Brad's 525xl Super-Sized Reef Adventure.. come join us!

[brad65ford]

Hi guys! Would love for this new build thread to have suggestions and others to per take in on our fun with our RedSea's 525xl reef tank. Been reefing for over 15 years though i learned at lot there is some much i don't know! Most all of my tanks have been pretty small so this to me is big. The goal would be to have as many pertty fish for my wife and packed with a lot of growing sps's for me lol. Will be running this system as a BB which imo is a little trickier but worth it if all goes correctly in the long run. This will be the first time running Orphek's I've heard nothing but good things about them, don't think there will be a issue with lack of light for the SPS's with them. Would like to try keeping this tank as simple as possible, thinking calcium reactor and skimmer with no carbon source or refug if possible. Would love as much advice from seasoned reefers that have done similar systems specifically regarding nutrient removal or balance since that will be the most challenging for a BB system. Rock we are using is the Life rock about 100 ish lb's with 1/4" white PVC sheets cut to 3 pieces for the bottom (wife still hates BB look). Also the goal is to not need a chiller and living in Florida it may be a challenge also the reason we will be using LED's, DC Skimmer pump, DC Main pump in hopes they will reduce any added heat.

Tank: RedSea Reefer 525xl 108g / sump 31g Total = 139g
Lights: 2 Orphek V3
Skimmer: Coral Box D700 DC Skimmer
Rocks: 100lb Life Rock
Main Return Pump: DCT 4000
Extra Water Movement: Maxspect Gyre xf130 & Jebao WP40
Alk/Cal/Mg=? Would love advice dosing or reactor?
Other filtration: (2) 220 RedSea Filter Bags
Other Bio Filtration: ? Need advice, thinking MarinePur 8x8x4?


At the current state we are still working on making the water for the system at 40g per time. That thought is to run led lights for 3 days straight and burn through the first bloom and then go to water change and normal lighting schedule before cyano starts. This was suggested by a local reefer since he says the first algae bloom can not handle 72 hours of constant light. We will follow with adding some snails slowly from our other tanks which will begin the cycle.

Got a long way to go, here are some photos so far.

 

[brad65ford]

 

[rq786]

aquarium looks nice, how do you prevent detritus build up under the white pvc sheet

 

[Reef Frog]

Nice looking tank! I really like the clean lines.

Although I've never done a bare bottom tank, I've always understood bare bottom makes nutrient control easier since detritus can be more easily siphoned out of the system and there is no sand to get blown around when you turn your pumps way up during a major cleaning. I imagine it may make sustaining a large copepod population a little more difficult since their habitat will be smaller....it wouldn't bd a big deal unless you have your heart set on a mandarin dragonet or other obligate pod eater. Also, wrasses should have a sand bed to sleep in. But you've been in the hobby for some time now and probably know all that!

As to your question on 2 part versus a calcium reactor: I consider 2 part very easy to do once you have figured out what the tank's consumption is going to be and have the doser pumps set up. Once that is done it's semi auto pilot - just testing and refilling the jugs, and making small tweaks as the corals grow up. It's not particularly expensive and the materials can be made up in bulk easily to make things easy. To me a calcium reactor is more complex and more expensive. CO2 tanks, tuning etc. But I've never used one myself so that's just a speculative opinion.

Good luck with your build & have fun. What types of fish are you thinking about stocking in there? Are you going to do a top of some kind? Once you have it up, running and growing corals, I hope you can tell us more about your light fixture as well.

 

[Reef Frog]

If you get a chance, could you tell us details about the delivery and what it took to get this tank in place? I saw a Reefer 450 in a crate at a local coral shop. It was huge and looked quite heavy. It looked like a six man job to move that thing!

 

[brad65ford]

Hi guys, looks like photos i posted since photobucket is having an issue wont work, can't edit my posts either may just start a new thread, :-('

Admin, please delete this thread since the photos have been damaged.

 

[brad65ford]

Hi guys, looks like photos i posted since photobucket is having an issue wont work, can't edit my posts either may just start a new thread, :-('

Admin, please delete this thread since the photos have been damaged.

