Miami Red Sea Reefer 425xl

rerana · Feb 7, 2017

I bought this 425 XL around black Friday, and I finally got around to putting it together over last couple of weeks. It has been slow, but it is almost ready to get it wet and tested. I have everything except a pair of PVC fittings needed to complete the plumbing.

I'll be using a Vectra M1, a vortech MP40WQD, and an Omega 180I skimmer. At some point I'll get another mp40. For top off, I'll probably try to keep using my tunze 3152 with a 5 or 10 gallon container to keep fillips to a minimum. For light I have a razor system, which has worked well for me in the past. Easy to program and looks slick. Though, I'm not sure how good it is for coral growth. Finally, I plan to dose two part solution with BRS equipment and have a dual carbon & GFO reactor.

Almost every idea, from getting the this tank to most of details, has come in one way or another from other threads, primarily from the Red Sea Reefer Series. Thanks to all those who post pictures and provide guidance and inspiration!

rerana · Feb 7, 2017

No pic, then it did not happen, so here we go....

revhtree · Feb 7, 2017

Nice job! Looks great!

rerana · Feb 8, 2017

I took a cut twice, measure once approach when doing the plumbing....

Probably have a few more cuts to go.

Preme · Feb 8, 2017

Awesome build!

Daniel@R2R · Feb 9, 2017

Looking great!!

rerana said:
I took a cut twice, measure once approach when doing the plumbing....

Probably have a few more cuts to go.

Ha! That's how I did it! I ended up with a bunch of these little pieces.

rerana · Feb 9, 2017

Just got this in the mail today. Much larger than I thought it would be.

Has anybody noticed that seeing up a tank is expensive?

After all this, I hope I can afford a fish or two.

Dean Huffman · Feb 10, 2017

Looks great. I just bought the Red Sea Reefer 425 as well. Bought almost all the equipment I need just waiting for the tank!!

Danny1496 · Feb 11, 2017

great start

rerana · Feb 12, 2017

Danny1496 said:
great start

Thanks. Just Waiting for one last part from Red Sea to plug in the plumbing. Hopefully I'll have meaningful posts in a few weeks.

rerana · Feb 17, 2017

Not much i can do until i get the missing plumbing parts. I did however rip off the black vinyl back. I was very nervous, but i think it looks nice this way. I also took off the door stoppers and put in a child safety lock. It was more about the doors not closing correctly before than keeping kids out.

rerana · Mar 13, 2017

Still waiting for some parts from Red Sea so i can finish the plumbing. Not much i can do until then, though I did add some handles to the doors. Given I took out the original push mechanism and added the child lock, the handle was needed to help open the door. I used a basic handle I found online and put it in place with double sided tape. So far, works and looks great.

ksfulk · Mar 13, 2017

Door knobs look slick! I partially wish I would have peeled the vinyl backing off of mine, but now that its filled, its not happening, so I'll live vicariously through others! Any thoughts about hanging the razor fixture? Those fixtures are so sleek that ditching the legs would give you a really clean look. Look forward to seeing more updates!

rerana · Mar 13, 2017

Yes! I would like to hang the razor, but my wife said no way. My original tank has the razor from the roof. New tank is in the living room, so she gets a bigger say than if it was back in my office. This pic was right after i set the other one up.

The less wires and mess, the more likely that the tank stays for the long haul.

revhtree · Mar 13, 2017

Looking good!

ksfulk · Mar 13, 2017

rerana said:
Yes! I would like to hang the razor, but my wife said no way. My original tank has the razor from the roof. New tank is in the living room, so she gets a bigger say than if it was back in my office. This pic was right after i set the other one up.

The less wires and mess, the more likely that the tank stays for the long haul.

I feel like we've all been there at some point.

Still a pretty sharp looking setup, cant wait to see how you fill it out!

rerana · Mar 17, 2017

Everyday a little bit closer to getting water in this thing. I wanted to wait to get all the custom pipes in there at the same time, but now I think i'm just going to go with my manifold plugged in and use the standard pipes for drainage and overflow. I spoke to red sea and its another 3-4 weeks from getting the parts i am missing. I'll glue the PVC tonight, maybe by sunday i am testing it all out. We'll see...

I also put some carbon print red vinyl paper under the sump. Can't tell it has a nice print on it, but at least the red stands out. I forgot who I copied this from (no original thoughts here!), otherwise I'd give you credit. My bad!

rerana · Mar 20, 2017

I was getting the plumbing together this weekend and somehow got distracted and put in two pieces where they weren't supposed to go! D'oh!

Luckily I only need to order two T connections to keep going and did not lose all my other work, or worse, the value fittings, which are fairly expensive. On a positive note, for the first time ever using PVC glue, I think I did a good job...of course except for the part where I put pieces in the wrong place...