Matt's Red Sea Reefer 525xl build.

[CasaReefer]

Lucky Man... Go Out And Get a LOTTO Ticket .... You Know.... Just In Case You Still Have A Little Luck Left In Ya..... Thanks For Bringing Us Along ... Ohhh And If Ya do It The Lotto... Remember Who Believed In Ya First...

 

[DMG Reef]

Awesome, following along.. a couple note from my 425 build.. hard plumb it from the start, use GOOD gate valves vs Ball valves, ditch the ATO res or you will refill it more than you want to. I use a 15gal plastic food grade drum and it lasts me roughly a week and i keep my house at 74 with leds. the MH are going to cause even more evaporation.

This must be a personal preference kind of thing. I used the stock plumbing and have had no issues at all with the valve. Dial it in then forget it. And the version 3 sumps have a larger ATO reservoir that I fill roughly every 3 days. I didn't have an ATO on my previous tank so this one has been terrific. Just my experience fwiw.

 

[Mhart032]

We moved the redsea 425XL with 2 guys, so 4 should be fine, advice.. go to the local fish store and see if they have the glass suction cups to carry the tank that you can borrow. If you have to buy them DO NOT SKIMP on the cheap ones. it will make the job so much easier and more safe.

 

[thedog2012]

That's awesome, congratulations on the win. Take lots of photos! Cant wait to see this build develop.

 

[MTBake]

We moved the redsea 425XL with 2 guys, so 4 should be fine, advice.. go to the local fish store and see if they have the glass suction cups to carry the tank that you can borrow. If you have to buy them DO NOT SKIMP on the cheap ones. it will make the job so much easier and more safe.

I have a source for the suction cups. A friend of my father's does glass for a living. He said I could borrow 4 if needed. My brother and I were able to pick it up. But don't think we could manage to get it down stairs by our selves. I'll have a few friends stop by when the day comes.

 

[MTBake]

That's awesome, congratulations on the win. Take lots of photos! Cant wait to see this build develop.

Thanks for following

I'll take as many pics as I can.

 

[MTBake]

I patched some holes in the drywall and got the stand assembled. Going to get a coat of paint on the wall tonight. Hoping to move the tank onto the stand on Thursday. Saturday at the latest.

Here's the back of the stand and you can see my not so great patch job on holes behind that.

 

[MTBake]

Going to move the tank onto the stand soon. Within the next couple hours.

Here's where it is going.

 

[Matt Carden]

Looks the same here in MI. Sounds like a great build!

Where in MI?

 

[Matt Carden]

Hello R2R!

I'm about to start an unexpected upgrade

The Red Sea Reefer 525xl is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow. The room it's going in is not quite finished yet. Going to paint the walls within the next week. I have some friends coming over next weekend to muscle this beast into my basement

I have decided on metal halide and led hybrid lighting. The LEDs will be Kessils that I already have. The metal halide will be either 14k Phoenix or 20k radiums, which I also have.

I'm going to order a Deltec 1000ix in 2 weeks from @Battlecorals. I feel like this skimmer will handle the tank well and last for a long time.

I'm going to go with a Sicce return pump. And most likely Vortechs for flow.

I'll be ordering live rock from KPAquatics and Gulf live rock once I have the tank in place.

This will not be fast build at all. Going to take my time with this to make sure I get it right.

Ps,

I would like to thank R2R, everyone that joined the partner member raffle(still can't believe I won this, truly surreal experience), the sponsors for the partner member raffle and everyone else that makes R2R what it is. This really is a fantastic group of people contributing to the hobby. This wouldn't be possible without R2R!

Stay tuned for lots of pics! I'll do my best to describe the process as I go.

I'm also open to any tips or tricks regarding these Red Sea setups

Thanks to anyone that follows,

Matt

Congratulations on winning the ? I wanted to join the 2020 partner but didn't have the money due to having to move twice in 2 months.

 

[MTBake]

Update time!

The tank is on the stand and waiting for me to acquire all the needed equipment to start it up. I did connect all the stock plumbing. Still need to do a leak test.

My skimmer came in today

Went with a Deltec 1455 from Adam @Battlecorals. This thing is a beast compared to anything I've ran before! Can't wait to see this in action!

Here's a couple pics...

 

[MTBake]

Here's another pic of the tank without the condensation

 

[LAReefer4Life]

Congratulations BTW very happy for you!

 

[MTBake]

Congratulations BTW very happy for you!

This wouldn't be possible without the forum. That is for sure. Thank you for the congrats.

The hard part will be turning it into a beautiful reef that we can all admire. Hopefully, with the help of the members here, it will be.

 

[Candace Summers]

Hello R2R!

I'm about to start an unexpected upgrade

The Red Sea Reefer 525xl is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow. The room it's going in is not quite finished yet. Going to paint the walls within the next week. I have some friends coming over next weekend to muscle this beast into my basement

I have decided on metal halide and led hybrid lighting. The LEDs will be Kessils that I already have. The metal halide will be either 14k Phoenix or 20k radiums, which I also have.

I'm going to order a Deltec 1000ix in 2 weeks from @Battlecorals. I feel like this skimmer will handle the tank well and last for a long time.

I'm going to go with a Sicce return pump. And most likely Vortechs for flow.

I'll be ordering live rock from KPAquatics and Gulf live rock once I have the tank in place.

This will not be fast build at all. Going to take my time with this to make sure I get it right.

Ps,

I would like to thank R2R, everyone that joined the partner member raffle(still can't believe I won this, truly surreal experience), the sponsors for the partner member raffle and everyone else that makes R2R what it is. This really is a fantastic group of people contributing to the hobby. This wouldn't be possible without R2R!

Stay tuned for lots of pics! I'll do my best to describe the process as I go.

I'm also open to any tips or tricks regarding these Red Sea setups

Thanks to anyone that follows,

Matt

Congrats!! I’m looking forward to following along!

 

[MTBake]

I still need a return pump, sand and rocks. Then I can start adding water. That'll most likely be a week or possibly 2 weeks after Thanksgiving.

I'm visiting my grandmother in No Where Wisconsin for the next week. There won't be much to update in the mean time.

I did place the skimmer in the sump before I left town. Still no water though

 

[Megability]

My skimmer came in today

Went with a Deltec 1455 from Adam @Battlecorals. This thing is a beast compared to anything I've ran before! Can't wait to see this in action!

Is there a reason why you DIDN’T choose a Red Sea skimmer?

 

[MTBake]

Personal choice really. Deltec has a great reputation and I have always wanted one. I came a cross a great deal on a brand new 1455 with an extra pump, manual cleaning head and other extras from @Battlecorals. I was looking at the red sea 300 skimmer but then saw what Adam had for sale I figured I would jump on it.

 

[Mhart032]

I agree, good choice.

 

[MTBake]

I haven't updated this in a while. Been busy with life

My return pump came in Friday. Went with a Sicce Syncra Silent 5.0. Seems very well built and I hope it gives me years of trouble free use.

I plumbed the return pump in with braided vinyl hose and clicker rings(or plastic ratcheting hose clamps if you prefer). Nothing fancy here at all. Just wanted it to work and not leak.

I also decided to start filling the tank Saturday. 52 hours later and it's full of ro/di water!