Mike's Reefer 350

[Thoax]

Hey guys, Hope everyone is doing well today.

So this is my new build that i am doing, Been out of the hobby for a while ( 7 years) but finally been able to get back into. Been following afew builds on here and got me into wanting to do mine and some great ideas i had to use.

Sorry in advanced is this build thread is a little bit all over the place first time making one

Gear:
RedSea Reefer 350
Ecotech - MP40 x2
Ecotech - Vectra M1
Ecotech - Radion XR30w G4 Pro
Ecotech - Reeflink
Neptune Apex
Neptune ATO
Neptune DOS
Kessil H380
Vertex Omega 150
AquaMax Small containers x2
Norwesco 75G water tank x2


Picked up the tank and cabinet a few weeks ago.



Wall location for the tank, Its on the main floor so i had to reinforce the floor in the basement, I'll post a pic of that once i take it but i ended up just using 2 home depo adjustable jacks


Cabinet all built and was super nice to put together, Also liked how they put the plastic thread slots for the screws for a bit more reinforcement


Got my dad to give me a hand with putting the tank in place.




Pulled out the sump and i had seen in a few builds of people painting the glass white to make it easy for cleaning so i ended up finding some while vinyl wrap and gave it a try. Turned out well and made it look much brighter when its in the black cabinet.




Just seeing how much room i had with some of the equipment in place.


So i had ended up decided to do all hard pvc pipe, This was my first time doing it and was super fun and not to hard. The great news was no leaks





The line thats off to the far right that gose through the stone into a closet and then goes down to the basement for filling and draining the tank. I saw this on Broadfield's build and that it was an amazing idea so i had to do it

Started work on the water storage tanks, These are 2 Norwesco 75g tanks, Once i get more done ill update more pics


Started working on the electrical part of the build now.



Started building my control center, had some probs along the way but ended up working out well.






Did a water test and no leaks


Also ended up mounting the lights

 

[Thoax]

I also installed a LED stip light in the cabinet to give me some light while working on the tank or cleaning time.

So far i have had the tank just running with fresh water to make sure all the pipes are cleaned out,

Now i'm at the stage on needed to decide what kinda of sand and rock i would like to put into the tank. If anyone has any recommendations i'm all ears

 

[Ruben's Reef]

Following. Great build. Love the wall, you pick a nice place for your tank.

 

[Scubafrog]

WOW! Great looking build.

 

[cwalton00]

Great looking tank! For sand I prefer special grade aragonite and for rocks I like the reefsaver rocks from BRS. The pukani rocks also look good but need some curing. The emarco 400 cement is also great for building the aquascape.

 

[Chrisfish]

Welcome, very nice set up and as others mentioned very nice wall behind your tank , looks awesome

 

[The new fish on the block]

Great build!!! Could you tell me the parts you used to hard plumb the overflow drain ?

 

[The new fish on the block]

I would also 100% recommend Marco rocks I used them for my reefer 350 and they are really easy to stack and they look great!

 

[Thoax]

Thanks guys

 

[Thoax]

Great build!!! Could you tell me the parts you used to hard plumb the overflow drain ?

I had to call Red sea and get there part that has the barb fitting on it i dont recall the part number but i will check when i get in, So you get 3 of those and u you can unscrew the barb from it i then wrap the male pipe adapter thread with t-tape about 12 to 15 wraps seeings as they are different thread types. After that you just put what ever size pvc pipe on the other then and you are good to go i added a gate vale like many others seeing it makes it so much easier to adjust your water.


I ordered 3 of these,
Male Pipe Adapter

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Looking good! Nice spot for the tank!

 

[Hulley]

What a build! Have you gotten it wet yet? I would love to see how you did your water mixing station. I ordered a Reefer 350 and plan on a set-up for water in the basement directly below the tank, still trying to figure out the logistics.

 

[Thoax]

Hey, Sorry for not updating ill try and get a big one up this weekend and ill take some pics of the water mixing station for you aswell.

 

[Thoax]

Hey guys hope all is well with everyone ,

So been busy but ended up doing some new things to the tank. So first was i ended up added a 20 gallon lagoon tank that im going to use as a mangrove tank. That tanks going to have a single kessil light for lighting.


Concept of how the tank was going to be plumbed and set up.

After i got the new tank i was lucky to find a solo Red Sea Reefer stand that fit the 20g perfect So it all fits together perfect.

So got everything up and running and got the tank wet



Started the cycle and so far so good was very cloudy but according to Dr.Tims that's normal.
Right now i'm 3 weeks into the cycle and dealing with high nitrate around 100, I think i got one of the wrong Dr.Tim ammonia drop kits that was labeled wrong i heard a few people had the same problem they label says 4 drops per gallon but its really 1 drop per gallon.


All clear now though.

As for the water station that i set up here is a pic of it all plumbed and good to go.

 

[Hulley]

How are you plumbing your ATO system and what components are you using?

 

[kdino]

nice!!

 

[Thoax]

nice!!

Thanks

How are you plumbing your ATO system and what components are you using?

For the ATO i am using the neptune ATK FMM module all i did was on the right had side tank i put their pump into the tank about 20 gals down from the top of the tank. I then ran a 15' rodi line to the tank and hooked it up to their ATK, They sell an extension cable that is 15' + the 5' that comes with the ATK kit so the main FMM unit is in the cabinet. I hope this helps if not let me know and ill see if i can take some pics of it.

 

[Hulley]

Thanks


For the ATO i am using the neptune ATK FMM module all i did was on the right had side tank i put their pump into the tank about 20 gals down from the top of the tank. I then ran a 15' rodi line to the tank and hooked it up to their ATK, They sell an extension cable that is 15' + the 5' that comes with the ATK kit so the main FMM unit is in the cabinet. I hope this helps if not let me know and ill see if i can take some pics of it.

A pic would be great! Did you start with the ATK kit or just use the ATK FMM?

 

[Thoax]

A pic would be great! Did you start with the ATK kit or just use the ATK FMM?

Sure ill try and take a pic and post it up, I bought the ATK & Fmm at the same time my lfs had a sale.

 

[CDavmd]

Nice Build!