I thought I would start a build thread for my new Red Sea Reefer 350. I have had freshwater aquariums since I was a kid. About 7 years ago I decided to try a reef tank. I was a complete newbie and didn't have the benefit of R2R or other sources. My local fish store sold me a 55 acrylic gallon with a sump and basic gear. I have upgraded stuff along the way but I couldn't get away from two basic things that made me eventually hate that tank: 1) It's acrylic and it's nearly impossible to keep it free from the coralline algae without tons of work or scratching the heck out of it. 2) it was too small and I placed the rocks too close to the sides which prevented me from cleaning the sides or vacuum the sand everywhere except the front.
Needless to say, if you don't like something you start to neglect it. It stops being a hobby and becomes work. I considered just dropping the hobby and saving all that electricity and water. But I decided to make a better tank using the resources and knowledge I have learned over the last few years. Even more, I bought a 40 gallon AIO to replace my frag tank. Doubling down! The first picture is the acrylic tank I started with. The second is the Innovative Marine 40 gallon Fusion AIO. The third is the Reefer 350 with live rock that I am staging for the aquascape.
My Goal is a mixed SPS/LPS reef with enough PAR for high light species such as clams
Here's the list of gear:
- Red Sea Reefer
- Sicce Syncra SDC 6.0 DC return pump. Haven't run it yet. Hoping it's very quiet.
- Octo Classic 110INT Skimmer "upgraded" with a Varios 2S DC pump. "Upgraded" is in quotes because the Varios 2S is so powerful that I have to set it on the lowest setting or the skimmer will overflow. Therefore, I don't get the control I was hoping for. Sticking with the stock pump would have been smarter. Its running on my old tank and since I started it a month ago the nitrates have dropped. It seems to be skimming much better than the old EShopps Skimmer
- 4 Radions: 2 Radion XR15 G4s I bought used few years back, and 2 more new XR15 G5s. I chose this set up based on the BRS video that is linked to their XR15 page discussing coverage and PAR. I didn't think 2 G4s would be enough.
- 2 Nero 5 pumps and 2 Tunze 6055 pumps
- XP Aqua Duetto ATO. I've had this running on the old tank for 2 years and it works great.
- 3 part dosing pump for the Tropic Marin balling system. This has also been running on the old tank for a few years and the levels have been steady.
- DDO Jumpstart mesh cover. The Red Sea covers get bad reviews. Thanks to a link in R2R I found the DDO cover. I like it because the aluminum frame has a lip that sits on top of the glass instead of inside the glass. It is still low profile and adds some protection from water splashing out like the cover that came with the Innovative Marine 40 gal.
My Plan:
- Frag corals from the old tank and life boat them in the 40 gallon ATO that has been running for months with live biofilter media from the frag tank.
- Take rock from the old tank and add it to the new live rock for the Reefer 350 aquacape.
- Biofilter media running in the old sump and move it to the new sump.
- Leave the livestock in the old tank until the Reefer 350 is running.
Questions:
1) How fast can I move the livestock?
2) How do I "frag" my 2 bubble tip anemones and 3 rock flower anemones? I'm thinking of breaking the rocks they are on with a chisel because I have no idea how to get them to release on their own.
3) Should I transfer my undersized chiller, buy an adequate chiller, or skip a chiller all together? My house rarely gets over ~82 deg F
Needless to say, if you don't like something you start to neglect it. It stops being a hobby and becomes work. I considered just dropping the hobby and saving all that electricity and water. But I decided to make a better tank using the resources and knowledge I have learned over the last few years. Even more, I bought a 40 gallon AIO to replace my frag tank. Doubling down! The first picture is the acrylic tank I started with. The second is the Innovative Marine 40 gallon Fusion AIO. The third is the Reefer 350 with live rock that I am staging for the aquascape.
My Goal is a mixed SPS/LPS reef with enough PAR for high light species such as clams
Here's the list of gear:
- Red Sea Reefer
- Sicce Syncra SDC 6.0 DC return pump. Haven't run it yet. Hoping it's very quiet.
- Octo Classic 110INT Skimmer "upgraded" with a Varios 2S DC pump. "Upgraded" is in quotes because the Varios 2S is so powerful that I have to set it on the lowest setting or the skimmer will overflow. Therefore, I don't get the control I was hoping for. Sticking with the stock pump would have been smarter. Its running on my old tank and since I started it a month ago the nitrates have dropped. It seems to be skimming much better than the old EShopps Skimmer
- 4 Radions: 2 Radion XR15 G4s I bought used few years back, and 2 more new XR15 G5s. I chose this set up based on the BRS video that is linked to their XR15 page discussing coverage and PAR. I didn't think 2 G4s would be enough.
- 2 Nero 5 pumps and 2 Tunze 6055 pumps
- XP Aqua Duetto ATO. I've had this running on the old tank for 2 years and it works great.
- 3 part dosing pump for the Tropic Marin balling system. This has also been running on the old tank for a few years and the levels have been steady.
- DDO Jumpstart mesh cover. The Red Sea covers get bad reviews. Thanks to a link in R2R I found the DDO cover. I like it because the aluminum frame has a lip that sits on top of the glass instead of inside the glass. It is still low profile and adds some protection from water splashing out like the cover that came with the Innovative Marine 40 gal.
My Plan:
- Frag corals from the old tank and life boat them in the 40 gallon ATO that has been running for months with live biofilter media from the frag tank.
- Take rock from the old tank and add it to the new live rock for the Reefer 350 aquacape.
- Biofilter media running in the old sump and move it to the new sump.
- Leave the livestock in the old tank until the Reefer 350 is running.
Questions:
1) How fast can I move the livestock?
2) How do I "frag" my 2 bubble tip anemones and 3 rock flower anemones? I'm thinking of breaking the rocks they are on with a chisel because I have no idea how to get them to release on their own.
3) Should I transfer my undersized chiller, buy an adequate chiller, or skip a chiller all together? My house rarely gets over ~82 deg F