Red Sea maxE 170 build and questions

[Doob]

:in metal accent: IM BACK BABY

I dove into the hobby head first in 2015 with an AIO JBJ 45. My build thread is still here. I couldn’t have done it without this community. Well after 13 months, I had a 3 month old son and got laid off for my job, so some difficult financial decisions had to be made.

Fast forward, things are much better these days, and it’s time to dive back in!

I bought a used setup from someone getting out of the hobby, brought it home today. It’s a Red Sea maxE 170 with the sump upgrade. I didn’t realize it was the all in one version with the sump upgrade until I got there, it’s not what I wanted but it will do I suppose to get my feet wet in the world of sumps. I don’t like that the rear section has baffles and tons of corners for detritus to build up, that was a problem with the JBJ. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll get some tap water in it for a leak test. New DI resin and equipment to run a water line to the wall behind it will be here Wednesday.

I feel there may be a piece missing from the overflow piping. The main overflow is a couple inches shorter than the emergency, from the pictures I’ve seen they’re usually pretty close to each other.

It didn’t come with the ATO reservoir, does anyone know if you can purchase replacements? It’s also missing the sump screen and power center splash guard.

It came with the hydra 26 light, Red Sea RSK 300 skimmer (which seems huge, judging by the physical size of the thing), Current USA 1900 GPH DC return pump, Lifeguard media reactor, 300 watt titanium heater with finnnex temp controller.

The filter sock has been replaced with the cup, which I was planning on doing anyway. Plan on putting carbon and filter floss in it and GFO in the media reactor.

One thing I would like the community advise on is the stand. The right side seems to have a slight bow. I can see daylight between the back and side panels. I checked all the fasteners and they’re tight. I might try to tap it with a mallet and retighten before siliconing the seems. Pictures below.

 

[gulf coast reefer]

I have a red sea 170 just upgraded to a larger tank.
Your emergency overflow should be longer. I’d put the shorter stick of pvc on the side your flow regulator is on in the sump. For me it’s on the right. Normally there a large diameter acrylic tube that goes over your standard overflow but I’m sure you’d be fine without.
As far as the ATO reservoir. Based off personal opinion and I’m sure others with the same tank would vouch….I would personally get a larger ATO reservoir. Can be cheap with a bucket or check out Luna or another brand for a sleek ATO reservoir. I used to fill the 170’s ATO every 2 days and often had issues with the float switch as well. Other than that they’re fantastic tanks

 

[Doob]

Normally they’re a large diameter acrylic tube that goes over your standard overflow but I’m sure you’d be fine without.

Yeah that sounds like what I was expecting. What is the purpose of it?

 

[Doob]

Is anyone uncomfortable about the tank overhanging the front of the stand on these reefers?

 

[gulf coast reefer]

Always bothered me on mine but never had any issues. Sits flush once the door is closed. Doesn’t really take away strength of glass or have a high stress point. So it’s fine

 

[Doob]

What’s the trick to leveling a stand without adjustable legs, other than 8 shims of various thickness?

 

[blaxsun]

What’s the trick to leveling a stand without adjustable legs, other than 8 shims of various thickness?

10 shims of varying thickness...
Welcome to the Red Sea club!

 

[gulf coast reefer]

What’s the trick to leveling a stand without adjustable legs, other than 8 shims of various thickness

10 shims of varying thickness...
Welcome to the Red Sea club!

What he said lol. You can get these nice heavy duty plastic break away shims. Hammer them underneath with your level set. Once level it takes less than a minute to break away all 4 shims and you’ll never even see them

 

[gulf coast reefer]

Here’s a set of shims similar to the ones I had

 

[Doob]

Dang I thought for sure there would be a trick! Got the 3D printer going making some of various sizes. Thanks!

 

[Doob]

It’s holding water! This is just a test with tap water, I’ll let the pumps run with filter floss and try to catch all the nastiest that were left behind from the last owner for a couple of days. Also I’ll have to play around with the overflow valve and water level and try to figure out how everything works, and where the level should be. And if no issues, drain and refill with sand, rock and good water.

 

[Doob]

So this outlet is for a return pump before you install the sump upgrade. Once installed, you open the inlet below it and it just cycles water like a power head. There’s still baffles in the rear area though so I don’t know if the lower inlet will increase or decrease the detritus buildup in the bottom. This is one of my main concerns with this tank. There is supposed to be a filter sponge between the inlet and outlet which is missing, but easily replaced. Also the skimmer that came with is quite oversized. I’ll get a long coral feeder to blast the bottom as often as I can and hopefully it won’t be a huge issue.

 

[gulf coast reefer]

One more thing….the overflow valve is a diaphragm valve. Unless the previous owner of the tank changed the plumbing over to a ball valve. Which is actually a lot easier to adjust flow with. If you’re going to keep the way they’re normally plumbed with the diaphragm as is I have a tip for you… make tiny adjustments with it at a time. Walk away for a couple minutes then adjust again. Once adjusted properly the tank will be absolutely silentEnjoy!!

 

[Doob]

Recommendations for ATO?

 

[gulf coast reefer]

I have a reef life design custom ATO but you can’t go wrong with a Luna reef ATO. You’d be good with a 5G.
Get yourself a reef breeders ATO pump and wallahhh. Or you can get fancy with a tunze ATO pump. Pricy…….but worth what you pay for. I’ve had both

 

[Doob]

So this outlet is for a return pump before you install the sump upgrade. Once installed, you open the inlet below it and it just cycles water like a power head. There’s still baffles in the rear area though so I don’t know if the lower inlet will increase or decrease the detritus buildup in the bottom. This is one of my main concerns with this tank. There is supposed to be a filter sponge between the inlet and outlet which is missing, but easily replaced. Also the skimmer that came with is quite oversized. I’ll get a long coral feeder to blast the bottom as often as I can and hopefully it won’t be a huge issue.

Would it be a terrible idea to close that bottom intake so the water flows over baffles as it does as an all in one, then add a media basket back in to hold carbon. I think it would be more effective there than it would be in a back in the sump where the overflow drains into.

 

[Doob]

Here’s a picture of a similar tank. The media basket would go in the yellow area.

 

[Doob]

I got the DI canisters out of storage and mounted best to the RO. Will be running a line in the wall behind the tank. Also got the rock in and played around with them a bit. I like an overhang. I remember the rule of thumb being about 1lbs per gallon of display water, so I ordered 30 lbs. No way I’ll fit even close to that in this tank.

 

[Doob]

RO is plumbed, tank is back in place and cords are managed. I’ll be adding sand, rock and saltwater today!

 

[Doob]

I noticed when adjusting the door that I can’t get it square on both sides and the top, so before putting the tank back on I threw a square in it. As far as I can tell, there’s no adjustment for this, and it isn’t likely to be caused by improper assembled. Hopefully it’s within specs and nothing to worry about. Worst case scenario, the stand collapses to the left and tank explodes into my living room.