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Gil's New Red Sea Max


Gilrock

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Hi everyone...I just setup my first marine aquarium about a week ago and decided to start with the Red Sea Max. I put about 25 pounds of Live Rock from a local store in there last wed. and didn't think it was enough so I added about another 35 pounds on thurs. A few of these rocks were quite dense. I like the way I've got it arranged but I am worried about the space behind the rock. There's actually about an inch of space behind several of the rocks but it's not visible from the side I took the photo.

 

I was surprised by the number of things that arrived on the rocks. I've got one rock with a couple small things that look like feather dusters that quickly draw up into tiny holes when they see me. There's also a larger one that is green with brown nodules at the ends that comes out during the day and draws into a hole at night. The first night after getting the second load of rock I used a flashlight and found two things that look like mini octopus or starfish with small bodies and inch long legs. I've found them hiding in the crevices of the rock on the top left that looks like an open mouth. There's also a bunch of bug looking things that move around really fast. And a small white sponge about the size of a large marble that is starting to turn brownish so I don't know if it's going to make it.

 

I found this forum after searching for advice about using Live Rock in the filter. I stopped by a store today that had a RSM setup and the guy told me I should replace all the filter sponges and other filter media with Live Rock. Has anyone actually tried this and if so did you put the live rock inside a bag similar the one that came with the filter? And do you actually put live rock where the black sponge is near the skimmer entrance?

 

I attached a few photos. The last one was taken using a flash while the moon lights were on which shows the rock color better than a photo with the T5 lights on.

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...and I forgot about these two critters that arrived in the Live Rock. Looks like some type of snails but not like any I've seen in the stores.

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:welcome:

 

Hi ..relative noob here too, consensus is no LR in filter, no sponge/foam, no ceramic rings, no bio balls. Nada. Add chemipure/purigen bag and some folks use craft store (walmart) filter floss.

 

Make sure the rockwork isn't too close to the glass, so you can clean around it with mag scraper or algae wand.

 

Neat to get cool stuff on your LR from the get go,nothing ever live at my LFS.

 

What are your plans for stocking your new toy?

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I was surprised by the number of things that arrived on the rocks. I've got one rock with a couple small things that look like feather dusters that quickly draw up into tiny holes when they see me. There's also a larger one that is green with brown nodules at the ends that comes out during the day and draws into a hole at night. The first night after getting the second load of rock I used a flashlight and found two things that look like mini octopus or starfish with small bodies and inch long legs.

 

I found this forum after searching for advice about using Live Rock in the filter. I stopped by a store today that had a RSM setup and the guy told me I should replace all the filter sponges and other filter media with Live Rock. Has anyone actually tried this and if so did you put the live rock inside a bag similar the one that came with the filter? And do you actually put live rock where the black sponge is near the skimmer entrance?

 

Congrats on the RSM.

 

Sounds like you have some feather dusters and some brittlestars (tiny sea stars) which are good hitchhikers. The green with brown tip might be a bad anemone hitchhiker (hard to tell without pictures).

 

Don't put rubble in the back chambers. It will turn into a detritus trap and restrict your flow. Many people cut the black sponge in half and still use it.

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Many people cut the black sponge in half and still use it.

 

I've also heard that the newer tanks already have the sponge reduced in size so try to figure out which you have before doing that. It is probably covered in SteveT's thread. (The definitive RSM thread. ;) )

 

:welcome: to N-R and congrats on your RSM. Please keep us posted on progress. We're planning on getting an RSM one of these days so I'm trying to follow all of the RSM tank threads.

 

-hank

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:welcome: to the red sea max club!!!!

 

Good start. Just to make sure those rock are stable, they look a little wobbly from the pictures.

 

Just a hint, it is a good idea to keep the rocks away from the sides of the glass. It allows you to clean algae and coralline off and prevents your snails and hermits from getting stuck in spots they can not get out of.

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Thanks for the tips. The rocks were actually more stable than they looked except for the very top rocks. I also didn't like how close I placed the rocks to the sides so I took that advice and rearranged this morning. I've got it so that the front and side glass has room to use the mag-float but I'm just going to live with some of the rock touching the back glass. The rock that was on the middle top got moved to the left and when turned sideways it now has a nice cave pointing forward.

