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Hollow's RSM


hollow

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Here we go my new RSM. This is my first tank in a long while and my first reef tank. I will tidy this post up later on, right now just want to post some pics and relax with some beer. I'm so tired from building the tank stand and re-arranging my furniture all day.

 

Setting up my new RO/DI

I went with a Kent Maximma 35GPD RO/DI unit. Only problems I encountered with it were sucky instructions, having to reapply teflon tape on some of the connectors because of leaks and finally the the supplied garden hose adapter kinda of sucks so I bought a new one online. For some reason my pressure gauge stopped working. I'm not sure if I pushed the canister into far after trying to fix leaking or it was because I dropped the gauge when trying to teflon tape it. The inline TDS meter is working out very nice though and easy to set up. My tap water coming in is around 50 and the water coming out is 0.

 

Got it installed with a Y connector to the washing cold water line.

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Been slowing churning out water. Sadfully with the 3rd canister installed I only get 45 psi but without the 3rd canister installed i get 65 psi. Its taken forever to get 15 gallons of water and I've ran out of buckets! Hopefully it will speed up after the "10 days of continous use".

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The tank finally arrives. Had to pull it off the truck by myself no lift gate :( They did let me use their dolly though. Expected it to be really heavy but once it was off the truck and on the dolly it was a piece of cake. The starter kit once again proves worthless, the sand looks like bird seed and threw it away as soon as I opened the box.

 

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I swore I would never build a piece of furniture again after my last outing to IKEA but here I am again building more crap.

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Stand fully built. Took a while but very easy construction and feels pretty sturdy. I'm pretty pleased with it. My only compliant would be that putting on the doors by yourself is a PIA.

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Tank unwrapped and sitting on the stand. Got to say that it looks really slick the way it fits the stand perfectly.

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View from the kitchen:

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The new tank corner!

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Rest of the living room.

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Some of the junk sitting in my floor:

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I wish I wasn't so lazy atm so I could go ahead and start leak testing :P

Stay tuned for more! Tommorow I hope on getting everything else set up (my tunze skimmer) and start leak testing. Hopefully I'll get the sand in as well because mine arrived damaged from shipping and all the water leaked out and I had to store it in some buckets. Will place my live rock order as soon as I know everything with the tank is good to go.

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Setting up my new RO/DI

...

img3086xj2.jpg

 

Duct Tape. "If the Women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy." - Red Green

:P

 

I wish I wasn't so lazy atm so I could go ahead and start leak testing

 

No! That's not lazy, that's deliberate and patient and those are virtues to strive for. I've nearly reached nirvana in that regard. :D

 

:welcome: to N-R.

 

Did I see three API test kits? What are they? I have three, but that's because one is for FW.

 

good luck with your tank and keep us posted on progress!

 

-hank

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Did I see three API test kits? What are they? I have three, but that's because one is for FW.

 

-hank

 

Yeah got doubles of the saltwater test on accident because I forget I had already ordered it online and it just hadn't showed up yet.

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Congrats on the new tank! I'm a new RSM owner as well...only been running about 10 days. I got lucky with the stand because I bought it off the floor at Petland already assembled. The guy told me it was a pain when he put it together. I guess I didn't know any better about the substrate. I used what came in the starter kit and thought it looked fine but now I hear all the negative comments about it. It does look round but the fish that like to suck it up through their gills will be thanking me. :)

 

So it sounds like you're also changing out the stock skimmer. I've also seen all the comments about the skimmer but I think mine is working ok. I got the LR locally and it was already cured and the skimmer didn't seem to be creating much foam but after moving things around yesterday and adding a couple rocks I had initially left out I'm getting foam up in the neck of the cup. I think some are expecting the foam to spill up over the edge but I think as long as there is foam up in that neck it will deposit the gunk in there.

 

Good luck and keep posting photos of your progress.

 

Gil

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wow, that tank is going to look killer in that living room!!!

 

I know your pain about the doors, it too me forever to get them working correctly. Then they didn't "lock" close so it needed a little StevieT customization like everything else in my tank.

 

Good luck, keep the updated pictures coming!

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wow, that tank is going to look killer in that living room!!!

 

I know your pain about the doors, it too me forever to get them working correctly. Then they didn't "lock" close so it needed a little StevieT customization like everything else in my tank.

