RED SEA 350

[Flash21]

So Wife and I are going to pick up a Red Sea 350 next weekend.  

Do any of you have any tips tricks or hacks? 

 

Thanks Chris 

[SuncrestReef]

Nice choice.  I have the Reefer XL 425.  Here are a few thoughts that come to mind:

1. My Reefer shipped with one extra cabinet board.  I ordered the black cabinet, but I found one white base board and I worried they screwed up my order.  But it turns out that extra piece was just a filler piece during shipping.  I'm not sure if they do that on all models of Reefers, but don't be surprised if you end up with one unused cabinet piece.

2. Use a power screwdriver during assembly if you have one, otherwise your wrist is going to be very tired.  Just be careful not to over-tighten.

3. Be sure to mount the door hinges before you place the sump in the cabinet, otherwise you won't be able to get a screwdriver in there.

4. The door hinges can be a little finicky to get the doors level and evenly spaced.  There are two adjustment screws on each hinge, but the instructions aren't clear on how to adjust them.  Trial and error will eventually pay off.

5. Are you going to use hard plumbing?  If so, keep in mind the Red Sea plumbing is metric so you won't be able to easily find a threaded PVC adapter.  Most people end up using a 3/4" threaded fitting and wrap it with about 14 layers of teflon tape.  Worked fine for me.

6. Many people have converted the stock ATO reservoir into a refugium. It worked well.  I feed my ATO from a large RO/DI storage tank, so I had no need for the small 3 gallon ATO.  Not sure if your sump will be the v3 that has a refugium divider option.

7. Adjusting the overflow valve can be a pain, but eventually you will get it dialed in and silent.  Just make very, very small adjustments to the valve and wait about 2 minutes before making further adjustments.  You can watch the water level in the overflow slowly rise or fall.  Once you get the valve set just right the overflow level will stay constant.

8. I replaced the stock return nozzle with dual random flow nozzles from VCA and really like them.  https://vividcreativeaquatics.com/product-spotlight/random-flow-generator/

That's all I can think of right now, but there are probably a lot of other details I'm overlooking.  I wrote up a very detailed account of my whole build process in my R2R build thread (including converting the ATO to refugium) if you want to look at it for other ideas:  https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/suncrestreefs-red-sea-reefer-xl-425-build.358990/

Good luck!

[pdxmonkeyboy]

my advice.. never bring a receipt home from the fish store..


Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[SuncrestReef]

3 minutes ago, pdxmonkeyboy said:

my advice.. never bring a receipt home from the fish store..


Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 

I can't remember where I saw it, but they had a sign posted saying for an extra $10 they'll print a receipt that lists the amount you told your spouse...🤣

 

[Flash21]

4 hours ago, SuncrestReef said:

Nice choice.  I have the Reefer XL 425.  Here are a few thoughts that come to mind:

1. My Reefer shipped with one extra cabinet board.  I ordered the black cabinet, but I found one white base board and I worried they screwed up my order.  But it turns out that extra piece was just a filler piece during shipping.  I'm not sure if they do that on all models of Reefers, but don't be surprised if you end up with one unused cabinet piece.

2. Use a power screwdriver during assembly if you have one, otherwise your wrist is going to be very tired.  Just be careful not to over-tighten.

3. Be sure to mount the door hinges before you place the sump in the cabinet, otherwise you won't be able to get a screwdriver in there.

4. The door hinges can be a little finicky to get the doors level and evenly spaced.  There are two adjustment screws on each hinge, but the instructions aren't clear on how to adjust them.  Trial and error will eventually pay off.

5. Are you going to use hard plumbing?  If so, keep in mind the Red Sea plumbing is metric so you won't be able to easily find a threaded PVC adapter.  Most people end up using a 3/4" threaded fitting and wrap it with about 14 layers of teflon tape.  Worked fine for me.

6. Many people have converted the stock ATO reservoir into a refugium. It worked well.  I feed my ATO from a large RO/DI storage tank, so I had no need for the small 3 gallon ATO.  Not sure if your sump will be the v3 that has a refugium divider option.

7. Adjusting the overflow valve can be a pain, but eventually you will get it dialed in and silent.  Just make very, very small adjustments to the valve and wait about 2 minutes before making further adjustments.  You can watch the water level in the overflow slowly rise or fall.  Once you get the valve set just right the overflow level will stay constant.

