The 'Imaginaquarium' build (Reefer 350)

[TheLost]

I got into this hobby in a weird way... I came home 2 years ago to find my neighbors Red Sea Max 130D sitting in my family room.

My neighbor who was retired and getting older decided to move down south for a warmer climate. The construction on his new house was behind schedule and the new owners of his old house wanted to move in ASAP. Unbeknownst to me, my wife said we would 'Babysit' his fish until his new house was finished.

I haven't seen the guy in 2 years.

My neighbor had this tank since our houses were built 15 years ago. It was just a stock 130D (34 gallons) with a few rocks and 2 VERY old clownfish when it showed up in my house. Once I realized he wasn't coming back I slowly upgraded the tank and added a few corals.

Over time the hobby grew on me (and my family) however the limitations of the tank and its placement in our house started to bug me... I would constantly say things like:

"When i get a new tank im going to get the best skimmer i can find. This built-in skimmer is horrible"
"If i get a new tank its going to have better lights"
"My new tank will have a refugium. This tiny sump sucks!"

My wife started calling this 'new tank' my 'Imaginary Aquarium'... over time it just became the 'Imaginaquarium'. ("oh geez.. your dad is talking about that dang Imaginaquarium again")

A few weeks ago i decided to stop imagining a new tank and start putting it together...

The Imaginarium long term goals:
1) Bigger than I want, but small enough to keep it simple.
2) Better placement in the house.
3) Get what I want from the start (SPS dominant)
4) Room for upgrades.
5) Easy Maintenance.

I thought I'd start a new thread as I put this thing together over the next few months.

For now... Here is a (bad) picture of my 'old' 130D tank.

Red Sea Max 130D.
Radion XR15w Pro G4 (inside the hood)
Tunze 9001 skimmer with custom media basket.
2 VERY old clownfish, a yellow tail damsel and a banggai.
... and Alexander Clamilton (the name my daughter gave our maxima clam)

Pictures of the new tank setup will follow

 

[SPR1968]

Well the 130 looks very nice and looking forward to the pictures

And welcome to R2R as well by the way, it’s great to have you with us!

 

[Hemmdog]

Looks nice! Well written, and welcome to reef2reef!

 

[TheLost]

.,After thinking about what size tank I wanted for about a month I ended up picking the Red Sea Reefer 350.

About the same time I decided on the 350, a used one showed up at a LFS... and when I say used... I mean USED.

The glass tank looked like somebody had taken a hammer to the bottom edge.
The sump had probably never been cleaned.
There was so much 'crud' hardened in the back of the tank you couldn't even find the bulkheads.

... so of course, I jumped on it!!

I was able to talk the LFS down a bit on their asking price due to the condition of the tank. However, the sump and the stand were in excellent condition. It also came with an old return pump and a Bubble Mangus Curve 7 skimmer (meh).

I loaded everything up in the family truckster and took it home...

I mentioned the chips on the bottom of the tank right? I was able to talk with the old owner of the tank and he swore up and down that it would hold water. He said he had been running the tank that way for 4 years without issue...

I'm not going to call BS on the guy... but there is NO WAY i would fill that tank in my house.

I already had a plan...

One of the reasons I picked Red Sea is I have dealt with their support in the past. IMHO... they are amazing. I had already called them to get the cost on a replacement tank.

With the used tank/stand/sump + skimmer + a brand new glass tank... i still saved hundreds vs. buying new.

 

[TheLost]

Well the 130 looks very nice and looking forward to the pictures

And welcome to R2R as well by the way, it’s great to have you with us!

Looks nice! Well written, and welcome to reef2reef!

Thanks! Long time lurker... never had a reason to post before

 

[TheLost]

I don't have pictures of the new tank delivery...

I mentioned my neighbor moved to get away from the cold right? Well, in typical Utah fashion the weather on Monday was 73 degrees, Tuesday was around 76... Wednesday i woke up to about 1" of snow on the ground.

Guess what day the tank got delivered

The truck driver was happy because he was going skiing later that day. I got the tank inside ASAP and forgot to take pictures.

Here is a token picture of the NEW tank on the stand.

Last night i replaced the gaskets on all the hardware and installed the downpipe, overflow and return pipe.

I filled up the weir with water to check for leaks... hopefully its nice and dry when i get home from work

 

[hatfielj]

I don't blame you for wanting a new tank, but those are just chips in the outside of the glass and would not effect the ability of the tank to hold water IMO. I, however, wouldn't want those chips on the front pane of a display tank either, so I'd replace too.

 

[xilni]

I have a Red Sea Reefer 350 as well so very excited to see what you do with it!

 

[Salty Lemon]

Welcome to R2R! You are going to have one impressive build thread. I can't wait to watch you fill it up!

 

[TheLost]

Next steps...

I'm ordering the rock today. My plan is ~40lb of Reef saver shelf, ~15lb of reef saver foundation, ~20lb standard reef saver and 20lb of branch rock (probably the Caribsea liferock branch).

The aquascape I plan on will be bare bottom with mostly shelf with some branch rock.

