Sara’s Redsea Reefer 350 G2 build

saramachen

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I purchased a Redsea Reefer 350 G2 tonight.

I currently have a IM 25gallon lagoon that has been running since January. The 25g was my reintroduction to the hobby. 15 years ago I had a 75 & 55 FOWLR.

It wasn’t long after my tank was up and running, I realized I should have gotten a bigger tank.

my current setup is:
25g AIO, 2 AI HD primes, a UV sterlizer, and a NF-1 nano skimmer. I started with 20lbs of Marco dry rock (I likethe scape when I made it, hate it now).

Current livestock: 2 clowns, Bengaii cardinalfish, tailspot blenny, cleaner shrimp, emeral crab, Pom Pom crab, red hermit crab, blue tuxedo urchin, strawberry conch, feather duster and a variety of snails.

July 21st (30days ago) I purchased a cheap acrylic sump used, with NOISY return pump, and soaked a biobrick in some microbacter.
July 22 - I got the sump running (I have plumbed the return pump to the filter sock), added the biobrick and some dry rock rubble.
July 29 - accidentally overdose ammonia - 8.0ppm. Added a peice of sponge from my current tank to the sump.
July 30th - ammonia at 1ppm
Aug 3 - ammonia 0ppm, added 40 drops of ammonia - 1ppm confirmed with test
Aug 6 - 0ppm. Added 80 drops ammonia - 2ppm confirmed with test
Aug 7 - I added 10lbs of Caribsea life rock.
Aug 8 - 0ppm, added 100drops ammonia
Aug 10 - 0ppm.
Aug 11 - I added a bottle of pods.
Stopped testing ammonia, but added Seachem ammonia badge.
Since then I add a drop of Aquaforest ProBio-S and NP-pro, and 10ml of live phytoplankton daily.

Tonight I ordered:
Redsea reefer350 g2
40lbs of liferock
40lbs of liferock shapes
30kg of Aquaforest Bio Sand
Sicce Syncra 5.5 ADV pump.

The plan:
Set up the tank with biosand and rock (not sure I will need all 90lbs).
Set up the sump - add the contents of the currently running sump and a chunk of rock from my current tank.
Add some bottle bacteria & ammonia, and hopefully it will be a quick cycle.

Plan is to sell the IM 25g. And put that money towards:
A lid (I like the look of the clearview
A 3rd AI prime HD
A protein skimmer (I think the bubble Magnus curve 5 elite).
 
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saramachen

saramachen

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When the IM was new:
1E7D3E6F-CFBE-4584-8EBE-D8FCA75240A3.jpeg


734D9246-3AA8-45A4-87BA-DEBA84EA951F.jpeg


My emerald crab ate the octospawn
D3FB65AA-CAB0-4364-A2B3-6CA444F1EEBC.jpeg


4DCACB9D-801E-407C-B9EE-7AAE1B335F1E.jpeg
 
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saramachen

saramachen

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You made a good tank choice. I have the XL300 model and really like it. You should keep your 25 as a QT tank for future livevstock.

I have a 10g tank for QT. When I QT I set up the 10g, cycle it with a piece of foam from my sump, and then pick out a new friend, observe for 30 days. The LFS I buy from I trust, so I don’t treat unless needed. I have an unopened bottle of
Copper power and hanna copper checker but just in case.

I decided I needed to get a lid right away. I ordered the redsea DIY net lid.

I also decided to order a second media cup and not use the filter sock. I have 2 media “trays” in my IM 25, so im used to that sort of maintenance (replacing floss every couple of days). The socks seem like a hassle.

man’s of course it dawned on me at 12am that my 100w heater (BRS titanium & Inkbird) wasn’t gonna cut it . I ended up ordering a Finnex 300w titanium element.

I don’t have a back up heater right now, and I realize that is very dumb. So I will try and find a glass heater short enough to fit in the sump
 

Lavey29

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I have a 10g tank for QT. When I QT I set up the 10g, cycle it with a piece of foam from my sump, and then pick out a new friend, observe for 30 days. The LFS I buy from I trust, so I don’t treat unless needed. I have an unopened bottle of
Copper power and hanna copper checker but just in case.