Scratch that photos are up and working unfortunately I started another thread but that one is not needed since the photos are now working correctly

rq786, Thank you! goal is to have a strong water movement to not let a lot of the detritus build up and then move over the overflow to the sump socks. Anything else will be manual siphoned weekly or ever other week.

Reef Frog, Thanks! Hear you on the 2 or 3 part, but i've always do that and want to try ca reactor since for some reason i believe there is something else magical with dissolving coral skeleton but i could be wrong. Not sure on fish wife wants angles but I want corals lol, going to be difficult between us to agree. I really like tangs.

Updated 4-26-16:
Added some Bio-Spira and a Marine Pure 8x8x4 block I had from another system (dry) so now she up and running. Still can't turn on skimmer even on the lowest setting since its bubbling like a mad man, something about the Life rock is said to do this, wondering if it will stop on its own or i need to do a large water change? Really wish i had some ammonia to help start this off the cycle hopefully the Bio-Spira will work fine. Running the stock Orphek's on their lighting cycle called Coral Color but less then half intensity highest rocks in the system are only seeing 150ish on par, here are just a few photo's playing around with the lights I really like having only 4 channels. Good news is with the house running at 78 degrees and all the pumps running and lights on she runs at 76.7 degrees which i'm happy with.

 

[brad65ford]

Update 5-1-16:

Added 2 new pieces of 8x8x1" Marine Pure plates to adjust skimmer height. I've heard that Life Rock causes the skimmers to go crazy which mine was doing, couldn't keep it running with out it over flowing even on the lowest setting. Also added a few push button stick on led lights for the top of the sump, does help, really wish RedSea would have mad this a true White cabinet like the smaller nano's not like it was ordered in white ;-)

I thought i would have seen some type of algae bloom by now on the Life Rocks but nothing yet. Thinking to increase light intensity or just leave them on to induce the bloom. Wondering if there isn't enough dead or decaying nutrients to start the cycle unless i start it with a clean up crew or fish which i planed to do if i had some algae,,, any suggestions?

 

[mpderksen]

Brad's 525xl Super-Sized Reef Adventure.. come join us!

What a beautiful project! Tagging along for the ride...
Lights off, and add ammonia to get the cycle pumping. In a week m not surprised things are still clean. Are you testing the Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate? That's your best indicator. Add ammonia, wait, test. When you can breakdown the Ammonia to Nitrate overnight and Nitrites are Zero, you're ready for the CUC. At least that's how I've done it..
Do you have space between the rocks and the back? A few inches will allow better circulation and access to clean.

 

[brad65ford]

What a beautiful project! Tagging along for the ride...
Lights off, and add ammonia to get the cycle pumping. In a week m not surprised things are still clean. Are you testing the Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate? That's your best indicator. Add ammonia, wait, test. When you can breakdown the Ammonia to Nitrate overnight and Nitrites are Zero, you're ready for the CUC. At least that's how I've done it..
Do you have space between the rocks and the back? A few inches will allow better circulation and access to clean.

Thank you! Dont have any ammonia in the house was looking for a substitute, never added anything like that before. Not measuring anything at this point really want to see some algae figuring that would be the first sign. Regarding rocks placement the sump flow is really fast so i dont mind small cryptic zone in the displace though i know ill be blowing around in there before vacuuming like always. From experience bb syytem have been hard for me to hold nutrients, its so easy to run ulns which stripes the corals already thinking this skimmers may need to be run part time before it's fully stocked.

Things i havent made a decision on are a reactor for Gfo/carbon as well cal reactor or dosing pump. I've even thought about zeovit system which most results seem crazy good.

Really do not want to add any other pumps since the tank temp is prefect without chiller so far, have a feeling a uv sterilizer would really heat up the water. Any suggestions on in sump reactors that are easy to setup and use?

 

[mpderksen]

Looking at your profile, looks like you started the hobby a while ago, so don't take offense to my observation about cycling.
I use a manifold to run a BRS dual reactor. No extra pump. You mention heavy SPS, so I'm less helpful there. My next build may need a Ca reactor, but for now I have BRS dosing pumps for 2-part and again, no extra heat.
In the Central Valley of California, a chiller is required anyway....

 

[brad65ford]

None taken at all, trust me ill be the first to say i did something wrong or in correct lol. 2 part is easier for sure ive always wanted to try a cal reactor though. I have a mini brs reacotr but wasnt sure about tumbling or seeing the gfo in them, functionality and ease of use for them are very nice.

 

[mpderksen]

My plan is to start the 180 with the 2-part until it gets prohibitably expensive, but plan the sump for the eventual Ca reactor. But I favor LPS over SPS, so might never happen.
There's a debate over ATS vs GFO. I tend to like the reactor due to less critical maintenance, but you can't deny the success of the ATS crowd either.

 

[brad65ford]

My plan is to start the 180 with the 2-part until it gets prohibitably expensive, but plan the sump for the eventual Ca reactor. But I favor LPS over SPS, so might never happen.
There's a debate over ATS vs GFO. I tend to like the reactor due to less critical maintenance, but you can't deny the success of the ATS crowd either.

I do agree on the 2 part too, it might be a better idea to start with 2 part for the ease and cost reasons as well.

Update 5-2-14: Good news we have the beginning of the algae bloom, can't believe i actually wanted to see this lol. Added a few margarita snails from my other tanks. More snails/crabs and pods on order.

 

[brad65ford]

Ok guys, now i need some advice. Looking to add a Biopellet reactor as well as another reactor for gof/carbon if and or when needed. I'm not the best at pumping or making things look pretty but one thing i'm having troubles understanding is how to install something that will be easily removable with out hard pumping to the return pump in the sump? I've search for different types of reactors which i'm thinking they will fall over if i just connect a hose from the main pump to them since most all do not have brackets and the red sea sump is flush everyone in the sump so hanging is out of the questions. Any suggestions are more then welcome.

Like the looks of these, though again i'm not sure where to keep them,, in the sump or on the electric side (right side of cabinet) http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reef-...LJ0e_a7EuFXqbGdkfspof-a6b2TizB8QqcaAtiC8P8HAQ

Also can a biopellet reactor be used for a gfo/carbon reactor?

 

[brad65ford]

Anyone ever use they Calcium Reactor setup, i'm really new to these and would love a plug and play setup or know of something else similar that will not give me problems. Any thoughts.
https://premiumaquatics.com/products/geo-618-calcium-reactor-deluxe-tank-kit.html

 

[brad65ford]

UPDATE 5-10-16:





Still have not purchased any equipment since nothing is needed yet with out corals. Algae blooms have started stronger with the addition of some fish (Mimic Tang, Royal Gramma, 2 Clown's and 2 Lyretail Anthias) which has finally kicked in the skimmer pulling out something with color (not much yet though) :bounce2:. Did a 35gwater change 2 days ago with Reefer HW salt, love that salt. Also started some ZeoVit products including ZeoBak, ZeoStart and ZeoSnow also ordered some of there other products and will experiment as time goes on, seems the zeo products do help start up a system hopefully this will help removed most of the nutrients to speed up the rock curing cycle or at least i'm hoping so. Noticing a lot of gas bubbles starting to come off of some of the rocks algae, praying its not dino and its just gas exchange.

 

[roostertech]

Hey buddy, where did you order your tank and how was it delivered? How heavy is the display tank itself (how many people did it take to safely lift it into place)?.

 

[brad65ford]

Ordered from a local dealer in SWF, pretty much any RedSea dealer can order you one. Had to pick it up at the LFS (AKA Dealer). It was heavy! Had to take apart the crate and remove the sump / stand / tank and move them separately. Asked my neighbor to help life the tank up after the stand was built, we both had a tough time getting her on top of the stand, again its heavy lol.

 

[brad65ford]

Update 5-16-16:

Happy to say she's now really pulling some muck from the water. Zeo products seem to be adding seeing more skim-mate, not sure but i'm also noticing the filter socks are now getting dirtier because if it which isn't cool since they are getting clogged quickly... may remove them which i don't want to do. Also running a little gadget bio-pellet reactor i had for the heck of it, not sure if it will or is doing anything but its there to add to the carbon.

This is one days worth of skim which seem good i guess especially for only 5 small fish.



Tank buddy's