Vlad's Reefer 425 XL

Reefer1978

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"Just when I thought I was out...they pull me back in."

I got rid of my big tanks as I wanted to downsize, but had an opportunity to pick up a Reefer 425 XL so I went for it. This is going to be a build inspired by many, and with the help of a few very well known vendors, so I will be thanking everyone individually throughout the progress of the build First off - tank picked up, and a personal friend Bill from Overboard Aquatics (who's on r2r but can't remember his username or password) assisted with delivery and assembly.

Planned NEW equipment:
Red Sea Reefer 425 XL with White Stand
Geo Reef UMC410 Media Reactors x3 (BRS Rox8, GFO, Bio Pellets) - thanks @Broadfield for inspiration
Geo CR618 Calcium Reactor with TLF media
Tropic Eden Reefflakes Aragonite Sand - thanks @Broadfield for inspiration
Jebao DCP-10000 return pump - going to try these new pumps from Jebao for the first time, worst case will move on to Reef Octopus or Ecotech if I am not impressed
Hybrid Light Fixture - Either Pacific Sun or ATI - To be confirmed for sure shortly
Jumbo Pukani Rock - thanks @ChristopherKriens for inspiration and your beautiful tank

Planned SAVED equipment:
Neptune Apex controller
Neptune WAV powerheads
Finnex Titanium Heater controlled by the Apex

reefer 1.jpg
reefer 2 .jpg
reefer 3.jpg
reefer 4.jpg
reefer goodies.jpg
 
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Reefer1978

Reefer1978

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First project after assembling the tank - rock work / scape. I don't want to deal with setting rock underwater, so everything will be laid out dry and settled with substrate prior to filling the tank. While in search of perfect pukani pieces, I did some experiments on Florida rock that we had in the store. Drilling this rock it, well, adventurous. I am surprised I didn't break the bit multiple times, as I thought I would. I also played around with some assembly techniques, from acrylic rods siliconed in, to quirkete water stop, which I later learned would start to break apart overtime and needs to be reinforced. This is what I came up with during test rounds:

rock florida 1.jpg
rock florida 2.jpg
rock florida 3.jpg


Albert from Aqua Cave came through with some beautiful Pukani Dry Rock pieces. I got pretty lucky and ended up not using any adhesive to assemble the rock structure. Pukani is also such a pleasure to work with, very soft rock that required minimal drilling effort to get the shapes I was looking for. I am pretty pleased with the final result.

rock pukani test 1.jpg
rock pukani test 2.jpg

rock pukani final 1.jpg
rock pukani final 2.jpg
rock pukani final 4.jpg
rock pukani final 5.jpg
 

Broadfield

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I'm excited to see the scape under lights and water!
 

USMC4Life

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Hey how do I get to get free stuff lol. I'll promote the heck out of it [emoji23] lol

Cool [emoji41] build !
 
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Reefer1978

Reefer1978

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This weekend I had a big plan to complete plumbing. So far so good methinks, might be able to get it all done and tested by the end of the day. I went for a combination of Sch 80 grey and red PVC, thought it looks really cool with Geo reactors.

plumbing 1.jpg
plumbing 2.jpg
plumbing 3.jpg


I got in touch with Geo's Reef, wanted to replace the white foam with black, and they hooked me up. I sent this last picture to them to show the color combo. On Friday a package arrived from Geo, and guess what was in the box???? @geo Reef - you guys are awesome.

geo stickers.jpg


Ok, on to the update. My initial plan to have all reactors inline didn't work out, very tight fit, so I changed the manifold a little bit. All parts are assembled and drying. From the test fit looks like an almost perfect fit. I might make the standing pipe a tiny bit shorter, maybe by 1/8th of an inch, otherwise I am pretty happy. @geo 's Reef, you guys have anything else I can squeeze in there? :)

plumbing 4.jpg
plumbing test 1.jpg
plumbing test 2.jpg
 

USMC4Life

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Nice setup. If you ever get tired of it and looking to toss it let me know lol. Again just dreaming lol. If I show you my setup you will die of laughter lol.
 
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Reefer1978

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4/5 Update: Had a little bit of a setback, return adapter had a small leak when I test/ran everything, so had to reach out to Red Sea for a replacement part and waiting now for it to arrive next week. Bummed it's not up and running yet, but glad I caught it and parts are in transit. I did take a quick shot while it ran for all of 10 minutes, so here it is.

reefer first run.jpg


Question for other Reefer owners. One little annoyance I ran into with this leak, some water got behind the sump, so had to take it out to clean. I am thinking of ordering some black matt vinyl, and covering the gap so any water splash would go right into the sump. Any thoughts?
 

fragit

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Vlad! I knew you couldn't stay out too long! Welcome back, and great build. I got my matt at Tractor Supply, it's worth it. Why are you not using Orpheks on this system?
 
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Reefer1978

Reefer1978

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Vlad! I knew you couldn't stay out too long! Welcome back, and great build. I got my matt at Tractor Supply, it's worth it. Why are you not using Orpheks on this system?

Hey Jesse, thanks. I am trying different things with this build. I've only had LED's for my entire history in the hobby, and back when I had a planted tank, I had amazing coloration/growth. So figured I will try a hybrid fixture, and if I am not happy I will go back to Orpheks.
 

Michael Montgomery

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Question for other Reefer owners. One little annoyance I ran into with this leak, some water got behind the sump, so had to take it out to clean. I am thinking of ordering some black matt vinyl, and covering the gap so any water splash would go right into the sump. Any thoughts?

Dont want this question to get lost... I'm looking forward to ordering soon, and I want to plan out all the little details as best I can... any little tricks, tips, I'm trying to absorb like a sponge.
 
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Reefer1978

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Dont want this question to get lost... I'm looking forward to ordering soon, and I want to plan out all the little details as best I can... any little tricks, tips, I'm trying to absorb like a sponge.

In reality reefers owner's group is the better place for this question if you want it answered. Here, it's more me thinking outloud.
 
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Reefer1978

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Don't have a huge amount of updates as tank is still cycling. But here's a short list just to keep the thread progressing:
  1. Light - I decided on Pacific Sun Pandora S2. Looks great, white, matches the tank, love the color
  2. I added vinyl to cover edges of sump to tank wall
  3. Built a stand for Bubble King Mini 160. At first it kept on overflowing, but with a nice 1.25" lift it's a beast.
  4. Started planning on how I am going to build a controller cabinet, but it's going slower than I hoped.
 

Daniel@R2R

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Nice work so far! Following!
 

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