Show Off and Discuss Your Red Sea Reefer Series

[jsbull]

Still some work to do, but I got the tank back up and running late last night after the sump/plumbing/pump/reactors swap. I still need to do my dosing lines from the DOS, organize the cables a tad better and add my lighting. I'll get some pictures with my good camera once I get a chance.

Dude! You're my hero @Broadfield . Please tell me what fittings you used and how you piped off of the return lines. That's exactly what I'm trying to figure out how to do. Did you just order extra return line connectors to get the PVC onto the drain pipes?

Also, where did you get the colored fittings? Those look great.

 

[Wrasse]

Dude! You're my hero @Broadfield . Please tell me what fittings you used and how you piped off of the return lines. That's exactly what I'm trying to figure out how to do. Did you just order extra return line connectors to get the PVC onto the drain pipes?

Also, where did you get the colored fittings? Those look great.

I can't speak for exactly what @Broadfield used however the plumbing fittings you are after can be had from here: http://www.coralvue.com/metric-male-coupling

 

[Broadfield]

I can't speak for exactly what @Broadfield used however the plumbing fittings you are after can be had from here: http://www.coralvue.com/metric-male-coupling

Have you actually used these? Because according to the part breakdown on their site, these are not the correct fittings. According to their site, the threaded section is standard and the slip joint is metric.... which is the opposite of what one would need to adapt to the Red Sea fitting.

 

[Wrasse]

Have you actually used these? Because according to the part breakdown on their site, these are not the correct fittings. According to their site, the threaded section is standard and the slip joint is metric.... which is the opposite of what one would need to adapt to the Red Sea fitting.

I have not used the ones from CoralVue. I adapted a standard 3/4" NPT threaded barb fitting but it was still loose. It didn't seem to be tapered and everyone where I shop concluded "it must be some funny metric fitting" which are more or less impossible to find around my parts. Any of the 3/4" NPT stuff I found would all bottom out and still be loose.

What did you use?

 

[Broadfield]

I have not used the ones from CoralVue. I adapted a standard 3/4" NPT threaded barb fitting but it was still loose. It didn't seem to be tapered and everyone where I shop concluded "it must be some funny metric fitting" which are more or less impossible to find around my parts. Any of the 3/4" NPT stuff I found would all bottom out and still be loose.

What did you use?

I used 3/4" with 15 wraps of Teflon tape.

 

[gpinto81]

Still some work to do, but I got the tank back up and running late last night after the sump/plumbing/pump/reactors swap. I still need to do my dosing lines from the DOS, organize the cables a tad better and add my lighting. I'll get some pictures with my good camera once I get a chance.

IMG_7676 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

IMG_7681 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

IMG_7696 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

Sweet setup @Broadfield what sump did you choose and how come you wanted a switch from the Red Sea provided sump?

 

[Wrasse]

I used 3/4" with 15 wraps of Teflon tape.

hahaha that's hilarious, I ended up with PTFE tape but also managed to get an o-ring seated nicely in there as well. So far so good. Has been water tight for something like a week now. I thought I read somewhere people were exploring using those CoralView fittings. I can't cite a source off the top of my head but I know it was on a Reefer thread somewhere.

 

[Broadfield]

hahaha that's hilarious, I ended up with PTFE tape but also managed to get an o-ring seated nicely in there as well. So far so good. Has been water tight for something like a week now. I thought I read somewhere people were exploring using those CoralView fittings. I can't cite a source off the top of my head but I know it was on a Reefer thread somewhere.

I ran my original plumbing setup for over a year with the 15 wrap Teflon tape... never an issue. Yeah, I think people keep recommending the Coral Vue adapters, but have never actually used them. I don't think they actually looked at the technical data on the adapters... otherwise they would realize they are not the solution.

 

[Wrasse]

I ran my original plumbing setup for over a year with the 15 wrap Teflon tape... never an issue. Yeah, I think people keep recommending the Coral Vue adapters, but have never actually used them. I don't think they actually looked at the technical data on the adapters... otherwise they would realize they are not the solution.

