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Rob's RSM MAX - Updated with Pics!


RAG415

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Well, after having my RSM MAX for over a month (I bought it before labor day weekend) I finally got it set up and filled with water last night! This is my first salt water/reef tank, so I really excited about it. I have always had fresh water tanks while growing up, and always wanted a salt water tank.

 

Thank you to StevieT - the media rack and upgraded cup for the Tunze 9002 are working great and look amazing in the tank. I have also added the Hydor flo deflector to the right return pump and installed a Koralia 2 power head for the right side of the tank for extra flow. In the cabinet I have installed a JBJ ATO reservoir.

 

I mixed the salt with my DI water last night in the tank, which seemed to take forever - I used 9 pounds of Reef Crystals. After a while of the salt just collecting on the bottom of the tank, I dropped in the massive pump from the POS stock skimmer which seemed to do the trick (yet filled the tank with about a million tiny little bubbles!). This morning everything appears to be all mixed, so I tested the salinity - 1.025 right on! I tested with both the swing arm Hydrometer from Red Sea and my new refractometer. The refractometer read exactly 1.025, but the swing arm continues to read as about 1.022. I will go with the refractometer, since I have heard the swing arms are typically unreliable. The refractometer's instructions said to calibrate with distilled water...is that the same as deionized water (DI)?

 

My temp is a little high. I set the heater for 79, but this morning it is reading 82.2. Has anyone else had accuracy issued with the stock heater? After work today I'll test SG, temp, and pH to see if the water is ready for rock and sand. Any suggestions on where to get the rock? I already have about 30 lbs of live sand (I got from the LFS), but thinking about ordering the live rock from online. Any thoughts on different vendors online and type of rock - timora vs. figi, etc? I was thinking about getting a combination of types of rock, but not sure exactly what to expect. I will posted again after work, hopefully with pictures.

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Rob,

 

:welcome: and congrats on the RSM setup!

 

I've only been running mine for a couple weeks, so there are others who can give you more expert advice, but here are my thoughts.

 

I have the thermostat on the heater set to 76, and my tank temps range from 79 to 82. Contributing factors for me are I am running only 1 of the 2 PC bulbs (one shipped not working, and I haven't installed the replacement yet since I'm still cycling), and I do have the extra fan installed.

 

I ordered my liverock and livesand from Premium Aquatics, and went with 20lbs of Timora and 20lbs of Fiji, both cured. I expected some die-off to prompt the cycle, but so far have not seen any ammonia spike. The rock looks good to me, although some pieces were very large and needed some resizing. The Timora seems to be very dense (heavy for it's size), so 20lbs of Fiji fills alot more space in the tank than 20lbs of Timora. Something to keep in mind.

 

Glad to see you got the StevieT mods and recommendations running early - I'm still playing catch-up, but I'm not in a rush - patience seems to be the primary recommendation.

 

Enjoy the new setup!

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... This is my first salt water/reef tank, so I really excited about it.

 

You should be! :D

 

 

... The refractometer's instructions said to calibrate with distilled water...is that the same as deionized water (DI)?

 

Really better to calibrate using a saltwater standard. One can be purchased the next time you order form Drs Foster and Smith. ;)

 

My temp is a little high. I set the heater for 79, but this morning it is reading 82.2.

 

Sure it isn't the thermometer?

:welcome: to N-R and the RSM fold.

 

Many of us have already replaced the stock heater due to control problems, but in my case it would not hold a steady temperature. In your case if it holds a steady 82, just adjust it down a bit. Or buy a better heater and use this one for warming change water.

 

HTH,

hank

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congratulations on setting up your RSM!

Here'a a quick picture of mine. At the time I had a nasty algae outbreak that was quickly resolved with a hungry CUC.

IMG_5776.jpg

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Thanks everyone for the welcome!

 

I was going to upload a FTS, but there is nothing in the tank yet, so I thought that may be a bit boring. Last night I ordered my live rock from premiumaqautics.com which should arrive tomorrow. After I get that in, I'll take a photo to post.

 

I bought 40 lbs. of the Timora Fully Cured, as it seemed to have the best reviews. I also got 5 lbs of the Bali BIO - it looked quite interesting, so I thought I would give it a shot for a small amount.

 

Last night I also replaced the RSM stock heater with a 200W Stealth. I happened to be at PetCo and it was on sale for $25. I figured I might as well replace it now while I had no livestock. It seems to be holding a more stable temperature. The only concern I have it with the minimum water line on the Stealth. The suction cups it come with to hold it in place are wider than the heater compartment in the back and therefore cannot fit down very far. I think my water level it just barely at the line. Is is a big deal to be a bit below the min level? Anybody else come up with a better solution who is using the Stealth?

