Marvin's Reefer 250

[mrvn]

Hello everyone!

After giving it some thought I decided to upgrade (downgrade) my 75 gal deep blue tank. First of all, I had thought of going with a different tank since a few months ago. The reason for this was the size of the overflow but mainly the design of the stand. The stand has a panel on the front which makes so difficult for me to see what's going on inside my sump therefore I was always struggling with my maintenance.

So, during last BRS sale I decided that was time for me to get a new tank and so I got a Red Sea Reefer 250. The tank is smaller than my previous deep blue but I didn't want to get another 75gal for the moment.

At first I was planning on using my old equipment but after checking some of the amazing builds on the forum, I changed my mind (more times that I can count) and decided to upgrade some of my equipment.



Tank:
Red Sea Reefer 250

Sump
Synergy Reef SS 34

Lightning:
4x39w ATI Hybrid Fixture

Flow
MP40 wQD x 2
Reef Octopus Varios 4 - Return pump

Skimmer
Skimmer: Bubble King 130

Reactors
Vertex RX-Z 1.5L ZEOlite reactor

Controller
Apex Controller

ATO
ATK by Neptune Systems

Doser
DOS by Neptune Systems

 

[landlocked303]

You got the Red Sea Reefer 250 but upgraded/changed the sump? did you do custom plumbing or how did you adapt the overflow?

 

[mrvn]

You got the Red Sea Reefer 250 but upgraded/changed the sump? did you do custom plumbing or how did you adapt the overflow?

Yes I will be changing all the plumbing to schedule 80 PVC. I want to run my reactors on a manifold to avoid the need of adding more pumps.

 

[dmw913]

@landlocked303 You just need to convert from metric to imperial PVC and use the same pipes coming down from the overflow - cut them of course.

@mrvn Any pics? I have the 250 and am intrigued at how you are getting all that equipment in the stand.

 

[mrvn]

@dmw913 Sadly, I haven't started the plumbing yet since Synergy Reef has a lead time of 2 to 3 weeks. But the sump is a SS 34 (shorten to 31"). The sump should give me a 14.5"x14.5" area in the skimmer section which should be enough to fit the BK 130 and the vertex reactor. As for the Pax Bellum, I'm planning on keeping the reactor attached to the back panel of the cabinet and above the sump with a pair of custom aluminum mounts.I will post some pictures as soon as I start working on sump area.

 

[mrvn]

 

[dmw913]

@mrvn May I hit the pause button on your build for just a moment??? I was reading your thread because I just finished a 250 build using a Synergy Reef sump. I got the 22. I'm quite concerned the 34 will not fit in the stand. Rather than just toss that out in text form, please see the measurement I just took which shows just slightly over 33" available for the entirety of the stand area due to the foam that lines the bottom and sides of the stand.

IMG_7600

• dmw913
• Jul 24, 2017

IMG_7599

• dmw913
• Jul 24, 2017

Please feel free to ask any questions you may wish as the plumbing on this sump was also a challenge because it is significantly higher than the Red Sea version. Had to remove bulkheads and it still only fit by a hair.

 

[dmw913]

Ha! We were typing at the same time. Glad you got it shortened. Phew!

 

[mrvn]

Ha! We were typing at the same time. Glad you got it shortened. Phew!

Thank you very much for the information ! Yes! I had it shortened, I was concerned about the size so I gave a call to Red Sea to get the dimensions. As for the color I went with white and green. I love the look of your sump but I wasn't sure the black would match my white tank.

As for the plumbing parts, I got the barbed adapters to replace the drain pipes that came with tank, and some other adapters to that replace the barbed assembly to enable me to used 1 inch pvc.

Tomorrow I should be getting some rocks I ordered from Marco rocks and also some diaphragm valves as well as some ball valves.

 

[dmw913]

Thank you very much for the information ! Yes! I had it shortened, I was concerned about the size so I gave a call to Red Sea to get the dimensions. As for the color I went with white and green. I love the look of your sump but I wasn't sure the black would match my white tank.

As for the plumbing parts, I got the barbed adapters to replace the drain pipes that came with tank, and some other adapters to that replace the barbed assembly to enable me to used 1 inch pvc.

Tomorrow I should be getting some rocks I ordered from Marco rocks and also some diaphragm valves as well as some ball valves.

What are you thinking for ATO and fresh water storage?

 

[mrvn]

What are you thinking for ATO and fresh water storage?

I think I'll go with an ATO reservoir from synergy reef with matching color. I will order it in a few weeks since I still have my emerald reservoir. I wanted to go with the apex ATO but the reviews are not too good so I'm waiting.

As you can see I still have a lot of work to do... hopefully it will all work out

 

[mrvn]

Finally and after a long wait (3 days haha) my skimmer has arrived. Straight out of the box, it looks amazing, I cant wait to use it. Also, I received good news from Synergy Reef. They send me an email just to let me know that my sump is ready to be assembled and they think it will ship by the end of this week.

(My cat was more excited about the box than about the skimmer)

@landlocked303 these are the adapters I'm using to be able to plumb the tank with PVC.

***Unfortunately, my valves were delayed and will be delivered tomorrow.

 

[mrvn]

I also received my rocks and started working on the aquascape. I'm not too happy about it but this is what I did today I might make some changes tomorrow. I apologize for the bad pictures, the glass had too much glare and I couldn't get any better pictures.

 

[pelphrey]

Tagging along for this build! I love my reefer 250!

 

[Berlibee]

Another Reefer 250 yeah! Good luck !

 

[mrvn]

More parts for my plumbing arrived today. These are some Georg Fischer diaphragm valves. I first saw these on @Jerel build and I absolutely love the look of them so, I went ahead and I ordered a couple.

So, for the moment I can only wait for my sump to be shipped and for the schedule 80 piping to arrive to continue with the build.

 

[mrvn]

Another Reefer 250 yeah! Good luck !

Thank you!

Tagging along for this build! I love my reefer 250!

Reefers 250 are such amazing tanks!

 

[powers2001]

I have a RSR 250 too and just love it. I almost went with a 3rd party sump but I'm glad I didn't, I used that money for rock and manifold plumbing.

 

[Jerel]

More parts for my plumbing arrived today. These are some Georg Fischer diaphragm valves. I first saw these on @Jerel build and I absolutely love the look of them so, I went ahead and I ordered a couple.

So, for the moment I can only wait for my sump to be shipped and for the schedule 80 piping to arrive to continue with the build.

Nice! Good choice with the GF+ diaphragm valves. I receive a lot of inquiries regarding these valves.

 

[revhtree]

Great build already!