mark blevins Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 SecondBreath, really like the look of your aqua scaping, what type of LR did you use and how much? Would nano LR be to small for the RSM? How is your live stock doing under the stock RSM? Thanks!!! Link to comment
Cali-girl Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Secondbreath, how did you work out to pick up the package from the retailers? It would be so much easier to pick it up than shipping when you live so close. Thanks! Link to comment
SecondBreath Posted March 15, 2007 Author Share Posted March 15, 2007 Tets, a fuge would be nice, but in the end I liked the enclosed look versus the finnex. Not sure why you'd buy an RSM and turnaround and return it so fast just based on that? Mark, thanks! I like to think my scape has different but natural look to it. I modeled it after some reef walls I've dove in the past. I also tried to go with very open look that was well exposed to the currents so that detrius didn't accumulate in hidden areas. I used mostly Marshall Island rock that I got at a couple of lfs in my area. Wasn't cheap. =) Not sure what nano rock is, but I'd say I went with about 34 pounds of rock altogther if that helps? My livestock is doing great although I'm running a chiller and an extra pump (nanostream 6025) so I'm not exactly sure that counts as stock... Here's a new pic. Sorry my goby, shrimps and jawfish are hiding in this one but they're there I promise! Cali-girl, I called CustomAquatic and spoke to the owner who was extremely cool about doing a pickup. He's there occasionally on Saturday to feed the fish and what not so I scheduled a 11:00am pickup one saturday. Although he said local freight is only $50 or something if it's shipping Socal. I'd call them up and set it up with them as they are by far and away the best deal on the RSM. Very excited about changing to the Metal Halide mod early next week. I'll post pics and if anyone wants some extra RSM T5 Bulbs let me know! Link to comment
mark blevins Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 SecondBreath, Thanks for the reply on my other post. Some of the online LR sellers advertise Nano LR because of the size, average size in a box might be baseball or softball size ? I think for the smaller size nano's. I tried to cancel starter kit, but I was to late. One of my LFS has Marshall LR for 6.99# or 5.99# over 20# not to bad for cured LR. I know I could get cheaper online, but with shipping 5.99# cured not to bad? And I could pick the pieces that I like. What did you use for glue? My stock? was about the lighting? Thanks! Link to comment
SecondBreath Posted March 15, 2007 Author Share Posted March 15, 2007 I belive I paid $6.99 per pound to pick my own rock as well. It hurt but I got the peices I wanted and they were well cured already. However, once I got some of these home I ended up taking a chisel and hammer to them to either break them into smaller peices or to reshape them as I wanted. For extra stability I drilled a few holes in some of my rock and inserted acrylic rods (I used a couple of adjustment rods that you would buy for window blinds. These cost me a couple of bucks from my local Home Depot). Basically, these rods were inserted vertically into large base pieces and smaller rock was inserted on top of these almost like a skewer. If I had more patience I may have done some more crazy configurations. No glue was used, just gravity. =) My current livestock can be found in earlier posts, but it's by no means my end list. The T5 stock lighting is good for most livestock, but I want the shimmer effect and want to grow SPS and clams. Nanotuners is currently working on my Metal Halide lighting upgrade (the first one I believe =) so I'll be looking into SPS and clams going forward... really excited! Link to comment
Cali-girl Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 SecondBreath, Thanks for the info on Custom Aquatic, I will definately give them a call when i'm ready to order! Couple more questions (for now anyway) for you, Is Nanotuners sending you a complete new hood for the Halide upgrade or are they sending you a DIY kit? Did you contact them and ask for an upgrade lighting system or is this something anyone can order? Thanks in advance! Link to comment
SecondBreath Posted March 16, 2007 Author Share Posted March 16, 2007 Cali, no prob! Nanotuners at this point in time is doing the installation themselves on my existing hood but from what I understand they will be offering a DIY kit later on. They haven't offically announced the upgrade quite yet, but I imagine they will sometime in the next couple of weeks. Becuase I've been pestering them for the last few weeks they've gone ahead and done a bit of an early bird kind of thing for me. =) Link to comment
Cali-girl Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 Nice one! way to be proactive! If I had my tank sitting in my house right now, I'd be driving down there every day saying, "Is it done yet? Is it done yet?" Sweet, I can't wait till they have the upgrade available! thanks!! Link to comment
flyingjeff Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 I was drooling on one of these tanks at the LFS last week. Trying to get the funds released from the wife! Yours looks great. I have been pondering the fuge idea, and fish's office cube came to mind. Would there be space (now that you have added the chiller) to plumb in an external cannister filter and run a fuge that way? It looks like there is a bit of room under the stand beside your chiller. Just a thought. Look forward to seeing the MH mod. J Link to comment
