Red Sea Reefer 350: The journey begins

[Txplicit]

So I pulled the trigger on a Red Sea Reefer 350 and all (all that I can foresee) needed equipment.

*RSR350
*Simplicity 2100 DC return pump
*Simplicity DC240 protein skimmer
*2x Radion xr15 gen4 pro
*1x Radion xr30 gen4 pro for center tank
*Inkbird dual stage controller with 300watt finnex titanium heater
*2x Aquamaxx standard size reactors
*Coral life twist turbo 3x UV
*Hydrofil 5 gallon Ato reservoir
*Tunze 3155 osomlator ato
*Jebao dp4 dosing pump (trying dosing so went cheap) will upgrade to bubble magus down the road
*maxspect gyre xf350 2 pump and controller
*60lbs marco rocks
*marco mortar kit
*1/4" acrylic rods for aquascaping reinforcement
*2x 1/2" bulkheads to convert oem ato into fuge
*AI fuge light
*Ai Tank mount
*60lb special grade argonite live sand
*Dr Tim's 1 and only

I'm like a kid waiting on Christmas delivery. Red Sea has yet to contact me about drop ship bu then it's the holidays so I figure I'll be patient.

Planning on hard plumbing everything together and building a storage cabinet next to the tank for controllers and cable management.

I'll be posting pics and updates on hard plumbing and/or equipment reviews. Wish me luck y'all.

 

[The Aquatic Arsenal]

Waiting sure can be hard, but it will be here before you know it.

 

[Txplicit]

I'm more worried cause I work a lot of hours right now and need to know a date ahead of time to schedule off. I'm not leaving a 400lb rsr350 on the driveway. Haha too old to be lifting that much weight.

 

[Han]

Be careful with the turbo twist, I found the plastic to be very brittle and mine kept leaking at the fittings even after I replaced them. It’s a good sterilizer just fragile.

 

[phatduckk]

Nice! Congrats!

 

[CasaReefer]

Exciting Days... We want to see everything...

 

[New&no clue]

Excited to see how the switch from the ATO to fuge goes, that is something I’ve thought about doing as well.

 

[Txplicit]

It has begun! (I feel like I should put on some immortal Kombat theme music right now). 60% of hardware is in. So starting to unpack and geth things up.

1st. (I know I'm backwards) AQUASCAPE. Marco's rock with Marcos 400 mortar. Lmk what you think. I measured out tank dimensions on cardboard.

 

[Txplicit]

FINALLY arrived. Will be assembling tonight. Keep y'all posted.

 

[Txplicit]

Finally got the adapters cemented to the hard plumbing, waiting to dry then tightening it all down for a leak test.

Aquascape is a constant shifting procedure so decided not to mortar the top pieces just in case I wanted a change due to coral needs of light and flow. Lmk what you all think. Advise is always appreciated.

 

[Txplicit]

Been busy with holidays and work was crazy busy. But here I am back at it. Got the cabinet built, leveled, sump in, hard plumbing done, aquascape done for now, plugged, leak tested and finally started cycle lastnight.

 

[Txplicit]

Update:
*Hardware all in place except 1 XR15 that is sitting on top of my BC29 to keep my corals alive until transfer.
*No media installed just yet for fear of interrupting the cycling.
*dosed Dr. Tim's 4oz and 4pom ammonium chloride didn't notice a drop in ammonia after 2 days so I also dosed 2 oz fritz turbostart 900. Ammonia dropped in 8 hours maybe due to combination of both.
*a week later added chaeto and Silva (sea lettuce), and 2 jars of eco pods from algaebarn
*chaeto weakened and faded so I pulled the chaeto out. Ulva is blooming nicely though. Pod a pod hotel for my fuge but either it is working really well or the pods died off cause I can't see pods in tank or fuge.

Ammonia is 0, nitrite .3, nitrate 15ppm, phos .08

Assuming all stays constant and no more ammonia is released due to chaeto or pod die off, I should be cycled in a week. Strangely, algaebarn said they both should be ok during cycle. Lol

Side note, never saw a dirty phase. No algae, no diatoms, nothing. Makes me a little worried since my bc under went every nuisance algae under the sun. Cycled with Marco's dead rock and carib sea live sand. Should I be worried about no dirty phase? I mean will it show up once I add my livestock making it difficult for me to treat?