Reefer 350 Build Questions

[Peepers]

Im a total noob but in case there’s anything useful feel free to check out my build thread. I keep it pretty up to date.

I already did! Lol showed the pics to my wife of the tank were gonna get. Heh. It's looking good! I can't order mine until end of month. I'm a noob too. I have had African cichlids for a long time but never saltwater. I got my first saltwater(29 gal) about three months ago and decided Im addicted and needed a crazy beautiful tank. Lol

 

[phatduckk]

Ha. Exact same! Had a cichlids tank for many years in my younger days and always wanted a tank in my “married house”. 5 years later, here we are and the tanks in the man cave. I initially wanted it in the living room but got cold feet as it’s above a 3ft tall crawl space and I wasn’t convinced the old floors would hold 1100+ lbs. spent a bit of time calling construction folks are structural engineers till I said “f***. Man cave is on slab”.

 

[Peepers]

Im a total noob but in case there’s anything useful feel free to check out my build thread. I keep it pretty up to date.

I already did! Lol it looks great so far! I was showing my wife the pics of the tank so she could see what were getting. Lol. I'm a total noob as well. I have had African cichlids for a long time, but never saltwater. Got my first saltwater, a 29gal, about three months ago and got addicted quick. Then I saw the red Sea tanks. It was all over for me. I never had a chance.

 

[Peepers]

Ha. Exact same! Had a cichlids tank for many years in my younger days and always wanted a tank in my “married house”. 5 years later, here we are and the tanks in the man cave. I initially wanted it in the living room but got cold feet as it’s above a 3ft tall crawl space and I wasn’t convinced the old floors would hold 1100+ lbs. spent a bit of time calling construction folks are structural engineers till I said “f***. Man cave is on slab”.

Sorry it looks like I double posted. Lol

 

[phatduckk]

From one noob to another I highly recommend coming up with a water change strategy. For me at least, I want it to be as easy as possible so I don’t slack on it

 

[Peepers]

Ha. Exact same! Had a cichlids tank for many years in my younger days and always wanted a tank in my “married house”. 5 years later, here we are and the tanks in the man cave. I initially wanted it in the living room but got cold feet as it’s above a 3ft tall crawl space and I wasn’t convinced the old floors would hold 1100+ lbs. spent a bit of time calling construction folks are structural engineers till I said “f***. Man cave is on slab”.

I never thought about that. I have a basement. I've had a 55 in my living room for a long time. I wonder how much heavier the red Sea is? Will have to look. But I thought a 55 is like 800 lbs or something.

 

[phatduckk]

I never thought about that. I have a basement. I've had a 55 in my living room for a long time. I wonder how much heavier the red Sea is? Will have to look. But I thought a 55 is like 800 lbs or something.

Every situation is different. But my tank would have been parallel to the joists which is why I freaked out a bit. Most people I spoke to said it would be fine but I’m a worrier by nature and fret over every detail till I’m convinced.

2 other reasons I decided to put it in man cave: 1) the pressure of it having to be “perfect” if it’s in the living room got to me 2) I couldn’t figure out how to reliably and easily get 20 gallons of saltwater to the living room for a hypothetical 20% water change. My living room is about 4 ft from ground level; if I mixed 20 gallons of salt water in the garage, how would I get approx 150lbs of water up the 5 stairs & to the tank?

 

[Peepers]

Every situation is different. But my tank would have been parallel to the joists which is why I freaked out a bit. Most people I spoke to said it would be fine but I’m a worrier by nature and fret over every detail till I’m convinced.

2 other reasons I decided to put it in man cave: 1) the pressure of it having to be “perfect” if it’s in the living room got to me 2) I couldn’t figure out how to reliably and easily get 20 gallons of saltwater to the living room for a hypothetical 20% water change. My living room is about 4 ft from ground level; if I mixed 20 gallons of salt water in the garage, how would I get approx 150lbs of water up the 5 stairs & to the tank?

Gotcha. For water, I'm teeing off a water line and running to an to filter in basement just below tank and just running line up directly to cabinet. Then I'm going with hang on side PVC siphon cut to depth of a 25% change. Then siphon into tub, pump to bathtub, fill with to line at cabinet. Well that's my plan at least lol

 

[RomoFL]

I try to do 10% or more like 10g water changes weekly on mine. This is my planned routine until the tank is more established.

 

[phatduckk]

Gotcha. For water, I'm teeing off a water line and running to an to filter in basement just below tank and just running line up directly to cabinet. Then I'm going with hang on side PVC siphon cut to depth of a 25% change. Then siphon into tub, pump to bathtub, fill with to line at cabinet. Well that's my plan at least lol

Nice! Sounds like you have the space to eventually just setup auto water changes if you wanted

 

[Peepers]

Nice! Sounds like you have the space to eventually just setup auto water changes if you wanted

Yeah I'd just need one more pump, drill holes in floor to run to utility tub in basement I think. If I went auto change I'd want to hide all plumbing.

 

[Nikita1981]

And how about an ATO ? Automatic top off is a must if you ask me from the start to create stability.

In the future a dosing pump might also be a good idea, but imo you don't need it now.

If you have a v3 sump you don't need a separate algae reactor, you can use the.baffle to create a refugium. Be aware, if you use this, the space left for the skimmer will be limited. Look into the footprint of the skimmer if you go this direction.

You can use filter cups instead of a separate reactor, but in my experience some media just work better when they tumble. Here is where a reactor comes in handy.

Last, if you need a chiller depends where you live and how hot it gets in your house. I live in the Netherlands and have 2 Hydra 26 on my tank and although this isn't a tropical country, I still definitely need a chiller in the summertime. It is still running as we speak.

I hope I answered all your questions now, excuse me if I forgot one. Just trying to help

 

[Peepers]

The reefer system comes with an ato. Although people say it's small it works. Just have to fill more often. I have central air. So even in summer my house never gets above 74