This is how the world famous media rack started:

StevieT's Media Rack

I would like to thank adamskit for all his guidenance and pictures that aided me in construction of this project!

So, we have all figured out the the stock simmer is a piece of garbage that should be sent back to Red Sea for credit. We also know that the Tunze 9002 is a superior skimmer that will fit perfectly in the rear chambers with a few simple mods and NO cutting of the hood!!!

So now what, you have a bunch of room and you want to utilize it to the fullest. I chose to go with a media rack instead of a fuge, reason, because you want to keep a sponge bellow the intake grate and catch any detritus that will enter that tank. If you were to make a fuge, any junk getting sucked in would break down in the rear chambers.

First off, here is my chamber. It is a great idea before installing the media rack to clean out all this junk that has collected over time.



Supplies:

I went with .220" acrylic. It is strong and can cut very easily with a miter and skil saw




Tools Used:

Miter Saw
Cordless Skil saw
Drill Press
Hole saw
Bench Grinder
Sand Paper
Snips for cutting egg crate
Irwin Clamps
Razor blade
3M plastic epoxy
Tape Measure
Custom wood and plastic guides
XM radio for some beats while working




Cutting the pieces used to build the rack:




I used the miter saw as much as possible because it cuts very straight with its laser guide. But there were times where the skil saw was needed since I do not have an extending arm on the miter saw. I used the bench grinder to clean up edges if needed.

Cutting A hole in two of the cross pieces:

As you can see i used a custom block hold to keep the acrylic in place






Clamping for Glue:




used a piece of MDF board to keep everything square



Glue:
used a 2 part plastic epoxy, 4 min work time, 20 min dry time

***** Hit My Photo Limit, Will Post More in Due Time *****

Well lets see some more pictures. I like pictures.

thank you !!! I needed a bump to post more


Cross Braces:

Made these two thick, they hold the egg crate to rest media/sponges on





Egg crate being cut:





Finishing Up:







Installed:



I will get some better pictures of this later on



Here is how I have everything situated

Floss
Sponge
Purigen
Chemi Pure



Overall this was a pretty fun and "easy" build, that is if you have the tools, it isn't so bad. It is working perfectly with no flow or microbubble issues. It has given me the organization and ease of access we have all wanted since we found out that carbon goes in the "chamber of death!!"



enjoy

\

Stevie...looks great! It looks like the very bottom plate with a hole in it sits right on the bottom. Did you cut any holes in the side plexi for flow to get out? It looks like you're forcing the water down the column, but doesn't look like the water has anywhere to go when it gets to the bottom. Just curious. Thanks!

StevieT,

Looks great! I couldn't have done a better job if I had done it myself. You got mad skills! Of course you did a much better project "play by play" than I did. I think you are really going to enjoy this mod... I know I have. Congrats again. I still have to post photos of my latest Oceans Motions Mod. I am getting a new camera this week so there is more fun coming.






Everyone asks that same question with this mod because it's hard to tell from the photos that the media rack actually sits about 1 1/2 inches above the bottom of the rear chamber. Open the electrical panel on your RSM and you will see a horizontal piece of glass at the bottom that the media rack sits on. This allows water to flow out the bottom and towards the skimmer.

Isn't this a beauty???!!!!! That's some crazy mod ... you are too cool buddy.

Jeez, very nice. How long did it take you to build? I'd love to do something like that but I don't have a saw.

As adam (tony) said, the RSM comes with a nice strip of glass on both sides at the bottom for this rack to sits on. It allows the water to pass through from the rack to the Tunze skimmer. The reason it was there is because the sock skimmer rested on top of it. It worked out perfect for us!

Hollow-

Thank you. It took around 3-4 hours total. But there were 20 min dry times in there and PM answering on Nano-reef . I also cleaned out my rear chambers and had to make custom mounts and brackets for drilling and gluing.

I could do another one in 1.5-2hrs total of working and drying time. If anyone needs one for their RSM, I am sure we could work something out.

the eggcrate that was resting on the very bottom shelf, the one that housed the chemi pure, has floated up and rested on the side. You can actually see it in the picture. I don't think there is any reason to fix this, it really doesn't do anything and the only reason I put it down there was because I made so many squares.

StevieT,
Definately critical to "clean out your rear chamber" before you attempt this build... I mean we are talking about several hours of work. I know bad joke but I had to go there.....

haha, that thing was so dirty, I couldnt' believe it. I took 4 gallons of water and junk out, but it did the trick!

Yeah mine looked the same. Since the mod however everything stays much cleaner back there.

I can imagine. I just removed the floss since it was full of junk from the cleaning and water change. It was cutting back flow just a smidge that it was messing with my ato. I am impressed with the tight fit I acheived. All the water is forced down through the media, none is leaking into the skimmer chamber.

Nice skills sir,

thank you! But my tools did most of the work

New and Improved designs for purchase:

New 45* braces on all pieces with flow holes:





Plastic welder now used with old epoxy:



Routed groves for a tight fit, easy to build as well:




Ready to ship:

Looks awesome ... I can't wait to get mine ...

I think you told me this already, but I just wanted to clarify. If I wanted to do the following: chaeto, filter pads, chemi-pure. Would you recommend I insert them in the following way

1) Chemi-pure between the two drilled holes
2) Egg crate + chaeto and light
3) egg crate + 2 x filter pad on top

StevieT,

Nice....very nice indeed. I am also diggin the RSM master thread you have going, a labor of love and information to even those of us that dont have a RSM. Thanks an keep it up.

Dont be a fool you RSMer's .... get one (or two) of these.

OK....enough sucking up and ass kissing....

Why do you keep that nasty sponge in there when the THROW AWAY FLOSS serves the same function. I dont care how well you rinse the sponge, it still full of nasty junk. Floss Good.... Sponge Baaaaad.

Mark

Instead of filter floss, have you tried the blue/white filter pads?
e.g. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/images/Categ...7475_12744Z.jpg

Right now, I use 2 x filter pads or sometimes 1 filter pad + 1 filter floss (fist size) ...

I think the 2 x filter pads might work pretty well ...

aaa polly filter... yes I have tried it, it works well, but i have the floss in stock at this time.

On to your chaeto question.... you could run cheato in the top chamber of my rack and install a light in the lid above it. Then run floss under that. Or I suppose you could get a small led light that can go under water and run cheato in one of the lower chambers. your choice. so far, i do not run chaeto, nitrates are always at 0 so i don't feel the need at this time.




nice mark!!! everone get 2 ! haha.

right, i could run the floss instead of the sponge. But it cloggs up faster and messes with my water levels and my ATO. I suppose I could just change it more often but I do not run floss all the time.

I have two sponges. I run one during the week, take it out, rinse, then replace it with the spare. Let the one that was in my tank sit out an air dry and it seems to kill any junk that has gotten clogged up druing it's week of use.

So far, 0 nitrates. If I saw an issue I would go the floss only route, unless you feel the sponge is a huge waste of time....

Suggested Arrangement

you use two bags of chemipure?

in the picture you have looking down on the media rack, it looks like the water is bubbling and it is brown. What is that?

no, just one bag of chemi pure elite, the elite is larger than the standard chemi pure. on top of that is purigen.

The brown that you see is clogged up filter floss. I took the picture shortly after cleaning the rear chambers and that is all the junk it picked up out of the water!

it would look white if it was fresh floss.

Steve,

I sent you the payment through Paypal not sure if you got the pm

Can you do a version for an ap24?

got it, thanks! I am working on them today




would you know exact dimentions? I don't own an AP but if you sent me dimentions and what you are looking to stack in the media basket I am sure we could work something out. A trip to the LFS could help me visualize the rear chambers in an AP.

Would stack the basket just like you suggest. As far as the measurements, will have to wait until I get home tonight.

You need a vynil cutter to make those "Stevie T" logos look professional. You buy the vynil, I could make you as many as you want.

I know! I was looking into that, I did paint for a few but it was a pain to cut out the sticker material.

You think they would last underwater long? Where can you get that at? You have a cutter?

I don't know how well they'd hold up under water. We have 1 to 7 year outdoor vynil for signs, and I have yet to see any peel.

I have a cutter at work. I could do everything but the scribbly on the other side. Pretty much any font you'd like and many images, though none too elaborate.

I'll PM you the place to contact for the vynil from work tomorrow.

wheres the giant tang emblem?

StevieT does not approve a tang in the RSM. Only if you install the media basket!!! So I need a tang approved logo on it

Well it's a good thing I've got my media basket on order then because I've got 2 tangs in my RSM. I started with a six lined wrasse and added a yellow tang a week later. Then I got a Dory and Nemo for the kids. I had grassy fields of green hair algae that looked kinda cool flowing in the currents and I was planning on taking a photo but the yellow tang cleared the entire tank in 24 hours. I couldn't believe that much algae could fit inside the fish.

Gil

I may be working on a basket that will allow you to keep a shark! or even a seal.

See if this works for you..


Click to view attachment

wow this looks great. ... where is the Tang approval logo?

WOW!

Now I need something like that, nice job!!!!

Steve, its time to start your product line: The StevieT's series: Media Reactor, Skimmer holder , Prop Racks ...
Did I just created a lot of work for you?

no kidding, I need to get dimentions for other tanks as well, this could be a nice little business prop racks as well... nice thinking.

I need to get caught up on the RSM ones, after Mothers day weekend is over, back to the assembly line I go!

Post a pic of those new "Stevie T" logos. I wanna see the finished product.

Thank you again!

Wow ... that's really cool ... it does not look like a DIY anymore.... Great job Steve.

First I like folks on nano reef coz they r nice n helpful
plz don't get me wrong
Stevie!!!!! U need a better logotype IMO


Plz don't ban me from the site m just being honest

Heh, well I still like mine with the roughed in logo! It's a real StevieT original!



DoR

all in time, still getting past the first production stage to the high class professional stage. Trying not to waste to much money from the start. I would love to get a printed sticker, but I am hesitant that it could harm an aquarium, I don’t' know the specs on those stickers yet. I know they will last through weather on a car, but what about saltwater and a reef?



These were provided amazingly at no charge! Thank you again and again Raywhisperer, you rock!






beta v1.1 !!!! exacto knife cut out the logo on a sticker printed on the thermal...... yeah, kind of a pain in the butt, but it worked! Used it as a stencil and then painted.

Wow! A littler harsh on the beaver, aren't you Ward?

I did those on a sign making program in what little spare time I have. I'm no computer guru, and had to work with leftover scraps. Besides, that's just one of three different designs I made him, as per his specs. Also, he has several other colors, soon to be unvieled.

Don't worry, I won't ban you. You have your opinion, and are entitled to it. Now, if I had the ability to ban you.... Well, then it might have had a different ending.

I still think those are great signs

New improved routed slot for upper shelve:







Ready to Ship! Production caught up contact for details on putting one in your tank: