Marco S Red Sea Reefer 750 XXL Build

[Marco S]

I did not receive tubing with my 750XXL. I hard plumbed mine.

I was thinking of hard plumbing eventually, but need to figure out what adapters and pipes I need. BRS has the metric to standard adapters, but I am not sure what size the 750 XXL return pipe is.

Now that I am holding on the build maybe I will get it hard plumbed while I am waiting...

 

[Marco S]

Red Sea looked at the pictures I sent them and determined that all is fine as long as the tank is level and touching on all four sides. Looks like I am back on now...

I started playing around with the aquascape and I am thinking it will be something like this:

I still have more rock to put in and will most likely build up the outside areas on either side leaving a valley in the center, but not married to that idea just yet.

Time to go to Home Depot for acrylic or PVC rods and superglue before I go any further.

 

[The Last Strider]

Looks great so far!! Keep the pics coming!

 

[Dan_K1309]

I would certainly seriously consider a backup Apex controller, they are known to crash.

 

[Marco S]

I would certainly seriously consider a backup Apex controller, they are known to crash.

I find it hard to believe that Apex controllers are "Known to crash". I have looked into it and see there have been a few specific issues with it crashing, (one having to do with port forwarding on a router) but jumping to it being a known issue with Apex Controllers as a whole and suggesting having redundant controllers because of that is a far stretch.

That being said, I do plan on using my Apex mostly for monitoring and convenience, but it will not be the end all and be all of my life support systems for my tank. I plan on running the controllers for the lights, pumps and heaters separate as well as being monitored by the Apex so it will not be a single point of failure for my tank. I will have my Apex updated and backed up as well, (just in case) but buying a second unit is not something I plan on for now.

 

[Marco S]

I think this may be the final draft of my aquascape, but who knows...

I will however say, I have not used any glue, rods or zip ties as of yet and the rocks seem very stable. I took a very long time adjusting and readjusting everything to make sure they were stable. I will probably double check a few hundred more times, but all in all I think I will not use anything to bind the rocks for now.

Here are some pics:

 

[Dan_K1309]

I find it hard to believe that Apex controllers are "Known to crash". I have looked into it and see there have been a few specific issues with it crashing, (one having to do with port forwarding on a router) but jumping to it being a known issue with Apex Controllers as a whole and suggesting having redundant controllers because of that is a far stretch.

That being said, I do plan on using my Apex mostly for monitoring and convenience, but it will not be the end all and be all of my life support systems for my tank. I plan on running the controllers for the lights, pumps and heaters separate as well as being monitored by the Apex so it will not be a single point of failure for my tank. I will have my Apex updated and backed up as well, (just in case) but buying a second unit is not something I plan on for now.

Maybe you should check out Fish O Hex on Youtube, he’s had 2 Crash in the last year. Only a fool believes nothing will happen. Enjoy!

 

[Marco S]

I finished my rock work and got sand and water in the tank! I can now see absolutely nothing since it is completely cloudy so I guess I will setup the Apex and or do some cable management while I am waiting for it to clear up. Figured I would include a couple pics, (even though you can't see anything) just to document the process...

 

[Dan Snyder]

I would certainly seriously consider a backup Apex controller, they are known to crash.

I think that’s a far fetched statement.

Marco, nice aquascape, minimal for a lot of fish swim space, like it. Should be fine with no zip ties or rods ect...

 

[Marco S]

The tank is about 50 % clear and I added my Maxspect Gyre's to the tank and configured the controller.

Here's a pic, but you can barely see them...

As you can see, the sand in the middle is slowly being blown away by the return nozzle so I ordered the Loc-Line adapters and Y fitting from BRS so I can split and adjust the flow. I had them shipped next day, so they should be here tomorrow, (or today actually). Hopefully the tank is clear enough by tomorrow.

I also setup the Apex and calibrated all the probes. My PH is pretty low, (7.8) and so is my ORP, (150). Not sure what ORP is, but from what I read it should be around 300 or above. I guess that is something I will need to look into tomorrow also.

The last thing I did was mount my heaters. I decided to mount one in the sump and one in the tank, (for redundancy) so the Neo-Therms are in the sump and the Finnex Titanium is in the tank right below the overflow entrance. I wanted to mount it in the overflow box itself and it actually fit nicely, but the instruction say not to mount it vertical because it was made to be used horizontal so I put it on the outside of the overflow. Not sure how good or bad it looks since I can't really get a clear view yet so it may be moved. Either way, the tank heated up really quick and both heaters seem to be extremely accurate.

 

[Braves Fan]

Very nice ,,, tagging along to follow your progress and see how your tank turns out

 

[Marco S]

Marco, nice aquascape, minimal for a lot of fish swim space, like it. Should be fine with no zip ties or rods ect...

Thanks! I wanted to make sure the fish had plenty of swim room, but also a few places to hide. While I am very excited to get into corals, fish are a priority as well.

I did end up using super glue gel on one rock though. It was just too unstable and I really liked the look so I broke down and used a bunch of super glue gel on it. it's not going anywhere now.

 

[Marco S]

I just got my Loc-Line return nozzle and the Red Sea adapter for the Loc-Line kit and everything fit perfect the first time! No having to wrap the pipe with Teflon tape 100 times here.

Here is the Loc-Line kit with the Red Sea adapter:

This is the return nozzle that came with the Red Sea Reefer:

It just pops right off without too much pulling. The new adapter also just pushes right on and snaps into place. Just like that and here is the finished product:

I read a few reviews about the Red Sea adapter not fitting or it breaking extremely easy because it is printed from cheap material, but I honestly have to say that it fit perfect and seems pretty sturdy. I would not have even known it was 3D printed if I didn't read the reviews. I am very happy with the product!

 

[Marco S]

I needed something to lift my protein skimmer up a couple inches, but Reef Octopus only sells three sizes of stands and the size that would work for my skimmer would be too large. I didn't want to sacrifice any refugium space so I figured I would make my own. I got some small PVC connections for the feet at Home Depot, but they don't cut glass or acrylic so I tried Lowe's and they cut me a piece of acrylic 10'' x 15'' and it fit's perfect! The cut was actually not that clean and it looks pretty ragged on one end, but no one will ever see it so I was OK with it and they gave me a huge discount so it worked out good.

I drilled a few holes in the feet so the water flows through, but that's as far as I got.

It won't be the best looking stand, but no one will ever see it and it serves it's purpose so I am pretty happy with it. Hopefully I have some time today to get the feet glued on and test it out.

 

[Marco S]

I got my stand glued together and emptied my Sump to clean it out today. The stand fits perfect and even though it doesn't look as good as the Reef Octopus one, it was 1/3 of the price and it allows me to keep the refugium divider at the farthest setting. I am happy with it.

Here are some pics:

Time to fill her back up.

 

[Dan Snyder]

Red PVC would have made it 100% legit, which you can do later. It looks great. If your not a DIY kinda person, you wont make it in this hobby.

 

[Marco S]

With all the attention I have spent getting this tank setup, I have been neglecting my freshwater tanks so I am probably spending most of my spare time today doing water changes and trimming back the forest of plants that are growing out of control.

I did however get my sump completed and decided to use the provided ATO while I decide on what container I will be getting for my Tunze ATO unit. right off the bat I noticed a little leak in the plastic piece that connects the tank to the float in the pump return section. I tried using Teflon tape but it is still leaking a tiny drop every few seconds. I plan on finding a replacement for that piece sometime today.

Here is a pic of the piece in question:

Other than that I am happy with the sump for now. I got my skimmer controller mounted and filled the refugium area with 1 Marine Pure brick and lots of Bio-Balls. Not sure if I will keep the balls or use them to seed my QTs until I complete my fish stock. Either way, I am done for now with it.

The tank is finally 100% clear, but now I need to deal with the mess I seem to have made with controllers, surge protectors and power cables. Not looking forward to it, but I will get that complete before going any further.

Here is my clear tank:

And here is the mess I need to clean up:

That's it for now. Time to start my maintenance on my neglected tanks.

 

[Marco S]

Nothing has really changed with my build so far since I've been pretty busy, but I have added several fish to my stock so I decided to post some videos of my new additions.

QT 1:


QT 2:


QT 3:


DT:

 

[Marco S]

I haven't done anything new with the tank, but I just ordered a Pentair Aquatics Smart 40 watt UV Sterilizer that should be here on Tuesday! I will need to figure out where to install it since it will not fit in my stand and I do not have a fish room, but I have plenty of room behind or besides the tank. I will make sure to post some pictures or a video when I get it installed next week.

I did purchase a Blue Hippo and an Achilles Tang and they are doing great in QT right now. I will try to post some pictures or a video later today...

 

[Marco S]

Here is an update on my two new additions to QT. I added an Achilles Tang and Blue Hippo Tang about a week and a half ago and they are both doing great!

Here is the video: