Revamping the tank - RSM 130D

[nkUnleashed]

I'm looking to prioritize ways to upgrade my RSM 130D (from stock!) without "starting over", and I'm willing to get a little crazy. I would love some advice!

 

Its been a rocky road since originally setting up my RSM 130D. I had a beautiful tank for about a year and a half (check out nkUnleashed RSM 130D), then bad things happened - tank-sitter tragedy while on vacation for several weeks, major infestation of zooanthid eating nudibranchs, fantastic LFS going out of business, and summer heat problems wiped out some fantastic corals. Since then, I've been generally really bummed about the tank. I've been neglecting it for months while starting a new business and switching careers.

 

But now I'm back, and I would love to do better.

 

Over the past few months I've gotten back into regular water changes (5 gallons every other week). I'm back in the habit of dosing A and B (Kent's Marine) every-other-night, while monitoring 'params. I've also replaced the stock return pumps (which both failed) with Marineland Maxi-Jet 1200s (good flow!), and I have some new T5s in the hood.

 

But what should I do next?

 

-replace stock skimmer with Tunze 9002 or other skimmer? What skimmer is best? What's easiest to install? Do I also need to install a media rack?

-replace stock T5s with LED conversion -or- keep T5s and just add Aquabeam 600 LED strip(s)? I LOVE point lighting, but dang these are expensive.

-remove stock skimmer and convert rear chamber into a refugium? I would love to do this - I like the idea of bio-filtration as the primary Na removal system over foam fractionation, and increasing the 'pod population is a nice bonus, but is it even possible to run with no skimmer?

 

I love this place, and I'm glad to finally be back!

 

FTS as of today (aka "The Before Picture"):

[nkUnleashed]

I should also add a few other things I'm thinking about, while I'm at it:

-Currently, I have a very thin sandbed - like 1/4". Should I switch to a deep sandbed? Can I just add another 1" or so?

-I'm just dosing with A and B, but I've heard that you can get rid of green filamentus algae by dosing large amounts of magnesium too. I have some cool macro algae in there right now, but I'm ready to kill it all. Will the magnesium OD wipe it out? Is there a fairly safe way to do this? Is there anything else I should be dosing for good coral health?

-Right now the live stock list includes an (Allard's) Clown (I freakin' love this fish), a yellow watchmen goby, and a coral banded shrimp (named Scampi). I feed a rotation of dried marine fish-food, cyclop-eeze, brine shrimp, and rotifers. Once a week, I hand-feed the shrimp a small piece of cuttlefish. Anything I need to add or subtract to the rotation?

 

...and I'm spent. Did I mention that I'm glad to be back?!

[thadscottmoore]

-Currently, I have a very thin sandbed - like 1/4". Should I switch to a deep sandbed? Can I just add another 1" or so?

 

thin sand bed isnt a bad thing. My goby has made sure to expose some bottom glass on my tank while he was building his castle. and the large circulation flow hasnt helped me much with covering the bottom- blowing sand in various places- building dunes and such- a very natural look...

 

-I'm just dosing with A and B, but I've heard that you can get rid of green filamentus algae by dosing large amounts of magnesium too. I have some cool macro algae in there right now, but I'm ready to kill it all. Will the magnesium OD wipe it out? Is there a fairly safe way to do this? Is there anything else I should be dosing for good coral health?

 

I dont dose except for my kalk reactor- and renew with water changes... jacking with the makeup of the water with additional chemicals and elements can lead to some serious headaches- learned from experience to keep it simple. A good salt mix should provide enough required elements for a system to work- replenished with water changes.

 

-Right now the live stock list includes an (Allard's) Clown (I freakin' love this fish), a yellow watchmen goby, and a coral banded shrimp (named Scampi). I feed a rotation of dried marine fish-food, cyclop-eeze, brine shrimp, and rotifers. Once a week, I hand-feed the shrimp a small piece of cuttlefish. Anything I need to add or subtract to the rotation?

 

just dont overfeed- that can lead to problems too.

 

...and I'm spent. Did I mention that I'm glad to be back?!

 

welcome back!

[thadscottmoore]

-replace stock skimmer with Tunze 9002 or other skimmer?

9002 is an excellent choice provided you use an ATO to keep a constant level of water for it to work with. also, do the airline mod if you get one. that mod makes it worlds easier and much more efficient.

What skimmer is best?

that opens a can of worms- everyone has their own opinion on this subject- personal preference is subject to different opinions. the 9002 is tried and true by many= and its small foot print helps alot in regards to installing in rear chamber..

What's easiest to install?

already answered that in previous answer

Do I also need to install a media rack?

I bought one- and never used it. Nothing against it- I just went with a cabinet sump instead and had already ordered the rack before I decided to go with the sump. I see nothing wrong with using one.

-replace stock T5s with LED conversion -or- keep T5s and just add Aquabeam 600 LED strip(s)? I LOVE point lighting, but dang these are expensive.

LEDs have become the mindset of direction that the hobby is going. I deleted my stock hood couple years back - went to Metal halide and T5 combo- works great- only draw back is bulb replacement can get expensive- I was averaging 150 a year on bulb maintenance upkeep. LED has that advantage- far more life in an LED setup- fewer replacements.

-remove stock skimmer and convert rear chamber into a refugium? I would love to do this - I like the idea of bio-filtration as the primary Na removal system over foam fractionation, and increasing the 'pod population is a nice bonus, but is it even possible to run with no skimmer?

It is possible to run skimmerless- many do with great success. water changes become the chore too.

[nkUnleashed]

Thanks for the detailed comments, thadscottmoore! This is exactly the kind of conversation I need. It sounds like the first thing to do is upgrade the skimmer to the 9002. I'll skip the media rack, leave the sand bed alone, continue the simple A and B dosing program, and then as funding permits, hopefully before summer, I really want to replace the T5s with cooler running (and better looking) LEDs. Since I'm in GA I just have a really hard time running the tank cool enough with those T5s. I'll try to post updates on this stuff in my old tank thread in case anything interesting happens.

 

In the meantime, I need to replenish my clean-up-crew with a few new recruits, and wipe out the last of the algae.

[thadscottmoore]

Thanks for the detailed comments, thadscottmoore! This is exactly the kind of conversation I need. It sounds like the first thing to do is upgrade the skimmer to the 9002. I'll skip the media rack, leave the sand bed alone, continue the simple A and B dosing program, and then as funding permits, hopefully before summer, I really want to replace the T5s with cooler running (and better looking) LEDs. Since I'm in GA I just have a really hard time running the tank cool enough with those T5s. I'll try to post updates on this stuff in my old tank thread in case anything interesting happens.

 

In the meantime, I need to replenish my clean-up-crew with a few new recruits, and wipe out the last of the algae.

 

LEDs will be a definite plus when it comes to lowering tank temps! When I was running my Metal Halide and T5 Combo fixture- I was having a hard time keeping my tank cool. My tank was averaging 79F-80.2F during summer months. I swapped over to an LED fixture a friend loaned to me- to help me decide if LED was a route I wanted to take. My temps stay a constant 77.8F-78.2F.

[nkUnleashed]

LEDs will be a definite plus when it comes to lowering tank temps! When I was running my Metal Halide and T5 Combo fixture- I was having a hard time keeping my tank cool. My tank was averaging 79F-80.2F during summer months. I swapped over to an LED fixture a friend loaned to me- to help me decide if LED was a route I wanted to take. My temps stay a constant 77.8F-78.2F.

 

I'm glad to hear that - I think the reason I lost my seriatopora last year was from heat shock (temp increase of about 4F, up to 83F in the summer months).

 

In addition to the usual water change today I brushed all the LR, glass, and other tank components where the algae had gotten a grip, over the past several months, and I completely broke down the stock skimmer and cleaned all the components really well. Its already skimming much better, but the some micro-bubbles are back. At any rate, the skimmer is performing better already so I think the LEDs will be the first purchase, rather then the skimmer.

 

Ordering the lights tonight!!!

[zachjohnson65]

Are you considering removing the hood or just modding. I like how the hood creates a smooth look but the heat factor is getting on my nerves and the stock lamp color is just OK, needs more blue!