Red Sea Reefer Deluxe XL 200 Build

[marine_tibby]

Hi folks,

Time to start a new build thread. This one is special to me because it is my first tank in a long time. When I was more active in the hobby I loved tinkering, DIYing and just learning how a saltwater tank actually operates. That was before I was married and had kids. Now I needed something a little more turnkey. So here is what I am working with.

AIO: Red Sea Reefer Deluxe XL 200
Lighting: ReefLED 90
Return Pump: VARIOS-4
ATO: Osmolator Nano 3152
Wavemaker: Tunze Turbelle Nanostream 6040 x2
Skimmer: Red Sea Reefer 300
Battery Backup: IceCap Battery Backup v2.0​

~40lbs of CaribSea Dry Aragonite Special Grade Reef Sand
~20lbs of CaribSea LIFEROCK
~20lbs of hand selected cure live rock​

As of right now everything is here or on its way. Some things I had to wait to be in stock, but received the final call about the tank being shipped out in a week.

 

[jleblanc26]

Awesome. New build! Looking forward to it.

 

[smileyjoe]

Following along for this build. Looks like it will be a good one!

 

[Kirk_M]

You will like the Varios pump... I have a Varios-6 on my 370 gallon tank, and at full speed, it's too much pump for it, so I have to dial it back to the third power level. It's been a solid performer for the three years I've had it running.

 

[marine_tibby]

The Varios-4 is rated @ 1050, and Red Sea recommends 530 for the XL 200. I always liked running around 10x turnover (maybe lower) with a sump. I'll have it dialed down to at least 50%.

 

[BluewaterLa]

Agreed on the varios pumps they are dependable and pump a good volume of water.
They are like most DC pumps volume pumps not pressure and a good thing to keep in mind is to NOT choke it down using too small of diameter pipe. Look at the factory volute connection on the output side for example, dont want to go much if any smaller.

I've had a varios 6 on my 220 for a few years before getting the varios 8 that runs it now, the six runs wide open and well though the V8 I can run it on 3 comfortable though I choose the setting speed four.
My tank has two full siphon drains with two emergency straight stand pipes so it can handle massive flow.

 

[BryanJr]

Was looking at the reviews and the BRS investigates video on the reef led 90s. Seems to be a solid light at a great price compared to other similar fixtures. Following along on this one. Good luck with the build.

 

[marine_tibby]

These showed up today. Still waiting to hear back about the delivery expectations on the tank. I am hoping to hear something by the end of this week.

 

[marine_tibby]

Well these came in yesterday. Opened the box and part of me got tingly in excitement for all the little plumbing parts. Showed it to the wife and got a reply, "You know what to do with all that?" lmfao There was some bubble wrap around the controller and power brick that I removed for the photo.

Another update is that I was finally contacted about the shipment of the tank. It will be in on March 6th and weights in at a whopping 289lbs! Going to be a hella good day for me on Friday lol just so happens that my custom trumpet is supposed to arrive that day as well. I couldn't have planned that better.

Question: Do you guys want lots of photos of the delivery process? unboxing stuff?

 

[CenlaReefer]

Do you guys want lots of photos of the delivery process? unboxing stuff?

Yes, please

 

[Tupes]

Question: Do you guys want lots of photos of the delivery process? unboxing stuff?

Do you even have to ask? Lol Of course, we want all the photos.

 

[marine_tibby]

Well, I know you all like photos, just didn't know if you wanted a more in depth photo shoot or just a few random snaps.

I was running through my checklist seeing if I have everything ready to add water the second it is setup. pumps, heaters and all that jazz. Check. Crap I still have to install and mount my RO/DI under my sink. No biggie, I'll just go but some screws. While at the store I realized I hadn't ordered an adapter for the tap-to-1/4 hose. No biggie I'm still at Lowe's. Get to the section with the plumbing and realized that I had never even looked under the sink to see what type of fittings I would need. ! alright think clearly, I can just text one of my sons. They are teenagers they should be able to take a quick photo for me, if they decide to read my text. Low and behold I get a photo of under my sink in a matter of seconds. At this point I realized that it wasn't what I thought was down there and I was in no way digging into that mess of plumbing. Faucet diverted it is. I know for a fact BRS has them, but that shipping won't get it here early enough for my liking. Maybe Amazon will have it and it is only mid day so I am sure I can get it in by Friday(tank delivery day). Find one, click 'buy now' and everything is back to being on track. While at Lowe's I also picked up a new bucket and cord management gear.

 

[Tupes]

Well, I know you all like photos, just didn't know if you wanted a more in depth photo shoot or just a few random snaps.

Any and all photos are welcome.

 

[marine_tibby]

This is a size comparison for the Tunze Turbelle NanoStream 6040. Way smaller than I expected especially the controller.

 

[Cigmin]

This is a size comparison for the Tunze Turbelle NanoStream 6040. Way smaller than I expected especially the controller.

I have the tunze but not controller based , might be a little small for ya or just run at full strength


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[marine_tibby]

I have the tunze but not controller based , might be a little small for ya or just run at full strength


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have 2 of them going in the tank.

 

[marine_tibby]

Well, let us begin. As most of you may know, when ordering a Red Sea tank they tell you it will be delivered to your door step. They make this super apparent that once it is at your door step you are on your own. This was not the case for me. I will start off saying communication all around was good, no complaints there. I was told to be available between 1pm-5pm, no biggie. I was also told that the driver will contact me before the delivery. He contacted me around 10am to set up the drop and explained to me he will be heading to my house from across town around 10:55-11:15. What happened to 1-5? He then asked if I had ever seen a full sized 18-wheeler down my road. Well, no I haven't. I live down a very narrow road on the backside of a neighborhood with my road being a dead end. The garbage truck has to back up 1 mile straight to get to our home. That is when it dawned on me this wasn't going to be easy. I just assumed I would have some hot shot driver dropping this thing off, at least someone who is an ace at their job. Driver suggest me going meet him at a local gas station. I don't have a clue how I am going to do this. The packing receipt states 298lbs! I get my wife home on her lunch break to help out but lets just say she is not the body builder type.



It goes okay getting the tank into my SUV. I was worried it might take two trips which we didn't have time for but it all fit in one go. The driver and myself were able to get the large part into the truck with some grunting. I knew this wasn't going to be easy without him to get it out the SUV. We get home and the wife and I give it a go. There are some handles on the box with the tank and sump in it. I gave it an odd look which signaled the wife to ask, "are those going to hold?" which I shrugged off. We pull the tank out and at about 3 inches off the ground BAM!!!! the box and handle rip off and the tank and everything in it slams on the ground. My wife knowing how much this means to me was speechless. I knew there was nothing to be done at this point but to start unpacking. It was required anyways and I wasn't worried about it because what was done was done.

 

[BluewaterLa]

What all got broken from the box hitting the ground ??

 

[marine_tibby]

Luckily nothing was broke or scratched. Everything looks fine. I will say that Red Sea Fish could really work no the instructions for this system. There were a total of 15-20 steps from start to finish. I mean there were about 20 pictures to look at with no wording. Some of these steps had me scratching my head for a good 15 minutes. Things such as this.



Why is this tank hanging over the back edge so much? I have it lined up with the front and sides but there is this huge over hang. I sat there questioning the engineering that went in to the system and just assumed that it was meant to be that way even if it looked super weird. After about 20 minutes it finally clicked.



The stand door wasn't on yet and with that on and the tank flush to the front it no longer has the over hang in the back. Also in the pic you can take notice of the quality of the door spacing after aligning everything as best as one can.

The system came with a cut little pack of spare parts. This ended up being needed due to QA problems with the bolts



The bolt below didn't have the grooves deep enough to hold a driver bit.



There are a set of tool that is required.



After the stand was up and the tank mounted on it. It was now time to start with the sump and equipment.



Oh boy, what have I got myself into.

 

[marine_tibby]

As most of us can imagine, if you have pieced together one sump you can pretty much do any other sump while having one eye shut. This was the case here. Nothing seemed overly out of the place or over thought. It just went together like any other sump.



I really like how the hose curves on the way up. Not sure why there was extra to make it do this since they knew where the pump would be at.



Speaking of the main pump! It is too powerful. I had to go back and double check what I had ordered because I can barely put it above ECO mode.



Red Sea Fish claim that a pump with 500g/h rating is recommended. If I tune my pump to the percentage that I believe would achieve this rating, the return pump area drains completely in 2-4 seconds. Once the wave of water moves through the display it floods into the sump and has a current so strong that micro bubbles from the skimmer are going straight into the main pump. Lets see what happens after some slime builds up.



The ReefLED was a chore. That is as simple as I can put it. Would not recommend but wouldn't look down on someone who chose it. It is a light with basic functions, and that is not actually a bad thing.




After all was said and done, I was now about 4 hours into the build and was able to step back and see this.