Mission Impossible: Reefer 250, 3 reactors, refugium, skimmer, lights, action! Pic heavy.

[Butuz]

@Butuz hey I haven't visited your build thread in awhile. Tank looks absolutely amazing !!!! And you made "Reef Tank 365" too !!!! I was wondering if you could answer a question for me, I'm out of town and don't have access to my tank right now. Could you possibly tell me the size of the emergency drain downpipe in the overflow box of the Reefer 250? I think I have version 1 or 2 but definitely not 3 if it matters. I know the size is metric in mm's.

hey Powers, thanks. As you saw from the post, I replaced the entire plumbing. However, kept the original pieces, so here are some measurements in inches for the original emergency drain. Includes OD and ID.

 

[Wtyson254]

Just finished all 21 pages, amazing aquarium.

 

[Rapidtransport28]

I could only dream of having a tank like yours.
Amazin!!!

 

[Butuz]

I could only dream of having a tank like yours.
Amazin!!!

Just finished all 21 pages, amazing aquarium.

thanks, guys. Stay safe.

 

[powers2001]

hey Powers, thanks. As you saw from the post, I replaced the entire plumbing. However, kept the original pieces, so here are some measurements in inches for the original emergency drain. Includes OD and ID.

@Butuz thanks for the measurements !!! I will tell you the story why I was so desperate to have the measurements at the spur of the moment. Well.... I was lying in bed trying to sleep and had too much anxiety to fall asleep due to the excitement of building out my tank. (I'm sure we've all been there!) Well I want to dose phytoplankton in my tank for the corals and copepods for a long time now and not sure how to do it. I ran across a product on the CoralVue website that's a bag of phytoplankton that has a spout that can be connected to an airline tubing and dosed with a dosing pump. The company that makes it is EasyReefs. What's more this product has a shelf life of 18 months without refrigeration. Whew I was excited at 2:00 am viewing this on my laptop. Now how to figure out exactly how to dose this into my system. My emergency drain dumps directly into my return pump chamber and I wanted to stick the airline tubing directly into it so the liquid would get dispersed by my return pump. And I like to have a small trickle going down the emergency standpipe at all times. Aha!!! drill a hole on the top of a pvc fitting elbow just big enough to force the tubing through so that it wouldn't slip out. So in the wee hours of morning I ordered a metric pvc elbow to go on the standpipe from CoralVue. The fitting was about $0.99 but the shipping was about $16.00. They're ridiculous about shipping for some reason. I guess they're the only ones selling metric fittings so they can get away with it. Here I am a day and a half later realizing it would be better to dose the stuff directly into the return chamber of my sump with the tubing secured with a tubing holder that I already have about three of. Moral of the story: don't make impulse buys in the middle of the night !!!!!

 

[Butuz]

@Butuz thanks for the measurements !!! I will tell you the story why I was so desperate to have the measurements at the spur of the moment. Well.... I was lying in bed trying to sleep and had too much anxiety to fall asleep due to the excitement of building out my tank. (I'm sure we've all been there!) Well I want to dose phytoplankton in my tank for the corals and copepods for a long time now and not sure how to do it. I ran across a product on the CoralVue website that's a bag of phytoplankton that has a spout that can be connected to an airline tubing and dosed with a dosing pump. The company that makes it is EasyReefs. What's more this product has a shelf life of 18 months without refrigeration. Whew I was excited at 2:00 am viewing this on my laptop. Now how to figure out exactly how to dose this into my system. My emergency drain dumps directly into my return pump chamber and I wanted to stick the airline tubing directly into it so the liquid would get dispersed by my return pump. And I like to have a small trickle going down the emergency standpipe at all times. Aha!!! drill a hole on the top of a pvc fitting elbow just big enough to force the tubing through so that it wouldn't slip out. So in the wee hours of morning I ordered a metric pvc elbow to go on the standpipe from CoralVue. The fitting was about $0.99 but the shipping was about $16.00. They're ridiculous about shipping for some reason. I guess they're the only ones selling metric fittings so they can get away with it. Here I am a day and a half later realizing it would be better to dose the stuff directly into the return chamber of my sump with the tubing secured with a tubing holder that I already have about three of. Moral of the story: don't make impulse buys in the middle of the night !!!!!

LOL. enjoyed reading this as I have been there myself. I have had cases of ordering stuff in the middle of the night, just upon receipt start scratching my head in a few days later thinking “what the heck was I thinking”! As long as these are not expensive impulses!

 

[canadianeh]

Hi @Butuz can you talk in detail how you connect the Red Sea part with the pvc adapter? What do I did with it?

I am dealing with one of them that I can’t seem to get a good deal. I tried white Teflon tape, pink Teflon tape, o-ring and it still leaks.

 

[canadianeh]

You will then need this 3/4 schedule 80 male pipe adaptor. BRS has them, here is the link. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/schedule-80-male-pipe-adapter-1-3a6c2c9231df58107434b942fa600b22.html

Then, use some good amount of teflon tape (i recommend pink tape specifically for water applications - see the info earlier in the thread). Trial and error, wrap teflon, tighten, add more if needed. Dont do too much as you might crack the red sea plastic piece). This is what the final piece should look like (teflon tape not showing).

are you using the original red o-ring? How many rotation you wrapped them with pink tape? I can’t get a good deal.

