New Redsea Max

[Huski-Oz]

Hey, after reading through the forums (StevieT Thread) i decided to buy a RSM, the LFS had a sale on and i got it for 1300AUD with Starter Pack.

 

It is slightly different to the US one, as it has no wood grain in the cabinet. I set it up using the RedSea CoralPRO Salt i think i will continue to use this, i had put the ReefBASE in, but it isn't to my liking, i will change to the Caribsea Arag-Alive this weekend, I have had it running now with 12kg of rock for a week and a half, I'll add more LR this weekend, I am using Cairns Premium LR. I am going to purchase a Hydor FLO and Hydor Nano or 1 this week to.

 

As for the skimmer it is the new one (ie, new hood and skimmer) however no holes in collection cup, im still having a slight problem with micro bubbles i have about 2inch of sponge, then skimmer, then purigen, carbon, and Bio-Noods, the Noods are only in until i get the LR and sand in then ill remove them over a few weeks, as well as the carbon. I plan on running, sponge - skimmer - Purigen - Chemi-Pure. The skimmer is only getting foam to the neck not the cup, after all the LR goes in if it doesn't start working i'll put in a Tunze NANO.

 

I have a few Hitchhikers, odd stars and worms, although i think i may be hearing that horrid click!! hopefully its just night terrors after one rampaged my Nana's Tank.. ill have a look for possible camps he may have when i do final aquascape.

 

This is my first Marine Setup, I have a 65G African Cichlid and a 35g Aust. Rainbow Tank, and breed bristlenose catfish. I have recently helped setup a nano for my Nana's B'Day, it's a big expensive learning curve but very fun and rewarding when you get it right!

 

I have taken a few pictures of the setup so far. I need to resize and upload later

 

- Zack

[HankB]

to N-R

 

Ours (purchased recently in the US) has no wood grain in the base.

 

I'm not sure you should be concerned about the skimmer at this point. That said, ours seems to be skimming at 2 weeks, but we started with rock, sand and water from our dealer's tanks.

 

We have a Koralia 2, just like StevieT.

 

We're running the sponge and some floss only at the moment.

 

Be sure to drop bluesky a note when you start a tank thread (or if this is your tank thread) so he can add you to his RSM index thread.

 

I would think if you can breed BN plecs then you should not have difficulty with a reef tank.

 

Keep us posted on progress.

 

-hank

[StevieT]

 

tip: no skimmer, no chemical media during the cycle

[hazmat]

to the Red Sea family!! There is quite a few of us here and it seems we have all modeled something after StevieT's tank. As you can see by my siggy...he's my mentor!

 

Everyone on this board has been really helpful so don't be afraid to ask! Good luck!!

[KatanaRamirez]

Hi, good luck with the new tank. (Huski-Oz - if you live in Huskisson/Australia? I live about 10min from you)

[Huski-Oz]

Thanks, yea i'll remove the carbon this weekend when i put in LS and LR, as well as the Noodles, that chamber sucks haha...

 

I am thinking of getting the Tunze now and be done with it as i know i will eventually, and get Stevie's gear.

Is it necessary to have the flo of a Hydor 2??

 

-- I'm from Brisbane, spent some time in Alaska last year and fell in love with the breed.

 

Stevie - is one bag of Arag Alive (9kg) enough for the RSM or did you use more roughly?

 

Thanks

 

A few pics... First the box, and second 1st aquascape, have done a few more but will wait till i get more rock to do a final

[HankB]

Is it necessary to have the flo of a Hydor 2?? I think it depends on what you want to keep. Plus there's the issue of how much you want to work to get flow distributed.

 

Stevie - is one bag of Arag Alive (9kg) enough for the RSM or did you use more roughly? I'm pretty sure that Stevie has two bags. In our tank I think it is about 1 bag. Our sand came in 5 gallon bucket about 3-4 inches deep.

 

It may not be enough for fish that like to tunnel or bury themselves in the sand, but it's enough to cover the bottom from barely covered to over an inch.

 

-hank

[Huski-Oz]

Another update...

 

Today i got the rest (i think) of the Live Rock theres about 20-25kg in there, I also got a bag 9kg of Carib-Sea AragAlive. I think im going to need maybe half a bag more, so I'll talk someone into going halves together... I put the filter wool back in to try and get rid of the yuck water

 

NEWSFLASH! My skimmer is actually working, for now anyway, no liquid just foam, up and over into the cup, like a Skimmer should, for how long who knows. The heater on the other hand junk.

 

Im going to get a HydorFLO and a Hydor 2 tomorrow as well as a Salinity Refractometer i do not like/trust the RedSea Hydrometer.

