smittysreef
New Member
Hello everyone! I’ve never done a build thread like this, so please bear with me here. I’m dealing with a good amount of obstacles such as; terrible room lighting, horrible cameras, old equipment, etc., I’ll do my best to do my best!
First, a little background is in order. I got started with marine fish in the late eighties/early nineties. I had the standard 55 gallon aquarium, HOB filter, under gravel filter, crushed coral, no skimmer, fish only setup. This setup worked out great for about 5+ years. One day while I was at work, the stand I had the aquarium on, on top of crappy flooring, decided to bow in the middle, and you can guess what happened next. Luckily I had a relatively light bioload, so the carnage was minimal so to speak. After that, life happened, so I didn’t get around to setting up another aquarium until about 10 years ago.
When I met my wife in 2009, she had a fresh water 55 gallon aquarium setup that housed a rather large Mud Cat named Blackeye and a large Bream that had no name. She had rescued both animals that had been caught from one of our local rivers. Both fish were covered in parasites, but she was able to get them cleaned up and nursed back to health. Unfortunately, about a year after we met, she tried rescuing another fish without using a quarantine setup, and Blackeye didn’t make it. The Bream lived though, so I decided the best thing to do was to release it back into its natural habitat. I never liked freshwater aquariums much anyways.
After that ordeal, the wife decided to give up the fish thing, so I inherited the tank. I immediately went to work converting over to a marine environment. I went to my LFS, and got myself some sand, salt, a CPR HOB skimmer, a Mag7 return pump, ordered an Eshoppes HOB overflow, and an inexpensive sump. I got all the test kits, some Hydor Koralia power heads, and a nice T-5 setup. Much of this stuff I still have today, as you’ll soon see. Anyway, I got everything going, the tank cycled, added fish (over a good period of time), and everything was great for a few years. Then came the meltdown responsible for my rage quitting.
The tank sprang a leak, so I went to my LFS and got a brand new one. After getting everything transferred, I decided it was time to move on from fish only and try my luck at reef keeping. I went back to my LFS and got myself some live rock, took it home, cured it, then I put it in my tank. I was really green when it came to rock, so I took what I was sold. Well, one of the main pieces they sold me turned out to be nothing more than concrete (I later broke it with a sledge hammer to confirm), and the rest was infested with all sorts of pests. Mind you I paid like $4.00 per pound for this stuff too.
After getting rid of the pest problem as best I could, I decided I wanted to increase my fish population and add a few inverts and corals. To be honest, it really didn’t occur to me that maybe I should quarantine my new inhabitants, and the LFS here was really my only option at the time. I had no computer, and we literally live in the middle of nowhere. I took the chance and got a few fish, a few snails, and a frag or two, brought them home, acclimated them, put them in my tank, and went to bed. I awoke to carnage once again! Turns out one or all of the fish I had purchased had Marine Velvet. I gave up! Sold the tank, and stored the equipment!
Well about 2 years ago now, I ran across someone that lives near me that was selling a Red Sea Max 250 for $200.00. I knew those were quite expensive setups when new, so I essentially jumped on it. However; I did not know the mechanics of how it really operated, and the previous owner neglected to inform me that both pumps were burned out, or that the replacement parts were getting more and more difficult to find. Oh, and it literally had none of the internals i.e. skimmer, media basket, etc.. Just two defunct return pumps. The fans for the lights were also toast or nearly toast. Not to mention the glass is scratched up pretty good on one side, but fortunately you can’t tell really when it has water in it. So, this thing has been sitting empty since I got it, other than a test fill to check for leaks. Thank goodness it doesn’t leak. I know now why it was so cheap!
All of that brings me to now. I have done research for the past few years on the hobby in general, this specific tank, and feel confident I’m ready to dive in. Hopefully this time I’ll get favorable results. Just keep in mind that I temporarily have to utilize some of the old equipment I had from before due to budget restraints as I’m now on a fixed income of sorts. I do intend on replacing nearly everything as soon as humanly possible.
