Timmons Reefer 525 Build

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BTimmons

Active Member
So I'm happy to be getting back into action. Had to get rid of the S-650 due to personal reasons. About to have a Reefer XL 525 on the way. Trying to nail down the specifics as far as what equipment and rock/sand I will be using. So far I'm thinking:

3 Radion Xr15 with the wide angle lens
Vectra M1 return pump
Vortech MP40wQD
~100# Florida reef rock from reef cleaners. Maybe less and add some primo live rock later.

Still undecided on what sand and protein skimmer to use. Chances are I will end up with a heavy bio load. I see a lot of people using Vertex. I had a Skimz DC skimmer I was happy with but prices seem to have gone up. Open to any suggestions. Thanks.
 
pablomay28

pablomay28

Well-Known Member
BTimmons said:
So I'm happy to be getting back into action. Had to get rid of the S-650 due to personal reasons. About to have a Reefer XL 525 on the way. Trying to nail down the specifics as far as what equipment and rock/sand I will be using. So far I'm thinking:

3 Radion Xr15 with the wide angle lens
Vectra M1 return pump
Vortech MP40wQD
~100# Florida reef rock from reef cleaners. Maybe less and add some primo live rock later.

Still undecided on what sand and protein skimmer to use. Chances are I will end up with a heavy bio load. I see a lot of people using Vertex. I had a Skimz DC skimmer I was happy with but prices seem to have gone up. Open to any suggestions. Thanks.
Click to expand...

In regards to sand stay away from any of the black sands as they contain metals and will scratch your glass as mine did. I have the reefer 450 and the RLSS R6i works perfect. I would reccomend the RLSS R8i or RLSS DB8 they are both dc skimmers with waveline pumps. If you want to save money they have a new dc skimmer with a jebao pump called Simplicity and they have them at Dr Foster & Smit . The dc 240 would fit your tank and they are a steal at $250.
 
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BTimmons

Active Member
Thanks for the input.

So the tank is ordered. The lights and pumps are ordered.

Looking at sourcing some dry rock from members of my local reef club before I order online. I decided on the Tropic Eden Reef Flakes for sand.

Still up in the air on a skimmer. I have a while to decide. I don't plan on running it during the cycle anyway. There are so many options to mull over. I just need something that will meet my needs, I'm not getting into the reef equipment pissing contest. I plan on incorporating an ATS in this setup as well.
 
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BTimmons

Active Member
First off, I hope that anyone getting this snowstorm is doing well and their tanks are safe, flowing and warm.

That being said, there's nothing like shoveling snow and then coming in to order stuff for a brand new tank!

Tank is slated for delivery the first part of this week. Not sure if the weather will postpone that. I almost hope so as I need them to wheel it inside of my garage.

All of my Ecotech equipment is shipped and should arrive by the end of the week.

Just ordered two Jager heaters, two buckets of Brightwell Neo Marine salt, some new ro/di supplies and my reef flakes substrate.

Reefcleaners rock was out of stock but they said it should appear back in stock Monday.

I think I've gotten everything ordered except that rock and my skimmer. I think I'm going to try the Simplicity 320DC skimmer. I spoke with a local guy who loves his 240 and I found a pretty sweet deal on the 320.

Can't wait for everything to show up so I can get to playing!

Now I'm off to shovel snow and flip the bird to the a-hole plow driver that took out my mailbox...stay warm!
 
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BTimmons

Active Member
So I have a whole ton of aquarium products and one very ticked off UPS driver.

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One hundred pounds of Billy's Reef Connection dry rock

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All of my Ecotech equipment

Plus sand, salt, heaters and some RO supplies. Just waiting on one more package coming Monday from Spectrapure.

Can't wait to figure out my scape and get it wet!
 
B

BTimmons

Active Member
So I had a poor experience this time compared to my S-650 assembly a few years ago. I thought the SS screws were cheap then. This go around 4 of the locking screws were not milled correctly and had no grooves on the head. I used a wrench to get them in. One of the cam locks broke into two pieces. Placed a call to Red Sea and had to halt progress on the build.

I have what appears to be an extra piece of cabinet in the white finish? My setup is black but I have a long white board with feet and it's drilled exactly like the front and back braces with feet. Doesn't call for it anywhere in the instructions that I see and I had the correct number of pieces in black.

So I'm bummed out I probably can't get water in the tank tomorrow. Lowes was already closed tonight but I'll check and see if they have a cam lock this size. Knowing my luck, they won't.

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So I think this is going to be my scape. Still a few finishing touches to work out but I'm really liking this one. Looking straight on, it almost appears that they're all touching but it's 3 separate islands.
 
B

BTimmons

Active Member
It's getting close to the beginning of the beginning of something great!

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I got 3 friends over to help me move the tank from the garage to the stand but it only took 2 of us to move it. The suction handles worked like a charm. Best part is it only cost me $16 to rent them for the day!

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Excited junior reefer

So now I have to hook up all the good stuff and get my RO booster pump installed. Just a few more days and I'll be getting some water in this thing!
 
A

adw311

New Member
Following. I was looking into the RSM 250, but my wife shocked me by saying it was small... =) I'm shooting for the moon now.. So im looking at a 425 or 525 now, I showed her the how big it would be on the wall and she liked that better. Good thing she hasn't looked at the price. =)
 
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BTimmons

Active Member
Good luck, adw! I looked at a smaller tank because it would cost less and give me more options for placement of the tank. In the end, I went bigger because I really like surgeonfish and angelfish and I didn't want to get something that wouldn't let me house them if I choose to.

As always Glenn, thanks for the kind words.
 
B

BTimmons

Active Member
So I got my rocks in the tank.
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I didn't rinse them first because I didn't have my RO/DI water up yet. I plan to rinse them in the tank and then shop-vac the water out.

Sadly I think it will be a few days before I can get it running. I failed to realize during my planning stages that I needed NPT adapters for my Vectra M1 return pump. So I ordered them (and a Reeflink!)from Ecotech directly (BRS showed out of stock) and picked two day shipping. So far I still haven't gotten a shipping notice so I fear it will be the beginning of next week before I can fire up the tank.

I think I'm going to get to making water to partially fill the display and run heaters and my power head in it until the adapters get here. Every little bit helps right?
 
B

BTimmons

Active Member
A disheartening evening has unfolded...

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I filled up my display with freshwater. It started to drain to the sump. I hear a loud noise in the sump. That crack is in the drain chamber next to the filter socks. I don't know what happened. I don't have any glass working experience and I have no idea if it's fixable. Everything looked great until this...I emailed Red Sea...[emoji20]
 
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