wait, so you still have plastic on the wall sides of the stand?! Thats awesome!!

Night Time pics with flash:

Clown hosts frogspawn at night!!








as always, end with a current FTS

[quote name='StevieT' date='Mar 19 2008, 11:40 AM' post='1553745']
Night Time pics with flash:

Clown hosts frogspawn at night!!

as always, end with a current FTS

hey steve,

thanks for your thread. it's been helpful in starting my RSM. yesterday i bought a 6 month used RSM on craigslist for $400. pretty good deal on everything. there are a few scratches on the glass, but it's bearable. anyways, i am wondering if you could help me out in starting my RSM correctly if that is the right word. i read your entire thread and got the main gist, but i was wondering if you could outline the musts and how I should begin my new tank. currently, i have a 14 gallon biocube with 70 MH lighting. i am going to make that transition from a 14 gallon to a 34 gallon. i know that you made the transition from a 12 gallon to the RSM so i know you experienced this transition.

one quick question: how do you get the actinic lights to work? i don't see any option to just have the actinic light and the main light separated. right now both the main light and actinic lights are on at the same time.
is there anyway to separate the lighting?

i called Pinky today to get some new fans because the fans are so freakin loud! anyways, thanks for all your help. i really appreciate it.

i'll probably be asking more questions as i start transitioning my 14 gallon to the RSM. here is a pick of my tank and a picture of my prized coral. mother colony of blue tubbs

jcvkang-

awesome find!!! The bulbs on the RSM are 50/50 so they have a daylight bulb and actinic together. So when you timer kicks in, both 50/50 bulbs come on, there is no seperate actinic bulb. You could replace the bulbs for one daylight and one actinic, but there would still be no way to control either or without comepletly rewiring the hood.

The transition from my 12 to the RSM went very well. I used the old water from a water change and added that to the new tank while the new rock was cycling. I also dumped a cup or two of the old sand into the new stuff to seed it correctly. I had a cycle still but it was more of a controlled experience, and was shorter. So when I added in the existing corals and fish, there was no shock to the system.

Those stock fans are junk, the new ones are much better, the change is pretty easy and I did it while the hood was still on the tank.

If it still has the stock skimmer, think out getting the tunze 9002. It performs much better.
Good luck and let me know if you have any more ?s

You should try to get more coraline going. I never noticed the starfish. cool

haha, i've got so much coralline, do you want some?! I have to scrape it off the glass every other week. The starfish has been in there for some time. he has been on the front glass all week long.

thanks for the reply! so i guess there is no way to have actinics only in our tanks? unless you install tons of moonlights? is that what you did to your tank?

james

Tank looks good. Do you supplement for the coraline growth? I like how clean the glass is. I hate when you see a great tank that looks like crap because it needs maintenance.

Thanks. The glass stays pretty clean, and like I said I scrape every other week or so. It does get that hard algae growth on it and coralline, but overall the tank is algae free.

I do weekly waterchanges and I dose once a week with a two part solution. That is for the corals, but the coralline has taken off fast. I'd say it's pretty easy to grow if you keep your calk around 420 constant




my man James-

You would have to replace both bulbs with actinics. Modding the hood even more is a waste IMO. The tank comes with moon lights built in, they are on at night only. I haven't added any more lighting, I am very pleased with the stock lights, my SPS corals have taken off in growth, I like the color the lights give off.

nice tank! I wish my black and white clown would do that with my hammer.. but right now it like sleeping against the back wall...sucks!

how long have you had it? It took mine 3-4 months before it hosted anything.

just for fun

Dang Stevie you tank is looking awesome!!! I love the clam. Some how i must keep missing all the updates.

Hey SteveT,
Great looking tank, thanks for keeping up with this thread. We're planning on getting an RSM so it's good to see what others have done with theirs.

One of the things I'm wondering about is aquascaping. Is that 40 lb of LR? Near the beginning of this thread, I got the impression that you bought an additional 20 lb to add to 20 lb from your previous tank.

In one picture from the side, it looks like the rock is leaning against the back of the tank. Is that true or did I mistake what I saw?

How much and what kind of sand did you put in?

Do you have any other tips or suggestions for aquascaping? I tried searching for "aquascaping guidelines" and got a lot of hits, including this thread, but didn't find a lot of information before I gave up.

thanks,
hank

Hank-

Thank you. Yep, it is around 40lbs of rock. I did add 20 to my orignal 20 I had in my old tank. The rock does touch on a few small points in the rear. It is importan not to let too much touch the back, just so flow can get aroudn the rock, and so your hermits and snails don't get wedged into an area they can't get out of. Don't worry about removing algae from the back wall, as you can see mine is filling in nicely with purple coralline algae.

