My first reef: Reefer 350 build

Thehogfather · Jan 28, 2019

Hey there!

My rock came today and I started playing around with aquascaping so I figured it’s a good time to start my build thread. Not a lot to show so far, my tank is coming Thursday and I’m probably going to take my time getting it put together. But here are some aquascaping shots. That’s about 80lbs of reefsaver. I’ll probably keep playing around with it for the next few days until I find something I’m really into but I like where it’s headed. I’m planning on going bare bottom and was thinking it would be cool to have a couple little islands of rock in front but I can’t decide if I’m leaving enough negative space. I also tried to make some little tunnels and such as I really want a snowflake eel eventually. Anyway it’s a work In progress...I’d love to know what y’all think.

James M · Jan 28, 2019

Following along!!
I really like the island incorporated in the aquascape. What type of reef tank are you planning to do ?

Thehogfather · Jan 28, 2019

I think I’m looking to do an SPS and LPS dominated mixed reef although I haven’t fully decided. I’m gonna take it slow and feel it out. I’m really into eels and lion fish and have read conflicting things about lion fish tolerating higher flow tanks so that might weigh on my decision.

NY_Caveman · Jan 29, 2019

Looks good! Welcome to R2R!

Thehogfather · Feb 6, 2019

My tank was delivered Monday so I spent the day lugging the huge boxes upstairs and strategizing. I was not prepared for it to be delivered on a pallet and because of the size of the doors and elevators in my apartment building the freight carrier had to drop it in the underground parking garage and leave me to disassemble the packaging and get the boxes upstairs by myself.

Here’s how it came delivered. The freight carrier was unable to help me move the boxes upstairs so I just kind of stared at It for a minute before trying to figure out how to get the boxes upstairs.

The two boxes containing the tank and the cabinet were heavy but I managed to drag them upstairs by myself. My building has smooth concrete floors so I literally dragged/shoved them along the floor. I suppose I could have asked a friend for help but I was too excited and impatient.

Here’s what the two boxes looked like in side my apartment. For context I bought the largest tank that will fit in my apartment and while i think it’s a good size for the space I’m putting it, it’s a lot to negotiate as I get things set up.

That night I got to work building the cabinet. It was pretty easy. There’s not a lot to say about building pre-fabbed cabinet but here are some pictures for anyone who’s curious how it came together. As you can see I had some assistance throughout the building process, and last night a human friend came over to help me lift the tank onto the stand.

mch1984 · Feb 6, 2019

Looking good! Not sure the pup is fan though, your taking up his play room. I like the scape, headed in a good direction.

Thehogfather · Feb 6, 2019

mch1984 said:
Looking good! Not sure the pup is fan though, your taking up his play room. I like the scape, headed in a good direction.

Thanks! Haha yeah she definitely seems skeptical of my activity. “Why are you doing a thing when we could be sitting on the couch right now?”

Thehogfather · Feb 15, 2019

So for the past week or so I’ve been playing with my rock a lot and trying to figure out how I want the aquascape to look. Today I think I finally settled on something. I also put the lights together and messed around with some of the other equipment a bit. The last thing I need to set up is the return pump and I’ll be ready to add water and get the cycle underway. I’m looking forward to seeing th whole system up and running.

Seeko · Feb 15, 2019

Nice man. I know the feeling. I've got rocks upstairs in boxes that I'll be configuring in the next few days. I started cleaning and prepping my garage to mess with it a little, but I plan on curing my rock outside my tank and then aquascaping afterwards, I guess.

Good luck!

Thehogfather · Feb 15, 2019

Seeko said:
Nice man. I know the feeling. I've got rocks upstairs in boxes that I'll be configuring in the next few days. I started cleaning and prepping my garage to mess with it a little, but I plan on curing my rock outside my tank and then aquascaping afterwards, I guess.

Good luck!

thanks! Yeah playing with the rocks is fun. I decided to just cure them in my tank since I don’t have a lot of extra space in my apartment, but probably a good idea to cure the rocks first if you can. What kind of rock are you using? I went with reefsaver and it was pretty easy to work with.