 

[Butuz]

are you using the original red o-ring? How many rotation you wrapped them with pink tape? I can’t get a good deal.

i replaced the oring with a new one that came in a box with a bunch of other sized orings. Its on amazon. If you dont find it, let me know, I will check my order history and send you the link.

for pink teflon, dont remember exactly, but I recall I made a few passes adding layers until it was nice and tight without stressing the red sea piece too much. Keep in mind the pink teflon is pretty thick. I would start with 3-4 rotations, then unscrew, try 4-5 etc. you have plenty of teflon tape on that roll, so you could even discard in between.

 

[Butuz]

Hi @Butuz can you talk in detail how you connect the Red Sea part with the pvc adapter? What do I did with it?

I am dealing with one of them that I can’t seem to get a good deal. I tried white Teflon tape, pink Teflon tape, o-ring and it still leaks.

mu guess would be too little pink teflon tape. Add a few more layers, that should help. I woild also lubricate the oring with the lubricant I posted in the build, that should help as well, but your leak protection is mostly going to come from a solid teflon wrap.

 

[canadianeh]

i replaced the oring with a new one that came in a box with a bunch of other sized orings. Its on amazon. If you dont find it, let me know, I will check my order history and send you the link.

for pink teflon, dont remember exactly, but I recall I made a few passes adding layers until it was nice and tight without stressing the red sea piece too much. Keep in mind the pink teflon is pretty thick. I would start with 3-4 rotations, then unscrew, try 4-5 etc. you have plenty of teflon tape on that roll, so you could even discard in between.

Please let me know which O-ring. Thanks

 

[Butuz]

Please let me know which O-ring. Thanks

Neiko 50443A Universal O-Ring Assortment | 407-Piece Set | SAE

 

[canadianeh]

Neiko 50443A Universal O-Ring Assortment | 407-Piece Set | SAE

Thanks. I am going to try to use pink tape and apply aquarium silicon sealant on the inner side and the outer side.

 

[canadianeh]

A few full tank shots, guys.

@Butuz how do you manage to mitigate the risk of siphoning since your return nozzles are way under the water surface. They recommend maximum to 3/4" under water to prevent siphoning effect.

 

[Butuz]

@Butuz how do you manage to mitigate the risk of siphoning since your return nozzles are way under the water surface. They recommend maximum to 3/4" under water to prevent siphoning effect.

I have a true union check valve above my pump return line. However, the water does siphon slowly through reactor manifolds, which is by design. I do my water changes by taking water from the sump using an external small sicce pump. so that way, I dont get my hands wet and I don’t disturb the tank, since I have gobies, crabs etc doing sand maintenance for me. having said that, I lowered the return nozzle just high enough to make sure the sump does not overflow in case if the pump fails when I am not around.

finally, if you want the return nozzle low and have no check valve, I think you could drill a hole on the top or side of one of first couple links in the return nozzle. That way, it will break the siphon early when the water level drops, instead of the nozzle doing air intake when it drop to the level of the nozzle tip. I have not done that, but suspect that it should work and pressure loss on the return nozzle should be negligible. Just make sure it is not pointing straight up, or you may have a fountain!

 

[Long Island Reefer]

This may be a stupid question but how long did you make the main and back up drain into the sump? I am still waiting for my 250 to come in but i am trying to plan it all out before i get it and just wanted to know is the main drain long enough that is goes into the water in the sump? or is it just hovering above the water level creating a 1" or 2" drip into the sump.

I have read through all 21 pages of your build a few times now, extremely inspiring and helpful, absolutely incredible job. Thank you for all of the information you provided.

 

[Butuz]

This may be a stupid question but how long did you make the main and back up drain into the sump? I am still waiting for my 250 to come in but i am trying to plan it all out before i get it and just wanted to know is the main drain long enough that is goes into the water in the sump? or is it just hovering above the water level creating a 1" or 2" drip into the sump.

I have read through all 21 pages of your build a few times now, extremely inspiring and helpful, absolutely incredible job. Thank you for all of the information you provided.

glad you found the posts helpful. No stupid questions in this hobby I started this journey knowing nothing about it, learning from other patient reefers! yes, the main and back up lines are both underwater in the sump, same length as the stock one. You do not want them above the water line as it will be noisy and you will have water splashing/salt all over.

 

[Brent Behringer]

Well, guys, where do I start. New to the hobby, spent a fair bit of time researching and getting my plan sculpted before pulling the trigger. Was planning on the largest Red Sea Reefer at first, but the warden objected, settled on Reefer 250 with a thought that “if you continue to enjoy the hobby after a year, get the largest one and convert this to QT”. Happy wife, happy life as they say. So, with that, let the build thread commence.