With all of that said, here is where I’m at so far. If anyone sees anything inherently wrong, please feel free to offer advice.
Here is the Red Sea Max 250 with 40# of dry rock. I’ll be adding about 20# more to it in a few weeks, and finalizing the aquascape. I also plan to add about 2” of Ocean Direct Standard grade sand. Also in the picture is an old Koralia power head that will most likely be replaced before the tank is ever filled with an Icecap Gyre 3K and a Jebao wave pump. Not sure what size to get yet for this setup. Also the CPR Bak-Pak 2 skimmer will be replaced eventually with a Reef Octopus or something in sump.
Here is the sump. I think it is an older Aqueon Pro-Flex. Man this thing is a turd! Almost all of the internal baffles are detaching from the sides. It functions fine for now, but it’ll either be replaced soon, or I’ll have to break out some silicone on it. In the sump is a Mag 7 return pump that is quite tired and noisy. I need to shorten my return line a bit so I’ll have room for a skimmer. I also stuck a CFL light in there, because I plan to use the center section as a refugium. I’ll also add some Marine Pure before it is all said and done.
Again the unsightly skimmer, and the overflow box. I had to mod the box to fit in the cutout that would have originally housed a cooling fan that I never had. It works great, but I do need an aqua lift pump for added protection.
This is the return plumbing I came up with. I will probably try to redo it later with Loc-Line, and try to do something with the return nozzles to bring them higher up. I drilled a few holes in each soft tube to prevent back siphon. It works….. most of the time. The valves are mostly to control flow on each side.
The sides of the hood/light fixture. I have the grills, but had to take them off due to the fans sometimes needing a helping hand to get spinning. I’ve replaced one fan on the right side, because it didn’t work at all. Honestly, I’ll probably go for the Viparspectra LED lights and pull this piece of junk off.
Anyway guys, that’s all I have for now. I know it is fairly ghetto, but I’m determined to make this work. Thanks again for having me, and I’ll update this as soon as I can.
First, a little background is in order. I got started with marine fish in the late eighties/early nineties. I had the standard 55 gallon aquarium, HOB filter, under gravel filter, crushed coral, no skimmer, fish only setup. This setup worked out great for about 5+ years. One day while I was at work, the stand I had the aquarium on, on top of crappy flooring, decided to bow in the middle, and you can guess what happened next. Luckily I had a relatively light bioload, so the carnage was minimal so to speak. After that, life happened, so I didn’t get around to setting up another aquarium until about 10 years ago.
When I met my wife in 2009, she had a fresh water 55 gallon aquarium setup that housed a rather large Mud Cat named Blackeye and a large Bream that had no name. She had rescued both animals that had been caught from one of our local rivers. Both fish were covered in parasites, but she was able to get them cleaned up and nursed back to health. Unfortunately, about a year after we met, she tried rescuing another fish without using a quarantine setup, and Blackeye didn’t make it. The Bream lived though, so I decided the best thing to do was to release it back into its natural habitat. I never liked freshwater aquariums much anyways.
After that ordeal, the wife decided to give up the fish thing, so I inherited the tank. I immediately went to work converting over to a marine environment. I went to my LFS, and got myself some sand, salt, a CPR HOB skimmer, a Mag7 return pump, ordered an Eshoppes HOB overflow, and an inexpensive sump. I got all the test kits, some Hydor Koralia power heads, and a nice T-5 setup. Much of this stuff I still have today, as you’ll soon see. Anyway, I got everything going, the tank cycled, added fish (over a good period of time), and everything was great for a few years. Then came the meltdown responsible for my rage quitting.
