NXE's Red Sea Reefer-S 1000 G2

[NXE]

NXE's Red Sea Reefer-S 1000 G2​

Introduction
Three years ago I started my first saltwater aquarium, a Red Sea Peninsula 500 (build thread here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/nxes-red-sea-reefer-peninsula-500.847535/). I had expected to keep that tank for many years, but plans changed when we decided to move out of London to have more space for our young family. Thankfully, the move means much more living space, going from an apartment to a house, and provided the perfect excuse for an upgrade! I did look into moving my existing tank, but the quotes I received were more expensive than the tank itself and I knew that I would want to upgrade in a few years anyway. I plan to sell the Pensinsual 500 once everything has been transferred to the new tank.

In terms of selecting the new tank, there was an obvious space for a tank in the kitchen of the new house which perfectly suited the dimensions of the Reefer-S 1000. I used the AR viewer on the Red Sea website to get a sense of what the tank would look like in the space:

The Reefer-S also has a number of improvements over the Peninsula 500 that I was looking for, including an aluminium frame, euro bracing, armoured seams and dual returns. I considered Waterbox, but their closest equivalent, the REEF LX 340.7, is too wide for the space available. D-D Reef Pro aquariums are also popular in the UK, but their largest tank is only 180cm wide, so wouldn't make full use of the space.

I placed the order for the tank in March and it was delivered last week (delivery was a bit of a nightmare, as I will detail in my next post). I will only be able to work intermittently on the new tank over the next few months and am not planning to transfer the livestock from my existing tank until the summer. I am looking forward to the new possibilities that such a large tank will offer in terms of keeping more and larger fish as well as the opportunity to implement some of the lessons learned from my previous build. Thanks for reading this far and I hope this will be an interesting journey

Index of key posts

1. Introduction.
2. Tank Delivery.
3. Tank Assembly.
4. Equipment Selection.
5. Power Distribution – planning.
6. DC Power.
7. AC Power.
8. Cabinet Lighting.
9. ATO Reservoir.
10. Return Pumps.
11. Mechanical Filtration.
12. Filling the Tank and Moving Livestock.
13. Frag/QT Tank.

 

[blaxsun]

Congrats on joining the Red Sea club. Again.

 

[dschuffert]

Congrats! I look forward to reading your future posts. I am a Red Sea fan. I use their MyRecipeWizard and am very happy with the results.

 

[NXE]

Thanks @blaxsun and @dschuffert! Red Sea seems to be attracting a lot of negative attention on here at the moment, but I've had no issues over the last three years with my P500 and the Reefer-S feels very well made.

 

[NXE]

Tank Delivery

Delivery of the Reefer-S did not exactly go to plan and took three attempts. The first two times the drivers could not get the tank out of their vehicles – the first time they sent it on a lorry with a tailgate that was not wide enough for the pallet and the second time it was sent it in a van with no means of offloading it at all!

Thankfully on the third attempt they sent it on a larger lorry with a full-size tailgate and the driver had no issue getting the tank off and down our driveway:

The pallet that it came on is huge and, unlike my previous Red Sea tank, the cabinet parts were in boxes on the top of the pallet rather than underneath the tank.

Everything was well-packaged and protected:

 

[NXE]

Tank Assembly

I had a local company assemble the stand and lift on the tank for me. The aluminium frame feels very study and all of the surfaces are of a high quality – a definite step up from the plywood cabinet on my P500:

It took five guys to lift the tank onto the stand using heavy-duty suction cups:

The tank fits in really well with its surroundings:

The G2 model comes with red pipework from the factory, which is a nice touch. I previously spray painted the pipework on my P500 red, but the factory version is of much better quality:

The downpipes are 50mm and the dual returns are 25mm. The silencer for the main downpipe is absolutely huge in person!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Tank Assembly

I had a local company assemble the stand and lift on the tank for me. The aluminium frame feels very study and all of the surfaces are of a high quality – a definite step up from the plywood cabinet on my P500:

It took five guys to lift the tank onto the stand using heavy-duty suction cups:

The tank fits in really well with its surroundings:

The G2 model comes with red pipework from the factory, which is a nice touch. I previously spray painted the pipework on my P500 red, but the factory version is of much better quality:

The downpipes are 50mm and the dual returns are 25mm. The silencer for the main downpipe is absolutely huge in person!

Tank with the stand looks great!!! Best of luck with it!!

 

[707Nick]

My wife just ordered me a G2 1000 for my 42nd birthday. It should be delivered by our LFSO sometime next week. Honestly, your post is the most. I’ve been able to see of what the tank might look like upon delivery. Very excited for our new tank. Thank you for sharing. I believe I will start a build threat as well. Happy rReefing, Nick and Melissa.

