ruth howard
Active Member
Hello everyone! My name is Ruth and I have been a member of Reef2Reef for almost 3 years. I have never done a build thread, but what the heck here we go.
During the summer of 2015, my husband and I were looking at our 45 gallon hex FOWLR tank, and we thought that starting a coral tank would be really neat. We knew that the hex tank wasn't an ideal tank for many reasons. So we started researching various makes, sizes, and models of aquariums. We took our time and eventually decided to get a Red Sea Reefer 350. We measured the space we were going to put it and started to research where we could purchase a reefer. The Reefer series aquariums were fairly new that year, and finding a place to order one was a challenge. We live about 40 miles north of Indianapolis. None of the shops in Indy could order us one. Finally, we found out about Premium Aquatics in Edinburgh, In. We drove down there and were able to order a reefer! We had it delivered to the store.
With that being said, our first reef purchase was not the tank or tank related. Our first purchase was a generator! Indiana weather is all over the place, and power outages occur a few times a year. Thankfully, they usually don't last for more than a day. However, ice storms can leave us in the dark for a week or more.
This is a standard 5500 watt portable generator. We can power our tank, some lights, and the refrigerator with this generator. I don't power my LED aquarium light with this, due to the fact that the generator does produce "dirty" power. We installed a transfer switch next to our circuit panel. We plug the generator into an outlet outside the house, and then flip the selected circuits on the transfer switch.
Now, on to the fun stuff! The tank.
I drove to Edinburgh to pick up the tank. I did not want to try to schedule a time to be home, take a day off work, and wait on a semi to deliver it. My husband and I unloaded and carried this heavy tank into the house.
On to the assembly.
The directions were easy to follow. We have a basement in our home, but believe it or not, our main floor is poured concrete. The basement is like a bomb shelter.
As you can see, the door had some slight damage from shipping. Red Sea was great in replacing the door.
I used standard shelf brackets to suspend my Kessel AP700. Kessel hadn't developed the tank mounts as of the time of this build.
Played with the rocks. Just like Lincoln logs.
We leak tested tank and leveled the tank before we put the rocks in. The picture above shows the process of filling the tank with salt water. We did glue the rocks together.
The sump. We use a Tunze DOC 9410.
I used the damaged door and the packing support to create a mounting platform for mounting equipment. I, also, installed a GFI on the dedicated outlet behind the tank.
This is what the tank looked like just after it cycled in early 2016. We had a few corals in it.
This is what it looks like today. We have had our share of battles. Some we have won and some we haven't. We are definitely taking it slow. I will get some better pictures in the future.
Our current livestock consists of an old clownfish from the previous tank, a yellow watchman goby from the old tank, Burt the blood shrimp, 3 blue damsels, and Happy the sand sifting starfish.
Well, that is all for now. I hope you enjoy.
During the summer of 2015, my husband and I were looking at our 45 gallon hex FOWLR tank, and we thought that starting a coral tank would be really neat. We knew that the hex tank wasn't an ideal tank for many reasons. So we started researching various makes, sizes, and models of aquariums. We took our time and eventually decided to get a Red Sea Reefer 350. We measured the space we were going to put it and started to research where we could purchase a reefer. The Reefer series aquariums were fairly new that year, and finding a place to order one was a challenge. We live about 40 miles north of Indianapolis. None of the shops in Indy could order us one. Finally, we found out about Premium Aquatics in Edinburgh, In. We drove down there and were able to order a reefer! We had it delivered to the store.
With that being said, our first reef purchase was not the tank or tank related. Our first purchase was a generator! Indiana weather is all over the place, and power outages occur a few times a year. Thankfully, they usually don't last for more than a day. However, ice storms can leave us in the dark for a week or more.
This is a standard 5500 watt portable generator. We can power our tank, some lights, and the refrigerator with this generator. I don't power my LED aquarium light with this, due to the fact that the generator does produce "dirty" power. We installed a transfer switch next to our circuit panel. We plug the generator into an outlet outside the house, and then flip the selected circuits on the transfer switch.
Now, on to the fun stuff! The tank.
On to the assembly.
The directions were easy to follow. We have a basement in our home, but believe it or not, our main floor is poured concrete. The basement is like a bomb shelter.
As you can see, the door had some slight damage from shipping. Red Sea was great in replacing the door.
I used standard shelf brackets to suspend my Kessel AP700. Kessel hadn't developed the tank mounts as of the time of this build.
Played with the rocks. Just like Lincoln logs.
We leak tested tank and leveled the tank before we put the rocks in. The picture above shows the process of filling the tank with salt water. We did glue the rocks together.
The sump. We use a Tunze DOC 9410.
I used the damaged door and the packing support to create a mounting platform for mounting equipment. I, also, installed a GFI on the dedicated outlet behind the tank.
This is what the tank looked like just after it cycled in early 2016. We had a few corals in it.
This is what it looks like today. We have had our share of battles. Some we have won and some we haven't. We are definitely taking it slow. I will get some better pictures in the future.
Our current livestock consists of an old clownfish from the previous tank, a yellow watchman goby from the old tank, Burt the blood shrimp, 3 blue damsels, and Happy the sand sifting starfish.
Well, that is all for now. I hope you enjoy.