I decided I needed to get a lid right away. I ordered the redsea DIY net lid.

I also decided to order a second media cup and not use the filter sock. I have 2 media “trays” in my IM 25, so im used to that sort of maintenance (replacing floss every couple of days). The socks seem like a hassle.

man’s of course it dawned on me at 12am that my 100w heater (BRS titanium & Inkbird) wasn’t gonna cut it . I ended up ordering a Finnex 300w titanium element.

I don’t have a back up heater right now, and I realize that is very dumb. So I will try and find a glass heater short enough to fit in the sump
I use a media cup and a sock on mine. I find dosing PNS probio keeps my organic waste down and I only change the sock every 10 days now and it still looks clean. I recommend IM Helio titanium heaters with controller. They are bullet proof and I run 2 small ones in my skimmer chamber. I have the Clearview lid to and high recommend that product as well.
 
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saramachen

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Yesterday I dosed my cycling sump with 5ml of ammonia. I tested a few hours later at 4ppm. Today when I got home from work I noticed the ammonia badge was back to yellow and tested the water, and it was 0ppm.

So I’m confident the media in that sump has a decent amount of bacteria, to seed my new tank.

I have been battling some cyano in the 25g. A couple weeks ago I realized through testing and dosing and reading, my tank was perhaps “carbon limited”. I have been adding 1 drop of Aquaforest ProBios -S and NP a day.
Yesterday I removed a lot of of the cyano with a Turkey baster and essentially scooping it out, and did a 30% water change while blowing the rock and stirring up all the mess. I was afraid I was gonna come down today to a dead tank, but everyone was happy and I tested tonight and my nitrates are at 7.2 and phos is 0.07. Those are the best numbers I have had in while.

I can hardly wait for ugly stage in the new tank so I can start these battles all over again
 
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saramachen

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Not much happening while I wait.

I keep dosing ammonia and bacteria into my media. Asked in one of the tank cycling threads, and was assured if i put the media i am preparing into the display, it will be ready to transfer livestock right away. So thats what i'll do, and then after a few months, move the rubble down to the sump.

Im considering a Nicrew Hyper Reef 150 mounted in the center of the tank, with my 2 AI primes on either side. Would be a good temporary solution while i save my pennies for AI Hydra 32 and its mount.

Also i think Im going to go with a Reef Octopus Classic 150 skimmer.
 
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saramachen

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Im also harvesting copepods in a jar. Those should be ready to dump into the new tank if it arrives in the next week :). If not, ill put them in with my current media and start a new batch.
 
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saramachen

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941E3E55-4372-42E0-AAD0-4B27DC7550AE.jpeg


it’s here! I picked it ip last night :)

Today is my 40th birthday . And my plan is to spend it assembling a cabinet.

I’m still contimplating my stocking list.
On top of my existing fish (2 gladiator clowns, Bengaii cardinalfish, and tailspot Blenny) I am thinking:
Lemon Peel angel
Bristletooth tang
Pair of black storm clownfish
A wrasse of some type
Fathead sunburst anthia
 
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saramachen

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Today I spent most of the day getting everything situated.

cleared out the front closet and back room to reorganize to get ready to build the cabinet in the back room. It’s going there because we plan on opening up a wall and the back room will become our sitting room with a patio door out to our pool. So I want the tank back there. Problem is the patio door and wall Reno’s need to be done (the plan is to do them in the next month.

so now it do doesn’t make sense to get this tank going for real until the work is done. I have built the cabinet and set it up against the back wall, but it’s going to have to be moved once the door/wall are finished.
So, I think I just spend the next few weeks building my rock. And because I have a crap ton of extra time, maybe I will assemble it with rod vs cement/epoxy so that it is able to be broken down better if I need to in the future.

i have a 40lbs box of Caribsea life rock, I am thinking about slicing off an end of a lot of the pieces to make a flat bottom and arrange a layer of bottom rock, and then lay the sand around it.
 
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saramachen

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Cabinet is built, hubby helped me lift the tank into the cabinet, and plumbing is done. I have sore knees (leveling can be a ***** on hard floors), scraped up fingers, but I’m getting it done!