I am not going to post pics of how I put the cabinet together, what the tank looks like, etc. You have seen it all, they are all the same. But, I did want to build something that I have not seen before, so I will document what I think may be of interest to you all.

First and foremost, my name is Wes. I live in The Woodlands, TX (north of Houston). Special thanks to Nick Jr from Oceanlife Aquariums in Houston. My plans were all using the previous generation sump layout and Nick helped me find the Reefer with the old sump layout. I dont think v3 is good for these customizations. Also, Nick Jr is one of the most passionate people I have met when it comes to this hobby. Infectious.

Also thanks to the R2R community. None of what I hae done is new, you will recognize some of your work reflected in mine. I have also seen some of you make constant changes to your setup, that was an extra motivation for me to not rush to fill this thing, but rather take it slow and build it to last and meet any future needs (hopefully). So, here we go.

1. Cant do anything without the cabinet lights, so first thing, installed undercabinet motion sensor LED strips all around.

2. I also dont like wires all over the place, so got these white rail system from Amazon, a few layers of black high gloss rustoleum, looks like it was made for the Reefer.

3. Dropped Nyos 120 to start planning around ergonomics. Every inch counts in this small cabinet. Jumping ahead, that is where I spent most of the time, sequencing equipment, ways to be able to fully disassemble without taking everything apart, etc. decided to go with the red theme, replaced socks with these cups and bought Biotek Marine reactors (not in their the final resting place).

4. The rest of the equipment, hardware, fittings etc started to arrive. I concluded that I didn’t want to get another degree in how to program Apex, so went with eKoral Pro. Very happy with their controller, functionality of the app, simplicity of setup and use. Their customer support is awesome (Eric is exceptional).

5. Painted the back of the sump using Plastidip. Be sure to use lots of masking tape, that thing gets everywhere otherwise, like mist.

6. Changed Biotek in and out flow for hard piping. Sealed these from the inside with aquarium sealant, didnt want any leaks.

7. Have also seen that many have experienced the overflow section leak through the housing/connection at the bottom of the aquarium, so sealed this with the sealant as well.

8. Started to layout what the manifold would look like. Lots and lots of iterations down the road, but it was easier to do it this way with tape than drawing etc.

9. Next, started to get all three reactors put together as part of the manifold. One piece of advice, lay a cardboard inside the sump, cut to fit, and this template will make it a lot easier to plan the layout for reactors. Also, if you wants very clean connections with no pvc glue, tape every connection prior to applying pvc cement. Btw, as you are working on any valves etc, good opportunity to lubricate all orings. Will last a long time and will provide a better seal. Finally, when it gets tough, a glass of Aperol Spritz can never hurt.

Stay tuned ... more to come soon ...

Can I ask where you bought the red media cups from?

 

[Brent Behringer]

Ok guys, an update on Seachem Kalkwasser/ATO mix journey that started yesterday, concluding with a nice lengthy call with Seachem. As you recall, I used a small Hydor powerhead inside the ATO to mix Kalk with RODI water. I used about 4 times less than recommended, so only 4 teaspoons for 10g total water volume. Since Kalk did not seem to be mixing well, I had the powerhead to mix it for 1.5 hrs. I thought it did a great job ... I woke up this morning to a nice layer of fine white sediment at the bottom of the ATO. It looked like 10x what I mixed! Long story short, I had lots of questions following some quick online research, so Seachem reps put me in touch with their Kalk specialist (very knowledgeable, enjoyed talking to her). In no particular order:

1) Seachem did confirm that a prolonged mixing actually makes things worse. Without going into all of the details, they mentioned that the longer the water mixes with surface agitation/air, the more precipitation you get with Kalk, hence more sediment and lesser Kalk effect in the water column. Given what I mentioned to them, they actually recommended that I empty the ATO and do a new batch with the powerhead working no longer than 2 min.

2) On sediment, there are tons of posts online on how it can nuke your tank. They commented that you definitely don't want the sediment in your tank, but for it to nuke, you’d have to empty it all at once. A few grains here and there during regular minor top off won’t do any harm. A little more will agitate corals. In short, not deadly, but not recommended. They suggested to raise the ATO pump a little higher to avoid sucking the sediment. See the pic, simple suction cup attached to the ATO line helped me do that easily.

3) I have also read people recommending to remove the sediment every time. Not needed per Seachem. They did recommend siphoning the sludge at some point so it doesnt accumulate significantly. I plan on doing so once every 2-3 mos.

4) Also, the sediment won’t mix with the new water top off, since it is not a result of oversaturation, but rather a specific chemical process. Meaning, you can continue to add the same amount of Kalk with subsequent ATO RODI refills and you won’t aplify the dosage. Previous sediment will stay there and you will simply get more with the next batch.

Hope this is helpful for those thinking about Kalk as Seachem were amazing in taking the time to walk me through this, along with some answers to my questions re Seachem Plus and Trace.

what red tubing is that you are using from ato pump to sump?

 

[Butuz]

what red tubing is that you are using from ato pump to sump?

that is just standard RODI line in red. Bought it either on amazon or brs.