Red Sea Reefer 425XL Tank Build

[Bossman]

Well, I've been into reefing for just about a year now. I did have a saltwater tank 30 years ago but it was nothing like what is offered today. Back then I had a 29 gallon with an under gravel filter and hang on canister. Not a lot of flow but then again I had no coral (no knowledge either), just fish. There was no testing of parameters and even salinity was often overlooked. No longer the case!

My first tank set up this go around was a Red Sea Max 260 with the rear sump. And soon after that a Red Sea Max 170. I ran them both this past year fairly stock. I replaced the red sea skimmer with RO HOB skimmers that seemed to pick up much better then the stock red sea skimmer. I installed a Tunze 3155 ATO on both and then started to fine tune parameters and added Kalk to the ATOs. This past November upgraded to in cabinet sumps. Much better filtration and I wish now I had went with the reefer series to begin with. The sumps scared me in the beginning. All I could think of was a massive overflow!

So now I will round out my living room with a 3rd and even bigger tank. The Reefer 425XL.

I have seen some awesome build threads with automatic water change, custom control boards and other engineering feats! I think all of that is awesome and I love to read those build threads. But this will be a more standard off the shelf build. Those thinking of a Red Sea tank may garner some input from this thread and I hope it's useful or at least entertaining.

So for starters I have the Red Sea Reefer 425XL tank, sump and cabinet combo.

88 gallon display tank
24 gallon sump
47" long x 22"x 22.6"

The sump is a V1 and I do plan to build a refugium in the sump. I've taken some pics and given measurements to Octo Aquatics and hope to get a baffle soon (about the only thing I don't have yet).

Lighting, I'm using an 48" ATI T5/LED Powermodule. I like the AI LEDs I have with the 170 and 260 but want to try the T5's as I've heard they grow coral! I'm starting with 2-blue plus, 1- true actinic and 1-coral plus bulb.

Return pump is a RO Varios 8

Skimmer is a RO Regal 150 INT

UV filtration, Pentair 25 watt. Off during cycle.

Flow, 2- RO Octo pulse wave 4

Control, Apex El. This will be my first time running an apex. I look forward to the feed mode instead of turning off the skimmer, and several pumps every feeding. Not being much of a computer or gadget guy, it's a little intimidating. But I will get it.

Control Board, I will use a Marine Depot deluxe control board to help me manage placement of controllers and wires. I'm thinking of mounting this on the right cabinet door.

ATO, Will use a Tunze 3155 and possible Kalk to start. Will watch parameters. Had low 7's ph in the other tanks and now maintain 8 in the am and 8.2 by afternoon before night.

This is where my 260 sits currenly. In the front living room. I plan on putting the tank on the right side of the window. The space between the wall and window is not big enough so I will put the tank on an angle. This will also make for better viewing.

Here is a better view of the 260. The tank is doing well and running so good after I put the sump in.

 

[Bossman]

The tank was delivered off from a lift gate on a straight truck. The driver had a tough time and I had to get up into the truck to help him. His pallet jack got stuck under a broken pallet holding a large heavy safe. Watching him pull my tank out and position on a "just barely big enough" lift gate was nerve racking. The tank pallet was broken in several places and I was concerned about the condition of the tank. Fortunately Red Sea does a very good job of packing their equipment. No damage was seen.

Here the tank, sump and cabinet sit in the garage awaiting installation.

Note the large brown beam behind the tank on the garage floor. That is a custom ordered 4" x 6" beam I'm going to position on the ground floor and hold with floor jacks. I live in a bi level and have a finished basement/first floor. I don't want to open up the ceiling to reinforce but this beam will do the trick. The way the floor joists run and being the tanks are close to the foundation wall, I may not need it. But it's cheap insurance.

 

[Bossman]

Here is the cabinet ready to put together. This is the 3rd Red Sea cabinet I've assembled and it's pretty straight forward. No written instructions come with the cabinet but good enough drawings to figure things out. One thing that was odd. The cabinet came with an extra "white" bottom brace piece. I hope I never need it.

If I have any issues, my dog Abby will be there to help me sort it out. She has to be involved every step of the way. She sniffs and bites every screw before I install and barks at the drill as well.

One minor issue. The bottom of the cabinet is lined with foam rubber that the sump will sit on. And the side pieces have a small strip of foam at the bottom to keep the sump away from the wood cabinet. On one piece the foam rubber was not glued correctly. I pulled it off, broke it, and reglued it. It works and no one will see it so not a big deal.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Sounds like a great plan. Nice upgrade.

 

[SPR1968]

That’s a great write up and pictures and thanks for sharing them with us, very nice indeed

And the 260 looks beautiful

 

[Bossman]

Thank you guys! It's exciting to finally see something you've been planning for many months come together.

 

[Bossman]

The Red Sea cabinet is a very nicely done piece. The panels are heavy composite. The top of the cabinet is covered with a heavy foam mat for placement of the tank. Even the sump area is lined with foam rubber as well. The doors use a nice sturdy stainless hinge and the spring loaded opening mechanism works very well.

The cabinet uses "Cam Lock" type fasteners for assembly. This is becoming more popular with DIY furniture assembly. A power drill makes installing these much easier. Using it on low speed is important. I over tightened one and pulled the plastic anchor out of the panel and it didn't take much effort.