 

I'm not sure exactly what I want to put in the tank yet. I'm mainly interested in getting corals and inverts but I will have a small number of fish. There are 3 good saltwater stores in town and although I don't know all the names yet I know what I like when I see it in their tanks.

 

I was trying to find StevieT's thread because he pointed someone to it in another thread I read. But when I clicked on the image with his name in it I ended up in the middle of another thread that didn't look like the right one. I'll check again.

 

Here's a quick image of the new rock arrangement. The water wasn't as clear after moving stuff around.

 

Thanks,

Gil

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Ok...I think I was on the right thread...it just put me at the end of StevieT's 25 pages. :)

 

I'll start going through that when I can. I'll be leaving tommorow for a 3 day fishing trip.

 

The one thing bothering me about my tank so far is temperature stability. I get a 3-4 degrees F rise between morning and night from the lights. I've got the extra cooling fan running that came included with the RSM.

 

Thanks,

Gil

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I've also heard that the newer tanks already have the sponge reduced in size so try to figure out which you have before doing that. It is probably covered in SteveT's thread. (The definitive RSM thread. ;) )

 

-hank

 

I forgot they are now making the sponge smaller.

 

I pulled the skimmer and put an overflow to a sump inside the RSM cabinet so have none of the original media in the back.

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noobofreefs
Ok...I think I was on the right thread...it just put me at the end of StevieT's 25 pages. :)

 

I'll start going through that when I can. I'll be leaving tommorow for a 3 day fishing trip.

 

The one thing bothering me about my tank so far is temperature stability. I get a 3-4 degrees F rise between morning and night from the lights. I've got the extra cooling fan running that came included with the RSM.

 

Thanks,

Gil

Really 'cause my RSM never gets above 80.9 it stays 79.5-89.5 usually. Never really had a problem with temp. Give it some time maybe it will fix itself...

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yeah, if you click my signature it is programed to start at your last post, or basically at the end if you have never posted. It is better than always starting at the beginning.

 

I am working at the moment on an index to my tread since it has become cluttered with a lot of stuff since Septemeber!!! That will be on page one and will provide ease of use to find mods and ideas.

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Really 'cause my RSM never gets above 80.9 it stays 79.5-89.5 usually. Never really had a problem with temp. Give it some time maybe it will fix itself...

 

I think I was leaving the lights on too long...14 hours. I just changed the timer to cut on at 10am instead of 6am to make it only 10 hours lighting. I was just anxious to see it lit when I left for work. Also I'm in Tucson, AZ and we had been keeping the house at 80 degrees. I'm trying the run the AC at 75.0 now...that's gonna cost more.

 

Gil

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Hey Gilrock

What side of town ya in? Glad to see my house isn't the only house sitting at 80 degrees, lol

My lites are on 8 hrs now (timed). I've got 70w MH.

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Hey Gilrock

What side of town ya in? Glad to see my house isn't the only house sitting at 80 degrees, lol

My lites are on 8 hrs now (timed). I've got 70w MH.

 

Hi AirAngel...I'm actually north of town on route 79....there's a small community about 9 miles north of Oracle Junction on the way to Florence. I'm away from city lights because I have a backyard rolloff-roof observatory.

 

I used to have a FW tank in college but haven't had one for years. Finally decided to get into it again and I got started after visiting Petland and starting a 26 gallon bowfront tank with African Cyclids. After having that about 5 days I got the itch to have corals so I bought the RSM there. My ammonia level has stayed at 0.25 so I haven't added anything but the LR yet. It probably didn't help that I stirred everything up yesterday to rearrange the LR and I added a couple pieces that I initially didn't have a good place for and they sat in a cooler for a couple days. They probably have stuff that needs to die off of them.

 

I also took out the bio-balls and carbon from the pump chamber and replaced it with a bag of chemipure elite after reading the threads here. The guy in the store acted like I didn't need to be doing that. He said he used to have a Biocube and acted like I was worried about too many details. There's two other guys at Petland, Jason and Johnny, that I prefer to get advice from.

 

Thanks,

Gil

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...and I forgot about these two critters that arrived in the Live Rock. Looks like some type of snails but not like any I've seen in the stores.

 

 

Stomatella snails. Harmless :)

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Here's a pic of something that arrived with the LR that I mentioned earlier...but this is a second one that moved off the rock onto the substrate. It's hard to photograph the other one.

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Also I took a couple shots of the skimmer in action...It's the stock skimmer and it looks like it's working ok to me. For those that switch to the Tunze...does that fit into the same chamber or does it hang off the back or inside the tank?

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Thanks,

Gil

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well I've had the tank running for almost a month now and things are going well so far. I need to get some updated photos.

 

I've got four fish now...six lined wrasse...yellow tang...regal tang...ocellaris clown.

 

I also have added several corals in the last week and a half. I'm still learning some of the names and in some cases I only know a generic name or nickname.

Here's the new stuff:

hairy mushroom

spotted mushroom

flower pot

torch coral

button polyps

several zoa frags...bright green...and orange

finger leather

trumpet coral

 

It was really cool after adding the torch coral because the clownfish started liking to rub all around in it within the first day.

 

I thought I had done quite a bit of research before starting...I even read a whole book but I'm finding out about things that weren't mentioned at all. It seems like I keep finding stuff in the tank that when I identify it ends up being what everyone considers pests. I've got bristle worms, Aiptasia, Majano Anemones, and brown flatworms. From what I can tell none of these are a serious problem yet so I'm not panicking but I'm getting tired of bringing stuff home from the store that has unwanted pests when the store is telling me how great they are. At this point I'm becoming more of an expert on the pests than the fish and corals.

 

Thanks,

Gil

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That seems like a lot to add at once. Just monitor your levels because the fish you have alone have the ability to raise your ammonia over night, tangs especially. Do you still have the flatworm problem? If so, some of your coral may be affected soon, especially mushrooms. Put some pics up, Im always curious to see other RSM owners reefs. And the stock skimmer works great, mine always had, but it would send microbubbles into the tank randomly, The TUNZE just fits and works like a champ, quiet too, Check out StevieT's thread, He maps it all out for all of us.

 

Good Luck!

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Well I didn't put it all in at once. The live rock was already well cured locally so I didn't have a big cycle. The first fish went in after only 12 days. Also the royal tang and clown are both really small...about an 1".

 

The flatworms came in on the torch coral and that's the only place I see them so far. I didn't notice them till I got it home because they blended in with the brown so well. A friend of mine thinks the wrasse might take of them. All the other pests came in on the liverock.

 

I already have a Tunze 9002 but haven't taken it out of the box yet and I've ordered StevieT's media rack. I really only got this skimmer because I wanted to use the media rack...I didn't think it would fit with the stock skimmer.

 

Thanks,

Gil

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Well that torch coral definitely had flatworms on it. I'm gonna kill something...I just don't know if it's only going to be the flatworms or the coral also. I bought some Flatworm Exit but I didn't have enough saltwater on hand to do a 25% water change last night so I created my own experiment. The box said use 1 drop of solution for every 5 gallons so I figured 2 drops in one pint should really do the trick. I pulled the torch coral and swirled it around in a container of treated saltwater and at least 20 flatworms fell off within 15 seconds. I couldn't believe there were that many on the coral because it wasn't a very big piece. Then I put the coral back in the tank. I'm gonna wait and see and hope that I got most of them since they arrived on that torch coral and hope my wrasse can take care of any others. I'm crossing my fingers that the torch coral survives since it was a $70 piece.

 

I also used StevieT's how to glue frag's advice because I had a few things getting knocked down at night. Those ingredients worked really nice and much less expensive than what the fish stores are selling.

 

Gil

 

 

By the way does anyone have a good method of keeping track of the threads you like to frequent? I have to use the search function to find my own thread. I haven't found a way to bookmark my favorites yet...I guess I could try just using internet explorer favorites.

 

Gil

 

That's weird...if I reply to my own post it just keeps appending it to my previous post. What dumb software engineer created that interface?

 

Gil (another SW engr.)

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go into your profile or click on your name in a thread. Click profile options A menu will pop up. Go down to memebers posts or memebers topics (things you start). You can do this for anyone, it is the best way to find threads of memebers or things you are they post!

 

try it here. Click on Gilrock or StevieT.... the rest is all there

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  • 2 weeks later...

Very nice Gil. Thanks for sharing ... :) Your tank looks very new ... not much coraline on the glass or pumps ... or you just keep cleaning them :)

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