Andy's Reefer 450

.Pandy.

New member
Hi folks,

I am currently sat here, waiting somewhat impatiently, for my upgrade to arrive at my LFS - so I thought i'd get the ball rolling with a build thread.

The tank I have running at present has had a few issues over the last few months, all of which has caused me to lose interest in it, and I really don't want that to happen. Luckily, my LFS owner (also a good friend) can be very persuasive - or I'm easily led, who knows - so last week I pulled the trigger on a black Reefer 450 :D I have had to sacrifice one of my desires of a deep tank (front to back) but for the package and price of the Reefer, it could not be beaten in my eyes.

The plan is an ultra tidy sump and electrics cabinet with a minimalist display, and 'high end' SPS plus a few pieces of LPS dotted about.

With a bit of forethought, I have been upgrading my equipment on my current tank over the last few months, so that when the inevitable upgrade came along I wouldn't have to buy everything there and then. The main spec list is as follows...

Lights: 3x EcoTech Radion Gen1s (may increase numbers, upgrade, or swap them out for something else at some point)
Flow: 2x EcoTech MP40QD
Return: EcoTech Vectra M1
Skimmer: Deltec SC-1456 w. manual cleaning head
Reactor: Bubble Magus ZeoFilter (will upgrade this for sure)

The tank will be ran on the Fauna Marin Balling Light method, along with Fauna Marin Zeo Light. I will also look into Siporax to boost my filtration as I don't plan on having too much rock in the display.

I will update with pictures as soon as the tank is in my possession, but I don't plan to rush this build at all - I want to get it right first time so i'm not messing with it later down the line.

For now, I'll leave you with some pictures of my current setup - before it all went tits up :lolspin:

FTS 12k 17-5-15 by Andy, on Flickr

Stylo TD 17-5-15 by Andy, on Flickr

Aussies TD 17-5-15 by Andy, on Flickr

Red Planet Top Down 30-3-15 by Andy, on Flickr

New Mille TD 17-5-15 by Andy, on Flickr

Blue Mille 1-4-15 by Andy, on Flickr

Skittles 2 10-8-15 by Andy, on Flickr

Chalk Bass 2 30-3-15 by Andy, on Flickr
 
Simply lovely mate! Stunning photo's too :) I can't wait to see what you bring us with the new build!
 
Simply lovely mate! Stunning photo's too :) I can't wait to see what you bring us with the new build!

It's going to be a big step up from my current tank, can't wait to get started!

Yay! I'm working on my new build too! So fun!

Nice, i'll check it out if you have a build on here?

That is a nice tank.

Thanks

Nice photos. What lens and settings do you use while shooting fish?

Cheers. I used a Sigma 105mm macro lens on my Sony A300 body, shot in full manual mode.

Great photos. Love the corals and the fish. The "skittles" fish in particular is super cool!

Great pic of wrasse

Thanks both. He is a beauty :o I acclimated a female for him but she went under the sand never to be seen again. My LFS will have another shortly, so the plan is to put her in the Reefer before him so that she can get settled before he moves over - with a bit of luck.
 
So the tank finally arrived at my LFS yesterday, and he sent me over some pics to wet my appetite.

He himself has a Reefer 350 he is setting up as a display, well, I say 'is' but that now has a price ticket on it and he is ordering a 450 as soon as he can after seeing mine :)

I'm sure you've all seen these tanks before, but here are a few initial phone pics of it arriving. Just love the pallet packaging on them - top class.

He is bring it over to me on Friday, and that can't come soon enough!

Whats in the box? by Andy, on Flickr

The contents by Andy, on Flickr

Display by Andy, on Flickr
 
Finally managed to find some time to spend on the tank this evening, as well as grab some terrible photos of where I am at with it.

I'm trying to work out what I need to do before I fill it so that I'm not back tracking when its wet and heavy, I think I have most things covered.

Generic Reefer 450 pic:

Reefer 450 by Andy, on Flickr

And my efforts this evening with my sump. Wrapped in white vinyl because I can't afford a Royal Exclusiv sump :lol:

Sump by Andy, on Flickr

Hoping to get my reef bones this week and get things moving with the cycle, fingers crossed.
 
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And my efforts this evening with my sump. Wrapped in white vinyl because I can't afford a Royal Exclusiv sump :lol:

Sump by Andy, on Flickr

Sump looks great, I really wanted a dreambox as well. :sad2: How hard was it to wrap in vinyl? I might do mine as well, I went with the tideline 36 from trigger systems so it would be awesome to do the sides, bottom, and background in white.
 
Sump looks great, I really wanted a dreambox as well. :sad2: How hard was it to wrap in vinyl? I might do mine as well, I went with the tideline 36 from trigger systems so it would be awesome to do the sides, bottom, and background in white.

Maybe on the next build, aye? :p

It was really easy to be honest with you, took me about 45mins i'd say. Its not quite the bright white gloss you have on the external finish because you obviously see the adhesive side of the vinyl, but I think it looks great myself.
 
Tank looks very slick pandy:thumbsup:
Can't wait to see it up and running!
What i really really like is the sump:)
 
nice, shining, spanking new start!
the old tank was very nice.. looking forward to this one taking shape!
I'm not familiar with this red sea product, is it tank and stand only or does the sump come with it as well?
Is that silver plastic light diffuser or a metal screen of some sort over that tank?
you did very well with the radion g1s!
 
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