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

[Brent Behringer]

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!

Can you elaborate on how you perform the slow water changes. Assuming your pulling very small amounts out and replacing back into your sump or display?

 

[Brent Behringer]

Also do you think the true union check valve is really necessary?

 

[Butuz]

Also do you think the true union check valve is really necessary?

good question. The union valve is kind off useless in this case, as when the return pump is shut, the water still makes it down into the sump through reactors. The only difference, it doesn’t come down gushing, rather slower than would have happened if you had no check valve. But in summary, unless you manually close reactor gate valves, check valve is useless. I dont touch my reactor gate valves, as I oike to get the tumble right and leave it that way.

in terms of water changes, I have a sicce pump with vinyl tubing on both sides. So the pump never touches the water. I place it outside of the sump, intake tube in the sump, other end in a 5g bucket. Then I start the “water change” schedule in my ekoral controller. That stops return pump, sump heater, skimmer, UV in the sump and Klir. Then I plug in the sicce pump and unllug once the bucket is full. you can move the tube in the sump around to pick up any detritus. I then pour new salt water directly into the sump (premixed in another bucket), stop the schedule, everything comes back on. Reversing and using sicce to get new water into the sump does not work, as it cant keep up since the return pump is moving a lot more water. So, I just gradullay pour from the bucket. Done, not a single drop of water anywhere and no disturbance in the actual tank. Hope this helps.

 

[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 ...

Couple questions. 1. Where did you put the light sensor for your stand lights at? 2. How do you like your EKoral Pro Controller?

 

[Butuz]

Couple questions. 1. Where did you put the light sensor for your stand lights at? 2. How do you like your EKoral Pro Controller?

the sensor that turns the cabinet light is right between two mp40 controllers, so when I open the right cabinet door, it turns on. Like my ekoral controller a lot. I have their doser as well. And, running their ekoral Lite version (along with another doser) on my frag tank. Very intuitiveUI.

 

[Brent Behringer]

excellent- good to hear....I did not notice it in your previous pictures. I ended up using the white tape as per Broadfields recommendations. No leaks thank goodness.

Thanks, glad you mentioned. I used a special pink thread tape given European vs US thread size. This stuff is thicker and better than white tape, but need to be careful and not put too much, otherwise the Red Sea black housing may crack. Here is a pic in case if anyone is interested. Got this from Amazon.

Not leak tested yet, have not filled with water. Fingers crossed. Worst case, will remove and reseal.

Wow, I had put mine on with no tape and was running back through your build thread today and caught this. Pulled mine and used the pink tape. All good to go now. When my new sump get here, I'll be wet testing this before I complete all the plumbing to make sure the seal is good to go.

 

[powers2001]

Wow, I had put mine on with no tape and was running back through your build thread today and caught this. Pulled mine and used the pink tape. All good to go now. When my new sump get here, I'll be wet testing this before I complete all the plumbing to make sure the seal is good to go.

Personally I don’t trust the @Broadfield teflon tape method. I’m going with the @RandyC metric conversion union method. The conversion unions glue on.

 

[Brent Behringer]

Personally I don’t trust the @Broadfield teflon tape method. I’m going with the @RandyC metric conversion union method. The conversion unions glue on.

Where do you get the metric unions to 1” from?

 

[powers2001]

Where do you get the metric unions to 1” from?

@Brent Behringer I had to do a very thorough search of my Gmail archives to find the order confirmation email but I finally found it. I keep all those emails for good. It’s pvcpipesupplies.com

 

[RandyC]

@Brent Behringer I had to do a very thorough search of my Gmail archives to find the order confirmation email but I finally found it. I keep all those emails for good. It’s pvcpipesupplies.com

thanks for the mention @powers2001!

@Brent Behringer Here’s a link to the thread of what I did to modify my reefer drain valve.

 

[Brent Behringer]

The tapes are strong enough. No issues with water, they are all mounted under the cabinet ceiling.

I had one of the tape strips fail on one of the bars. Might not have held it tight for a good minute when I initially put it on. Once they fail and fall, there is no sticking it back on. Tried twice and it fell, so I screwed them all into the stand with #6 x 1/2" SS screws

 

[Brent Behringer]

I dont’t clean it. My diamond goby, one starfish and two conch snails pretty much stir it up non stop. Goby moves so much sand every day that I am constantly battling him when he creates piles where I dont want them. I am lucky he does not spray sand all over rocks, he keeps it on the bottom. In general, its a good problem to have and creates a natural look.

what type of conch snails are they?

 

[Butuz]

what type of conch snails are they?

Tiger sand conch.

 

[Brent Behringer]

Thanks guys. Added enough Tropic Eden sand to cover the crate (will add two more bags after cycling is done (need to vacuum all the gunk from these rocks first). And, finally, just finished aquascaping. As soon as I get my ATO reservoir, will start to cycle. Probably end of the week. Btw, thumbs up for Tunze coral gum, love it. Easy to work, rock hard in 20 secs. Working small quantities is best.

Curious why you went with a deeper sand bed. How deep did you end up with and has it caused any issues for you?

 

[Brent Behringer]

10. Self descriptive photos of this coming together. The pump is Ocot Varios 6, decided to hard plumb it. Added Marine Pure, used the left over in cups. AI Hydra 26 have been connected. Drilled the stock ATO to convert to a refugium. Cut the threads to save space. In addition to 3 reactor valves, added another one that has a hose in sump area to keep detritus off the bottom, do small water changes, etc.

Wondering if you ever determined if the true union backflow fitting was causing your Varios pump noise issue?

 

[Butuz]

Curious why you went with a deeper sand bed. How deep did you end up with and has it caused any issues for you?

i ended up with 5 inches deep across, however, over the past year, my goby has moved a ton,he made a deep den under thestructure to the left. So he dumped all of the same he has excavated into a few areas. So I have some spots where sand is 6-8 inches. I like the way it looks, natural. So far, no issues.i do not vacuum it, since my goby turns the top layer daily. Plus conch, starfish and snails. Seems clean all the time. High water flow is a must. I run 2 mp60s at 65%. As sps are growing and restricting more flow, I have been increasing the flow by 2-3% every moth (both used to be at 50% intensity).

 

[Butuz]

Wondering if you ever determined if the true union backflow fitting was causing your Varios pump noise issue?

to be honest, never 100% figured out what it was. Eventually it stopped. Was either pump breaking in or going to 2 reactors in the manifold helped reduce back pressure (most likely that was the reason).

 

[Brent Behringer]

the sensor that turns the cabinet light is right between two mp40 controllers, so when I open the right cabinet door, it turns on. Like my ekoral controller a lot. I have their doser as well. And, running their ekoral Lite version (along with another doser) on my frag tank. Very intuitiveUI.

I just bought the ekoral pro today. Excited to use this controller.

 

[powers2001]

I just bought the ekoral pro today. Excited to use this controller.

@Brent Behringer way to go!! Controllers are sure fire tickets to reefing success. Monitoring of parameters, safety redundancy, and remote operation are a few things that come to mind with controllers.

 

[Difrano]

Wow found this build and is awe inspiring! Great tank man, some day mine may look as good as yours. Cheers