Red Sea says you do not need to use glue when assembling their cabinets. They are very strong. However, this is a heavy tank and I chose to use a wood construction glue on every panel. When I use just the cam lock I find that piece by piece they don't feel that sturdy until it's joined with other assembled pieces. This cabinet is relying on the cam locks and small unglued plastic pins ( I bent a couple of those too) to hold the whole thing together.

Even though you do not have to glue the cabinet. I have a little more piece of mind knowing the glue offers more holding power and a sturdier cabinet. I used Gorilla construction glue. It's similar to Liquid Nails which I have used countless times, but I think the Gorilla glue may be a little stronger.

Red Sea says the wet tank and cabinet are nearly 1,500 lbs. And I don't believe that's including equipment, sand and rock.

 

[Bossman]

The cabinet assembly took about 2 hours, but I wasn't in a hurry. The doors usually take a little adjustment to get them to close well and line up with the opposing door. This time around they were nearly perfect once installed.

I had my son and friend come over to help carry the tank in from the garage and set it on the cabinet. The DT weighs 170 lbs empty and 2 strong guys had no problem carrying it in. The only issue was the garage was cold, in the 30's. I keep my house humid. As they carried the tank, condensation started to immediately build on the tank and it became increasingly harder to hold. So it was done quick.

Now I'm still moving the tank around a little trying to find the right spot. I was going to push it in the corner but that would not leave me room to get behind it if I needed. I'm pretty sure I will leave one end (probably the one close to the window) pulled out a bit so I can get behind the tank if I have too. I'm also thinking I may mount the UV sterilizer on the back of the cabinet. It's pretty big!

 

[NY_Caveman]

The Red Sea cabinet is a very nicely done piece. The panels are heavy composite. The top of the cabinet is covered with a heavy foam mat for placement of the tank. Even the sump area is lined with foam rubber as well. The doors use a nice sturdy stainless hinge and the spring loaded opening mechanism works very well.

The cabinet uses "Cam Lock" type fasteners for assembly. This is becoming more popular with DIY furniture assembly. A power drill makes installing these much easier. Using it on low speed is important. I over tightened one and pulled the plastic anchor out of the panel and it didn't take much effort.

Red Sea says you do not need to use glue when assembling their cabinets. They are very strong. However, this is a heavy tank and I chose to use a wood construction glue on every panel. When I use just the cam lock I find that piece by piece they don't feel that sturdy until it's joined with other assembled pieces. This cabinet is relying on the cam locks and small unglued plastic pins ( I bent a couple of those too) to hold the whole thing together.

Even though you do not have to glue the cabinet. I have a little more piece of mind knowing the glue offers more holding power and a sturdier cabinet. I used Gorilla construction glue. It's similar to Liquid Nails which I have used countless times, but I think the Gorilla glue may be a little stronger.

Red Sea says the wet tank and cabinet are nearly 1,500 lbs. And I don't believe that's including equipment, sand and rock.

Nice job. I thought of using glue for my JBJ stand and I wish I had. The finished product with the filled tank was less stable than I would have liked. I know it will hold the tank vertically, but it seems less stable to any horizontal pressure.

 

[Bossman]

I installed the ATI powermodule light. The light came with a nice kit to hang the light from the ceiling. However, I just didn't want to have the kit permanently mounted to the ceiling. I found this light stand assembly and it fit the bill. Easy to mount to the cabinet and adjustable for height.

https://www.cadlights.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=73_49&products_id=160

This worked great and I was able to still incorporate the majority of the kit that came with the ATI light to attach to the light stand.

I used Marco rocks for the aquascaping. I've used their rock and mortar mix in the past and have been happy with how it goes together. I purchased foundation rock which was perfect for setting up the bottom of the piers with a nice flat surface. Then I used their XL random pieces to piece together with the use of mortar and their hardener solution for setting it.

This being my biggest tank I wanted plenty of open space and rock to attach coral too. I will put an "Island" in between the two piers once I put water in the tank. I have that one piece of rock sitting in my sump to hopefully seed with some good bacteria.

I'm pretty happy with how it looks at this point. Plenty of hole and crevices for fish and other inhabitants to hide and sleep. After some seasoning and coraline algae growth you won't see the mortar. And the rock will no longer be white.

For light I mounted a simple LED strip light on both sides of the cabinet ceiling. Also mounted is a GFI switched strip.

Next comes equipment mounting and set up. I will level the tank before adding water. I'm not sure how I would level after it's full if that's even possible.

Any tips on leveling a tank? I did not do this on my 260 but wish I did. Although it's running fine, it's not as level as I would have liked. Just didn't think about it at the time.

 

[Dolelo96]

Did you get the marine depot controller board? I have the 425xl also and wanted to see how it looked. Thanks!

 

[Bossman]

I did get it, but didn't use it. I wanted to put the board on the right cabinet door. I like it that way so that I don't have to reach into the cabinet. It didn't fit because the right door extends into the sump area and the board mounted on the door would have hit the dividing wall.

It's a decent board. Just didn't work the way I wanted to configure it. I have my apex mounted on the right cabinet door. I use a 5 gallon bucket for an ato reservoir on the right side of the cabinet.