Devoted Reefer 250

[pelphrey]

I'll keep the intro as quick as possible. This is my 3rd tank in the last year so I've named it "Devoted Reefer 250". I started off with a 27 Gallon Cube ( http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2515259 ) then moved this tank into the BADFISH 20 Gallon AIO ( http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=24594034#post24594034 ). The cube was taken down and put into the 20 gallon AIO tank in an effort for me to offload the Cube and offset the costs of the new build. Originally I had planned to go with a euro braced 120 or 150, after a lot of research and with 2 very young children I decided it would be much better to go with a smaller tank. The only requirement from my wife is that the stand HAD to be white. At this point it was a toss up, the IM 50 lagoon AIO or the Red Sea Reefer 250.... As the title states the reefer won and the process has begun. The tank has been rightfully named Devoted Reefer 250 with the overall objective to finally setup a tank and allow it to mature. The scale of this tank will allow me to be devoted and not overwhelmed with a larger system.

The tank was bought from Bulk Reef Supply, I received the tank yesterday. Unfortunately the delivery company was unable to bring the tank to my house since I live in a Cul-de-sac so I met the driver a few minutes from my house to pickup the tank. When I approached the driver I jokingly asked him if he knew where I could find some reefer!! haha

After inspection we loaded the tank into the van -

Finally after everyone went to bed it was time to put the stand together. Overall it took a little over an hour to put the stand together. I kind of laugh because I once built a stand for a 75 gallon and I now realize that stand was WAY overbuilt!

 

[pelphrey]

 

[pelphrey]

First things first. Slickdeals had these magnetic cabinet locks for $3.99 shipped ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GHFJIJA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ). Before the stand gets moved into the house these have to be installed so that the kids can't get into the cabinet.

The attention to detail on the stand alone has me sold. Red Sea provides rubber end caps for all of he visible holes in the back of the stand.

I am still undecided on my return pump and pumps that will be used, I have a RIO17hf I may use at first. I have been looking at DC return pumps. The MP10WQD on the 20 gallon will be moved over. Still undecided if I want to go with a Gyre or another MP10 or MP40. Lighting the Devoted Reefer 250 will be by two Kessil A160WE's, I will be using 8020 to mount the lights similar to the setup on my 20 gallon currently. As far as rock, I have 30lbs of @reefcleaners rock and will be ordering 30-50 more pounds. I may run the system bare bottom at first and add sand later.

 

[bitwise]

I agree, the stand is very well designed.

 

[pelphrey]

The stand has made it into the house. Now I need to get the tank on the stand and screw in all of the plumbing.

I'll soon look at replacing the ATO container. This small container isn't going to cut it. I wish I had a closet close by so I could put the reservoir in it to conserve cabinet space. The reality is the cabinet is what I have to work with, and with two small kids I don't have any plans to put a container outside of the cabinet.

The RIO17HF return pump fit in the return chamber just perfect. I was hoping I could have used the feet on the pump but they wouldn't fit in this chamber. I have a fear that this pump will create noise and vibrations. I had this pump laying around, I'll give it a shot. If in fact it does create any noises I'll look at replacing with a DC pump ASAP.

I am still undecided on a manifold. I'll cross this bridge later on the build.

 

[JoshInSF]

What were your concerns about larger tanks with the 2 young children? I'm looking to get a larger tank that will sit in the kids playroom since we all hang out there a lot.

 

[pelphrey]

What were your concerns about larger tanks with the 2 young children? I'm looking to get a larger tank that will sit in the kids playroom since we all hang out there a lot.

The number 1 concern is the over all cost. The initial cost of the system and maintenance of the system. IE - Bigger Skimmer, Lights, Salt, Pumps, Dosing, Etc. Now having two kids doesn't really make or break concern 1, but the overall time spent on the tank does. It will be much less time consuming to make 5-10 gallons of water and change VS a larger water volume. Spending countless hours performing routine maintenance on equipment and correcting any problems not if but when they come. For me personally I did a lot of research and what it boiled down to was spending time with my family. I would prefer to spend the few hours in the evening and my weekends with my wife and kids and not working on a tank.

 

[ksanmamaril]

The number 1 concern is the over all cost. The initial cost of the system and maintenance of the system. IE - Bigger Skimmer, Lights, Salt, Pumps, Dosing, Etc. Now having two kids doesn't really make or break concern 1, but the overall time spent on the tank does. It will be much less time consuming to make 5-10 gallons of water and change VS a larger water volume. Spending countless hours performing routine maintenance on equipment and correcting any problems not if but when they come. For me personally I did a lot of research and what it boiled down to was spending time with my family. I would prefer to spend the few hours in the evening and my weekends with my wife and kids and not working on a tank.