8. I replaced the stock return nozzle with dual random flow nozzles from VCA and really like them.  https://vividcreativeaquatics.com/product-spotlight/random-flow-generator/

That's all I can think of right now, but there are probably a lot of other details I'm overlooking.  I wrote up a very detailed account of my whole build process in my R2R build thread (including converting the ATO to refugium) if you want to look at it for other ideas:  https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/suncrestreefs-red-sea-reefer-xl-425-build.358990/

Good luck!

Thanks! I will look into this Return Nozzle! 

[shaywood]

If your use to normal plumbing, DON'T over-tighten the Red Sea pipes. 

SuncrestReef, which model random flow did you buy? I'm assuming it's the same for the 450. Did you have to buy any adapters? 

 

[SuncrestReef]

1 hour ago, shaywood said:

If your use to normal plumbing, DON'T over-tighten the Red Sea pipes. 

SuncrestReef, which model random flow did you buy? I'm assuming it's the same for the 450. Did you have to buy any adapters? 

 

I got the VCA Y-splitter 1/2" locline with two nozzles:  https://vividcreativeaquatics.com/shop/red-sea-reefer-ultimate-return-line-upgrade-25mm-to-12in-rfg/

If I were to do it again I'd get the 3/4" version because the 1/2" really restricts return flow.

There are no adapters needed.  You just pull off the Red Sea nozzle and attach the VCA parts.  They make these specifically for Red Sea Reefers.

Edited September 9, 2018 by SuncrestReef

[spectra]

12 hours ago, Flash21 said:

So Wife and I are going to pick up a Red Sea 350 next weekend.  

Do any of you have any tips tricks or hacks? 

 

Thanks Chris 

Dont drop it carrying it up the stairs............

 

[Flash21]

2 minutes ago, spectra said:

Dont drop it carrying it up the stairs............

 

Scott is this a trick tip or hack? 

I will take this is a offer that your helping me? You’ll need to show me how not to drop it.  Might as well set it up for me too! 

 

[SuncrestReef]

Is this a new tank in the crate, or a used tank already assembled?

[Flash21]

Used. 

[spectra]

19 minutes ago, Flash21 said:

Scott is this a trick tip or hack? 

I will take this is a offer that your helping me? You’ll need to show me how not to drop it.  Might as well set it up for me too! 

 

Sure I will set up a lawn chair and watch the dogs so they dont get under your feet...........

 

I dont like heavy things......

[Flash21]

You work with steel! Everything is heavy! 

[albertareef]

49 minutes ago, spectra said:

Sure I will set up a lawn chair and watch the dogs so they dont get under your feet...........

 

I dont like heavy things......

Sounds like a professional to me!

[SuncrestReef]

2 hours ago, Flash21 said:

Used. 

I guess a lot of what I wrote doesn't apply since the cabinet is already assembled.  Sorry for the long-winded response.

[Flash21]

7 hours ago, SuncrestReef said:

I guess a lot of what I wrote doesn't apply since the cabinet is already assembled.  Sorry for the long-winded response.

No worries.  You gave some good information for anyone reading this.  I have a small amount of knowledge on building stuff. 

[Flash21]

The hack for the Refug is nice.  

I saw they have filter cups for the Sump which thh is once thing I’ll be after.  

Need to think of a Top for the tank. 

[SuncrestReef]

8 hours ago, Flash21 said:

The hack for the Refug is nice.  

I saw they have filter cups for the Sump which thh is once thing I’ll be after.  

Need to think of a Top for the tank. 

I started using the filter cups last month, but I'm not yet convinced if I like them better than filter socks.  My Reefer shipped with the 225 micron mesh socks which are very easy to clean because they're very thin, but they build up detritus both inside and outside the mesh fabric, so if you don't swap them frequently all the exterior detritus falls off into your sump when you remove them. Next I tried the felt filter socks. These definitely trap all the detritus inside, but cleaning them is a major pain.  So I bought a couple media filter cups and stuffed them with some Acurel filter fiber.  I've found I can go about 4 days before they start to overflow, then I dump out the old filter fiber and stuff a new handful in.  It's hard to say whether they trap more or less detritus than the socks, but they definitely are easier to clean/swap.

For a lid I bought the Red Sea DIY kit.  It's a bit flimsy, but it gets the job done.  It also took a lot more time and work building it than I anticipated.  Since you need to measure and cut the aluminum rails, I ended up using a metal cutting jigsaw with a guide fence to get clean cuts.  I don't think a plain hacksaw would be very clean or precise.  If I had to do it again, I'd probably order an acrylic lid.