 

As for the live rock - what do you usually do before putting it in the tank? Is it really necessary to scrub it? Do you need to acclimate the rock? Or should i just drop it in the tank once it arrives?

 

Thanks again for all of your help!

 

congratulations on setting up your RSM!

Here'a a quick picture of mine. At the time I had a nasty algae outbreak that was quickly resolved with a hungry CUC.

IMG_5776.jpg

 

 

Nice tank, BTW :)

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... Anybody else come up with a better solution who is using the Stealth?

 

As for the live rock - what do you usually do before putting it in the tank?

 

I would just drop the heater in the slot next to the pump chamber and not worry about the suction cups. It's not going anywhere, right? As floss and sponges start to fill with detritus, the water level downstream from them can drop.

 

I've started our LR with fully cured rock and all I did was keep it wet (with S/W of course) and put it in. At most you might swish it in a bucket of S/W to remove any loose stuff, but you'll probably have more stuff coming off it as it cures anyway. I wouldn't scrub it. (My $0.02)

 

-hank

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I would just drop the heater in the slot next to the pump chamber and not worry about the suction cups. It's not going anywhere, right? As floss and sponges start to fill with detritus, the water level downstream from them can drop.

 

I've started our LR with fully cured rock and all I did was keep it wet (with S/W of course) and put it in. At most you might swish it in a bucket of S/W to remove any loose stuff, but you'll probably have more stuff coming off it as it cures anyway. I wouldn't scrub it. (My $0.02)

 

Thank you for the advice Hank. I'll let you know how the rock goes tomorrow...hopefully with pictures!

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woot woot, glad you enjoy the rack and cup.

 

I agree with the heater, and placement. I went with the stealth and just dropped it in, no need for suction cups, the cord length will place it as needed.

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I have rock!

 

My order from premiumaquatics.com came today and the rock looks awesome. I got 40 lbs of their Timora Sea Fully Cured and 5 lbs of the Bali BIO liverock. The both came loaded with purple coraline and a bunch of green and purple (red?) magro algae. So far I have been able to find a couple of hitchhikers: a very small tan clam (or other bivalve) and at least two small snails. Here is a couple pictures of the clam/bivalve, anyone got any guesses? Should I leave it in or take it out?

 

DSC_1151.jpg

 

DSC_1150.jpg

 

 

The Bali BIO liverock is pretty interesting. It is basically softball sized/shaped pieces of rock and it bright purple. It is the rock that the clam is on.

 

Here are a few FTS:

 

Front:

 

DSC_1143.jpg

 

Left Side:

 

DSC_1155.jpg

 

Right Side:

 

DSC_1153.jpg

 

 

 

 

What do you all think of the scape?

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I have rock!

...

What do you all think of the scape?

Well... Don't take this as being critical, but here are things I did in our first scape that could have been done better.

 

- Try not to pack the rock together like a puzzle with interlocking pieces. you want more open space. That's for circulation as well as providing places for fish to hide.

 

- From the side the rock looks like a cliff. That makes it difficult to place corals. Anything you place near the top will tend to shade stuff below it. Better to try for a slope to allow for more places to place corals.

 

- That big piece on top looks awkward. I would keep it closer to the bottom and supported by some smaller pieces to open some space under it.

 

- If possible try to keep some open space on the bottom. That will be useful if you want to put an island in to isolate some Xenia or GSP (to keep it from taking over your main LR arrangement.)

 

It took me several tries to get a decent arrangement so don't be afraid to work with it some more. If you kept the styrofoam that sat under the tank in shipping, you can set that on the floor and try out arrangements on it outside of the tank. That might be easier than working in the tank.

 

HTH,

hank

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A couple of days ago I added substrate to the tank. I added 20 lbs of CaribSea Caribbean live sand. I have another 10 lbs bag, but it does not seem like I need it. I will post pictures later to show how much is in the tank already. I was a bit surprised because most on this site seem to be putting in 30-40 lbs.

 

This was quite a task - it took forever to get the sand in the right places (behind and under the rocks) and for the tank to clear. I have been using a turkey baster to get the sand of of all the live rock, but it just never seems to get all off. Since I've added the sand, there seems to be much less life (fans/worms/etc) than there was before. Also, the rock now seems less colorful and dirty. Hopefully this will change as all of the sand settles off the rock.

 

Hank - Thank you for your input about the scape. I decided to keep it as it is. The rock is actually not a closely packed as it looks - there is quite a bit of of space between pieces. The magority of the scape is made up of a few large pieces of rock, so no concern of stability. We'll see how it works out.

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A couple of days ago I added substrate to the tank. I added 20 lbs of CaribSea Caribbean live sand. I have another 10 lbs bag, but it does not seem like I need it....

 

Hank - Thank you for your input about the scape. I decided to keep it as it is.

 

We don't have much sand in our tank - probably less than 20 lb. It doesn't even reach the bottom edge of the tank in front. That leaves more room for the fish and looks great to me. :D

 

WRT your scape, to paraphrase one of my favorite lines from High Noon "You asked me, ma'm, so I told you." But the important thing is that you are happy with it.

 

best,

hank

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I looked in the tank this morning and saw this worm-like thing climbing up one of the rocks. It is black with yellow stripes on its side and has a red head. I can't see the end of it (in or under the rocks) but it looks to be at least a foot long! It is very very small in diameter. Anybody know what this is?

 

worm.jpg

 

And here is the head a bit closer:

 

wormclose.jpg

 

Thanks for everyone's help!

 

Also, can someone identify this coral. It just opened up on my rock (a hitchhiker), and I think it is a zoa?

 

zoa.jpg

 

It's been about 5 days since I added the rock and sand into my tank. I still have no measurable nitrites or ammonia in the water. Does it normally take this long to start the cycle? If the rock was cured very well and there was a good amount of bacteria already on it, would I not have a cycle at all? I am trying to figure out when I can add my first clown fish and/or CUC. How long should I wait to see nitrite/ammonia?

 

Thanks! :)

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It's been about 5 days since I added the rock and sand into my tank. I still have no measurable nitrites or ammonia in the water. Does it normally take this long to start the cycle? If the rock was cured very well and there was a good amount of bacteria already on it, would I not have a cycle at all? I am trying to figure out when I can add my first clown fish and/or CUC. How long should I wait to see nitrite/ammonia?

 

Thanks! :)

 

Can't help you at all with the identifications, but will say if my wife saw the foot-long thing, there would be an immediate cry of 'take it out, take it out!' For me, it's nice to see you have so much 'living' stuff that arrived on the rock from Premium Aquatics - with 20lbs of timora and 20lbs of fiji, I've seen no discernable hitchhikers that survived the shipping.

 

Regarding the cycle, I'm at 4 weeks up and running with above mentioned liverock, and 40lbs of live sand, and had not registered any ammonia, nitrites or nitrate until yesterday. There was a scant trace of nitrates yesterday. I have been wondering the same thing - where's the cycle? In your case, with so much other 'living' stuff to have made the shipping trip, it's probably even more likely the beneficial bacteria survived as well, and you might be done.

 

It's the 'might' word that always gets me... so I stay cautious. Yesterday, added a few more clean up crew members, and our first easy coral - a favia frag. I'm thinking a few more weeks for the first fish, but I'll let the water parameters dictate. As it is, I haven't even had to do a first water change yet... would like to at least get one of those done before i stock any fish.

 

Hope this helps a little...

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A lot has happened over the past week. My tank cycled, I had/have an algae bloom (first diatom, then green hair), and I've added the start of my CUC and two clown fish. Everything seems to be going very well. The snails and hermits are doing their job getting rid of all of the algae, the skunk cleaner shrimp seem to be cleaning and the fish are very active!

 

Yesterday I added two Nassarius snails (i have a few Ceriths and Astrea) as well as a peppermint shrimp. I added the shrimp because I noticed a few small Aptasia pop up on some rocks. I've read that the peps may eat those, so I thought I'd give it a try before they get big or multiply.

 

I will added some pictures after work today.

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  • 1 month later...

Well it has been over a month since I seemingly abandoned this thread!

 

I'm sorry I never got any more pics up since my last post, but I have been so busy with this tank and keeping up with everyone else's tank threads. A lot has happened since my last post: I have added a few new corals and fish. Here is my stocking list so far:

 

Fish

2 False Percs

1 Two-Spot Goby

 

Inverts

4 Ceriths

3 Astreas

1 Nessarius Snail

1 Sea Bunny

1 Flaming Scallop

5 Blue leg Hermits

1 Halloween Hermit

1 Scarlet Red Hermit

1 Peppermint Shrimp

1 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp

1 Large Feather Duster

A Few Hitchhiker crabs

 

Corals

Colony of Green and yellow zoas

2 brown and green zoas

Frogspawn (4 heads and 1 splitting)

Pulsing Xenia

Yellow Acropora

 

 

I justed added the acro yesterday and so far it looks like it is adjusting well. This is my first SPS in this tank, so I hope it does well. My water params have been pretty stable. I have never measured any Nitrites, Ammonia, Phosphates. Here is current params:

 

Temp: 79.9

SG: 1.025

Nitrtite: 0

Nitrate: 0

Amm: 0

Phos: 0

Calc: 400

Alk: 8

Mg: 1100

 

I have been raising calc and alk over the past couple weeks. I am using Kent Nano A/B everyday. I started adding 5 ml of each every day, and now I am adding aout 8 ml of each. I moved the cal and alk up from 360/6 in two weeks. Should I add more daily to move it faster?? Does anyone else dose with Nano A/B? I also started to dose for Mg. I am using IO Reef Crystals salt and it just doesn't have enough Mg. I bought Kent Tech-M and added 50ml yesterday to bring up the Mg. I will do the same every day until Mg = 1350. Any recommendations about using Tech-M??

 

I have to wait two hours for the lights to go on, and then I will take and add pics!!

 

Thanks for looking at the thread...I would love some input/comments/suggestions...

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  • 2 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...
looks great! :D any updates?

 

 

Thanks george!

 

It has been quite a while since an update...let's see, here is what is new:

 

Fish:

Six Line Wrasse (newest addition)

 

Inverts:

Orange star

 

Coral:

Sun Coral

Rainbow Acan Lord

Brain Coral

Birdsnest frags (purple and green)

Acropora (brown with yellow polyps)

Intense blue SPS (not sure the name)

Orange zoas

Blue zoas

Watermelon zoas

Mushrooms (green, purple, red)

GSP

 

There has been a ton of growth with everything else...two of the frogspawn's heads have split and there is another tiny head growing from the side of one head, the acropora and birdsnest have a lot of noticeable growth. The pulsing xenia is growing like crazy...one stalk has turned into at least 20: I have to keep cutting them back...I have fragged a number of them and attached them to rocks to bring to the LFS for trades (a good way to cut down on the cost of more corals).

 

Tank parameters have been fairly stable, but I have been working to bring up the pH. For Christmas I got an Aquacontroller Jr. with pH probe and now realize how terrible the API pH test kit is!! I thought I was testing at 8.2-8.4 before, but now with the probe I was actually at 7.8-8.0. I have been trying to bring up the pH gradually with Aquavitro Balance and 8.4 (both are part of Seachem's new line of chemicals). I have gotten the pH over 8.0, but just barely....any suggestions for safely raising pH and keeping it at 8.3?? I also dose for CA, Mg, and alkalinity a few times a week as needed.

 

Here are some pics of the tank:

 

Front FTS:

DSC_1635.jpg

 

Right FTS:

DSC_1645.jpg

 

Left FTS:

DSC_1656.jpg

 

Close up of shrimp and SPS corals:

DSC_1636.jpg

 

My first Acan:

DSC_1637.jpg

 

Sun coral (sorry it's not open all the way):

DSC_1638.jpg

 

Birdsnest and blue SPS:

DSC_1639.jpg

 

Orange star hanging out:

DSC_1640.jpg

 

Clown with frogspawn:

DSC_1641.jpg

 

DSC_1644.jpg

 

Six line hiding:

DSC_1651.jpg

DSC_1659.jpg

DSC_1661.jpg

DSC_1662.jpg

She is very camera shy...it's hard to get a decent photo

 

Green mush:

DSC_1653.jpg

 

Brain:

DSC_1654.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

My RSM just past it's 6 month birthday and I added a couple of new things. I got a new fish! - yellow watchman goby. I added him to the tank and my 6 line wrasse beat the crap out of it! I thought it was a goner, but it finally found refuge under my mag float, where the 6LW can't get to it. I hope he makes it. I also picked up a new coral - alveopora - which is acclimating very well to the tank. It has already opened significantly since I added it yesterday. Also, everything has grown a whole bunch over the past couple of months. Here are some pics:

 

Alveopora:

 

DSC_1736.jpg

 

DSC_1734.jpg

 

DSC_1749.jpg

 

DSC_1735.jpg

 

 

Acan Lord:

 

DSC_1737.jpg

 

DSC_1738.jpg

 

 

Other shots:

 

DSC_1741.jpg

 

DSC_1740.jpg

 

DSC_1742.jpg

 

DSC_1743.jpg

 

DSC_1748.jpg

 

 

FTS:

 

DSC_1745.jpg

 

DSC_1746.jpg

 

DSC_1747.jpg

 

DSC_1749.jpg

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nice tank!!!

 

 

Thanks! :)

 

I noticed you have a sun coral also...mine is not doing so well. It looks like it's tissue is decaying a bit in parts between the polyps. What and how often are you feeding yours?

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