Upgrading to larger tank

Phillyd1990 · Jul 21, 2017

So ive decided to make the jump and switch to a larger tank. It wont be for another 4-5 months but i want to start preparing now as i want to accomplish this in one day (one very long day). I started my tank with absolutely no experience and bought all the wrong equipment wasting alot of money and have been changing things out for better equipment along the way keeping in mind what tank i will be switching too. I plan to switch to a red sea reefer 450xl. Im basically looking for any tips, advice, or a procedure to follow during the switch. Also anything i could maybe add to my filtration to system to achieve better water chemistry. Here is a list of things lately that i have added/swapped out from original equipment.

Its a 55 gal 48x12x21 (i think) i really dont like it. Not enough space at all and way too narrow. Also really looking forward to having a rimless tank

Lighting currently is 2 hydra 26 HD's- i went through 4 different lighting systems starting with a fluval sea marine and reef led light ( that was a mistake)

Flow- 1 maxpect gyre x230. I had 3 korallia pumps in there but it wasnt enough and the flow just crashed into one spot. Also 1300 gph return pump

Eshopps hob overflow. Looking forward to that being built into the red sea reefer

Sump- bashea bio fuge 30x10x14 i actually love this sump. I switched in from my eshopps rs-75 sump. Lfs told me the eshopps was big enough and that i could put my skimmer in my refugium (only to find out later that was not a good idea). The bashea was the only good sump i could find that was narrow enough to fit under my stand but so far its great. I will be switching it out with a saphire trigger 39 once i get the reefer but i still love it.

Skimmer running is a reef octopus classic 150 int- nothing but great things from this skimmer. I put this in to replace my tunze 9004. That skimmer was a big mistake that my lfs convinced me would be great for my system only later to find out its way to small.

In my fuge i have a dsb with chaeto

Two little phishies phosphate reactor using brs gfo

Tunze ozmolator ato and kalk in my top off

Reef keeper lite monitoring ph and temp

Currently i have no fish in the tank due to ich which im going 10 weeks to try get rid of it.

I have a decent amount of corals which are all thriving and growing rapidly. Some of which are a few hammers/frogspawns, favia, acan lord continually growing new heads, trumpets, huge ocean blue stylo, sour apple birdsnest which started small but keeps branching out even more, and a small orange digitata monti.

Again i wont be making the change for 4-5 months but id like the whole operation to go as smoothly as possible. Thanks in advance!

GoVols · Jul 21, 2017

Buy one more Hydra 26 HD.

Cory · Jul 21, 2017

I think you could get a cheaper larger tank, and save money for better equipment.

While the red sea reefer is nice, imo its kind of overpriced.

Id get an apex, not a reef keeper. Even a used apex is better imo.

Tunze makes good stuff, i use an avast marine ato with peristatic pump. But the good thing is i can plug in any pump i want, and im not stuck to a dosing pump that tunze makes. Its pretty reliable too with a float switch and pressure sensitive switch.

Ive never used a phosphate reactor but id say that tlf reactor is eventually not liked by the user from what ive read. So i wouldnt spend on that.

Hydra 26 has a lot of repair issues, but ecotec doesnt.

Phillyd1990 · Jul 21, 2017

I would love to switch to an apex and have been putting serious consideration into doing so. Ive always liked the look of the reefer but i do agree they could knock some off the price. Some of the parts on the tlf are cheap but then again it was cheap in the first place. Ive had my fingers crossed with the hydras as ive read alot about the issues people have with them but as far as their performance and programming i love them. Echotech would definitely be my next choice if mine ever fail.

Whipples · Jul 21, 2017

Check out SC Aquariums over the Red Sea Series. The stock plumbing on the RSR leaves a bit to be desired and you can do a little customization with the SCA tank such as overflow placement and style (can be drilled for a synergy overflow for example). They can do stands, too, but you can also consider building one and using those savings for more fish/corals/gear! Red Sea makes good stuff, but they aren't the only option

Phillyd1990 · Jul 21, 2017

Whipples said:
Check out SC Aquariums over the Red Sea Series. The stock plumbing on the RSR leaves a bit to be desired and you can do a little customization with the SCA tank such as overflow placement and style (can be drilled for a synergy overflow for example). They can do stands, too, but you can also consider building one and using those savings for more fish/corals/gear! Red Sea makes good stuff, but they aren't the only option

Just looked at the SC aquariums and im really liking the 80 gal starfire pnp system. Thanks for the tip!