Dad of the year goes to...

Well said buddy

 

[pelphrey]

Dad of the year goes to...

Well said buddy

haha Thanks! It is true, I never full understood the saying "Time Flys" until I had kids. It literally does fly, I am trying to enjoy as much of it that I can!

 

[pelphrey]

Just a little spoiler for all of the reefers on YouTube

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[Monstro25]

quick question,
im looking in to buying the same tank btw! just wondering what is the stand made out of?

Thanks

 

[ReefWreak]

I still think that the larger the tank, the less time you have to spend with it (or should have to spend on it, anyway). But yes, slightly cheaper on smaller tanks. Costs creep up whichever size you go with, I think the big outlay for all of them is the initial outlay, after that, maintenance is only slightly more expensive.

Nice to see the new tank coming together. The RSMs are really nice. Pricey, but you really get what you pay for. I'm helping a friend with his RSM 360 or 400 but roughly 90g tank, and they're very nice systems.

Can't wait to see it all come together!

 

[pelphrey]

quick question,
im looking in to buying the same tank btw! just wondering what is the stand made out of?

Thanks

The stand is very sturdy, I don't know what it's exactly made of.

 

[pelphrey]

I still think that the larger the tank, the less time you have to spend with it (or should have to spend on it, anyway). But yes, slightly cheaper on smaller tanks. Costs creep up whichever size you go with, I think the big outlay for all of them is the initial outlay, after that, maintenance is only slightly more expensive.

Nice to see the new tank coming together. The RSMs are really nice. Pricey, but you really get what you pay for. I'm helping a friend with his RSM 360 or 400 but roughly 90g tank, and they're very nice systems.

Can't wait to see it all come together!

I'm simply judging my experiences on the smaller tanks I've had. For instance I'm currently battling green hair algae in a 20 gallon tank I have setup. It takes me about 10 minutes to pull the rock work out and scrub. If I had a 120+ gallon this would take MUCH longer. Also another example we've all had to deal with, getting a certain fish out of the display. I wouldn't have to spend a great deal of time removing the rock work just to get a fish out.

Believe me a put a lot of thought into this. It all boiled down to the situations were rarely think about until we have to deal with them. I have no issues devoting part of my week to working/maintaining the reef tank, but for me I would rather spend the vast majority of my time with my family. Will I have issues with the reefer, I sure will. And they may very well consume a great amount of my time. The reward in this hobby is amazing, it's the challenges that come along with it that I enjoy the most. I may revisit the idea of a larger tank somewhere down the road, but for right now I found the perfect fit!

 

[pelphrey]

The tank is still dry. I've got a lot of work to complete on the tank still and more importantly I need equipment! I do have a return pump that I could use for the time being but I would rather wait and get the return pump I want as well as the rest of the equipment. At first I had no plans to build a manifold, I think those plans have now changed!

Currently I have 30 lbs of Reef Clean rock in the tank, I have another 50 lbs of rock coming from John. I wanted to order just a little extra so I have more options when building my structures, plus I like to use rock rubble to mount my frags to and get them off the plugs. The tank won't be getting wet until I have the rock work the way I want it!

Recently I picked up another Kessil A160, since I'm not using the light and I had the gooseneck laying around I figured I would put them on the tank. The Kessil I have over my 20 gallon is mounted to a light stand I made out of 8020. I wanted to go the 8020 route on this tank, but I don't want to mount the 8020 to the walls behind the tank and the 8020 isn't long enough to be mounted to the stand. As an alternative I think I may look into the new Kessil arm mount and attempt to hang both A160's the arm.

 

[pelphrey]

The magnetic cabinet locks have been added to the stand and these are working out great!

Lock mounted to the door -

Stopper mounted inside the cabinet -

Magnetic key is used to open the cabinet. Here you can see the latch is in the "locked" position -

Touching the cabinet door with the magnetic key released the lock and allows the door to open -

Checking to make sure that the dry tank is level -

Plumbing is installed -

 

[pelphrey]

The journey begins -

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[tenurepro]

Sweet! Following. Love my 250... Can't wait to see what you do with yours!


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[pelphrey]

Got my "Broadfield" return setup on the Reefer 250. I am going to pull it off and redo the tape, I think I went around a few extra times!

 

[tenurepro]

Got my "Broadfield" return setup on the Reefer 250. I am going to pull it off and redo the tape, I think I went around a few extra times!

Nice - can you give more details on how you modified the original return ?


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