waboss

I recently moved and decided I wanted more horizontal space in the tank and wasn't really diggin' the cube design of my Reefer 170. So, since cash was a little tight during the move and I didn't really want to drop a bunch on a newer Reefer, like a 250 0r 350, I decided to go "old school" and just build a stand and drill a 40 breeder. Now, to be fair, I did check with a couple of local builders to have a custom tank and metal stand built, but in both cases, it didn't work out. One had too long of a wait list for my needs and the other became unreachable after getting the quote. So that also helped "push" me into this decision (time will tell if it was a good idea or not......haha!) So here's some details of the tank right now: -Aqueon 40 Gallon breeder drilled for an eShopps Eclipse overflow and a 3/4" return -Quiet One 5000 Return feeding a manifold for the other filters/reactors -Deltec SC1351 skimmer -Neptune Apex Classic -2x DoS -FMM module with sensors on return and UV filter -BRS mini media reactor -MP10 QDW -Jebao PP-4 -Reefbreeders Photon 24 V2 -Aqua UV HOB 15 watt UV filter So when I moved, I moved the LR (kept it wet) and just did basically a full water change. I did scrub the LR, in tank water, before putting it in the new tank since I had some hair algae issues in the old tank (looking back, I should have just started over......but I was trying to keep my coral and critters alive and happy...this partially worked). I still need to build the panels to enclose the cabinet. I have all the hardware, but need to go get some nice panels, cut them down, and stain them. Here it is after "initial" setup (Initial is in quotes as I made several little changes during the very beginning of setup) I was really tired of having so many pumps and cables in my sump, and I wanted to free up the refugium area to use it for some macro algae,so I beefed up the return pump and added a manifold. Here's where we are now: During this whole build out, I was dealing with some cyano issues and hair algae (probably from the move and then all the tinkering I was doing). The cyano is prett much gone now and the hair algae is getting under control. So I'm hoping to have it all healthy and "smooth" soon. Well, until I decide I hate the 40 breeder and go with something like a CAD lights shallow or have something else built.

it's been a while, so I figured I'd post an update. Tank's been through a few changes and I've been hemming and hawing on either just shutting it down and getting out until I buy another house, or changing it around to make it more "attractive" to me. Currently I'm on a lagoon style kick but haven't made any decisions yet and I keep tinkering, so it's staying interesting. I'm getting to the point where I really want to leave it alone and watch things grow, but that never seems to happen. Since my last update on the tank, I've done the following: -Changed the lighting again, first to a Nanobox LED (was not happy with it) and then to an AI Hydra 26HD. I ended up adding a second one purely for coverage to minimize shadowing but I'm leaning towards taking both of them down and just using a single Hydra 52HD or 2x AI Prime HDs. To be honest, I was getting fed up with trying to tweak the individual colors and was thinking of going back to the Kessils until I found the Kelvin settings on the AI software, now I'm very happy with the Hydras. -Pulled my BRS dosers and installed 2x Netpune DOS's . They're pricey but they made my life easier and the tank is more stable. So that was definitely a good thing. The "bad" thing is that I may end up dosing more additives (KZ or red sea) and I'll need more heads. So I may end up pulling 1 of the DOS's and adding a 5th Kore or Profilux. -Picked up an Aquamaxx rimless cuboid tank and turned it into a sump. Swapped it out with the stock one that comes with the Reefer and now I have much more room to see and work on things. It was all about layout....had nothing to do with quality. The sump Red Sea supplies is top notch, I just got tired of dealing with the layout. -Went through a bit of a "flow changing" craze. Had a Gyre xf-130, switched to 2x Tunze 6055's, then back to the Gyre, and finally landed on 2x RW-4's connected to my Apex. They may be cheap, but they seem to be working better for me than my other options (similar to the Tunze 6055's, but they were just too big). -And most recently, this past weekend actually, I pulled out all the rock that had aptasia on it (there's was a fair amount) and redid my rock work with reefcleaners dry rock.

Thanks for all the input so far! I like the idea of a longer tank, and while I know it'll be safe as long as I run it across the joists, convincing my landlord is another thing. My last tank, before I moved here, was 96x24x24.......the length was great! On that tank, I made my own sump from a 75Gal and a refugium from a 40Gal, which all worked out well. I have considered, for about a NY minute, a cadlight tank and stand but I've seen, and heard, from folks, including people I know personally that their quality has dropped considerably. I've even priced out a custom tank/stand from Reef Frenzy, Reefomania, and a couple of acrylic custom builders. I'm not crazy about acrylic tanks but thought I'd check them out. I guess I'm kind of in a spot where I don't want to invest a ton in a custom tank as I plan to move within the next year or two, when I buy a house, and then I'll be going back to larger setup. Decisions, decisions......

You know, I really do like that tank, but it's an AIO and I want to stay with a sump and such. So if I were to go that route, I'd need to remove the rear sections and either drill the tank (not a big deal) or use an overflow box. I mean if I found a great deal on one, I might go that route.....just because it is a cool tank. Thanks for the input!

OK, so here's the deal. I have a Red Sea Reefer 170, which I do like a lot and it's a H-E-double hockey sticks of a tank/stand/sump combo. What I don't like, and didn't realize until after I had it up for months, is that I'd really prefer a shallower tank with a little more length to it. It will have to stay at about the same volume as weight is an issue in my second story apartment. So here's what I'm thinking at this point. Pick up a Deepblue 36x18x16 rimless, RR, tank and a R&J Oak Extreme stand. Pro's -36" in length vs. the 24 I have now. Allows a little more "room" for fish to swim and coral placement is easier (for me) -Takes about 4" off the height of the tank -Stand has a reputation for being built like a tank (which is one of the things I really like about the Reefer170 stand) -Stand is a little taller (36") so plenty of room and better viewing for a shallower tank -It's not a cube! Or cube-ish. I'm becoming less and less of a fan of cube tanks Cons -Money man....spending more bloody money! -In relation to the first con, need to buy a good sump as well (probably a ruby trigger) -All the mods I've done to my setup will be "lost" many won't tranferr over to the new system -Have to get rid of my Reefer 170 once I've moved everything over -Work involved in moving tanks....not a big deal, but is something to consider So after taking the time to write this post, it's pretty evident that all the cons will there no matter what I do, if I switch tanks......so there's that! Anyone have any helpful thoughts, comments, ideas?

Ok, made a quick video today during maintenance of the reactor running.....if you can hear it, you're better than I am! Clicky

Well, I need to do a water change tomorrow anyway, so I'll have everything shut down. Maybe I'll make a quick video of the reactor running solo so you can check out the noise level.

Cool! I work well with lists 1- First couple of days, no, but it's not loud either. After a few days, it's pretty quiet, I can't hear it at all with everything else running. 2- I think so. Well, so far anyway. I'm still not sure about this whole "fluidizing" carbon thing....but it seems to be working well so far. 3- It seemed very effective. I didn't end up with carbon "dust" floating around my tank or even on the while acrylic pieces of the reactor....but to be honest, see the second part above. 4- I can't really speak to that, you can email them though or ask in their dedicated part of this or other forums. From my experience, they get back to you pretty quickly (email is probably best). Hope this helps!

I have their smallest spyglass in the sump of my Reefer 170. It seems to work well and stays pretty silent after the first couple of days. I had issues with media falling down below the ball they use to separate the output of the pump from the media, but just installed the small mesh "plate" and it working much better now. What all do you want to know?

I haven't picked them up yet, but I've been thinking about it. My tank's pretty small though (34 Gal display) so I could probably only use 1 as 2 would probably make it like a tsunami in my tank. I like the idea of controlling it from my Apex but I'm afraid that with only being able to use 1, I'd have too many dead spots.

Yeah, they work out well, and they make a nice place for pods to spawn.

I just realized that I never created a build thread over here for my new (well, new-er at this point) Red Sea Reefer 170. I had a BC29 that I had started a thread on but that kind of grew into what I have now. A little history first I suppose. I just got back into reef keeping about a year ago and started back in with a Biocube 29. Within about 6 months, I converted/tweaked/hammered/cut everything on it so that it wasn't really an AIO anymore (go figure) and I really wanted a little more real estate for rock work and such. So.......I started looking around at all the reef ready tanks that were easy to get and decided that if I went that way, I'd go with a Deep Blue 20x20x16 or a 24x24x12. So I kept looking around and checked on the Red Sea Reefer tanks but they were still too hard to find at the time (or so I thought). As things sometimes go, I got busy and didn't really push it along for a month or so. Which is a good thing since the more I kept checking out the reefers, the more I liked them. On a whim, I decided to check with around locally again to see if any were available. Well, as luck would have it, Quantum Reefs did have one in stock. So there we go! It must be fate right? Well I picked up the 170 brought it home and set it up (let me tell you....that bloody thing is pretty darn heavy.....lugging it up my steps was I'm sure a comedic scene). After getting it setup, the rest of the night (and on into the morning) was devoted moving it into the right place (after moving the BC29 out of it), getting familiar with the overflow adjustments, and migrating all my crittters that were in the BC29 to the 170. It all went pretty smoothly though, just some of the "normal" issues one has when doing this stuff. Like not premixing enough seawater, misplacing one of the clamps for the return, you know, stuff like that. So now it's been up and running for 2 months and doing pretty well. Of course I haven't stopped tweaking it a little here and there, but I think I need to just let it "grow" for a while before making any more large changes. To be honest, now that I have had it up and running for a couple of months, I do really like it, I just wish it wasn't quite as tall as it is. I love how tall the stand is, but I kinda wish the tank was about 4-6 inches shorter (no, I'm not going to cut it!). And now for some pics. Here it is right after I set it up: (yes, there's a little cyano on the side of the frag rocks......annoying) Inside the stand: After I swapped out the MP10 for a Gyre 130: Some shots of my "tenants": When my Skimz SN123 skimmer froze up and I had to run a SCA-302 for a couple of weeks: (also moved the marinepure spheres to the sump) New look under an ATI 6x24w instead of the Kessil: Only thing different now is that it's back under the Kessil instead of the ATI due to some relay issues on the ATI (I think). I haven't decided yet which light I'm going to keep in the long run. I'll try to keep this thread updated.

Hi there everyone. I figured since I just joined up here at WAMAS, I'd go ahead and make a tank thread. I picked up a BC29 in November of last year as I wanted to get back into the hobby after being out of it for about 10 years. My last tank was a 240 display with another 110G in sump/fuge. I couldn't go anywhere near that large as I'm still renting and don't want to go big again until I buy another house. So I went with a Coralife Biocube 29. Looking back, I should have just followed my gut and built my own system instead of picking up an AIO since that's pretty much what I've done anyway So here's a few pics of it's current iteration. These are from tonight and I just finished moving all the electronics over to another small cabinet/stand that's next to the tank/stand, so the pumps and lights just came back on, so some of the coral aren't quite open and "happy" yet. Also, I had a nasty bout of cyano that reeked havoc on some of my acan colonies, so some of them are "healing" now.: