 

[Lurch72]

I installed a few strip LED's in the sump. Next project is cord management.

 

[Lurch72]

So the Fritz 900 Turbostart is doing it's thing. Nitrite is around 2ppm. Not bad for less than 18 hours in the tank.

 

[Lurch72]

Nitrite is around 5ppm this morning. Ammonia is between .25-.5ppm(started at 2).

 

[Lurch72]

I went ahead and ordered an Ice Cap 300 Gyre , it came in yesterday and I installed it this morning. It wouldn't have been my first choice but the Red Sea Gyres are still no where to be seen. Regardless this thing can put out some incredible flow. So far it's dead quiet even at high flows. The instruction manual on the other hand is pretty bad. Especially concerning programming it for a 24 hour schedule and cleaning. Nothing a quick google search couldn't fix though. My refugium light and mounting arm also arrived and were installed. As odd as it is to me, my wife is far more impatient about getting stock in the tank. She's getting sick of hearing "When the tank tells us we can." as an answer to her daily "When can we get fish?".

Here's a pic of my now lighted sump just because I haven't posted any pics in a while.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Great looking tank, I love your aquascape

 

[Lurch72]

So we're all cycled. Going to do a 25% water change later today. Salt is mixing now. I put a slightly larger than a golf ball chunk of chaeto in the refugium section last weekend. It's almost tripled in size. Going to order some pods for it next week. Tomorrow I'm getting two clown fish as the first inhabitants, probably a small cleanup crew for uneaten food as well. I'm also setting up a quarantine tank this weekend. The clowns are skipping it and I know there is a risk but these guys were bred and raised by a LFS and are in their own isolated system. These two will be the only ones that won't go through QT. Oh! My skimmer finally broke in! Only took 14 days or so... lol.

 

[Lurch72]

Today was the first day I had ran my skimmer with the collection cup attached. Until now, even at the lowest setting it would fill the cup within a few minutes. I had been putting the cup on every 72 hours or so to see if it had broken in. I've never had a skimmer on my other tanks but color me impressed. It has pulled about 2 inches of brownish water into the cup over the last few hours. I thought I might be imagining that the tank looked more clear but as soon as my wife saw the tank she commented on how clear it was. Nice!

 

[SteveEreef]

Following along. I am going to be upgrading to a 350 this summer. So I’m interested in your build. I like your aquascape. Very nice. If I may ask, what light did you get for your refug? thanks

 

[Lurch72]

Following along. I am going to be upgrading to a 350 this summer. So I’m interested in your build. I like your aquascape. Very nice. If I may ask, what light did you get for your refug? thanks

https://www.amazon.com/TaoTronics-Spectrum-Hydroponics-Organic-Wavelengths/dp/B0748D2SMB

I started it about 6 inches above water level but it was burning the chaeto. I moved it up to about a foot off and it's growing well.

 

[Lurch72]

So Saturday morning I went to a small LFS that specializes in coral but also carries some fish. I ended up with two tank raised Ocellaris clowns, a standard and a black. The LFS owner bred and raised these guys in their own isolated system. The black one was much more outgoing and started exploring the tank almost immediately. The orange one hung out in the rear corner but was exploring with the black one Sunday night right before lights out. They "sleep" together in the right rear corner of the tank about half way up. Both are accepting food, with the larger orange one being a pig. I picked up a small CUC, a few hermits and four snails. I have no algae yet, I'll grab more snails as needed. The owner kind of talked me in to getting three Zoa frags he was having a sale on, he thought they would be fine even in my new tank. At five dollars a frag, I figured why not. Now I need to order the relevant testing kits as I had no intention of getting any coral this soon, but here we are. They all opened up within an hour or so, and I think look happy. They close when the lights start dimming for the night but within an hour of the lights coming on yesterday they were open again.

 

[Westside Guy]

The Reefer 350's combined volume is 91 gallons between the DT (73) and sump (18) and the Reef Octopus 110sss skimmer is rated:
Light Stocked - 90 Gallons
Medium Stocked - 65 Gallons
Heavily Stocked - 40 Gallons

Down the road depending on how you stock the tank you may have to switch to the 150 sss:
Light Stocked - 160 Gallons
Medium Stocked - 110 Gallons
Heavily Stocked - 65 Gallons

 

[Lurch72]

The Reefer 350's combined volume is 91 gallons between the DT (73) and sump (18) and the Reef Octopus 110sss skimmer is rated:
Light Stocked - 90 Gallons
Medium Stocked - 65 Gallons
Heavily Stocked - 40 Gallons

Down the road depending on how you stock the tank you may have to switch to the 150 sss:
Light Stocked - 160 Gallons
Medium Stocked - 110 Gallons
Heavily Stocked - 65 Gallons

Yep, somehow when ordering all my equipment I confused which Octo I had decided to order. I had it in the sump and running before I realized it. I know I'll likely have to replace it in the future.

 

[Westside Guy]

Yep, somehow when ordering all my equipment I confused which Octo I had decided to order. I had it in the sump and running before I realized it. I know I'll likely have to replace it in the future.

Why not sell now on R2R on their dry goods selling forum and replace it with the 150 sss?

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/selling-forum-dry-goods.60/

You will recover a good part of your purchase price by doing so, later on you won't. If you still have the packaging I would clean it up and box it.