The Hermit and Wife's Ocean

[jasonamyers]

I'm in the planning stages of a new tank. I currently have a Red Sea Max E-170 that I've enjoyed so far (8months 13days), but I want to get a sump and a bigger tank. I've been looking at a bunch of different tanks, but I really love the Red Sea look and the Reefer 350 or 425 are both very appealing to me.

Threads like this one also help drive that desire home.

I currently have the following equipment that I'd move to the new tank:

• Apex 2016 (Ph, ORP, Cond, and Temp probes with rack)
• Neptune DOS with DDR
• 2 - Tunze 6040 power heads and Apex Cable
• Crystal ATO Reservoir (5 Gal)
• AutoAqua Smart ATO
• 2 - 100 W Eheim Heaters
• UPS
• Apex Wall Power for power failure detection
• BRS CO2 Scrubber

So the things I'm pondering right now are:

• Do I want the 350 or 425 (i like the extra cabinet space)? Is there another quality tank with a clean look I should be thinking about?
• Do I want to get the reefer deluxe with the Hydra HD lights or go with Kessil lights this time? I have the kessil on my nano aquarium (just a simple 15 gallon) and I love the simplicity of programming, but I know the Hydra are great lights I just gotta figure out the right settings.
• Should I keep with the Red Sea Reef Care system? I really think I'd enjoy the triton or aquaforest system more.
• Should I do the hard plumbing upgrade?
• What return pump should I use? (I want something controllable, like the vectra M1/L1)
• What skimmer should I use?
• What about a carbon Reactor? GFO Reactor? Biopellets?
• Should the reactors be off the return pump?
• Where even do the reactors put the water?
• What about some cheato in the sump? I'd love to have a nice please to reduce the algae in the DT and grow pods.
• Do I get another EB824 Power Bar for my Apex or flip my power heads to the WAVs?

I wanna follow this thread really closely. I also wanna try Dr. Tims Fishless Cycle.

 

[ludnix]

I planned my cube with heavy inspiration from RedSea. I'm really happy with the HydraHD fixtures and definitely think they would be a good option for you. I also am loving my Vectra M1, but I don't have any experience with other DC pumps. I can say that it's a huge upgrade from the mag drives I usually use, though. I love that you can program in the minimum flow and maximum flow making feed mode work great and preventing overdriving the pump on accident.

 

[jasonamyers]

The EB824 Power bar ($249) is cheaper than two WAV pumps ($398) and I really like my Tunze pumps. So I'm going to keep the current pumps and get an additional EB824 when I need it later. It will also allow me to run them if for some reason the Apex is out of commission.

 

[jasonamyers]

So digging more into the hard plumbing, I found this thread with a wonderful parts list for doing the hard plumbing. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/b...uild-ocd-inspired.211616/page-34#post-3505970

 

[jasonamyers]

Reached out to Red Sea to see about getting the additional barbed end points for the plumbing that Broadfield described in this post.

I also tackled a few of my questions with a trip to the Aquatic Critter and a talk with the awesome Kevin.

So first, I'm gonna stick with the Hydras lights so I can order a Reefer Deluxe series and have everything in one package there; however, I so love the kessils

Secondly, I want a refugium but after talking yesterday, I'm a little worried about having all material share a space with equipment like reactor pumps and the skimmer. So if I'm going to do a refugium, I want some way to make sure I can contain it just a bit.

Next, I really do want to do the hard plumbing so I can reduce the need for all the separate reactor pumps, but it might need to come later. I want to run a Carbon reactor and a Bio pellet reactor with the feed going back to the skimmer chamber. I want to pick up the aquamax combo from reeflabs.net.

Finally, I still don't know what tank to order, but I wanna figure that out today.

go brain go...

 

[revhtree]

Following!

 

[jasonamyers]

Red Sea is out of the Barbed ends until Early March :/

 

[thejoshdavis]

Following along

 

[jasonamyers]

Reached out to Marco's rocks about a possible cherryscape that would be suitable for the tank. I like his designs a lot, and I'm not aquascaper.

 

[jasonamyers]

Well, I am just about ready to pull the button on the tank (basically ready today). I know I want the 425xl in black now, but I keep rethinking the Hydra 26HDs vs the Kessil AP700.

 

[jasonamyers]

So after reading half of the reefer owners thread, I've found a few things I like:

• Return Nozzle Splitter - available here
• Under cabinet LED - amazon
• Refugium Baffle Kit - ReefDreams

A lot of the online shops seem to be out of stock on the tanks

 

[jasonamyers]

Okay Reefer 425Xl and AP700 gonna order in the next week or so! EXCITED!

 

[jasonamyers]

Finally got a simple RO/DI setup going with an RO Buddie. I'll make it look pretty once I get the hang of it.

 

[jasonamyers]

The tank is on the way! Some surprises are awesome!

 

[jasonamyers]

Hmm now what rock and sand do I get, and how much? :/

 

[jasonamyers]

Things on Order:

• Reefer 425XL
• 70 lbs of Marco's Rock Key Largo Rock
• 25 lbs of Macro's Rock Key Largo Prime Cuts Mixed
• 80 lbs of Carib Sea Arag-Alive Special Grade Reef Sand
• Reef Octopus VarioS-6 DC Return Pump

I still need to order:

• Kessil AP700 lights
• Reef Dreams Baffle Kit
• Hard Line Plumbing

I Still need to figure out

• What Skimmer to get?
• What Reactors to get?

 

[jasonamyers]

Pelphrey told me what part to get for the varioS in http://reef2reef.com/threads/devoted-reefer-250.263426/page-13#post-3543541

 

[jasonamyers]

Things on Order:

• Reefer 425XL
• 70 lbs of Marco's Rock Key Largo Rock
• 25 lbs of Macro's Rock Key Largo Prime Cuts Mixed
• 80 lbs of Carib Sea Arag-Alive Special Grade Reef Sand
• Reef Octopus VarioS-6 DC Return Pump
• Kessil AP700 Lights
• Reef Dreams Baffle Kit
• Hard Plumbing for the return
• Nyos Quantum 160 skimmer

Left to get:

• Reactors...
• Return Nozzle Splitter
• Under cabinet LED

 

[jasonamyers]

Stuff has started to arrive! The aquarium is at the store and will be delivered Saturday morning! However, the FMK doesn't ship till the 28th at the earliest.

Things on Order:

• Kessil AP700 Lights
• Reef Dreams Baffle Kit
• Hard Plumbing for the return
• Nyos Quantum 160 skimmer
• Neptune FMK
• Aquamaxx reactor

Left to get:

• Dr Tim's Fishless cycle bacteria and ammonia
• Refugium Light
  
• 2 More Reactors...
• Extra FMK reader
  
• Return Nozzle Splitter
• Under cabinet LED
• Acrylic Lid
• Leak detection
• Icecap Y cable for controlling VarioS pump with apex

 

[jasonamyers]

Got the skimmer, o-rings and putty today!