The tank sprang a leak, so I went to my LFS and got a brand new one. After getting everything transferred, I decided it was time to move on from fish only and try my luck at reef keeping. I went back to my LFS and got myself some live rock, took it home, cured it, then I put it in my tank. I was really green when it came to rock, so I took what I was sold. Well, one of the main pieces they sold me turned out to be nothing more than concrete (I later broke it with a sledge hammer to confirm), and the rest was infested with all sorts of pests. Mind you I paid like $4.00 per pound for this stuff too.
After getting rid of the pest problem as best I could, I decided I wanted to increase my fish population and add a few inverts and corals. To be honest, it really didn’t occur to me that maybe I should quarantine my new inhabitants, and the LFS here was really my only option at the time. I had no computer, and we literally live in the middle of nowhere. I took the chance and got a few fish, a few snails, and a frag or two, brought them home, acclimated them, put them in my tank, and went to bed. I awoke to carnage once again! Turns out one or all of the fish I had purchased had Marine Velvet. I gave up! Sold the tank, and stored the equipment!
Well about 2 years ago now, I ran across someone that lives near me that was selling a Red Sea Max 250 for $200.00. I knew those were quite expensive setups when new, so I essentially jumped on it. However; I did not know the mechanics of how it really operated, and the previous owner neglected to inform me that both pumps were burned out, or that the replacement parts were getting more and more difficult to find. Oh, and it literally had none of the internals i.e. skimmer, media basket, etc.. Just two defunct return pumps. The fans for the lights were also toast or nearly toast. Not to mention the glass is scratched up pretty good on one side, but fortunately you can’t tell really when it has water in it. So, this thing has been sitting empty since I got it, other than a test fill to check for leaks. Thank goodness it doesn’t leak. I know now why it was so cheap!
All of that brings me to now. I have done research for the past few years on the hobby in general, this specific tank, and feel confident I’m ready to dive in. Hopefully this time I’ll get favorable results. Just keep in mind that I temporarily have to utilize some of the old equipment I had from before due to budget restraints as I’m now on a fixed income of sorts. I do intend on replacing nearly everything as soon as humanly possible.
With all of that said, here is where I’m at so far. If anyone sees anything inherently wrong, please feel free to offer advice.
Here is the Red Sea Max 250 with 40# of dry rock. I’ll be adding about 20# more to it in a few weeks, and finalizing the aquascape. I also plan to add about 2” of Ocean Direct Standard grade sand. Also in the picture is an old Koralia power head that will most likely be replaced before the tank is ever filled with an Icecap Gyre 3K and a Jebao wave pump. Not sure what size to get yet for this setup. Also the CPR Bak-Pak 2 skimmer will be replaced eventually with a Reef Octopus or something in sump.
Here is the sump. I think it is an older Aqueon Pro-Flex. Man this thing is a turd! Almost all of the internal baffles are detaching from the sides. It functions fine for now, but it’ll either be replaced soon, or I’ll have to break out some silicone on it. In the sump is a Mag 7 return pump that is quite tired and noisy. I need to shorten my return line a bit so I’ll have room for a skimmer. I also stuck a CFL light in there, because I plan to use the center section as a refugium. I’ll also add some Marine Pure before it is all said and done.
Again the unsightly skimmer, and the overflow box. I had to mod the box to fit in the cutout that would have originally housed a cooling fan that I never had. It works great, but I do need an aqua lift pump for added protection.
This is the return plumbing I came up with. I will probably try to redo it later with Loc-Line, and try to do something with the return nozzles to bring them higher up. I drilled a few holes in each soft tube to prevent back siphon. It works….. most of the time. The valves are mostly to control flow on each side.
The sides of the hood/light fixture. I have the grills, but had to take them off due to the fans sometimes needing a helping hand to get spinning. I’ve replaced one fan on the right side, because it didn’t work at all. Honestly, I’ll probably go for the Viparspectra LED lights and pull this piece of junk off.
Anyway guys, that’s all I have for now. I know it is fairly ghetto, but I’m determined to make this work. Thanks again for having me, and I’ll update this as soon as I can.
