Red Sea Reefer 450 - Dream Build

Reef Able · Sep 6, 2018

So after debating and researching a lot i decided to go with old route of adding a refugium to this build along with GFO reactor. I wanted to add the mechanical and biological filtration to control algae outbreak asap before the algae starts growing in the display. This way now that the tank is cycling algae can grow in the refugium where light source is supplied (lights on my display are off while it is being cycled so algae growth can be concentrated in the refugium, this idea did wonders on my IM50 Lagoon).

I do not wanted to drill the ATO provided by redsea so created my own a simple box with egg crate...i wanted to make the refugium as big as possible so it is 11 x 15 x 10 which comes to 7 gallons double the size than the ATO from redsea. I also wanted to maximize the space in the middle chamber so placed my refugium box front to back as the longest side. Those Reefoctopus Space Saver skimmers are best. I still have a lot of room in the middle chamber if i want to add anything else. I am using the Par38 Grow bulb which has the perfect spectrum to grow Chaeto. I used this bulb over my other refugium and it did wonders. Here is the link to the bulb from Amazon

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B06XS991WY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Its a waiting game now....

Reef Able · Sep 9, 2018

Working on aquascaping the reefer...i am using dry rocks along with live rock from my existing lagoon...Also i am using the Caribsea Life Rock which has bacteria inbuilt that comes to life as soon as you put it in the water...Let me know what do you guys think of the scape...i am still working on the left side of the tank...

Reef Able · Sep 9, 2018

Reef Able · Sep 9, 2018

NY_Caveman · Sep 10, 2018

I like it. Nice heights and interesting shapes. Will you have both side views of the tank once set up?

Reef Able · Sep 10, 2018

NY_Caveman said:
I like it. Nice heights and interesting shapes. Will you have both side views of the tank once set up?

Thank you. Yes the way how the tank is set up i will be able to see it from both sides hence i am trying to go for a 3d look meaning instead of just aligning the rock in one straight line each structure will be a little back and forth..hope it works out...still not sure how the 3rd structure on the left is going to work out as it will be made once i transfer everything from my lagoon...

Reef Able · Sep 10, 2018

Got some more goodies this weekend. These were the final missing pieces which completes all the equipment list. It was a breeze to install the vivid randomn flow generator and i love it so far...

jp_75 · Sep 10, 2018

Very cool start! Good luck!

Reef Able · Sep 10, 2018

jp_75 said:
Very cool start! Good luck!

Thank you.....

Reef Able · Sep 20, 2018

The tank completed the cycle on Sept.16th. Took a total of 3 weeks. I think the addition of Seachem Stability alongwith some liverocks from my existing tank helped. Upon testing the water parameters my Nitrates showed up around 5ppm and Phosphates at zero (refugium and GFO is doing well). Since the nutrients are where i wanted them to be with the exception of Phosphates (need that around 0.03) i didn't think its necessary to change water at this time. Went ahead and added my pair of Platinum Clownfish and some corals (softies and sps). Yes i know its too early for sps but i did the exact thing in my lagoon and the sps responded well. I kept the lights off during cycle and now have them turned back ON since the cycle is over. I wanted the tank inhabitants to get use to the light schedule i plan on keeping and hence from Day 1 i started the lights on the same schedule. All my corals are coming from a similar schedule with similar light set up (T5/Reefbrite XHO) so it wont shock them in any ways.

It is not easy to manage 2 systems. My lagoon is doing well but its getting neglected, haven't changed water for the past 2 weeks. So far i have lost my Australian Ultra Blue Squamosa Clam and a small frag of Red Dragon. The Clam i believe was not happy to begin with since i added him. He was a baby and gaping so i knew it wasn't a good purchase. I lost Red Dragon because i manually dosed Alk (since i took my DOS off and have attached it to my Reefer) and i think dosing Alk directly might have contributed to its demise since it was instant the next day. This is one reason why i want to transfer most of my stuff from my lagoon to the reefer as early as possible to avoid any further losses. Oh Well...you win some you loose some...