 

[NXE]

Tank with the stand looks great!!! Best of luck with it!!

Thanks!

My wife just ordered me a G2 1000 for my 42nd birthday. It should be delivered by our LFSO sometime next week. Honestly, your post is the most. I’ve been able to see of what the tank might look like upon delivery. Very excited for our new tank. Thank you for sharing. I believe I will start a build threat as well. Happy rReefing, Nick and Melissa.

Congrats @707Nick ! I'm sure you won't be disappointed with it. The thickness of the glass and quality of the finish is really something else. Even the sump is a big step up in quality from my older Reefer.

 

[NXE]

Gathering supplies for the next stage of the build!

 

[Petcrazyson]

Nice RedSea tank! Been hearing a lot of negativity towards Red Sea recently as well but glad yours is good. I also have a Red Sea and no problems as of now.

Can I just say that I love the way the tank looks without water or anything in it just brand new and sitting there lol. Of course sadly it will get wet and loose it’s “brand new shininess” but at least you can enjoy the reef tank.

What kind of filtration are you planning?

 

[NXE]

Nice RedSea tank! Been hearing a lot of negativity towards Red Sea recently as well but glad yours is good. I also have a Red Sea and no problems as of now.

Thanks! I have had my current Red Sea for 3 years now with no issues and the Reefer-S seems very solidly built, so I am hopeful it will last me a long time.

Can I just say that I love the way the tank looks without water or anything in it just brand new and sitting there lol. Of course sadly it will get wet and loose it’s “brand new shininess” but at least you can enjoy the reef tank.

What kind of filtration are you planning?

The tank will be sitting empty for a while as I am only going to be able to work on it intermittently, so I will be able to enjoy that new shininess for a while long!

I am going to go with the ReefMat 1200 for mechanical filtration – I have a Clarisea SK-5000 on the existing tank, but it is a real pain changing the rolls and I have only heard good things about the ReefMat.

 

[Petcrazyson]

am going to go with the ReefMat 1200 for mechanical filtration – I have a Clarisea SK-5000 on the existing tank, but it is a real pain changing the rolls and I have only heard good things about the ReefMat.

Definitely! RedSea Mats are much better and effective than the ClariSea ones. The ReefMat works wonders and keeps many tanks crystal crystal clear sometimes even better than carbon dosing. You can also Calcium dose for clearer water

 

[707Nick]

Thanks!

Congrats @707Nick ! I'm sure you won't be disappointed with it. The thickness of the glass and quality of the finish is really something else. Even the sump is a big step up in quality from my older Reefer.

Thank you very much and I’m wondering do you have any photographs of the some space or can you send me the dimensions? It has been next to impossible to get that information out a red sea as the tank has not arrived yet. Thank you very much.

 

[blaxsun]

@NXE Just something I thought I'd share... I have my tank setup in a similar manner (along a back wall). My fish splash to no end and I'm finding a lot of drips, salt creep, etc. that I can't get to behind the tank.

You have the euro bracing so that will definitely cut down on that quite a bit, but if you're planning for a lid you may want to have more of the back solid to minimize this further.

 

[NXE]

Thank you very much and I’m wondering do you have any photographs of the some space or can you send me the dimensions? It has been next to impossible to get that information out a red sea as the tank has not arrived yet. Thank you very much.

Red Sea have pretty detailed drawings with dimension of the sump and cabinet on their website: https://g1.redseafish.com/support/drawings/products/reefer-s-1000-g2/tabs/files/drawings

Here are the sump dimensions:

 

[NXE]

@NXE Just something I thought I'd share... I have my tank setup in a similar manner (along a back wall). My fish splash to no end and I'm finding a lot of drips, salt creep, etc. that I can't get to behind the tank.

You have the euro bracing so that will definitely cut down on that quite a bit, but if you're planning for a lid you may want to have more of the back solid to minimize this further.

Thanks @blaxsun, that's an interesting point. I am planning to go with the D-D Jumpguard mesh lid, which has a bit of a rim around it, but maybe I will need something more.

 

[Petcrazyson]

@NXE I recommend you use bio balls in a separate area in the sump with high flow. This will help a lot with unwanted “dirties” and help with Po4 and Nitrates.

 

[get-salty]

my very first saltwater setup was the 20gal by redsea!

 

[NXE]

@NXE I recommend you use bio balls in a separate area in the sump with high flow. This will help a lot with unwanted “dirties” and help with Po4 and Nitrates.

Thanks for the tip!

my very first saltwater setup was the 20gal by redsea!

Things have certainly come a long way!