My Newbie Reefer 450 Build

Diablo2112 · Feb 12, 2018

Hello! Been lurking here for a bit, and thought I'd introduce myself. Have done FW for a very long time, finally decided to try out a Reef Tank. Moved into a new home a few months ago, and had a nice spot for a Reef Tank.

Being nearly completely new to this, figured I'd read as much as I could find. The forums here have been invaluable, along with the BRS videos. Was about to order a new Red Sea Reefer series when a Reefer 450 showed up for sale locally in Albuquerque. Picked this up, and spent a small fortune on the rest of the gear.

Anyway, the tank is still cycling (3 weeks now), and coming along nicely. I built a SW mixing station in my utility room, and plumbed a 70' pex line from it to my tank through the walls of my house; my wife nearly had a heart attack when I told her what I wanted to do. Also ran a 4-conductor cable at the same time, should I want to connect switched or aquabus at some later time.

Using this line, I setup an AWC system, and it's been working great (I change 1 liter/day at present, more to debug the system as the tank is still cycling). I'll eventually change 5-6 liters/day to accomplish a 30% monthly change. Also automated my RODI system, via the Tunze controller. Love the Neptune Apex, a really well-implemented system all around. Hooked up the flow controllers, and have lots of data and sensors to play with. I have a second DOS system, and will use that for 2-part once things get running.

Have setup my QT tank this weekend, will start my first livestock there for the remaining 4-6 weeks of cycling the DT. And, I intend to keep reading and learning; thanks to everyone that's contributed here, it's been invaluable for us newbies.

Let me know if you see anything I've done wrong or could improve upon in the photos below, I really am rather new at this...

Diablo2112 · Feb 12, 2018

Forgot to mention, the tank location was actually quite good, as it backs up against our guest bathroom. I get both a water supply and drain right behind the wall, which made automation of RODI and AWC that much easier. I did the plumbing for the sump myself, and I want to REALLY thank whoever recommended that you put union joints everywhere whenever you're doing hard-line plumbing. Just one of many things I picked up on the forums here that helped me immensely.

Diablo2112 · Feb 17, 2018

Thank you all again. I'll start a build thread very shortly. In the meantime, a few more pics. Thought I could do a more elegant job on the lights, and did a bit of kit-bashing for the following. Lights are Maxspect Ethereal. Wanted to hang these, but felt 4 wires off each light was a bit much. Picked up a 60" HMS Light Bar and Hanging kit from the LFS.

This bar wasn't designed for the Ethereal lights, but I found a simple way to mount them using a few spare spacers (from flat screen TV mount kits), and drilling 2 holes at the edge of each light. Works great! Hung the lights with the HMS kit, and ran power cables through the wall. I have a pet peeve with exposed wires, and this was about the best solution (better than running to the ceiling, IMHO).

One tiny detail: I've used tie wraps to secure the cabling on the bar. Don't like this. I've ordered a few post-mount ties to secure this on the back edge, but hey, I'm picky about wiring like I said. Anyway, here's a few pics which better show all this.

Off to make a build thread in a day or two. One other small thing: I moved the probes to the main tank. I was having micro-bubble problems, especially with the salinity probe, and the new location has been rock-solid. Besides, the engineer in me feels better with the probes on the main tank, just because. Finally, the cleanup crew (12 Trochus and 3 Sand-sifting Conches) has done a marvelous job. They're hired!