Now lets enjoy the pictures....Sorry didnt use the Gel Filters...

Reef Able · Oct 2, 2018

Finally this weekend i was able to finish off building my Apex Controller Board. It houses Apex 2016 controller, a WXM module, ReefOctopus controller, drivers for Vectra and 2 x MP40QD and a controller for Tunze auto top off. I wanted to hide the Eb832 and the dosing containers with the intention of hiding all the wiring and tubing. So i bought an Ikea bathroom cabinet with 2 glass shelves inside it. This enables me to adjust the shelf height to accomodate the EB832 and DOS alongwith dosing containers behind the front doors. The Ikea cabinet door hinges enable you to open the door pulling in the front which means i need to provide that extra space in the front, however i wanted to use the front space to store stuff and yet be able to open the door for future maintenance, so i ended up using the Magnetic Catch from Home Depot. This way i am able to open the door by just pressing against it and access everything at the back. All the power bricks are at the back of the cabinet attached using straps and screws. I am really happy the way how it turned out....enjoy the pictues...

NY_Caveman · Oct 2, 2018

Reef Able said:
Finally this weekend i was able to finish off building my Apex Controller Board. It houses Apex 2016 controller, a WXM module, ReefOctopus controller, drivers for Vectra and 2 x MP40QD and a controller for Tunze auto top off. I wanted to hide the Eb832 and the dosing containers with the intention of hiding all the wiring and tubing. So i bought an Ikea bathroom cabinet with 2 glass shelves inside it. This enables me to adjust the shelf height to accomodate the EB832 and DOS alongwith dosing containers behind the front doors. The Ikea cabinet door hinges enable you to open the door pulling in the front which means i need to provide that extra space in the front, however i wanted to use the front space to store stuff and yet be able to open the door for future maintenance, so i ended up using the Magnetic Catch from Home Depot. This way i am able to open the door by just pressing against it and access everything at the back. All the power bricks are at the back of the cabinet attached using straps and screws. I am really happy the way how it turned out....enjoy the pictues...

Wow! Excellent work!

Reef Able · Oct 4, 2018

NY_Caveman said:
Wow! Excellent work!

Thanks Caveman....

Hausser · Oct 24, 2018

Great job. I just picked up a RedSea reefer 450 and looking to set it up. I noticed you went with 6bulb 48” ATI fixture, how do you like that size fixture and do you think an 8 bulb is to large for the reefer 450. I am having a hard time deciding on what size ATI fixture to add to my tank.

Reef Able · Oct 24, 2018

Hausser said:
Great job. I just picked up a RedSea reefer 450 and looking to set it up. I noticed you went with 6bulb 48” ATI fixture, how do you like that size fixture and do you think an 8 bulb is to large for the reefer 450. I am having a hard time deciding on what size ATI fixture to add to my tank.

Thanks Hausser. I am very satisfied with the 6 bulb fixture. An 8 bulb is way over kill for a 22” front to back tank not to mention the overflow is in the centre of the tank. I went with 6 bulb which gives me option to add reefbrite xhos for evening pop up...Hope this helps. Thanks.

Hausser · Oct 24, 2018

Thanks for the reply, please keep this updated as I will like to see progress over time. I am not planning on having water in my tank for a few months. I have all my windows in my house being replaced next month so i will have plenty of time to figure mine out. My reefer 450 will be SPS, chalice and monti. I will have some Acans. That’s about all I will have in this tank.

Reef Able · Oct 24, 2018

Hausser said:
Thanks for the reply, please keep this updated as I will like to see progress over time. I am not planning on having water in my tank for a few months. I have all my windows in my house being replaced next month so i will have plenty of time to figure mine out. My reefer 450 will be SPS, chalice and monti. I will have some Acans. That’s about all I will have in this tank.

That sounds exciting...i am an sps guy as well slowly drifting into lps now lol....i have sps, acans, montis and some gonis.....here is a full tank shot