Intimidated

L

Litfury

New member
Good afternoon all,
Thanks for your attention. I have been lurking for some months now and decided to finally make a post. I am finally comfortable understanding cycling, coral selection , fish selection, equipment purposes etc..
However I am super intimidated by the plumbing and wiring on many of these tanks. I work in health care and when it comes to mechanical skills I'm admittedly quite inept.
So my question is. I've been looking at buying a red sea max s 500 versus piecing together a system by myself. I would really appreciate any feedback, especially if anyone who also considers themselves mechanically inept has put together a system. Thanks for your time!

P.s. contractor has given ok on the area I'm going to put the tank. So weight is not an issue.
 
Welcome to the site

As far as electrical use GFCI plugs and surge protectors. Plumbing can be done as simple as just using hose. How/what do you want to have in the sump area?
 
If you want to keep it simple use hose to go from the return pump back into the tank. As far as the ATO if you buy Tunze it comes with everything.
 
A reactor could be ran off a small pump or you could just throw a bag of GFO or carbon in the sump
 
There's nothing that goes on in plumbing (with few exceptions) that you don't do when you hook up your garden hose. Or tubing. Or whatever. Gravity drains, pumps push: as long as you attach a pump to the hose that goes up to your tank and don't try to put one on the hose that goes down to your sump (advised to have a tank below that handles the ugly gear) you're golden. Don't ever use a brass or metal of any kind...and just sit down with a pencil and a bunch of arrows indicating direction of flow and it will all make sense. Connectors are threaded (screw in with teflon tape as filler in the threads) or barbed (use a hairdryer to soften the hose so it slips on) or plain (not advised to glue things) ---and this forum has many people who will help you. Think garden hoses and connectors: it's not rocket science.
 
Also, if after the wonderful advice people will give you here to help, check with your LFS. Most of them will be happy to plumb your tank for a small fee.
 
Thanks so much! Already making me feel less intimidated. I would not drill tank myself. Would make sure to get one that is already "reef ready". Couple of local fish stores sale marineland reef ready tanks that look decent
 
The fish store that sells it to you can basically walk you through setting it up ,and we can help you with any questions.
Welcome to the salty side.
 
Plumbing isn't hard. Like everyone said one pipe or tube up and one down. That is all you need to start. You can add the other stuff later if you get more into it. Electrical is also easy. Gfci and surge protectors and you are good to go. It can get more complicated if you add more equipment and a controller but that stuff can wait.
 
Litfury, the Red Sea Max S 500 is a very good system. Especially if money isn't an obstacle. And there are less expensive Red Sea systems as well as equal CADLight systems which come with all the hardware you need to get started including plumbing. I've been in the hobby for a dozen years and just replaced my leaking (yes... leaking) 180g tank with a new CADLight Artisan 125. It came with everything a new tank needs except a light! Now I did use my experience and add a few things, but that's just part of the hobby you'll grow into.
 
Before you plumb, ask about beananimal and other types of plumbing: there are noisy types that sound like Niagara in your living room and others that are so silent you hardly hear them. If you are buying a plumbing kit for your downflow, get them to show you how it goes together, and use a pencil (pencil marking is water-safe) to number the pieces so you can put them together yourself. Once it makes sense to you, you'll become expert---most of us start with zero plumbing expertise, but using what we learn---this house was able to install plumbing for a 5000 gallon koi pond and redo all the bathroom plumbing. All of it.
 
Litfury, I also work in health care, and I also was completely overwhelmed with all the plumbing and electrical "stuff". So much that I nearly didn't set up my tank. I literally had to think of the tank as a patient and the plumbing as IV tubing to wrap my head around it all.

As others said, start really simple. If you buy a reef ready tank the water is forced into the sump via gravity, so all you have to do is give it tubing (pipe) to run through. Then you need a pump and pipe to get it back up to the tank. Sump to hold your extra water and equipment. For now, just understand the basics.

The Red Sea Series are gorgeous! If I had the money I would have sprung for one in a heartbeat, although the advantage of putting together your own system is you can make it exactly what you want. I don't think there is much room for creativity with the RS systems (lots of room to be creative in the tank of course).

Also echo what others have said, check out your local reef club. I can't express how awesome mine has been to me.

Good luck!
 
Same here Litfury. I am totally new at this and also mechanically inept. I bought a Red Sea Max E 260 and have been very happy with it. I think it is a good way to start because everything is already there for you and it gives you a chance to get some experience and understanding of how it all works for the next time when you want to put together your own system.
 
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