I used Carib sea live sand, i believe there is a picture of the bag in one of the first pages. I used two bags, i think they are 10lbs a bag, can't remember exaclty. Either way it gave me 1.5-2" of depth to the bed.

Tips: give your self some time. This took 1.5 hours, and it is hard to see what you are doing! The water will cloud up fairly quick. Make sure the rocks are away from the sides of the tank. Enough so you can get a mag float and your hand in there to scrape algae and coralline. Back wall sould be semi free of rock, just so flow can get back there to prevent a buildup of nitrates and so your clean up crew has somewhere to hide and work.

Don't just pile rocks up, make them fit so they are secure. You can break up the rock if need be to make it fit better. Other than that it's up to you. I would plan out what you want first, I printed a few pics of other tanks and tried to incorporate that with my own thoughts in my head.

Good luck!

StevieT,

I envy your tank. I have setup my RSM a month ago and I have few cleaning crew and a Circus goby. I see that you have removed "bio-ball" and carbon filter. Do you have anything in that filter chamber? I am surprised with my skimmer as it collects green goo up to certain level. I did not remove any mechanical filter as well. If you can provide some suggestion for the following questions, it would be great!

1. What should I do with the filter chamber? (bio-ball and carbon filter)
2. Hair algae growing on live sand
3. Salinity hiking up as the water evaporates

Extra Equipment:
Tunze 6250 - For extra flow

Stocked with:
Live Rock - 20 lbs
Live Sand - 5 lbs
Substrate - That came with RSM

Snails - 20 (Astrea, Turbo)
Scarlet legged hermit crabs - 6
Emerald Crab - 1
Circus Goby - 1

Sql-

!

Thank you very much

1. What should I do with the filter chamber? (bio-ball and carbon filter)

Remove the bio balls. They are not needed in a reef tank and only cause problems by raising nirates.
2. Hair algae growing on live sand
are you using RO water? More flow around the sand will help.

3. Salinity hiking up as the water evaporates

that is normal since salt doesn't eveaporate. Make sure you are toping off with fresh Ro water almost dailiy to keep the water level about 1/4" under the black molding. If you are sick of doing it manually or are planning on traveling, invest in an ATO or auto top off.
You can see mine in this thread, it is a JBJ, i love the thing.

Extra Equipment:
Tunze 6250 - For extra flow
where is that located?

Stocked with:
Live Rock - 20 lbs Get 20 lbs more
Live Sand - 5 lbs
Substrate - That came with RSM

Snails - 20 (Astrea, Turbo) Way too much. Cut that down to 8 or less
Scarlet legged hermit crabs - 6
Emerald Crab - 1
Circus Goby - 1

for my filtration I am running chemi pure underneeth the pumps still. I will be moving that soon. I also run a product called purigen under the surface simmer. I love chemi-pure and it lasts around 4-5 months.

I also run the sponge and filter floss, both rinsed or changed weely with my water changes.

I've had her for like more than six months...oh well just gotto keep waiting

that sucks. It may never host. Where does it sleep at night? mine only goes in the frogspawn if scared or after the lights turn off.

Beautiful tank Steve T. I have been reading your forum for the past few days and I got to say very impressive for someone who is new to the marine tank hobby. You have done your homework and it truly paid off. I have my RSM running for 3 weeks now and enjoying it because of low maintenance. I had an 80g 5 feet long custom made tank. Doing 30g water change and maintenance was daunting. Unfortunately my 5 year old got to it and mostly every thing died. I lost thousands $$$. Some coral and fish survived. Then I got a RSM and feel sorry for the fish so I’m going to sell them to the LFS. Any way for those of you having issue with the skimmer there is two things you can do. One is toss the stock skimmer and replace with the Tunze 9002 or save some money and do some modifications. Which I’m going to do myself. The stock shimmer has issues the way it was build. After being in the hobby since 1999 on and off, I have known pretty well how a skimmer performs. I’m going to mod my stock skimmer to its best. One problem thought. Its shape is an issue. Here they are:

1. the skimmer is square. For better skimming round is better. Unless the collection cup is flush with the neck of the skimmer.
2. The level of water inside the skimmer is low. Raising the water in the tank will work, but it will also give you salt creeps and no surface skimming.

Thank you Jayre and

this tank is a testimate to this sites information, if it were not for Nano-Reef I would have been lost for many more months.

