Whip’s Red Sea Reefer XXL 750 Hybrid Bare Bottom Build

Whip

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I am wishing to document my journey with you all. Hopefully there will be more up’s than down’s, but willing to share (and learn) nonetheless.

I’ve always seemed to acquire secondhand reef tanks, but this will be my first new one. I decided to start from scratch and get a brand new Red Sea Reefer XXL 750 in white. It’ll be replacing a Silver Red Sea Max 130 that’ll be converted into a quarantine tank.

To get ready for the arrival of the tank, I removed the TV in the den, applied a fresh coat of paint, and taped out the final resting place of the tank.

I am likely going to make the tank see-through, so paint choice was important. I went with Behr Marquee Chinese Jade in eggshell. I’m hoping that color works well with the see-through concept.

UPDATE: 12/15/18

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UPDATE: 12/29/18

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UPDATE: 01/13/19

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UPDATE: 03/05/19 (leak test - passed)

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UPDATE: 03/17/19

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UPDATE: 04/07/19

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UPDATE: 08/11/19

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UPDATE: 08/17/19 (Red to Orange Pipe)

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UPDATE: 01/02/20

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UPDATE: 01/18/20 (UV Sterilizer Added)

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UPDATE: 04/01/20 (One Year!)

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UPDATE: 09/12/20

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UPDATE: 11/15/20 (Dropped in 37 SPS Frags!)

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I am fairly lazy/busy (not good in this hobby) and I absolutely hate going down to the LFS and getting buckets of RODI water. I figured acknowledging my laziness is the first step in making an effort to combat it. In doing so, I needed to design and construct a saltwater mixing station.

upload_2018-12-22_17-18-34.jpeg


This system accomplishes the following:
  • Upper Tank RODI Fill
  • Upper to Lower Tank RODI Gravity Transfer
  • Lower Tank Saltwater In-Tank Recirculation
  • Upper Tank RODI Gavity Bucket Fill
  • Lower Tank Saltwater Gravity Bucket Fill
  • Upper Tank RODI Pump to Tank via Hose
  • Lower Saltwater Pump to Tank via Hose
All of this is powered by a Pan World 50X.

Now (because my laziness knows no bounds) the next step is to run tubing from the garage (where the mixing station is located) to the den (where the tank is located). This is about 60 feet. I plan to set up a Neptune DOS and run black tubing (old saltwater removal/disposal) and white tubing (new saltwater feed). Since I’m in the attic, I’ll run some blue tubing (RODI feed), but I don’t plan on hooking that up yet as I’m nervous about live-feeding RODI top off.

I already have holes in the wall from my wall-mounted TV, so I’ll just repurpose them for the tubing feeds.
 
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Devaji

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Nice you will love the tank I just got my 750 on the stand a cpl days ago.
funny thing I decided I would have a nice big reef instead of a TV in the place too.
you will love this tank its amazing! by far the nicest set up I have had.
stop by my build thread in the large reef section if you want.
 

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I am fairly lazy/busy (not good in this hobby) and I absolutely hate going down to the LFS and getting buckets of RODI water. I figured acknowledging my laziness is the first step in making an effort to combat it. In doing so, I needed to design and construct a saltwater mixing station.

upload_2018-12-22_17-18-34.jpeg


This system accomplishes the following:

1. Upper Tank RODI Fill
2. Upper to Lower Tank RODI Gravity Transfer
3. Lower Tank Saltwater In-Tank Recirculation
4. Upper Tank RODI Gavity Bucket Fill
5. Lower Tank Saltwater Gravity Bucket Fill
6. Upper Tank RODI Pump to Tank via Hose
7. Lower Saltwater Pump to Tank via Hose

All of this is powered by a Pan World 50X.

Now (because my laziness knows no bounds) the next step is to run tubing from the garage (where the mixing station is located) to the den (where the tank is located). This is about 60 feet. I plan to set up a Neptune DOS and run black tubing (old saltwater removal/disposal) and white tubing (new saltwater feed). Since I’m in the attic, I’ll run some blue tubing (RODI feed), but I don’t plan on hooking that up yet as I’m neverous about live-feeding RODI top off.

I already have holes in the wall from my wall-mounted TV, so I’ll just repurpose them for the tubing feeds.

Dude this is bad butt. I would love to do the same but here in wyoming even the saltwater would freeze in the garage.
its a perfect think to do with your TV cables holes! I must admit a bit jelly there...haha
 
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So, what is a “hybrid barebottom” tank? I’m not really sure, but in my mind’s eye, it is going to be a barebottom tank with Tonga Shelf on the bottom glass made to look like sand. This will allow me to have ridiculous flow and not have to worry about sand flying around. It’ll also leave me a ton of room to run fields of my favorite coral (cyphastrea).

Step 1: Purchase the largest plates of Tonga I could find. Here is the original mock-up. It’s going to end up much different, but it conveys the concept well...

upload_2018-12-22_18-6-33.jpeg


Step 2: Drag them around my driveway and look like a freak! My neighbor seriously stopped by and asked me what I was doing.

upload_2018-12-22_17-54-7.jpeg


Since this will be sitting on bare glass, I ground off any nubs with a grinder, then used the concrete on the driveway to perfectly “plane” the base flat. This offered no wobble and a nice flat surface with a lot of surface area to sit on the glass. You can see the example on the one I have flipped over...

upload_2018-12-22_17-59-15.jpeg


upload_2018-12-22_18-0-6.jpeg


upload_2018-12-22_18-1-10.jpeg


Now, one of these plates had a massive hollow cavity beneath it. Sadly, it would not be visible from the front, so decided to knock a hole in it and create a cave.

upload_2018-12-22_18-4-11.jpeg


The “cave” isn’t done yet and I’ll get some progress photos up as soon as possible.
 
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Nice you will love the tank I just got my 750 on the stand a cpl days ago.
funny thing I decided I would have a nice big reef instead of a TV in the place too.
you will love this tank its amazing! by far the nicest set up I have had.
stop by my build thread in the large reef section if you want.

Devaji,

Thanks and I will, undoubtly, be following your build thread! Perfect timing for two big 750’s to start up!
 
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This build will likely take a while, but I’ve been buying items for quite some time before I pulled the trigger on the tank, so I have a lot of cool boxes of stuff just waiting to be opened.

I still have a lot more to buy, but here is my list (looking for input too):

(UPDATED THROUGHOUT THE BUILD)

- [x] RSR XXL 750 White
- [x] RSR V3 Upgrade
- [x] Deltec 1000i Skimmer
- [x] VarioS-8 DC Return Pump
- [x] Maxspect XF280 Gyre (2)
- [x] EcoTech MP40wQD (4)
- [ ] EcoTech MP60wQD (2)
- [x] EcoTech Battery Backup
- [x] Maxspect XF150 Gyre Sump
- [x] 150lbs Tonga Shelf
- [x] 100lbs Pukani
- [x] MarinePure Spheres (3 gal)
- [x] MarinePure Blocks (6)
- [x] Finnex 300W Heater
- [x] Finnex 500W Heater
- [x] Finnex Heater Controller (2)
- [x] Octo Strong Dual Heater Holder
- [x] Octo Strong Dosing Holder (2)
- [x] AquaMaxx DTH-1 Dosing Tub Holder
- [x] Neptune Apex Controller
- [x] Neptune Apex DOS (3)
- [x] Neptune Apex FMK (4)
- [ ] Neptune Apex LDK
- [x] Neptune Apex AFS
- [x] Neptune Apex ATK
- [x] Neptune Apex MPR
- [x] Neptune Apex FS200 (3)
- [x] Neptune Apex EB832 (2)
- [x] Neptune Apex Breakout Box
- [x] Advanced Acrylics 12.5 ATO Tank
- [x] Kessil H380 Halo II
- [x] Kessil Mounting Arm
- [x] Kessil Extended Slide Bar
- [x] Tunze Strong+ Magnet
- [ ] Artfully Acrylic Mesh Lid
- [x] Red Sea Media Cups (4)
- [x] Tropic Marin Pro-Reef Salt
- [x] Pentair Smart UV 40W
- [ ] IceCap 60W ATS
- [x] IceCap 4lb CO2 Scrubber
- [x] Weipro ET200 Ozone Generator
- [x] Orphek Atlantik V4 Gen 2 (2)
- [x] Orphek Atlantik Compact V4 Gen 2
- [x] Custom 80/20 Fixture
- [x] 20A Dedicated Circuit (2)
- [x] 15A Shared Circuit (1)
 
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Dude this is bad ***. I would love to do the same but here in wyoming even the saltwater would freeze in the garage.
its a perfect think to do with your TV cables holes! I must admit a bit jelly there...haha

I grew up in Montana and know what you’re talking about!

I looked through your build thread and saw the snow. Wow!

It can get cold in Northern Nevada, but it is manageable and I am hoping the tubing in my attic will be ok. My house is on a slab foundation, so the attic is the only option. I might run the tubing in PVC and insulate it just in case.
 
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Great pictures and write up and thanks for sharing all this with us

The mixing station looks very well designed

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

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I grew up in Montana and know what you’re talking about!

I looked through your build thread and saw the snow. Wow!

It can get cold in Northern Nevada, but it is manageable and I am hoping the tubing in my attic will be ok. My house is on a slab foundation, so the attic is the only option. I might run the tubing in PVC and insulate it just in case.


oh yeah so you know what that I am talking about with the cold then. :D hmm you might be fine but one long cold spell could frieze a line of course it would be the dirty water out thus making a big mess. if you can i would just insulate it while you are doing it just to be safe.

oh on a side note maxspect released there new like up the 300's but they will not be available until Feb. I got 2x 230 for my 750 but thinking I might trade up for the 330. my build is going slow as you saw. so might just work... just food for thought in case you did not know.

loved that your neighbor came to ask what the heck you where doing dragging around a rock in your driveway....priceless should of told him cross fit..lol
 
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oh yeah so you know what that I am talking about with the cold then. :D hmm you might be fine but one long cold spell could frieze a line of course it would be the dirty water out thus making a big mess. if you can i would just insulate it while you are doing it just to be safe.

oh on a side note maxspect released there new like up the 300's but they will not be available until Feb. I got 2x 230 for my 750 but thinking I might trade up for the 330. my build is going slow as you saw. so might just work... just food for thought in case you did not know.

loved that your neighbor came to ask what the heck you where doing dragging around a rock in your driveway....priceless should of told him cross fit..lol

I ordered my tank on 12/8 and it was supposed to deliver on 12/21, but it never showed up. I am in the process of trying to track it down.

In the meantime, can you string a measurement from the side of the tower to the inside edge of the glass?

I want to mount two Maxspects on each side of the tower on the back wall; making four total. Keeping in mind I already have two 280’s and two 250’s, what I would really like is four 280’s, but I was afraid there wasn’t enough room. Finding the inside tank dimensions was brutal, so I threw caution to the wind and bought two of each (I should have waited).

In the meantime, I’ll open up the 280 box and get a measurement off of the powerhead.
 
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Base Tonga almost done...

upload_2018-12-23_16-31-24.jpeg


I’m envisioning a “river” or gorge winding down in between the two plates.

I need to “roughen up” the cave to make it look not so man-made, but it turned out kind of cool.

upload_2018-12-23_16-34-23.jpeg


Now that the base is roughed in, time to work on the main structures.

upload_2018-12-23_16-35-44.jpeg


This will likely go through many iterations, but I am looking to build “fingers” sprawling down over the base rock.

upload_2018-12-23_16-38-7.jpeg


I’m not sure what to do with the other plate. I’m looking for sprawling fields of Montipora and Cyphastrea, so I need a lot of flat surface area.
 
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Great pictures and write up and thanks for sharing all this with us

The mixing station looks very well designed

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

SPR,

Thanks for the compliment and the welcome. This place is great and I have felt very welcomed since joining. It's proving to be a great community and a tremendous wealth of information.
 
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Prefer the term "efficient" instead of lazy, :) great looking build so far.....nice Dillons, I had a 650 not too long ago and loved it.

Thanks Hulley... I can/should insert “efficient”!

Ahhh, the Dillons... yes... my “other” hobby that drains me of money!
 

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Thanks Hulley... I can/should insert “efficient”!

Ahhh, the Dillons... yes... my “other” hobby that drains me of money!

Yep, I've consolidated and didn't use them much although I'll probably end up with another 650 and maybe a Rock Chucker, who knows? :)

I still save my brass!
 

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