Where did you find a detailed list for the tank parts? All I was ever able to come across was a list of half the parts and only one end of many adapters. For this I could only find the barb sizes and the rest was a mystery.

 

[Broadfield]

Sweet setup @Broadfield what sump did you choose and how come you wanted a switch from the Red Sea provided sump?

It's an @Elite-Aquatics sump. Why did I switch sumps? You said it yourself... "Sweet setup". I wanted something that looked killer and wasn't a plain glass sump. I love having the top plate lip and the viewing windows. The white and orange acrylic really brightens up the inside of the drab black stand. I'm that guy that always needs to change out the wheels on his vehicles lol.

 

[Broadfield]

That looks amazing, looks like you've swapped the red sea valve for a gate valve? Reason I ask is I have a lot of trouble balancing my Reefers and considered changing to a gate valve to see if it helps. Also what volume of water are you pushing out of the return?

The gate valve is absolutely cake to adjust. I thought the Red Sea valve was perfectly fine... never had any issues nor was it difficult to adjust. But something about the gate valve is even easier. I'm running a Vectra L1 at full tilt, but I'm running through three reactors... so I'm not exactly sure what my flow to the tank is.

Dude! You're my hero @Broadfield . Please tell me what fittings you used and how you piped off of the return lines. That's exactly what I'm trying to figure out how to do. Did you just order extra return line connectors to get the PVC onto the drain pipes?

Also, where did you get the colored fittings? Those look great.

Yes, I ordered three of the barbed return assemblies and simply removed the barb fitting. I then used a 3/4" threaded adapter with a lot of Teflon tape... like 15+ wraps of it.

I bought my colored pipe from BRS and the colored fittings from Aquarium Speciality.

 

[Thor2j]

If you use the 3/4" gray in the electrical department it works almost perfect. It's a different pitch. I used it with just a couple wraps of Teflon and it's never leaked. I used it on my vectra pump as well.

http://m.homedepot.com/p/3-4-in-Male-Terminal-Adapter-R5140104/202043511

This is 3/4" to 3/4" slip. I used the 3/4" to 1"

 

[XxCADUDExX]

Changed out my skimmer today. Went with a ASM Mini-G. Had the bigger version on my old 100g that worked great so I figured give it a shot. The price was pretty good.

I had a Tunze 9004 that work but was to tall for my sump water level and modifications worked but I'm thinking I need something stronger. Pics below are a week of skimming

 

[powers2001]

I was wondering if a check valve like this would be useful vertically on the return line to keep water from back siphoning when the return pump is turned off for feeding so the food is not sucked up into the return line?
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/georg-fischer-wye-check-valve.html

 

[Ishy]

@ Broadfield, Thank's, I might give the gate valve a try. What size valve did you use? I'm using an 8000 LPH return and have tried it at 80 % and 50% and still have to adjust the valve a couple of times a day.

 

[adestafi]

I would also add to this the years of success that reefers have had with the Tunez ATO whereas the Apex is still yet to be released. I personally prefer to go with whats been proven to work for other people versus something new as much as possible. Just my opinion though.

and I would add- simplicity of replacement parts. zero programming required, zero software updates...

 

[bizacon]

I did the whole metric to standard fittings from coralvue and would recommend NOT doing it. You need additional parts and you also still need to wrap the threads or it will leak. I would just do what broadfield did and do a wrap job on the standard fitting.

 

[Thor2j]

I did the whole metric to standard fittings from coralvue and would recommend NOT doing it. You need additional parts and you also still need to wrap the threads or it will leak. I would just do what broadfield did and do a wrap job on the standard fitting.

Get the gray electrical conduit connectors.

 

[Broadfield]

@ Broadfield, Thank's, I might give the gate valve a try. What size valve did you use? I'm using an 8000 LPH return and have tried it at 80 % and 50% and still have to adjust the valve a couple of times a day.

I used a 1" Spears gate valve... all of my main plumbing is 1".

 

[MCooper]

Can people post photos that have artfully acrylic lids by the middle of the back return over flow area? I think mine has a large gap and have had 2 fish jump out already and die!