Good luck with your RSM, and it sounds like with your past experience it should be nothing less than awesome. The stock skimmer was just designed poorly, and for such a nice tank it is surprising. I am loving the Tunze 9002 and was an easy fix to the problem. I have seen a few mods to the stock skimmer, but they all have failed. One was to bring the air closer to the surface of the water in the skimmer, i tried that as you can see in my thread with no results.

If you do figure out something please let the community know. There are still some here that are fighting with the stock skimmer and really need a solution. Rasing the level in the tank as you know just isn't possible, it is sensitive enough to water level and surface skimming.

I am looking forward to seeing a thread about your tank.

Stevie,
Is the salt mix that comes with the starter kit with the RSM any good or is all salt primarily the same? (that is not ment to include table/cooking salt) LOL I guess what I am trying to ask is was there anything that was worth it in the starter kit? I know the test kit isn't but anything else you would replace?
thanks
Sarah

Sarah-

Yeah, the salt they include is actually awesome! I have gone throught that bucket and purchased a 5 gallon pale of it (red sea coral PRO). I really enjoy the results and it is high in calcuim. It is by far the only thing worth getting in the starter kit. only test kits that worked for me was PH and calcium. All the other stuff is just junk, including the reef base, what is that crap?!

All salt is not the same but there are a few fav. brands here on n-r. I will look around for a pdf file that has great test results, i can Pm it to you. Red sea tested one of the best.

Sarah,
I have some reefbase if you want it. I have seen you sending questions about the MAX. I think you need to go get one!



StevieT do you think a deltec would fit in there?

no idea, what model, do they make a small one? Most use the tunze in the RSM since it is so small

Oceanic 30g,
Thank you for the offer of the reef base but no thanks. I agree I need to go get a RSM. I have been drooling over it for months and doing tons of research on what to stock it with and how to maintain a saltwater reef tank etc etc etc and now the problem/issue is convincing the husband to let me use a portion of the tax return to help get this. Problem is we already have a 37 gal freshwater, 2 small 5 gal hexs for the bettas, 2 cats, 2 dogs, 2 ferrets, and 1 hamster. LOL I am not even sure where I am going to put the RSM when I do finally get it. LOL But thanks again for the little boost it definately makes me smile!

Stevie,
Thanks for the info on the starter kit and its contents. Do you have any suggestions on what substrate to use? Also for the test kits would you suggest the API master reef kit and the API master saltwater kit? I use the API for freshwater kit for my freshwater tank and I think it does pretty well but if there are better ones out there let me know.

Sarah

PS Your tank is still looking great and you bet if/when I get mine I will have a detailed picture log of every step I take right here on n-r!

Actaully going bare bottom is the best way to control nitrates and problems with any tank, but since not to many do that go with a good looking sand. I have one bag of both of these:

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/m...y_Code=Livesand

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/m...y_Code=Livesand

It is a good idea to have both the API saltwater and reef master test kit on hand when you first start. It is a trusted testing kit and you will need to moinitor all levels for a few months. After that testing will become more scarce once you figure out calcium depletion etc... don't want to confuse you too much!

Get the tank!!!!!!!!!! dooooo it !!!!!!!!!!

Sarah,

Do what I do. I tell the wife it cost $100 for the RSM. No, really, sell one of the freshwater tanks.

Sarah...
You have a ton of animals! Holy cr?p.

LOL you both are cracking me up! Okay so we will have to wait and see. Yeah I have a ton of animals and that is one reason it may be hard to convice him to let me get another tank. LOL I can't get rid of my 37 gal I finally got it through my thick skull that Molly's are the worst fish and so I stocked it with 4 small cichlids and they are doing great!! It is just a time game with the bettas.

I agree from what I have read bare bottom's are the best. But I am not too keen on the way they look so I want the sand. Just typing all that makes me laugh.... LOL

Thanks for the substrate tips and actually I was going to go with those same ones before I asked but I am glad to hear you did one bag of each cuz I couldn't make up my mind on which one. LOL

Sarah

yeah, same here, i couldn't decide so I did one of each. I like the small shells and junk in the one bag, yet overall it all gets lost in corals over time.

You do have a zoo over there!!! And the waiting game on the betas may take forever, those things are bulletproof. Good call on the cichlids, i have a fW tank with mostly Africans, i belive i have a pic on my thread somewhere, its getting rather long!

So are you getting the tank today? Sweet, can't wait to see pics.

oh no not today...LOL... have to wait for tax return to get here but because of my small business I was able to get us a bit more than what he thought we were going to get .... sooooo.... I say that constitutes a bit of it coming my way to get me the RSM. LOL

Edit... I just put you over 20 pages too

see there you go. you are the money maker and should make the decision that you need to have an ocean in your house to complete your zoo. Plus you would be helping the economy, it's a win win situation.

