Red sea reefer XL 425 deluxe

Reefer Deez · Mar 25, 2018

Went to lax aquarium yesterday for the first time and didn't see anything that I desperately had to have but there was a really cool employee that made us feel welcome. They also had a really cool display tank with sharks and a huge gold eel!

Reefer Deez · Mar 25, 2018

Then I made my way over to vivid aquarium they had alot to look at but I was in the market for branching euphyllia and they didn't have much.

Reefer Deez · Mar 25, 2018

My last stop of the day was aquarium city. I know they don't have alot of high end coral so I wasn't expecting much but the staff there are always amazing to talk with including 2 of the owners I have spoke with so far. Every time I go an there I'm speak with them for at least an hour, they are always helpful and extremely knowledgeable as long eager to teach you everything they know. I didn't get any coral but I did snag a sunburst anthias a mystery wrasse and a male Hawaiian flame wrasse! So I went home happy!

Crabby48 · Mar 25, 2018

Tank looks great. Sounds like it was a great day even though you came home empty handed.

Reefer Deez · Mar 25, 2018

Yea it was a good day no coral but the fish were a score I wasn't planning on. I'll upload so pictures of the fish when they're done hiding.

Reefer Deez · Mar 25, 2018

Crabby48 said:
Tank looks great. Sounds like it was a great day even though you came home empty handed.

Thank you!

Reefer Deez · Apr 1, 2018

Lost a torch today and I don’t know why. My parameters are stable no changes. The lfs I go to say it could be the nopox I dose but I only use 3ml in a 112 gallon system. It could be a coincidence but I had the same problem before when my bottle of nopox was almost empty months ago. I’m thinking of going to a zeovit system for a nutrient removal system but I want the vertex reactor and it’s sold out everywhere. I did my weekly 20% water change today and all other corals are happy and so are the fish!

Dkh-9.8
Ammonia- 0
Calcium-400 a little low
Nitrite-0
Ph-8.4
Phosphate-0.08
Salinity 1.026
Temp-7i.7
Magnesium-1400

Reefer Deez · Apr 3, 2018

Took this yesterday after a water change all is good except the torch I lost

offtropic · Apr 3, 2018

Hey RD - I'm enjoying your build posts as I am looking at either a 350 or 425xl (leaning towards the 425xl). I am wondering if you are happy with your lights - have you measured par at all with this setup (looks like you have the 425xl deluxe)? I do like what I see from the Hydra twentysix (and I currently use the Prime on a nano tank) but it is interesting that they (RS) include 2 on tanks all they way down from the 250 and up to the 425 (with the 425 being 1" higher, 2.7" wider and 12" longer). I am wondering if I should plan on a third Hydra 26, be happy with the 2 they supply or look for some other option.

Reefer Deez · Apr 3, 2018

offtropic said:
Hey RD - I'm enjoying your build posts as I am looking at either a 350 or 425xl (leaning towards the 425xl). I am wondering if you are happy with your lights - have you measured par at all with this setup (looks like you have the 425xl deluxe)? I do like what I see from the Hydra twentysix (and I currently use the Prime on a nano tank) but it is interesting that they (RS) include 2 on tanks all they way down from the 250 and up to the 425 (with the 425 being 1" higher, 2.7" wider and 12" longer). I am wondering if I should plan on a third Hydra 26, be happy with the 2 they supply or look for some other option.

Thank you! I am actually in the market for a par meter I just can't decide on the seneye or the Apex par meter but I do need to pull the trigger on one. So I haven't done any oar readings. But I can tell you that 2 light is plenty. I don't see the need tk add a 3rd one. I dint know if your going with sps but you can tell mine is LPS dominant and I've had to turn the light down alot to prevent bleaching. I love the the tank and I'm extremely happy with it! You won't be disappointed! Thank you again for following my build thread I really appreciate it! J look forward to seeing your's!

offtropic · Apr 3, 2018

Reefer Deez said:
Thank you! I am actually in the market for a par meter I just can't decide on the seneye or the Apex par meter but I do need to pull the trigger on one. So I haven't done any oar readings. But I can tell you that 2 light is plenty. I don't see the need tk add a 3rd one. I dint know if your going with sps but you can tell mine is LPS dominant and I've had to turn the light down alot to prevent bleaching. I love the the tank and I'm extremely happy with it! You won't be disappointed! Thank you again for following my build thread I really appreciate it! J look forward to seeing your's!

Thanks for the information on the lighting...we'll see which way I end up going as I will also be mixed but predominantly LPS.

Quick question since I can't find a solid answer anywhere online - what are the dimensions of the sump area of the cabinet? I can infer that it might be 27.5" wide but not really sure about that. I think I want do use a refugium so looking at a few different sump options.

Reefer Deez · Apr 3, 2018

offtropic said:
Thanks for the information on the lighting...we'll see which way I end up going as I will also be mixed but predominantly LPS.

Quick question since I can't find a solid answer anywhere online - what are the dimensions of the sump area of the cabinet? I can infer that it might be 27.5" wide but not really sure about that. I think I want do use a refugium so looking at a few different sump options.

I'll look when I get home for you I'm at work right now. Also I was going to ask you about the refugium cause the xl 425 cabinet dosent have alot of room on the sump side. I am thinking of adding a refugium to the right side and plumb it to the sump but I need to build a electrical cabinet first. Also you might want to look into the XXL models those sums have a refugium section built in. But they come at a higher price.

Crabby48 · Apr 3, 2018

Sorry about your torch.
About how many pounds of sand did you use?
About what depth is your sand?
In the first picture it looks deep but the other pictures it looks shallow.
Not sure how much to order but was thinking 60 pounds. I’m not looking to go deep

Reefer Deez · Apr 3, 2018

The sump area is 28 inches wide by 20 inches deep. As far as the sand I used 4 bags of Carib live sand 8 didn't want to go to deep either and the reason it looks different is the goby he makes a mountain every night by his cave it's really neat to watch them. They also keep the sand as white as it was on day one! Also feel free to ask any other questions I enjoy helping people and spreading what knowledge I do have even though it might not be much

Reefer Deez · Apr 3, 2018

Thanks about the torch it does suck I just wish I knew what it was that I did wrong so I don't end up doing it again. The guys at my lfs swear it the nopox but if that was true I don't see why red sea would still permote it and why people would use it.

offtropic · Apr 4, 2018

Reefer Deez said:
The sump area is 28 inches wide by 20 inches deep. As far as the sand I used 4 bags of Carib live sand 8 didn't want to go to deep either and the reason it looks different is the goby he makes a mountain every night by his cave it's really neat to watch them. They also keep the sand as white as it was on day one! Also feel free to ask any other questions I enjoy helping people and spreading what knowledge I do have even though it might not be much

Thanks! Yeah 28" sounds about right. Currently looking at the Synergy Reef TS-26 (26") and Crystal Reef Aquatics (27.5" replacement for the stock Reefer 350 sump). I'm also keeping track of SuncrestReef's efforts to turn the stock ATO into a refugium.

Reefer Deez · Apr 4, 2018

I have seen some really cool designs where they turn the ATO in to a refugium my only concern about that is if the refugium is big enough the ATO Reservoir is kind of small I guess something is better than nothing