I am not happy with the main down pipe, it doesn’t sit in the holder straight. I will investigate tomorrow.

I also need to figure out what adapter I need to attach my return hose to the pump. The adaptors it came with seem to large. Which makes me worry the pump is to lo large

2155C202-7B8E-48B8-8FA1-848F11F374E8.jpeg 56851FCE-5463-4741-95A4-2A60D0B9FCD1.jpeg
 
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I suppose the next step is to leak test. I didn’t bother with the 25g, but it wasn’t $3000 and difficult to maneuver. I don’t really have a great way to fill it either . 5 gallon buckets at a time? I don’t have wheels for the 20g brute, other wise I would run the garden house into the house full the brute and use the pump to pump water into the tank. I should probably invest in the wheels for the brute tho.

i was also thinking about just getting a python with the sink adapter, but I don’t thing any of our faucets will take it, and we don’t have a tub in the laundry room anymore. And if we did I’d need the 100 ft long one to run up from the basement.

i guess I get to spend my day pondering this problem while I prepare for our house appraisal tomorrow.
 

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I suppose the next step is to leak test. I didn’t bother with the 25g, but it wasn’t $3000 and difficult to maneuver. I don’t really have a great way to fill it either . 5 gallon buckets at a time? I don’t have wheels for the 20g brute, other wise I would run the garden house into the house full the brute and use the pump to pump water into the tank. I should probably invest in the wheels for the brute tho.

i was also thinking about just getting a python with the sink adapter, but I don’t thing any of our faucets will take it, and we don’t have a tub in the laundry room anymore. And if we did I’d need the 100 ft long one to run up from the basement.

i guess I get to spend my day pondering this problem while I prepare for our house appraisal tomorrow.
The issue with the python hose is it’s freshwater …
It would work for draining water but filling is a issue
1) it’s tap water
2) freshwater

I’ll see if I can find the picture I took for the kitchen faucet adapter I bought . The same fitting thread as a laundry washer or garden hose
 
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saramachen

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Actually an idea occurs to me…. I could hook my RODI unit up to the garden hose in the same room, and just let it make water into the tank, fill it most of the way (before the overflow) and then mix the salt in the tank (tank is empty but for water). Then as I add rock it will over flow to fill the sump.

Edit: it has just occurred to me that way I will not know how much water is in my tank.
So I guess I’m making 15g at a time and will just take a couple days to fill.
 
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Rmckoy

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Actually an idea occurs to me…. I could hook my RODI unit up to the garden hose in the same room, and just let it make water into the tank, fill it most of the way (before the overflow) and then mix the salt in the tank (tank is empty but for water). Then as I add rock it will over flow to fill the sump.

Edit: it has just occurred to me that way I will not know how much water is in my tank.
So I guess I’m making 15g at a time and will just take a couple days to fill.
You could measure the inside of the tank and to the water level .
Using a calculator or ( LxWxH divide by 231 is the formula for volume

after the water is full , calculate volume before adding the rocks which would displace water Into the sump
 

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I just got my Red Sea Reefer 350 G2 cycling as of yesterday morning. Let me know how adjusting your down flow valve goes as I am having a lot of trouble finding the sweet spot for that!
 
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saramachen

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It runs!!!

FE3502CC-7C66-42FC-B3B1-C2F594536356.jpeg



When I started it up I the valve full open, and started the pump and everything went bananas lol. I started closing off the valve, but I had a bucket of water beside me, and when the level got low i added water and kept closing the valve till I it was quiet and the pump was staying completely submersed. I also lowered the gate at the bubble trap a bit.

i guess now I have turn off the pump and see if my sump overflows lol. Part of that process is going to figure out the best placement for the return nozzles to break the siphon.

For the water/rock displacement issue. I’m wondering about taking 10lbs of rock putting it in my 10g QT tank, and then filling the tank gallon by gallon to see how much I use. I can use that as an estimate so I don’t make too much or too little water.
 

Mixing lighting technologies: Do you use multiple types of lighting for your reef?

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