Red Sea Reefer 525 XL Build

[mjlash22]

Excited to start on my third tank! Currently have a reefer 250 and have just ordered a 525 XL deluxe. Would have liked to go a little more creative with the build instead of the deluxe model, but I chose it for 2 reasons. Was not sure if other light mounts would cover the "plugs" red sea puts on the "non-deluxe" tanks, and I'm not opposed to AI lights, not to mention it was a pretty good deal considering buying all the lighting and mounts separate.

Current Plans:
- 90lbs reef saver rock
- 60lbs sand (should give me 1" bottom) sand type TBD
- 2x EcoTech MP40's
- Bubble Magus Curve 7 skimmer
- Tunze ATO to replace stock reservoir/float valve setup
- Jebao DCP-10000 return pump
- Red Sea ATO reservoir conversion into refugium
- reactors TBD, but will be running at least carbon
- After tank cycles, will bring over my dosing pump for 2 part/NoPox from old tank
- Hard plumb return/refugium?

I will post pictures and updates as the process begins!

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Following!

 

[g5flier]

Good luck with the build, love my 525xl, coming up on its first birthday.

 

[mjlash22]

Most of the equipment/supplies have arrived! Tank should be shipping from Red Sea this coming Friday.

2 MP40's, Jebao DCP-10000 return pump, Bubble Magus Curve 7 skimmer, Tunze Osmolator w/ reservoir, Bio-Spira for cycling.

Red Sea Coral Pro Salt, 80lbs of Carib-Sea Special Grade (dry), 90lbs of Reef Saver Rock (behind the black trash bag).

Not pictured: 800w Finnex heater w/ controller, plumbing tubing/fittings for hard plumbing a manifold.

YouTube:

 

[mjlash22]

Well...still patiently waiting for the tank. BRS informed me that the tank had shipped out of Red Sea's warehouse last Friday. Shipping company contacted me and said it would be here the 27th. 22nd rolls around and it went automatically into a weather delay. What weather crazy weather, I do not know. Called back and they said it still should get to me on time.

Tank sat in there carrier yard for 2 days, finally left Texas on Thursday. At this point I somehow knew it wasn't going to get to me by the next day. However, carrier called me Friday morning to set up delivery. I was shocked but they said they should be able to offload it and get it to me by 5p (eastern) Friday. 6p rolls around with still no call from the guy delivering the tank. Call the carrier and they said the tank never got offloaded from the original truck and to call back today (Saturday) to check and see if it was ready yet.

Call back this morning, to my surprise, they aren't open. At this point I'm hoping for an early in the week delivery so I can at least start building the cabinet.

On another note, some new equipment additions:

- I have mapped out my manifold and purchased all the appropriate PVC, fittings and valves. Plan is to not use any soft tubing but we will see how that goes once I can compare my setup to Red Sea's plumbing.

- Purchased the Reeflink from EcoTech. Was debating on switching out the Jebao return for the Vortech M1, but have not pulled the trigger on that decision yet. I still think it will be worth the investment to be able to control the MP40's through the phone/wirelessly.

- Ended up with 120lbs of dry Carribsea special grade sand. Wasn't sure the depth of the sand bed I wanted yet and the dry was such a good deal, I just went with 3 bags.

- Coral Box doser for my NoPox and 2 part.

Other than that, I've hit another big wall in this soon to be project. We just recently moved into our new build house. The walls were done with a basic white. Not that we necessarily wanted white, but they didn't do special painting requests figuring the house would need to settle and they would have to come back and do repairs anyway. Why mess up an expensive paint job!? My wife, being as smart as she is, pointed out "how are you going to move the fish tank to paint the wall this summer?" Me not thinking of where she was going with that question, said, I'm not, it will weight close to 2000lbs. Well, needless to say I think most of you will understand where this is going. Now I have to go paint shopping to pick out the color we would end up getting so that I can paint the wall the fish tank will be up against. I'm sure as hell not tearing down a tank just to paint a wall! It' things like this that you don't really always think about when you're caught up in the moment of getting your new tank.

Well sorry this wasn't a really fun update, but since this is suppose to be about sharing the whole experience, I figured why not!

 

[mjlash22]

Got the call this morning. Tank will be delivered tomorrow! Excited to start the project, but sad that my work schedule is pretty intensive these next 2 weeks. Oh well...I will do what I can!

 

[Blue Spot Octopus]

Looking forward to the pictures, patience ,patience, it is tough.

 

[mjlash22]

Looking forward to the pictures, patience ,patience, it is tough.

Counting down the hours at this point!

 

[mjlash22]

Tank has arrived and safely moved into the house! Will begin building the cabinet tomorrow, pictures to come!

 

[Hulley]

Post some pics, even on the pallet! We're all excited for you!

 

[oneilwiz]

nice ! hopefully soon I can join lol

 

[mjlash22]

Delivery Day!

 

[Hulley]

Sweet! Always crazy exciting when something like this comes in! Like a big present!

 

[Hulley]

BTW, I'm from Michigan too although I live in Georgia now.

 

[mjlash22]

Sweet! Always crazy exciting when something like this comes in! Like a big present!

Well technically this is my Christmas present! Haha

 

[mjlash22]

Unboxing the Crate

The metal bands were unexpected and not fun to remove. Had to use a flat head screw driver to pry off the connector.

Very well packaged. Had no complaints and zero issues with any of the pieces.

Bought these suction cups off amazon. Rated at 250lbs per unit. Can’t say I wasn’t a little worried as we moved across the hard cement, but they did the job and got the tank safely inside!

Everything safely inside!

 

[solitude127]

how exciting. Keep the updates coming.

 

[mjlash22]

nice ! hopefully soon I can join lol

It's a great hobby and an exhilerating experience. Best of luck with your adventures!

 

[oneilwiz]

Man that sure looks good, anxious for my birthday next month getting a upgrade. Will you hard plumb return?

 

[mjlash22]

Man that sure looks good, anxious for my birthday next month getting a upgrade. Will you hard plumb return?

Yes, I will be making a manifold instead of using soft plumbing for the return. Will also have it as a return for the ATO converted refugium.

My road block right now is that I still need to find a way to connect my 1" plumbing to the Red Sea's return pipe. I'm debating if I should just put a straight barb at the end of my hard plumbing and make a soft plumbing connection between the two, or I'll have to find a way to piece metric and imperial fittings together to make it work and not leak.