 

There is quite a few Hitchhikers on the rocks today, the most I've ever seen on one piece of rock... I'd take more pics, but at the moment all my cards are full of Alaska photos which i need to sort. I'll take a few more tomorrow when the water has cleared, I have a Purigen pouch in as well. Chemi-Pure which I would like to use is very hard to source, no LFS has it, apart from one i found in Perth, WA, so i'll order some soon. After adding all the rock and removing a far part of water, my Salinity has dropped to 1.020 so I am currently getting it back up.

 

Heres a few Pics.

[Huski-Oz]

So far I've spotted a few crabs just normal looking ones about as big a thumb nail, a little red crab that looks like its armoured like IronMan. A snail, a few little shrimp glass colour with 1 big claw. a larger shrimp thats glass coulored with a faded red stripe pattern its about 1 and a half inch long. A few bristle stars and worms, can any one help with ID of the shrimp?

 

I'll post pictures this afternoon.

Zack

[StevieT]

not to burst your bubble but the skimmer is catching suspended junk from live rock and the sand. All the red sea skimmers will collect this, but it is not bioload or means that the skimmer is "working"....

 

once that settles and you get life in your tank, don't expect much out of performance.

 

I don't know about the shrimp, pic?

[Huski-Oz]

haha yea, i forgot to add the sarcastic smiley, i thought id let it go down with dignity, it will be replaced within the fortnight, I'm getting the Tunze Skimmer, (and your product as per PM Stevie) I am going to go with the Tunze 6025 Nanostream, for aesthetics, function I like Tunze product and customer service in Australia is excellent. Any reason why i should choose the Hydor over the Tunze??. Im changing the heater as well...

 

Tests today show only Nitrate has risen to 50H, 10L. Everything else is normal.

 

I will get up early tomorrow and try get a shot of the shrimp, i think i've identified it as a sort of anemone shrimp. Theres also a fat (thick leg) Bristlestar i found.

[Thunil]

Always good to see another aussie on the forums.

 

The good thing about the lr we get in australia is that it is full of life, from what i have seen on these forums it looks like we get more hitchikers. I got a few crabs when i got my LR, ended up chucking most of them in the 'fuge. As for the clicking you are hearing, it could be the shrimps you are seeing that have one big claw and one small claw. They are called pistol shrimp and are beneficial to the tank. I got a lot of these guys on my lr and after three years i am pretty certain that none of the clicks i am hearing are mantis shrimp.

 

I also got a reddy/orangey crab on my lr, it has brown tips on its claws. I'd be interested in any info you find on your crab because i am not sure if mine is good or bad.

 

Good luck with the tank

Daniel

[noobofreefs]

How you described your shrimp reminded me a lot of mine. Mine is an Indonesian Pistol Shrimp. (Or a randall's pistol shrimp)

 

He makes a clicking sound like you mentioned earlier too.

 

Here's a couple pics of mine to compare your's with:

With the goby they pair up with:

 

By himself:

[bluesky]

Welcome ... I will add you to the RSM Index Thread too .

[Huski-Oz]

Yea, not do blow our own whistle but from what i've seen from forums, the LR available to us is great, i guess we live with the Great Barrier Reef. So far i haven't come up with anything, for the red crab, and it looks like what you described.

 

noobofreefs - thats what it looks like, almost, but without the claw, like a prawn. Only thing i could find was a Anemone shrimp. however i do a few i've seen of little shrimp that are exactly like that, i huge claw, but no where near as nice as yours, they are just grey. I dont think its a Mantis, making the clicks either, my nana had one and it was active in the day, i have yet to see anything really in the day.

 

I want a Coral Banded shrimp to call Jacques, so Im hoping that it can stand up to the little pistols, apparently Mantis if there was one, won't go for the Banded shrimp, or maybe my friend has just been lucky?

 

Thankyou bluesky, i'll try to include as much info as possible, although i think stevie's thread should be published in a magazine paid for by RedSea haha.

 

Thanks guys, pics to come

[noobofreefs]

Wait I'm confused a little bit. Did you say yours does or doesn't have one big claw?

[StevieT]

haha yea, i forgot to add the sarcastic smiley, i thought id let it go down with dignity, it will be replaced within the fortnight, I'm getting the Tunze Skimmer, (and your product as per PM Stevie) I am going to go with the Tunze 6025 Nanostream, for aesthetics, function I like Tunze product and customer service in Australia is excellent. Any reason why i should choose the Hydor over the Tunze??. Im changing the heater as well...

 

Tests today show only Nitrate has risen to 50H, 10L. Everything else is normal.

 

I will get up early tomorrow and try get a shot of the shrimp, i think i've identified it as a sort of anemone shrimp. Theres also a fat (thick leg) Bristlestar i found.

 

 

aaaa you forgot this one

 

no, go with whatever you feel is best, the hydor is much cheaper over here. If you like the Tunze pump go with it, they make a great product.

[bluesky]

I use Hydor Koralia pumps too ... they are great ... when too old or broken, just get a new one

[Huski-Oz]

The clear shrimp hasn't got a big claw, the grey one does.

 

The Tunze is a little cheaper here than Hydor products,

 

Will add some Corals next week if levels stay low, cycle is done i believe everything 0 did a water change to get rid of the Nitrate so i'll see how we go,

 

Thanks for your help guys.

[Huski-Oz]

Update:

 

Ok so the tank is cycled and been so for a 2 weeks, havn't updated for a while due to work.

 

So far this is how it is:

- Changed to Carib-Sea Alive Sand

- 20kg of Live Rock

- Added Hydor FLO to 1 of the pumps,

- Introduced a Pyjama Cardinal and a Bi-Colour Blenny.

- Corals

- Acropora, Green Leather, Cabbage, Green Torch, Purple Trachy, and a Candy Cane,

 

Levels still correct, have done a water change using Sea Water.

 

Next week my LFS has 20% off Tunze, so i'll be adding a NanoStream, but just my luck they have no NanoSkimmer's in stock so they won't be on sale.

 

Currently using the Black Sponge (half), RSM Skimmer, and Purigen in the filter. Am going to try Kent Carbon as they're isn't anywhere to buy Chemi-Pure here at the moment. As well as Eco-Systems Marine pack for dosing.. all the essentials.

 

Will get some pictures up tonight! (Tomorow for you people on the other side of the world

[Huski-Oz]

Here is a pic, more to come...

 

Have a Apple so it's a process getting them off the camera, resizing and formatting.

 

Got a Tunze nanostream, picking it up on Thursday, along with a Juvenile Foxface (5cm)

 

Anyway here's the FTS to date.

[Huski-Oz]

Hey again,

 

Finally got "Iphoto" mastered.

 

Added the Tunze NanoStream today, the corals have come out heaps since, is this due to the Tunze, or just co-incidence. My skimmer seems to be working, getting brown foam into the cup, however its in the Study so the noise is killing it.

 

Levels still nothing, as it is i have:

Green Leather, Cabbage, CandyCane, Green Torch, Trachy, Acro, Royal Dottyback, Pyjama Cardinal, and Bi-Colour Blenny

 

Algae is still a problem, however it is retreating, the LFS says it can happen "Algae Blooms" in new tanks.

 

I will do a water change tomorow, i am still only using Calcium +3 can anyone recommend any other essentials??

 

I think i'll get a bottle of MarineSnow for Corals as well as feeding the ones i can with Prawn/Squid etc.

 

I am starting to see the little Pink Discs, i think the are a Calc. Worm from what i've read.

 

I got a photo of that Shrimp i was talking about, can anyone ID him???

[Huski-Oz]

more...

 

In the last photo look to the middle rock, then go down from the peak, thats the shrimp im trying to ID.

 

I'll add more pics tomorrow when i get some more stuff, need to get something to eliminate the algae, then we can look forward to Coraline, what are you using to stimulate growth of Coraline, is "Purple Up" good, or other products better? Thanks again

[HankB]

I will do a water change tomorow, i am still only using Calcium +3 can anyone recommend any other essentials??

 

The mantra here is "don't dose what you don't test for!"

 

A quality salt with frequent small water changes should keep your params where they need to be unless you've got something particularly demanding. Likewise with Purple Up - a good money maker for the LFS but you will get corraline eventually if you otherwise manage your tank well. It just takes time.

 

I would be leery of any food that I need to disperse into the water column. I'm not sure how you are feeding. I am target feeding our corals with mysis, cyclop-eeze and coral frenzy depending... (Leathers generally get no food, they're big enough anyway.) Most corals will support themselves by photosynthesizing, so the feedings are an optional bonus. Overfeeding can lead to continuing algae problems.

 

Sounds like you're on top of things otherwise.

 

Your next task photographically is to find an alternate host for your pictures, like photobucket. (I use Google's Picasaweb.)

 

Keep us posted!

 

thanks,

hank

[StevieT]

I like to turn off the pumps when feeding. With the corals I leave the koralia on, but turn off the filtration pumps. This way you do not lose that food into the rear chambers, caught in a sponge or floss, or fraction in the skimmer.

 

edit:

 

+1 for photobucket