Twin Red Sea Reefer 1000 build (freshwater)

[harrisonsaid]

I’m also running a Red Sea for freshwater and aside from removing the skimmer, they’re pretty much setup for success. There’s not much to change. I also use Ecotech pumps and they’ve never failed me.

The only thing you’d want to swap out like you’re already planning to are those inkbird temp controllers if you got the ones with the stainless probes. They rust out eventually and put you in a bad position with the heater getting too got. They have a newer one with a rubber probe and those are supposedly built to last

I got lucky and accidentally ordered the one with rubberized sensors.

Glad to hear about the pumps. Reading reviews online is always hit or miss, and I went from knowing nothing about return pumps to spending some big money on them with no real experience, so it's been stressful.

 

[harrisonsaid]

I've seen those roller filters and for now I'm unconvinced as to how well they would work. Seems to me like some gunk would get past and murk up your sump. At their best I doubt they could work any better than good ole socks. I think the draw is less maintenance (replacing socks) and they also give an "impressive" look for the reefer types who have to have the fanciest new gadget.

I think the seals would only fail in the case of an extreme shock load. In list form I would rank the potential danger like this:

1. Yourself! You are squishier and lighter than this tank lol
2. The glass
3. Your walls and floor
4. The seals

I have exactly zero real world experience with either, so it seems likely I'm a victim of their marketing and wanting the fancy new gadget...but I don't mind a few hundred bucks for experimenting with new concepts either.

Honestly it took 100% of my strength with a friend just to lift the tanks a few inches off the pallet. I don't see a world where I can lift it 36" to the stand. Luckily I have a few weeks for everything else to get finished to think about it, but I think it will be one of the harder parts of the project.

 

[harrisonsaid]

Speak of the devil, the roller just arrived. Pup wanted to show it off:

 

[Backfromthedead]

I have exactly zero real world experience with either, so it seems likely I'm a victim of their marketing and wanting the fancy new gadget...but I don't mind a few hundred bucks for experimenting with new concepts either.

Honestly it took 100% of my strength with a friend just to lift the tanks a few inches off the pallet. I don't see a world where I can lift it 36" to the stand. Luckily I have a few weeks for everything else to get finished to think about it, but I think it will be one of the harder parts of the project.

Well you are in a good position to see which works better cause you can go one tank roller and the other tank with socks

 

[harrisonsaid]

Well, no turning back now. I'll post a better update later today once they're finished.

 

[harrisonsaid]

Plumbers are all finished up and let me tell you...I'm glad I hired this out. It looks fairly simple all complete but watching them go through the process taught me some things I never expected to know.

Finished plumbing:



They were also nice enough to fix an issue with my bathtub while they were here.

I also ended up building one of the stands. I like the design and it seems very sturdy, except I think it's going to be tough to get into the room now. I was not expecting the height on the stand:





The hallway is only 44" so there won't be a lot of room to rotate it through the doorway. I'm hoping it doesn't have to come apart again, I will know soon enough.

The electrician told me today it could be as late as Monday of next week before he can fit me in, so my original plan of finishing all the work on this wall this week is unlikely.

I'm going to go pick up the vinyl flooring I'm using on the wall tonight so it's ready, as well as some supplies to repair the drywall.

 

[harrisonsaid]

I got pretty lucky, the electrician called me yesterday and could fit me in, so I now have 2 dedicated 20 amp GFCI circuits, one for each tank.

I started the drywall repair and picked up the vinyl plank flooring I will be using to cover the whole wall last night. This will be waterproof and cover a lot of the drywall work, not to mention I think it will overall look great behind the tanks.

I'm hoping to finish all of this up this weekend so that I can get the tanks and stands in the room next week!

I also made an order from BRS for all the drain plumbing I will need. Not looking forward to drilling into my new sumps, but that's just part of the project.

 

[harrisonsaid]

Making good progress on the accent wall (aka the hide my shameful drywall repair wall). I ran out of adhesive last night or I could have kept going. The vinyl flooring is surprisingly easy to work with and only requires scoring and snapping, so I can do all my cutting right there in the room.




I also got my BRS order in, and boy does it not look like $250 worth of stuff...I managed to grab the wrong type of one of the fittings so I will try and find them local instead.

 

[fishguy1978]

The moving company might have a lift that will allow for raising the aquarium to the stand height and then sliding them into place. You could also build some wooden saw horses the same height which would allow the same. Looking forward to seeing the finished project.

 

[Backfromthedead]

Making good progress on the accent wall (aka the hide my shameful drywall repair wall). I ran out of adhesive last night or I could have kept going. The vinyl flooring is surprisingly easy to work with and only requires scoring and snapping, so I can do all my cutting right there in the room.


View attachment 1495868

I also got my BRS order in, and boy does it not look like $250 worth of stuff...I managed to grab the wrong type of one of the fittings so I will try and find them local instead.

View attachment 1495869

Yeah I know what you mean....I think red sea uses some proprietary fittings, metric silliness of some kind.