RSR 525XL Pic Heavy build!

Reztarkreefer · Jun 25, 2018

Hello everybody!
Ive been following this site for quite a while and I'm glad to finally be a member! This thread is to document my current build and fresh restart into the hobby. I started with my first 55g reef about 5 years ago. Mostly HOB equipment and I quickly upgraded to a 75g with a sump. I had a thriving LPS and softie tank fueling my new addiction. (Pictured first) Financial issues hit my wife and I out of no where and I was forced to sell everything. A little over two years later and im finally able to start my dream build.

I found this 100g acrylic aquarium and stand for dirt cheap and couldn't resist. I picked it up the same night and began planning my build. Never having had an acrylic aquarium before I started immediately with scratch removal. (I'm extremely OCD and strive to make everything perfect to my best abilities.) I put in a large order to BRS and counted the days until it arrived.

Reztarkreefer · Jun 25, 2018

ReztarkreeferMember
After days and days of perfecting the Novus system things were starting to look great. I'd recommend this to anybody with an acrylic aquarium, super easy 3 step process (although time consuming if you're a perfectionist like me)

Reztarkreefer · Jun 25, 2018

ReztarkreeferMember
Here's where it gets GOOD! While I was bored at work I decided to hop on CL and stumbled upon another aquarium, not that I was looking.. ;Headphone once again I was on my way the same night to take a peak. I ended up making a second trip that weekend to load it up.. I couldn't wait to get it home and set up, the kids were almost as excited as me!

Reztarkreefer · Jun 25, 2018

Well guys and gals I took a plunge, can't tell you how relieved I am that the hard part is over. I'm ecstatic to say NO MORE REEFER CRAP PLUMBING!! I've read countless horror stories about these bulkheads plus they're metric and I'm in the US...
1. I need standard plumbing and by pure luck found out that 1" schedule 80 fits very snug inside red sea reefer bulkhead. However for my designed manifold and plumbing system I needed to come right off the bulkhead to a 90°. So i decided to cut the end off of the reefer plumbing (not thinking there would be any issues) aaaaand to my surprise, the reefer plumbing is TAPERED! After cutting the end off there was absolutely no way to fit the 1" PVC into the reefer bulkhead.

2. I pondered for a bit.. Shoot.. what do I do now? Bite the bullet and pay for new reefer plumbing (that I don't want) and try again? Remove the overflow and install new bulkheads? Wait.. CAN I remove the overflow? Mind you I've never done anything like this before. After a beer and about 20 minutes of pondering I went for it. After the first cut of silicone I was committed. The feeling of cutting into a $3000.00 aquarium is by far no sunset or walk in the park. Each cut was very careful to not impede on the structural silicone of the aquarium. After about 30 minutes the overflow was out. The hard part was done. (Or so I thought)

3. The PITA refer 3 link bulkhead. It hadn't even crossed my mind that it would also be siliconed in. (Of course? Why wouldn't it be?) I just hadn't thought about it. So I start cutting away once again. 30 minutes in and I'm sweating, barely getting anywhere, especially with it so close to the rear of the aquarium. After just over and hour I FINALLY get it out. Broken, but it's out and the glass is intact. I cleaned the remaining silicone and test fit my bulkheads. (Pictured is 1 x 1" and 2 x 3/4", however I will need to install 3 x 1") If I had the chance to start over would I do it the same? Yes. Without a doubt

Reztarkreefer · Jun 25, 2018

Now my favorite part, the plumbing. I spent countless hours in front of this aquarium trying to decide how I wanted to do it. Tried one way, then a second way, then a third way.... I just couldn't find anything I liked. And like i said, I'm a perfectionist. And the best part is that im in no hurry. With how my new sump was designed I struggled with ways to make it look good under this rsr525. Finally i got a stroke of luck and accidentally pushed the drain pipe to the side of the sump. I sat and pondered the look for a few minutes and decided to run with it for a while. Not knowing it would lead me right where I wanted to go. I re designed for the 10,000th time and put in another order.

Reztarkreefer · Jun 25, 2018

This brings you up to speed on where I am today. I spent half my day dry fitting my return and manifold design. (Which I changed multiple times) It went rather smoothly and im extremely satisfied with my design. Unfortunately I missed a quantity of one fitting by 2! Two fittings short?! No way. Maybe I subconsciously did it just to order more supplies
For the return I wanted to keep the RSR piece that detaches from the top of the overflow. I took a leap and ordered a threaded x slip 3/4 90, and a 3/4 loc line adapter. To my surprise it worked perfectly!