I PM'd you those salt results. If you do end up getting this tank, ask away, all the members here that have this tank are just awesome and more than likely to help. Unlike those CAD and Finnex owner, they are just mean and smell funny

Tarajean, don't let them make you feel bad about your zoo.

i have three dogs (2German Shepherds, 1 Yorkie), 1 dwarf Lionhead rabbit, 1 Pineapple conure and now the fishtank.

All my neighbors think I'm the crazy animal lady. JK

I wish I could have a dog!!!! With my life right now it wouldn't work out too well, but fish do fit the bill nicely

20 pages and 23,000+ views!!! crazy

I think I would be the king of crazy animal people

1 leopard gecko, 1 bearded dragon, 4anoles 1 house gecko, 29 gallon planted tank, 10 gallon african cichlid fry tank, and the 16 gallon nano. That's all in my room.

We also have 2 cats and my sister has a 10 gallon cichlid tank

Chazde3,
See now you do have alot of animals but most of those are contained in tanks right? Most of mine (cats, dogs, and ferrets sometimes) are out in the house. LOL I think when we build the florida room he will let me put a really big tank in there, like a 125 gallon one but that is way way way down the road. Just trying to get the small one first. LOL
Sarah

Photo Uppity Update:




















hit my photo limit...

True, their in tanks, but that's just in one room, but I'm running out of living space

Stevie great pictures as always

thanks for the post, now I can get the rest of the pics up!

Your tank looks awesome!

What is your camera technique?? How do you get such close up clear pics?

Thanks!!! I am just using a point and shoot, canon SD750. But I use it on manual mode to get the lighting right. Turn it on Macro zoom (flower logo) and turn the ISO way down to 80 so they come out nice and clear. For taking pics of fish you turn it up otherwise it blurs. I really want to get a SLR camera in the future for tank shots.

Oh, lots of practice!

I don't know how this one got left out, one of my favorite SPS corals in my tank, thanks Mvite aka awesome!

making use of the stock skimmer pump, at least it performs somewhere





the water room

Looks good. Growing out like crazy. I think in about a month you may be ready to frag some stuff and send it my way!!!!

Are those gorgonias up in the back. I had some in my last tank.

Yeah they are orange gorgonias, they are doing rather well. Nothing too special, just something to fill in the background with.

You skipped the fragging item in my last post...

haha

I'm still in the growing stages right now. That will change one day

Couple of questions when you have a moment -

What makes the sand mix you recommend so good? Why did you choose it over other stuff?

Can you provide me with the PDF comparison of the sea salt mixes?

Your tank is looking better than ever. I've been following as much as I can (in the member's tank forum) and I'm still sold on the RSM. The only thing that came close to making me change my mind was this thread:
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=133238
That member's tank looks soooo good - makes me want to go out and buy a ten.

thanks again,
hank

hank-

here are the salt results

http://reefsaltanalysis.googlepages.com/AW...alysis_0208.pdf

I went with that sand because I used it in my old tank and Liked it. I has a nice grain size and is really bright white, very natural looking and just pops under the lighting. Other than that it was "live" even though you can seed it with older sand. I just wanted to do everything right from the gitgo on this tank.

Tashayar has a really nice tank. The RSM is a good AIO, it looks really cool too. After keeping a 12 gallon and now this 34 gallon I am sold on larger tanks. You can hold more corals and keep the water quality in check.

Stevie,
Once again I must say your tank looks amazing. I have some good news, while I haven't gotten the RSM yet my husband is going to be giving me a bit of the tax return to "play" with. How much that will be I don't really know LOL But either it will be enough to get the RSM or to at least start a 10gallon. Either way I will be happy to be able to get my "feet wet" with saltwater. Also I know that I will eventually upgrade to the RSM no matter what I start with....hmmm .... maybe that can be a selling point for him. LOL I know I know bills come first...

Great to see your tank looking so lovely and I am super excited to see how well the clam is doing! That was a big factor in the decision to get an RSM because I like the Plug in Play and the ability to do just about anything with it.

Again you will be hearing alot of questions from me soon. 10gal DIY or RSM ??? What will it be??? I wonder????

Sarah

Well, the RSM is not a cheap tank, especially when compared to a 10 gallon. But after lighting, equipment, and other upgrade costs, I supppose it isnt' too far apart. A "practice" tank is not always a bad thing, especially if you can get some money out of selling it or pieces of it when you are done. But if you do it right from the start, I would go with the RSM. But hat is all up to you. Either way this is a really fun and rewarding hobby!

oh, clam is doing great, it said it's frist words today: