My Dream Tank - Red Sea 525 Build

[FragOut]

After contemplating for a couple days on whether or not to upgrade my current 90 gallon tank, I pulled the trigger on a Red Sea 525. I'll document the build progress and list the current equipment that will go into the new tank. I'm so excited for this, I cannot wait until it arrives!

2 Radion XR15 pro Gen 4's with an AI Hydra 26 HD in the center.

Apex Neptune Controller (WiFi)

Jebao Doser (this thing was cheap and has not failed me yet, accurate and dependable, did I mention cheap!?)

Reef Octopus Classic 150

Vectra M1 Return Pump.

As far as the tank goes, everything that's going into the tank is new, except for the live rock and inhabitants.

I hope you will join me through my journey of fun and excitement. This is a huge leap forward for me and my reef tank and I cannot wait to share it with you all.

The 525 as of now.

 

[Tahoe61]

Congratulations!

 

[mta_morrow]

AWESOME SAUCE!

It was my dream tank as well, and when we moved last November I upgraded and got one.

YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED!!!!

 

[FragOut]

**UPDATE**

MarineDepot called me earlier, there was an issue with my payment. (went over my spending limit) lol.
Called the bank and got everything taken care of. So instead of using the Radions and the Hydra in the middle, I decided to go with the deluxe version in white, and added another hydra 26 for a total of 4.
Instead of the 3 mp10's for flow, I went with 2 Maxspec XF230 Gyre's. Everything else will remain the same. Thanks!

 

[FragOut]

**UPDATE**
I'm super choosy and decided to go with 2 mp40's for flow. Most of my order will arrive this Tuesday and the tank should ship out on Friday. Aggravating to say the least because it took me 3 days to work with my bank and MarineDepot to get this ordered. Had it went through on Wednesday the tank would have shipped Friday. Either my bank would deny it or MarineDepot would reverse the transaction. At one point I had over 13k in limbo between pending transactions and reversals. Wife was definitely not happy. Nevertheless, It's on the way and I'm excited. I just finished breaking down the 90g tank today and a good friend of mine is keeping my livestock in his QT tank until I get my tank ready. I have a 35g brute container setup with my live rock and a couple pumps along with my skimmer to keep the live rock going. I'll get some photos of how I have that set up soon. Thanks for stopping by!

 

[FragOut]

My mp40's and sand showed up today tomorrow will be the Apex and the tank sometime next week. Nothing has changed as of yet, just a waiting game now. I will get some pictures of the live rock setup I have once I move it to the new container. Thanks for stopping by!

 

[FragOut]

Shipping company confirmed today that the tank will be delivered this Wednesday. My return pump came in today and my apex came in earlier last week along with my wxm module. Now I just have to find a way to make the day go by faster tomorrow lol. Lots of pictures to come.

Currently working on hard plumbing and I have the parts on order for that as well. Nothing too crazy. I’ll post plenty of pictures the day the tank arrives. Thanks for stopping by!

 

[FragOut]

Well today is the day! Of course the delivery is running behind but my patience is getting the best of me. Here’s a small peek at the equipment going in. Can’t wait to get it inside and get started.

 

[FragOut]

Well I finally got everything up and running. The plumbing is temporary, I’m currently building a manifold and in the middle of painting the connections blue.

The tank itself is great. It was larger than expected coming from a 90g and it only being 18 gallons more. This is my first rimless tank so I was worried about the look but when it got here and put on the stand I instantly fell in love. The rimless look is awesome and the black silicone gives it a more seamless look. It’s not too tall that you couldn’t get your hand to the bottom and not too short that it looks shallow.
The overflow connections were easy to make and it utilizes a Herbie drain, something I’ve never used (always used durso). It’s quiet and the gate valve Red Sea provides is nice to make small adjustments to get the flow just right.
The ATO system they provide is a float valve. It’s not the greatest but not the worst either. It’s a good concept just doesn’t function that well. I’ll be changing to the Neptune ATO system soon and using the old ATO reservoir for chaeto.

The stand was much easier to put together than expected. It took around 45 minutes for me and a friend to assemble. Although the instructions are vague, paying attention to the pictures and diagrams will yield better results. The sump section of the stand is quite nice and the neoprene covering on the back wall and bottom provide a good, soft, supportive and water resistant surface in case of some spillage or worse, leaking. The size is appropriate for the tank and although I would prefer to have a refugium in the sump, the space provided is perfect for my 150s and Apex probes and will easily have enough space for me to modify it for a refugium. The chiller section is good sized and perfect to convert to an equipment section to house, well, your equipment! I’ve mounted my MP40 drivers inside as well as the Vectra driver along with my Apex and other equipment. It’s nice and while done properly would avoid a lot of unsightly wires and provide a nice organized space. That’s the next step for me!

The Apex was easy to set up, It’s not so much user friendly when you get into programming and getting it to do specific things but a quick google search will yield tons of options for programming and fine tuning your system. There is also a community dedicated strictly to Apex, its programming, information and everything Apex.

Enough talking though, right!?

 

[FragOut]

***UPDATE***

The tank went through a mini cycle which I expected. Kept prime in and I’m quite sure that’s what caused my nitrite readings. Stopped prime for 32 hours and no nitrite reading. Feel feel to chime in on this to correct me if I’m wrong. I had my live rock in a tub with circulation and heater with my skimmer running as well to keep it going. Started the tank fresh with rodi water and a new sand bed. I used special grade araganite which I’m more than happy with coming from using very fine sand. I love the look of it. I stuck with 3 hydras for the time being as I did not see the need for 4. I may change in the future but for now I will keep it this way. I’m not a huge sps fan but I feel the 3 for now would support that if I changed my mind.

I’ve added a few of my corals and purchased some new as well.

The new corals are:

WWC Toxic Monti
Green Bubble Coral
War Paint Blasto
Unnamed zoanthids(I’ll get a picture of these they look great)
Some green mushrooms
Purple tipped hammer

My haul from the yourreef live sale will arrive in the morning and I’m extremely excited for that.
I’m gonna wait a good bit of time before adding my green tipped anemone. It’s as large as a soccer ball. It’s my favorite animal and I’ve had it for quite some time now. He’s currently housed in my friends 220 enjoying the stay along with all of my other corals. I’m wary of adding them just yet I want to make sure everything goes smooth. Patience is hard to come by in this hobby. I wish they sold it so I could buy some lol.

I’ve added my maroon clown in, my tiger pistol shrimp, cleaner shrimp and yellow goby. Everything is doing great at the moment and I’m keeping a close eye on any changes should the livestock increase cause another cycle. I will update with pictures shortly since I’m currently on mobile. Thanks for stopping by!

 

[FragOut]

Picture time! I finished the mock up and trial run of my manifold. It’s not as sleek as I planned but it’s under the tank and I’m going for functionality. So looks for now are not important.
I changed the Red Sea return to loc-line tees to distribute flow a little better. Here’s the sump shot. I’m gonna move some things around and get the dosing pump and tubes ran when the tube holder gets here. So for now I’ll just be getting the probe holder setup. Thanks for stopping by!

 

[FragOut]

Went to Lowe’s today and grabbed some shelf pieces to make my power/dosing station inside the stand. Used some L brackets and cheap pieces of wood. Cost $31 to do this. Very simple, took maybe 45 minutes to completely set up. Start to finish.

 

[FragOut]

Got a new frogspawn today and an extreme snowflake clown.

I’m also trying out the Xport Bio-Plates. I’m placing these under the skimmer to add some height as I’m a little over the recommended water height for the reef octopus. With that being said will the bio-plates cause a mini cycle since they would technically be uncured rock? Thank for stopping by!

 

[FragOut]

Have been adding corals and debating changing the aquascape. Just trying to find a good way to go about it. Also added a very very nice rainbow torch that I’ve been looking for, for quite some time now!





Some nice fusions from the Cherry Corals live sale.

My current euphyllias.
Some toxic splatters, orange hammer, ultra gold/yellow hammers, and a nice pink rainbow hammer, an ultra gold frogspawn and a nice mint tip frog as well.

My very much sought after rainbow torch. The colors on this are crazy!

The torch garden. A good variety. Some 21 tails from the cherry corals live sale, some neon green and purple tips, purple with white tips, rainbows, any color you can think of

A nice mushroom from the LFS. Got this guy for free. Bright orange with blue undertones. One of my favorites.

A nice Acan from WWC.

Hot pink Goni. Love this piece.

JF Jack’O Latern

Full tank shot with all of the frags at the bottom. Still looking for good places to put them, not wanting to glue them down while I want to change the scape.

Possible bounce? Maybe just a pumped up yuma. Pretty mushroom either way.

 

[FragOut]

Tons of new corals and a nice video on YouTube. Tank is coming along well. Having issues with alkalinity. Can’t seem to get it down. Everything is fine though so I’ll leave it be.