Does anybody know who sells branch rock other than Caribsea in the U.S? I'm not a fan of having 'white' dry rock with fake-painted branch... but I think that may be my only options.

 

[Shimis]

I'm eager to see your build. I'm working on getting a slightly used 250 right now. Very excited.

 

[steelwrap]

Interesting story. Welcome to R2R

 

[RIreefGuy]

Looking good! Following along!

 

[Salty Lemon]

Next steps...

I'm ordering the rock today. My plan is ~40lb of Reef saver shelf, ~15lb of reef saver foundation, ~20lb standard reef saver and 20lb of branch rock (probably the Caribsea liferock branch).

The aquascape I plan on will be bare bottom with mostly shelf with some branch rock.

Does anybody know who sells branch rock other than Caribsea in the U.S? I'm not a fan of having 'white' dry rock with fake-painted branch... but I think that may be my only options.

I had my rock shipped from BRS -- there was a sale at the time and I bought a bunch of it. I ordered Caribsea. FYI much of it was in pieces. I blame UPS and not BRS. It was during the holidays and I'm guessing UPS wasn't exactly careful with the boxes because they had so many deliveries that time of year. I was very happy with the product, however. After a couple months it all looks the same anyway.

 

[TheLost]

I have a Red Sea Reefer 350 as well so very excited to see what you do with it!

Thanks! I actually have been thinking about this tank for about a year

I decided to put the tank in my den for one HUGE reason... My den is directly above an unfinished utility room.

A room with access to the main water supply to the house. A room with easy access to the main drains. A room with a drain in the middle of the floor. A room that is going to make an excellent fish room. ;Woot

I've already ordered two 65 gallon Norwesco water tanks for my mixing station and i'll pick those up this weekend. I'll be working on the water tank planforms and plumbing while i wait for my rocks to arrive.

 

[xilni]

Thanks! I actually have been thinking about this tank for about a year

I decided to put the tank in my den for one HUGE reason... My den is directly above an unfinished utility room.

A room with access to the main water supply to the house. A room with easy access to the main drains. A room with a drain in the middle of the floor. A room that is going to make an excellent fish room. ;Woot

I've already ordered two 65 gallon Norwesco water tanks for my mixing station and i'll pick those up this weekend. I'll be working on the water tank planforms and plumbing while i wait for my rocks to arrive.

That’s one of the biggest things that I’m missing that I wish I had: room for two big water tanks.

I currently have a 15 gallon salt water reservoir that I have connected to my DOS for automatic water changes but wouldn’t mind a bigger auto top off reservoir than the 5 gallon one they include.

Also important detail, the ATO mechanism that comes with the RS reefer 350 is prone to clogging, specifically at the output part of the float valve mechanism. My LFS even warned me about it when he sold me it. I’ve had it happen twice, once I woke up due to the water level dropping so low the return pump was spewing bubbles loudly.

I’ve since removed the ATO tube and float valve mechanism and replaced it with a tunze osmolator 3155 while keeping the 5 gallon tank.

 

[RIreefGuy]

Fish rooms rock! I'm on the edge of my seat!

 

[Salty Lemon]

Thanks! I actually have been thinking about this tank for about a year

I decided to put the tank in my den for one HUGE reason... My den is directly above an unfinished utility room.

A room with access to the main water supply to the house. A room with easy access to the main drains. A room with a drain in the middle of the floor. A room that is going to make an excellent fish room. ;Woot

I've already ordered two 65 gallon Norwesco water tanks for my mixing station and i'll pick those up this weekend. I'll be working on the water tank planforms and plumbing while i wait for my rocks to arrive.

Oh...I'm jealous. Whenever I start talking fish rooms, my husband gets that deer caught in the headlights look.

 

[TheLost]

Also important detail, the ATO mechanism that comes with the RS reefer 350 is prone to clogging, specifically at the output part of the float valve mechanism. My LFS even warned me about it when he sold me it. I’ve had it happen twice, once I woke up due to the water level dropping so low the return pump was spewing bubbles loudly.

I’ve since removed the ATO tube and float valve mechanism and replaced it with a tunze osmolator 3155 while keeping the 5 gallon tank.

One of the reasons I was able to get the used parts of my Reefer so cheap is that it didn't come with the ATO tank.

I've got a great acrylics dealer a few blocks from my office (shout out to Delvies Plastics) and will be building an ATO tank for the right side of the cabinet.

Thanks for the recommendation on the Tunze... that's probably what I'll pick up

 

[xilni]

One of the reasons I was able to get the used parts of my Reefer so cheap is that it didn't come with the ATO tank.

I've got a great acrylics dealer a few blocks from my office (shout out to Delvies Plastics) and will be building an ATO tank for the right side of the cabinet.

Thanks for the recommendation on the Tunze... that's probably what I'll pick up

The Tunze Osmolator 3155 has been great, it has a potentiometer inside that is used to tune the power of the DC pump included. I’ve been tuning it down a bit as it runs 10 seconds minimum each go, I want it to pump less each time and trigger more often as I run kalkwasser in my ATO and would prefer smaller more frequent additions, smoothing out the pH changes.