I'll keep you guys updated as supplies roll in, please feel free to ask questions or give me your opinion on my design! Thanks!!

SPR1968 · Jun 25, 2018

Wow great build thread and welcome to R2R!

And thanks for all the pictures as well.

Reztarkreefer · Jun 25, 2018

SPR1968 said:
Wow great build thread and welcome to R2R!

And thanks for all the pictures as well.

There will be plenty more to come! As well as a parts list for the plumbing, thanks for following!

ksfulk · Jun 25, 2018

Interesting to see someone go after the overflow like that. Are you planning on siliconing it back in place, now that the bulkheads are swapped out, or have you gotten that far yet? I havent had much in the way of issues with the RS plumbing, though I did hard PVC in everything south of the bulkheads. Most of the issues come with people torquing the every living snot out of the plastic and breaking it, or the o-rings going back over time. I suppose Ive just been lucky.

Did yours come with the standard sump and you went with the trigger because you already purchased it? Im curious if there was a reason beyond that, or if you had some specific reason in mind. I swapped my RS sump out for a BashSea sump a year or so ago and it was more to get away from the red sea small socks that anything else. Since the trigger sump is very similar to the RS original, I was curious.

Are you planning on running a fuge or something else for nutrient management? Or have you even gotten that far yet?

Reztarkreefer · Jun 25, 2018

ksfulk said:
Interesting to see someone go after the overflow like that. Are you planning on siliconing it back in place, now that the bulkheads are swapped out, or have you gotten that far yet? I havent had much in the way of issues with the RS plumbing, though I did hard PVC in everything south of the bulkheads. Most of the issues come with people torquing the every living snot out of the plastic and breaking it, or the o-rings going back over time. I suppose Ive just been lucky.

Did yours come with the standard sump and you went with the trigger because you already purchased it? Im curious if there was a reason beyond that, or if you had some specific reason in mind. I swapped my RS sump out for a BashSea sump a year or so ago and it was more to get away from the red sea small socks that anything else. Since the trigger sump is very similar to the RS original, I was curious.

Are you planning on running a fuge or something else for nutrient management? Or have you even gotten that far yet?

I will be siliconing the overflow back in. I thought about siliconing a small sheet of glass over those holes and drilling the back for a ghost overflow however my wife doesn't like the look of the aquarium sticking out from the wall. And removing the overflow was the only way to remove the rsr bulkhead.

I didn't want to do the job of converting the plumbing from metric to standard with "15 wraps of teflon", I wanted something easily manageable that I wont have to worry about my tank relying on 3 small o-rings. Plus after the adapter conversion the top standpipe no longer becomes easily removable.

As far as the sump, I purchased it for my acrylic aquarium build first, then had the option to get the 525 cheaper without the rsr sump (which I'm not really a fan of anyways) so plumbing it wasn't a forethought until I got it into place. I really like the trigger systems sump and after spending a good chunk of change on it I wanted to attempt to make it work.

As far as nutrient management I'll be running carbon and gfo reactors (haven't decided if I want bashsea, aquamax, or the brs dual reactor) then the chamber behind the filter socks I wanted to keep accessible for a fuge and chaeto. Ive played with the idea of an algae scrubber but dont have any experience with them (I've read goods and bads) and decided that's a component that can always be added.

Reztarkreefer · Jun 25, 2018

Well guys today while I was at home on my lunch break (also admiring my new plumbing) I noticed that I have overlooked the condition of the paint on the back glass of the aquarium. It was not in the best of conditions by any means. Well my lunch is an hour long soo..... "Lets just remove it an re paint it." I pulled my tank out from the wall to gain access and after about 5 minutes I started feeling like a kid unwrapping a present on Christmas. The great look of absolutely pristine glass is on the top of my list. I stepped back to take a picture and thought, "What if I made this a peninsula?" Well FIRST I need the wifes approval. She seemed indifferent to began but my excitement grew on her quickly. I still have not made up my mind as to if im going to pursue this or not.. But i'd probably be the ONLY RSR 525XL Peninsula. What do you guys think!?
If I do end up going this route i plan to silicone a plate of glass over the existing bulkhead holes, and drill the side of the aquarium for a ghost overflow. Leaving the footprint of my tank MUCH larger.

NY_Caveman · Jun 25, 2018

Reztarkreefer said:
Well guys today while I was at home on my lunch break (also admiring my new plumbing) I noticed that I have overlooked the condition of the paint on the back glass of the aquarium. It was not in the best of conditions by any means. Well my lunch is an hour long soo..... "Lets just remove it an re paint it." I pulled my tank out from the wall to gain access and after about 5 minutes I started feeling like a kid unwrapping a present on Christmas. The great look of absolutely pristine glass is on the top of my list. I stepped back to take a picture and thought, "What if I made this a peninsula?" Well FIRST I need the wifes approval. She seemed indifferent to began but my excitement grew on her quickly. I still have not made up my mind as to if im going to pursue this or not.. But i'd probably be the ONLY RSR 525XL Peninsula. What do you guys think!?
If I do end up going this route i plan to silicone a plate of glass over the existing bulkhead holes, and drill the side of the aquarium for a ghost overflow. Leaving the footprint of my tank MUCH larger.

LOL, that is awesome!

Reztarkreefer · Jun 25, 2018

NY_Caveman said:
LOL, that is awesome!

Right!! It's something new!

Reztarkreefer · Jun 25, 2018

Alright guys im looking for some insight. Ive decided to go ahead and make the conversion to a peninsula. Im planning on trying to use the shadow box overflow, (16" long)I'm a huge fan of the sleek design. Ive measured out where it would go and would like to run a return line on either side.
HOWEVER ive never drilled a tank before.. I'm not too worried about my abilities to take my time and make it work, but my question is with 2 and 3/4 space left on either side is it safe to drill for 3/4 bulkheads so close to the edge? The face of the schedule 80 bulkheads is slightly larger than 2 1/4 so they'll fit, which leaves the outer edge of the return hole approx. 3/4" from the edge. (The glass is 5/8 thick)

Ive also thought about off setting the overflow to one side to allow more room for the return bulkheads on the other side and am not opposed to doing it this way.

Thanks for the input!

Reztarkreefer · Jun 25, 2018

Here's a better example

Reztarkreefer · Jun 25, 2018

A simple search and I was able to find my answer haha back to the drawing board

Gary Inwood · Jun 26, 2018

great build can not wait to see more

damianoscott · Jun 26, 2018

Reztarkreefer said:
Well guys and gals I took a plunge, can't tell you how relieved I am that the hard part is over. I'm ecstatic to say NO MORE REEFER CRAP PLUMBING!! I've read countless horror stories about these bulkheads plus they're metric and I'm in the US...
1. I need standard plumbing and by pure luck found out that 1" schedule 80 fits very snug inside red sea reefer bulkhead. However for my designed manifold and plumbing system I needed to come right off the bulkhead to a 90°. So i decided to cut the end off of the reefer plumbing (not thinking there would be any issues) aaaaand to my surprise, the reefer plumbing is TAPERED! After cutting the end off there was absolutely no way to fit the 1" PVC into the reefer bulkhead.

2. I pondered for a bit.. Shoot.. what do I do now? Bite the bullet and pay for new reefer plumbing (that I don't want) and try again? Remove the overflow and install new bulkheads? Wait.. CAN I remove the overflow? Mind you I've never done anything like this before. After a beer and about 20 minutes of pondering I went for it. After the first cut of silicone I was committed. The feeling of cutting into a $3000.00 aquarium is by far no sunset or walk in the park. Each cut was very careful to not impede on the structural silicone of the aquarium. After about 30 minutes the overflow was out. The hard part was done. (Or so I thought)

3. The PITA refer 3 link bulkhead. It hadn't even crossed my mind that it would also be siliconed in. (Of course? Why wouldn't it be?) I just hadn't thought about it. So I start cutting away once again. 30 minutes in and I'm sweating, barely getting anywhere, especially with it so close to the rear of the aquarium. After just over and hour I FINALLY get it out. Broken, but it's out and the glass is intact. I cleaned the remaining silicone and test fit my bulkheads. (Pictured is 1 x 1" and 2 x 3/4", however I will need to install 3 x 1") If I had the chance to start over would I do it the same? Yes. Without a doubt

Hi I was wondering if you the measurement of the 3 holes with nothing in them. As I'm trying to go with a 1 1/4" return and 2 x 1" drains thank you

Reztarkreefer · Jun 26, 2018

damianoscott said:
Hi I was wondering if you the measurement of the 3 holes with nothing in them. As I'm trying to go with a 1 1/4" return and 2 x 1" drains thank you

Yes, as soon as i get home tonight i'll measure whatever you'd like dimensions for