Red Sea Reefer 525 XL Build

[mjlash22]

Tank is coming along! Updated the sump/manifold a tad, got a 1-1.5” sand bed in. Started the aquascape, and water is going in!
Not entirely satisfied with the aquascape but I have some good pieces In my 250 I’m going to steal for this tank!

Light are up and working fine! For now I used the Red Sea recommended settings.

The ATO/wire management/power strip cabinet is a mess so no pictures for now!

 

[mjlash22]

Well folks, she’s up and running! And let me tell you it wasn’t without some blood sweat and tears.

Tank took about 18 to 20 hours to fill. I had 10 gallons of water from my reefer 250 that I saved from recent water changes, 40 gallons of already made RO/DI water, and the rest came from ruining the RO/DI straight to the tank. Can’t wait to see my water bill!

The moment of truth was upon me when I got to flip the power switch for the return pump and...nothing! Got an error message stating there was no power running to the controller. Checked my connections and tried again...nothing. Took the pump out, took a part and checked everything out, it’s brand new so as I thought, no issues. Took it downstairs to my fresh water brute containers and tried again...bingo! Went upstairs, reconnected everything and went for the second moment of truth.

It turned over! To my dismay, and being not so surprised, the gate valve wasn’t set for the flow and water came down the drain gushing into the sump. Water everywhere! Attempted to quickly adjust and I couldn’t get the valve to move! From what I’ve been reading, this is a consistent issue with newer builds from Red Sea. Shut down power and cleaned up the mess.

Next part was my pure stupidity. I unscrewed the gate valve pipe from the tank’s manifold and again, water everywhere! Cleaned up that mess and began to play with the valve now that I had it out of the tank. Finally unseized it, reinstalled, turned back on the pump, and away we went. Got the valve adjusted to stop the initial gushes of water. Turned on the skimmer and set the bubble height to a reasonable break in level and readjusted the gate valve.

Finally was able to take a step back and breath. Tank was up and running with no leaks from my custom manifold return.

From there the rest was pretty straight forward. Installed one of the MP40’s and began adding the salt.

I can officially say today is day one of the cycle!

I’m going to let the skimmer break in and then add my bio-spira, a few more rocks from my 250 and start water testing.

Finally, some pictures below.

Sump:

MP40’s are set to anti-sync reef crest at about 75% flow/power.

One more negative through this all is that my 10 gallon trigger systems ATO container is defective. Looks to be a bad seal on the bottom of the acrylic which was leaking.

All in all, I’m happy the worst is over and I can take a step back and breath. Just some small details and wire management to wrap up and she will be on her way!

 

[Hulley]

Sounds like quite a day! Tank and sump area look good and the rockscaping looks great. When you think you'll be adding fish and what is your fish list looking like?

 

[mjlash22]

Sounds like quite a day! Tank and sump area look good and the rockscaping looks great. When you think you'll be adding fish and what is your fish list looking like?

Hope to add the bio-spira next week and then hopefully first livestock a few days later pending the water test results. Current list will be the crew from my Red Sea 250, 2 clowns, blue tang, purple tang, cleaner shrimp, peppermint shrimp and various snails.

 

[Hulley]

Nice, the main reason I want a bigger tank is for the Tangs!

 

[mjlash22]

Looking for suggestions for the water inlet section of the sump (where I currently have a small amount of matrix). Looking at either getting a 8x8x4 marinepure block or purchasing more matrix to add to that high flow area.

 

[Hulley]

Sorry if I missed it, but where are you putting your ATO tank? Is there room under the tank somewhere?

 

[mjlash22]

Nice, the main reason I want a bigger tank is for the Tangs!

That is honestly why I upgraded! Did not want to get rid of them quite yet. My purple is a baby and probably less than 1.5" but my blue is getting big very quick! She is 2 years old at this point so I'm not surprised.

 

[mjlash22]

Sorry if I missed it, but where are you putting your ATO tank? Is there room under the tank somewhere?

ATO will be going in the right cabinet compartment for the time being. I am not using the stock Red Sea ATO reservoir as I will be converting it into a refugium at some point in the near future. If you look at the picture above of the two MP40 controllers, the ATO reservoir would be directly to the left of them.

 

[Hulley]

ATO will be going in the right cabinet compartment for the time being. I am not using the stock Red Sea ATO reservoir as I will be converting it into a refugium at some point in the near future. If you look at the picture above of the two MP40 controllers, the ATO reservoir would be directly to the left of them.

Gotcha. I was sure if there was enough room on the right side for a 10g. I'm a fan of the bigger the ATO tank the better! I hate having to teach people how to care for my tank when I go on vacation and my last tank evaporated a ridiculous amount daily.

 

[mjlash22]

Gotcha. I was sure if there was enough room on the right side for a 10g. I'm a fan of the bigger the ATO tank the better! I hate having to teach people how to care for my tank when I go on vacation and my last tank evaporated a ridiculous amount daily.

I have the same thought process on that. I originally purchased a 5 gallon, but when I realized I could fit the 10 and still have some room left over, I exhanged for the 10. More to fill, but less frequency!

 

[mjlash22]

Cycle seems to be going quite well. Love bio-spira!

 

[mjlash22]

Also dosing 15ml of NoPox a day. Going to test KH and Calc tomorrow and start dosing that according with Red Sea’s KH Coralline Grow.

 

[Hulley]

Excellent, can't wait to see this tank progress.

 

[Samina]

Also dosing 15ml of NoPox a day. Going to test KH and Calc tomorrow and start dosing that according with Red Sea’s KH Coralline Grow.

Great to see your tank progressing!! Biospira is awesome. I had used that and dr. Tim’s for mine when I had started it.
Out of curiosity, why are you dosing nopox?

 

[mjlash22]

Great to see your tank progressing!! Biospira is awesome. I had used that and dr. Tim’s for mine when I had started it.
Out of curiosity, why are you dosing nopox?

Thanks!

It takes a good week or more for NoPox to start being effective. I’m doing a small amount now to start the culture build up, for when nitrates/phosphates start to actually become an issue. I’ll be able to adjust my dose and attack the issue before the tank is able to turn ugly.

 

[mjlash22]

After 3 days of consistent testing results, today the fish and inverts moved from the 250 to the 525! Also added a couple rocks from the 250 to the new tank/sump for added filtration.

 

[mjlash22]

Skimmer already getting a good foam after less than a week of running. Very happy with this skimmer so far, very quick break in!

My original plan was to convert the Red Sea ATO into a regugium. Looking at how much space I still have available in the front left section of the sump, I’m debating about getting some egg crate and cornering off this section for cheato and the rock.

One thing I’m a little confused about is the media cup area. The water is basically flowing right over and not into the first cup, and flowing into the second cup. The second cup is also almost having a flow over vs flowing in pattern. Is this because my flow rate (return pump) is too high? Is it because I put the matrix in the cups and they’re possibly blocking the exit holes/slits? Are the cups not tall enough to allow for the water flow through instead of back up and flow over? Is this normal for the water height in the sump? I never had this issue on my 250, but the cups i used in that tank i do believe are a tad taller than these acrylic ones. Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[Samina]

Thanks!

It takes a good week or more for NoPox to start being effective. I’m doing a small amount now to start the culture build up, for when nitrates/phosphates start to actually become an issue. I’ll be able to adjust my dose and attack the issue before the tank is able to turn ugly.

Ahhh I see what your saying. I wouldn’t have thought of that! The uglies are definitely a dreaded phase and can be a bit disheartening so can’t blame you for trying to skip that.

 

[mjlash22]

Ahhh I see what your saying. I wouldn’t have thought of that! The uglies are definitely a dreaded phase and can be a bit disheartening so can’t blame you for trying to skip that.

Not sure if it will completely work, as I did not start dosing NoPox until about a year into my other tank, but I'm sure it cant hurt!