 

Good luck, keep the updated pictures coming!

 

I seriously had to readjust each of the three hinges for like 30 minutes just to get the lock to snap in like its supposed to and it was definitely a pain to hold them in place on my own. My only beef with the cabinet would be that theres not a lot of range of motion on the cabinet doors. With the cabinet open they stick straight out and can't go to the left even a little bit. If I try to adjust this at all then the cabinet doesn't shut correctly because the lock won't fit into place.

 

I guess I didn't know any better about the substrate. I used what came in the starter kit and thought it looked fine but now I hear all the negative comments about it. It does look round but the fish that like to suck it up through their gills will be thanking me. :)

 

So it sounds like you're also changing out the stock skimmer. I've also seen all the comments about the skimmer but I think mine is working ok. I got the LR locally and it was already cured and the skimmer didn't seem to be creating much foam but after moving things around yesterday and adding a couple rocks I had initially left out I'm getting foam up in the neck of the cup. I think some are expecting the foam to spill up over the edge but I think as long as there is foam up in that neck it will deposit the gunk in there.

 

Good luck and keep posting photos of your progress.

 

Gil

 

Well I had read about everyone's opinion on the packaged substrate and already expected it to be crap but when it actually got here it was much worse in person than seeing the pics of it online. Its definitely very round and much bigger grain than the live sand I already have sitting in my sink. I was going to see what results the stock skimmer would give me but decided not to bother with the stock skimmer because of all the great successes everyone reported with the tunze. I figured I would eventually want to upgrade it anyways so why not start out with it from the git go.

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Welcome to the RSM club. What are your stocking plans?

 

40lbs of live sand

40lbs of live rock from Premium aquatics either: 40x Kaelini or 20x Kaelini + 20x Fiji

haven't decided yet

 

Fish:

Yellow Watchman Goby

Clown Goby, Citrinis

Royal Gramma

Clownfish (true or false perc don't really care)

 

Assorted snails:

10 Astraea Snail

4 Nassarius Snail

4 Cerith

 

Inverts:

Pistol Shrimp

Skunk cleaner shrimp

3x Blue Hermits

2x Pom Pom crabs

 

My stingray is already in the mail from ebay and the seller threw in 3 tangs for free!

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My live rock is scheduled to get here tommorow! 40lbs of Cured Kaelini from premium aquatics. I'm currently fighting the temperature in my tank. I had RO/DI water in my tank with no heater on and with the lights on for almost 2 days and my temp was always like 77degrees. Now that I have added salt to the tank and turned the heater on to 78/79 my temps have shot up to 83 degrees. I really don't know how I'm going to keep the tank cool with the ambient temperature in the room set at like 74 or 75 and the tank with the lights off is still at 83 degrees :(. I installed the extra "cooling fan" when I first set up the system but it doesn't seem to be doing anything. Guess I might have to look at a chiller. Anyone got any suggestions?

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My live rock is scheduled to get here tommorow! 40lbs of Cured Kaelini from premium aquatics. I'm currently fighting the temperature in my tank. I had RO/DI water in my tank with no heater on and with the lights on for almost 2 days and my temp was always like 77degrees. Now that I have added salt to the tank and turned the heater on to 78/79 my temps have shot up to 83 degrees. I really don't know how I'm going to keep the tank cool with the ambient temperature in the room set at like 74 or 75 and the tank with the lights off is still at 83 degrees :(. I installed the extra "cooling fan" when I first set up the system but it doesn't seem to be doing anything. Guess I might have to look at a chiller. Anyone got any suggestions?

Check if the heater is coming on (which it shouldn't be). If so, turn it down. Heaters often are not calibrated very well. The scale might say 78 when it is actually set for 83. If the scale is off you could end up having to set it low 70's to have it maintaining temperature at 78/79.

 

Another thing you could try is turn off the heaater. If the temp doesn't drop you will know the heater isn't the problem and will need to start looking at chillers.

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noobofreefs

Yeah I have my heater set at a little bit less than 78 and it keeps the temp. at 79/80 consistently.

 

Welcome to the RSM club! It's a great tank...

 

Post more pics when you get a chance!

 

NOR

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Check if the heater is coming on (which it shouldn't be). If so, turn it down. Heaters often are not calibrated very well. The scale might say 78 when it is actually set for 83. If the scale is off you could end up having to set it low 70's to have it maintaining temperature at 78/79.

 

Another thing you could try is turn off the heaater. If the temp doesn't drop you will know the heater isn't the problem and will need to start looking at chillers.

 

 

+ 1 on this "Heaters often are not calibrated very well. The scale might say 78 when it is actually set for 83. If the scale is off you could end up having to set it low 70's to have it maintaining temperature at 78/79."

 

I had the same problem - set at 75 and it stays at 80 ...

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+ 1 on this "Heaters often are not calibrated very well. The scale might say 78 when it is actually set for 83. If the scale is off you could end up having to set it low 70's to have it maintaining temperature at 78/79."

 

I had the same problem - set at 75 and it stays at 80 ...

 

 

Thanks guys I actually just noticed this when I woke up this morning. I turned the heater off and the extra fan and the lights have been kicked on for a few hours. I measured the temp and its only 81.5 now. The heater has been dialed down. Not sure if I'm going to need a chiller or not. I don't plan on having the ambient temperature in my apartment drop from what its set at but you never know when your air conditioning might go haywire or something. Anyone got any recommendations on a easy setup chiller for the RSM? I will be removing the stock skimmer whenever my tank cycle is complete to replace with a tunez. I just need to get some glue and some magnets. Also is 81.5/82 a decent temperature? Alot of people recommend 79- with the low 80s being maximum but other runs their temps higher (lots of arguments about temps in coral reefs even being in mid 80s. I do know that its much more stressful for sudden temperature changes so you want to minimize those at all costs.

 

Another question! Where can I get a calibrating fluid for a refractometer? The one I bought from marinedepot recommended calibrating with distilled water so i just used my 0 tds RO/DI water. Is this good enough?

fluid

 

Think I'd have any luck finding any calibrating fluid at LFS?

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40lbs of live sand

40lbs of live rock from Premium aquatics either: 40x Kaelini or 20x Kaelini + 20x Fiji

haven't decided yet

 

Fish:

Yellow Watchman Goby

Clown Goby, Citrinis

Royal Gramma

Clownfish (true or false perc don't really care)

 

Assorted snails:

10 Astraea Snail

4 Nassarius Snail

4 Cerith

Inverts:

Pistol Shrimp

Skunk cleaner shrimp

3x Blue Hermits

2x Pom Pom crabs

 

My stingray is already in the mail from ebay and the seller threw in 3 tangs for free!

Not sure what anyone else thinks, but I wouldn't stock two different gobies together. Tank goes great with your furniture by the way. Good luck setting up!

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Not sure what anyone else thinks, but I wouldn't stock two different gobies together. Tank goes great with your furniture by the way. Good luck setting up!

 

Yeah I've seen a lot of articles where they say gobies can be territorial with their own kind but it seems common practice to see at least 2 gobies in every nano tank I've pretty much seen so it can't be too much of a problem. I definitely have my heart set on a YWG but I can do without a clown goby if it doesn't work out.

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noobofreefs

I use RO/DI water for my refractometer and haven't had a problem. Some people say that it doesn't work as well, but my LFS doesn't have any calibration fluid and I don't feel like paying for shipping on one little thing. Especially when RO/DI water may work just as well...

 

EDIT: Wow bad grammar and spelling

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I just use RO/DI, I didn't know you could get a calibration fluid.

 

I didn't know you could get this either until StevieT told me about it. I have been using RO as that is what the directions say to do. But he recommends getting the calibration fluid. I'll probably get some next time I put an order in to Marine Depot.

 

BTW, very nice tank! and :welcome: to the RSM clan. There are a few of us here and some with LOTS of experience.

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So my live rock 40lbs from premium aquatics finally arrived this morning. It was supposed to be delivered on Saturday so massive fail by UPS. This was the first attempt at aquascaping and (i was in a hurry I already missed 4 hours of work). All in all I'm pretty happy with it but I already got a few changes planned for when I get home. Heres the first pic I took.

 

The rock in the very middle with the scary ghost face was a PIA. It was so huge I couldn't do anything with it but put it right in the middle. I almost thought about trying to break it into 2 pieces but decided against it. I'm thinking I'm going to rearrange a couple rocks but I think its almost finished. What do you guys think? Constructive critism anyone?

 

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Little rearranging to fill in gaps.

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