Reed5point0's Red Sea Reefer 170 Build

[reed_5point0]

Hello, I started a build thread about three weeks ago, as I had planned on doing an I.M Fusion 40 Gallon build. I cannot remove or edit it, so I am starting this one brand new. I have made the purchase, so this is my OFFICIAL thread now...

I have gone full reeftard...

Why the Reefer 170?

Out of all the tanks on BRS, it was a toss up between a Red Sea or an I.M. Fusion. Sumps scare me, but I also didn't feel safe cramming the back of a fusion tank with all of my equipment...15 years ago I was the H.O.B. king with my 46 Oceanic Bow...I want to avoid that. So I am manning up with a sump I guess...I may need some help regarding that when I get to the setup phase.

55 - 75 gallon would have been a lot cooler, but I went a little lower to afford better equipment overall.



I am a web developer / graphic designer by trade, and hope to have this sitting to the left of my desk. But also have some pretty nerdy plans to engineer a livestream with my tank stats on display, along with a webcam of the tank once I get it all established.



I like to stare endlessly into my tank while I think about code etc, so i'm sure getting work done will be easy when I can see all my busy creatures all the time.../s ANYWHO...Let's get to the equipment list!




HARDWARE:

1x BRS 6 STAGE UNIVERSAL WATER SAVER PLUS RO/DI SYSTEM
1x Red Sea Reefer 170 34g
1x AI Hydra 26" LED Light
1x Trigger Systems EMERALD CUBE SUMP 24.3g (The Stock Reefer Sump looked like a pain)
1x 500W FINNEX Heater
1x JBJ NANO GLO - LED REFUGIUM LIGHT
1x SYNCRA PRO (550 GPH) Return Pump
1x AUTOMATIC FEEDING SYSTEM - NEPTUNE SYSTEMS
1x BRS MINI REACTOR - 5" for Carbon and GFO
1x COBALT MJ1200 to power the reactor
1x REEF OCTOPUS CLASSIC 6" INTERNAL SPACE SAVING SKIMMER
1x NEPTUNE SYSTEMS Apex Controller
1x NEPTUNE SYSTEMS Dual Wav Pump
1x NEPTUNE SYSTEMS DOS Dosing Pump
1x NEPTUNE SYSTEMS Lunar Simulator Moonlight Kit

Aquascape:
10lbs BRS PUKANI DRY LIVE ROCK
5lbs BRS TONGA SIMPLE MULTI-BRANCH DRY LIVE ROCK
15lbs BRS FIJI DRY LIVE ROCK
5lbs BRS TONGA SHELF (FLAT PLATES) DRY LIVE ROCK
1.4kg KORALAGOON SUBSTRAT REFUGIUM SUBSTRATE
8oz RED CORALLINE - AQUASTIK EPOXY PUTTY
10lbs BAHAMAS OOLITE ARAG-ALIVE! REEF SAND
10lbs FIJI PINK ARAG-ALIVE! REEF SAND

Going to start my cycle with:
MICROBACTER7 - COMPLETE BIOCULTURE FOR MARINE 250ML - BRIGHTWELL AQUATICS

I plan to order my cleaning crew from either GARF or Tampa Bay Saltwater...With a few pounds of their live rock to use a Baserock seed once cycled.

OTHER:

I don't have a reliable LFS anywhere near me. There MIGHT be one 150 miles away, there are a few within a 5hr drive of me I'm sure...So I want to be prepared for small emergencies. I got a boxed set of supplements, test kits and a variety of dry foods for both coral and fish.

I got some TONGS! I got stung by my lionfish due to a crab knocking over my new Acro coral one morning after coming home from a usual college night out a decade ago...Dove in bare handed saving the coral on my mind, 100% forgot about Tony the lionfish being dangerous...Poor little guy was startled..

My old Texas LFS told 16 year old me I would need to be medivaced to Dallas if that ever happened...SO when I called 911 in FL drunk and in a panic...I got kinda laughed at....It was a relief minus except the swelling and burning sensation, as I ran my hand under hot water I decided one thing from there on out....Tongs are a must now...but I also plan on keeping a pretty peaceful reef this time around too!

I got some Joes Juice, Coral Dip, Flatworm exit...I hope I never need it, but I want to have it on hand instead of waiting on Amazon!



And now I wait for the UPS man....Whom already hates me when I order bulky BMX parts, or heavy computer stuff...I can't wait to see him silently judge me for this order...I might try and capture it for the build logs sake!


Will Update...when gear arrives!

 

[ReeferNtraining]

Just getting back in after 8 years without a tank....

Just getting back in after 8 years without a tank....

Reed, I am looking at the exact same setup. I am limited on space so the 170 appears to be the best/most versatile setup on the market. Did you ever consider the MAX-E series? I am torn between the two, honestly. I like the fact that the lighting comes with the MAX-E but I do have concerns with that skimmer.

I want to ease back into the reef world and I am seeing a lot of videos with people having calcium reactors, dosing equipment, etc. Is all of that really necessary for LPS tank?

Thanks for the thread. I am interested in hearing your thoughts.

 

[reed_5point0]

The Reefer Deluxe 170 Complete System (34 Gal) - comes with JUST the AI Hydra lighting and Reefer Sump. I was torn between the Deluxe and a basic one with KEssil 360w Lighting...but them not offering Black Friday deals rubbed me wrong.


As far as the reactors etc, I am mainly using them for the sake of automation, and Giant R/O Unit / GFO reactor wise...my city water is terrible. Erin Brockovich comes here to speak about the southern side of our town....


But as long as you are testing often and adding supplements by hand when needed...no I don't feel it's required.

 

[ReeferNtraining]

Thanks for the reply. I am torn with the "cube" thing. I just don't think it will look right, where I want to put a tank. I have been searching around for a standard 29g reef ready tank and that has proven to be an impossible task thus far. It seems that all tanks under 55 gallon are tempered glass and simply not available. I guess my search will continue. Good luck on the 170!!

 

[neiltus]

Erin Brockovich hanging in Midland. Hmmm.

I like the 170 tank, I am working on a 350, but have had thoughts on doing a nem/clown tank in one of those.

Some thoughts:
-You might not need a reactor for GFO. BRS makes a tiny reactor that I used to tumble GFO (.5cup). It might work well in your sump.

-500w is a lot of heater. I have a solo 200w Finnex and it's enough. I would get the length of that 500 and see if it fits in your footprint.

-Fuge, where? Not familiar with the new sump so it may have one.

-I would imagine you could save 4 bills and use kalk and skip the DOS. Maybe use some soda ash if you need to get in the ballpark and then kalk from there out.

-I would also bet that auto feeder can create a heck of a mess in that small tank. Wait on that.

Look at my build thread for what 60# of Pukani looks like in a 72g tank. I ordered a 'light' 75# and have rock in the sump.

Since your a web guy...good photos!!!!

 

[reed_5point0]

Erin Brockovich hanging in Midland. Hmmm.

Scary huh! A lot of people are blaming some illegal chemical dumping in the 1970s to the issue AFAIK ...It also is only a small section of town but still scary! We have high Chloramines etc too!

News Link

BRS makes a tiny reactor that I used to tumble GFO

In my hardware section you will see that I picked up the mini reactor. It can handle both carbon and gfo and is about the size of a coke can. I picked up a nice cobalt powerhead for it which will fit with my space saver skimmer. In the aftermarket sump chamber.

Fuge, where? Not familiar with the new sump so it may have one

Using a 20" emerald cube sump by Trigger Systems...not the stock reefer sump...again..also in my hardware list. It has a better chambered setup, and will easily fit the heater. I picked 500w as to not stress the heater by picking one RIGHT at the limit.

I would imagine you could save 4 bills and use kalk and skip the DOS

I may skip 4 bills initially on going with Kalk and not the dos, but in the long run I will be ordering and shipping a lot of chems to drip ( I mean I will be doing that regardless I know) but would like a means to regulate them all via the Apex.

Look at my build thread for what 60# of Pukani looks like in a 72g tank

I don't see why I need to? I only have about 35lbs of Rock planned for the display and some rubble for the sump

Since your a web guy...good photos!!!!

Incoming! Well sorta, the dry baserock was hard to not catch hotspots! And I was lazy with lighting...went with flash instead! But I tweaked in RAW at least!!!

 

[reed_5point0]

95% of the stuff has arrived!!!

BRAINSTORMED AQUASCAPE ALL NIGHT!!!!!



Okay so about a year ago, my reef itch came back in full force, mainly due to the cool reef threads on Reddit always filling my feed randomly.

My father passed away a few years ago, and was a science teacher. Had amazing specimen collections across the geology / biology fields.

He is who got me into tanks at a very very early age. I am who got him out of Freshwater and running my FOWLR while in college.




I inherited the marine collection, and about a year ago came to RC with the idea to use an amazing coral skeleton as some epic base rock.

Some people thought I was bonkers to "destroy" such an awesome "decoration"...but to me...I would rather see it host new life and see the ocean again. He likely picked this specimen up in the early 70's....It needs to go back home kinda..


Since it has already suffered some chips etc, I wanted to give it the appearance that it was somehow broken from it's larger formations and fell down to its death. Rather than make it look attached to some rock standing upright still The circle of life...It's perfect tons of table space up top for frags, and hiding spaces galore inside it.


Anywho it soaked in a bleach / RO mix for a week or two, and then cured a few more weeks.

The rest of the rock is a mix of basic Fiji, Tonga branch..I expected small branches...Got one big *** branch haha. One big chunk of Shelf, and some Pukani. Total weight: Just under 35 lbs.


I made a Shelf / Cave that is still easy to see into, and with lots of entry / exit points. Made the photo EXTRA SPOOKY!!

I found an article on another forum site regarding adding a bottle to the reef. I loved the idea...Picked up a modern beer called Lucky Buddha, looks very Indo Pacific. Used reef rock epoxy to dull the sharp edges..Going to sculpt the epoxy a bit to make it look "SHARP"...but can't wait till it encrusts with algae etc. Hopefully a shrimp or something moves in!


Still working on the bottle, needs some more sanding to make it look like it rolled around from the current a little. The label on this bottle is etched, so I still have some small paint to remove on the back too via sanding!

Overall this will give me plenty of swim room above the rock 4-6" and a large yard of sand in front as I built the rock up a cardboard template of the 170s tank dimensions.



Would like some input on where to put the two wav pumps? On the sides? Should I direct some flow into the cave??


P.S. ...YES that's a lab skeleton in the back corner of my living room, Boney is my homie!

 

[reed_5point0]

While sculpting / sanding the bottle, I had a bit of a redesign in my head. I really like the way it came out. I also paid more attention to lighting in the photos.

This is the final scape I think...Tank should have drop shipped yesterday! Setting the RO/DI up today...Just gotta plumb it up.

 

[reed_5point0]

RO/DI hooked up reading 000 on both line 2 and 3 of my TDS! GREAT SUCCESS!!!!! After I primed the unit, I made 25ish gallons of SW reading 32 on my hydrometer. Its currently sealed up and stirring at 75 degrees F until the tank arrives.

While I mixed water and watched Netflix, I removed the neck of the bottle quite cleanly I must say! Then gave it the epoxy treatment just incase. I wanted it to still have SOME of a neck profile to still look like a bottle, so I used my remaining epoxy to sculpt a fake "jagged but safe" bottleneck. This also helps wedge it into the base rock. This SHOULD prevent a snail clog by opening it up! Then added some barnacles because barnacles....

I don't think I can post any more updates until the tank gets here...

 

[reed_5point0]

Tank showed up Monday. 48hrs into cycle using bottled bacteria from brightwell. Logging my No3 via Apex test every 24 hrs...looking like 1ppm so far.

 

[reed_5point0]

I drove to the next town over, and paid a visit to their Petco for some seeder rock. I feared the worst, and surprisingly I was really impressed with the guy running their marine section. I was THAT guy, and nit picked all the rock, found some COVERED in coralline algae. No "pests" so far...


Tons of pods including one BIG brown Amphipod I have named Speedy Gonzalez.

A few tiny tiny feather dusters encrusted on the rock. Red mouths...I dig em...


Yesterday we spotted a grey-ish Bristleworm (I think) with a red face...white tufts of bristles on each section of it's body. He was tiny, so I hope he is fine to keep, and clean my sand bed.


Here is a shot of my tank, and my current Apex setup. I accidentally hit Feed Cycle A and my feeder went off. O well I guess my Cycle will get a little extra dose!

I'll be logging my No3 later tonight!

 

[reed_5point0]

Diatoms started to show late last week, I ordered a small cleaner crew Monday and they are doing well! My NO3 is going down, but still somewhat high. I was always told to add the crew when the Diatoms happen. Here is my list, the Cerths are going to town on the algae!

15 Nassarius Snails
10 Certh
2 Electric Blue Leg Hermit
3 Halloween Hermits

My angst got the best of me, and as a means to gain free shipping I picked up a $13.00 Laser Lemon Zoa Frag...I love it!


Did Round 1 of Reef Tests:

Calcium Range: 360ish
Magnesium: 1300 which seems high
Alkalinity: 9.8


Reading around 2ppm No3 and a trace amount of Phosphates..which I assume are from the Diatoms or MicroBacter7

 

[pimp4cheddar]

Starting to come together really well!!!

 

[Dr. Reefer]

Nice setup thinking of doing something similar. How did you plumb the reefer to the trigger systems sump?

 

[reed_5point0]

I did not haha! Due to the hinges of the stand, and just OVERALL lack of space if I were to make it happen. I decided not to use it for now, and I have the basic sump plumbed. If anything it's pretty decent aside from the ATO. I would skip the Trigger Sump and get a Tunze ATO and a nice reservoir

 

[moondoggy4]

Nice tank, I think the heater is too big I have the 300 model on my 120 tank and I have it controlled by a ranco.

 

[reed_5point0]

1 year birthday coming up!

 

[reed_5point0]

This site has been giving me trouble with my images. I had some luck today!