Time to go BIGGER to Start - Red Sea Reefer S 850 G2

[Arisbel]

did you need vacuum pumps to lift this tank ?

omg

 

[Arisbel]

Just want to say thank you for all your work in putting this build thread together! Got a lot of good ideas from you while putting my 850G2 together.

Omg

 

[jmichaelh7]

No we just used those suction cups you can get from Amazon. They’re quite pricey so expect to return them so don’t throw away the boxes!

Lol!

 

[LowlandsReef]

Just a quick write up on how to dial in the overflow of the aquarium.

1. Fill your tank to just over flowing into the sump. STOP putting water in the tank.

2. Fill your sump to the desired level. Do this with your return pumps OFF and Valve closed for the Tank.
A. Fill to about 3 inches from the top of the sump. This will overflow the sump baffles.

3. Now fill or remove water from the tank's weir box. Have the water level just about .5 to 1 inch below the main drain.

Now the fun begins or terror depends on you excitement level. If you have oversized your return pumps do NOT put them at 100% when you turn them on. Lots of noise and water my jet out of the tank. Speaking of that put your returns just below the water level of the tank.

Now I did it this way, you can do it the opposite, (which was recommended, but I found this easier. And a lot less nerve racking.)

4. Open your over flow valve FULLY OPEN. For Red Sea Tanks, that is a lot of turning to the left, if you have the stock valve.
A. Now mark the sump water level. This should be the line you NEVER go above filling your sump. Mark it MAX WATER LEVEL.

5. Turn on your return pumps, again if oversized DO NOT run at 100% yet that is if you want to later. Let the water level stabilize for sometime. It will be noisy.

At this point the tank weir box should be filling up with the water from the sump. Once the water level reaches the top of the return over flow water will be returning to the sump. LOUD and you might have to pee because of the running water noise.

6. At this time determine your flow rate by adjusting your pumping speed. I have mine set at 19% right now. And it seems that I have good flow in the tank.

7. Once your flow is dialed in, now start closing the valve from the over flow. I did full turns, and waited serval minutes between turns for the flow to stabilize. While you are doing this the you notice the flow and level of water rise in the weir box. Keep doing this slowly and your tank will become silent! Once the tank is silent STOP adjusting.

8. After the water level has stabilized mark this level on the sump. This will be the level if you are using an ATO (Auto Top Off) to fill your sump with RO water to replace the evaporated water from the tank. I marked it with painters tape and called it running level.

9. After you have done this and someone might ask is the filter system working?!?!

10. Power out Test! Turn everything off. Watch the water level in the sump rise. It should go to the first mark you put on your sump. After the water has stopped flowing to the sump. Turn everything back on your silenced tank. Have good night sleep now!

But another important point, when you change anything in your tank you will have to do this again. If you add a lot of fish, rocks or sand. You might have to remove water from the sump.

I just setup my 850 G2 as well. Yours looks great btw! Nice plumbing.
I am running into the issue that when my tank and sump are filled that the water only drains via the emergency drain. It seems impossible to get the water level in the weir box higher than the level where the large emergency drain PVC pipe hangs on the shorter emergency overflow. Any idea what I am doing wrong? I have also tried running it with the return pump on but all the water just pours down the emergency drain at high speed. No drop of water has gone through my main drain.

 

[Av8tor2]

I just setup my 850 G2 as well. Yours looks great btw! Nice plumbing.
I am running into the issue that when my tank and sump are filled that the water only drains via the emergency drain. It seems impossible to get the water level in the weir box higher than the level where the large emergency drain PVC pipe hangs on the shorter emergency overflow. Any idea what I am doing wrong? I have also tried running it with the return pump on but all the water just pours down the emergency drain at high speed. No drop of water has gone through my main drain.

Hey, LowlandsReef,

Is the drains setup like this in your weir box?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Had the inspector come by...She is not to happy with the wiring nest and expects me to clean it up soon!

Installed the Neptune and started testing. Also the 57 Watt UV Sterilizer. Still working on how to wire the power cable into system.

Also the while installing the Neptune, it wouldn't test. Kept coming up with an error during the tests. It tested correctly on the install but after the initial setup the tests kept failing. Had to take it apart and notice there was a small pinch in one of the water transport tubes. It is working correctly now, just by pulling on the tube just a bit and removing the kink.

Started the cycle yesterday... More to come...

At least the cat gets a nice view of everything

 

[LowlandsReef]

Hey, LowlandsReef,

Is the drains setup like this in your weir box?

Hey Av8tor2!
I have the main and emergency switched as per the manual.
Did I do it wrong then or is the manual wrong? (step 49 and 50 in the Red Sea manual)

 

[LowlandsReef]

Hey Av8tor2!
I have the main and emergency switched as per the manual.
Did I do it wrong then or is the manual wrong? (step 49 and 50 in the Red Sea manual)

I switched the drains to match your setup. Works like a charm now, just some last tuning and we should be good. Thanks for your photo! Much appreciated! The Red Sea manual contains more errors, wouldn’t surprise me if this is one of them.

Cheers!

 

[A Young Reefer]

following

 

[Jason Kelsey]

I just setup my 850 G2 as well. Yours looks great btw! Nice plumbing.
I am running into the issue that when my tank and sump are filled that the water only drains via the emergency drain. It seems impossible to get the water level in the weir box higher than the level where the large emergency drain PVC pipe hangs on the shorter emergency overflow. Any idea what I am doing wrong? I have also tried running it with the return pump on but all the water just pours down the emergency drain at high speed. No drop of water has gone through my main drain.

Same problem, about to try to do the same fix.

 

[Av8tor2]

Just a two pictures an update of the tank coming soon!

 

[Av8tor2]

Wow, just added up most of the receipts for the tank...

$26539.34

That is everything....

Started on 6/15/2022 until today....

Tank/Fish/Sump items/water changing station....etc

 

[beesnreefs]

Wow, just added up most of the receipts for the tank...

$26539.34

That is everything....

Started on 6/15/2022 until today....

Tank/Fish/Sump items/water changing station....etc

Now why would you do that to yourself??

 

[Av8tor2]

LOL, humm...I don't know. But it was fun!

Until the Diamond Goby jumped out of the tank!

 

[beesnreefs]

I m

LOL, humm...I don't know. But it was fun!

Until the Diamond Goby jumped out of the tank

Oh I totally agree…the SPENDING part is super fun! It’s the adding it up and realizing how much it all came to I try and avoid

 

[jmichaelh7]

Wow, just added up most of the receipts for the tank...

$26539.34

That is everything....

Started on 6/15/2022 until today....

Tank/Fish/Sump items/water changing station....etc

Wow

 

[Rickster1334]

Thank you very much, just in process of setting up my 850 G2 and was looking for idea on the uv

 

[Av8tor2]

Thank you very much, just in process of setting up my 850 G2 and was looking for idea on the uv

Welcome, but with they way I have it, you do get some water reprocessed by the UV. Also I found there is a slight vibration of the pipe, which I can hear sometimes.

 

[Rickster1334]

May look at mounting just above the sump extension

 

[mshur]

Hey great set up and plumbing !!!!
I am on the process of ordering the same tank and wondering why you choose 2 return pumps vs one ?