SecondBreath Posted March 16, 2007 Author Share Posted March 16, 2007 Nice one! way to be proactive! If I had my tank sitting in my house right now, I'd be driving down there every day saying, "Is it done yet? Is it done yet?" Yup...it's been a hard wait especially since I've had to be fairly selective and slow with stocking corals knowing that they'd eventually be exposed to Metal Halides! Chris at Nanotuners is awesome though and he's made the wait worth it. Jeff, the RSM is killer setup. Lucky for you, you actually got to see it first before buying it. I bought mine before anyone had one setup anywhere in my area although I'm still not sure if any of the LFS nearby have one setup? I'm starting to see them stocked but not running as a display... The Fuge seems pretty easy to me, although I'm not sure you'd have enough room with a chiller as well. The stand is pretty roomy but the chiller neads clearance around it for heat loss. I don"t have any experience with a fuge so I couldn't tell you much more although I'd love to see someone build one! Between my MH upgrade and chiller with someone else's fuge setup I think we'd be covered! Good Luck! Link to comment
flyingjeff Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 Good Luck! I'll PM you my number, and you can make an anonymous call to the wife explaining why it is neccesary that I set up this system. Something along the lines of "...and without it the entire world will be required to go forward without this cannister fuge idea even becoming a reality!" Might work, you never know! Link to comment
SecondBreath Posted March 16, 2007 Author Share Posted March 16, 2007 =) Yeah, and you can convince my girfriend why this tank (instead of her)desrves all the attention and money its been receiving! Might work! Link to comment
SecondBreath Posted March 26, 2007 Author Share Posted March 26, 2007 Update: So I received my modded hood with the Metal Halide upgrade from Nanotuners this weekend! Includes -150w 10K bulb with remote ballast -2x18w actinic bulbs for a sunrise, sunset effect -Dual R2 moonlights -2 additionals fans installed (total 4 now) I installed this bad boy yesterday and was blown away by the difference in my tank's lighting. Using my Tunze for surface movement gave me an amazing shimmer effect and watching my clowns and my crazy blenny swim through the shafts of light was really mesmarizing to say the least... Only downside is that I endded up losing the use of my built in timer since I know have 3 sets of lights to control. These are now all running to an outside Coralife timer/powerstrip so that I have a timed sunrise and sunset with my actinics, full daylight with my Halide powered up, and super-bright moonlighting with my R2's. Since my heater has been plugged into my chiller for some time, I decided to use the now two free sockets (formally for my heater and stock lighting) in the RSM's built-in power strip for my Tunze Nanostream and my chiller pump. So the Red Sea's row of on/off switches now control - #1 Return/Circulation Pump - #2 Return/Circulation Pump - Tunze Nanostream6025 Pump - Rio 1400 Pump used for my chiller - Red Sea Skimmer Pump This is great for my weekly water changes and for feeding time. This thing is awesome, but since I'm still acclimating my corals slowly to this new light I didn't get a chance to take a picture of it running yet. Hopefully tonight I'll have some pics for everyone! Link to comment
aquamac Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 Looks great! How big is the remote ballast for the MH? What about for the others? Are those ballasts in the hood? Link to comment
SecondBreath Posted March 26, 2007 Author Share Posted March 26, 2007 I'll measure the ballast tonight. but it's not bad, I'd say it's simaler in size and shape to a hardback novel of about 2 inches thick... I have it sitting in my top shelf in the stand. I may install some fans in the back of the stand to help the chiller and this ballast cooldown but so far the heat inside my stand is minimal. The actinics are using the stock powerblock in the hood. Link to comment
aquamac Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 Excellent. I have mounted ballasts on the back of stands before, so there is no heat buildup inside the cabinet. Link to comment
SecondBreath Posted March 26, 2007 Author Share Posted March 26, 2007 I may go that route if my heat builds up too much this summer. I also debated cutting some rectangular vents in the side of the cabinet where it's a bit hidden from view... Link to comment
SecondBreath Posted March 27, 2007 Author Share Posted March 27, 2007 So I've been running the new lighting for a couple of days and now and my livestock are reposinding great so far. They seemed to have all acclimated to the new lighting. My pistol and highfin goby also relocated to a new burrow and my jawfish took over their old one. So I guess everyone's happy. =) New livestock added over the last week: - Midas Blenny - Crocea Clam - Acropora SPS - Bird's Nest SPS Here's a new pic with the Halide lighting running. Anyone else have crazy behavior with their blenny? Mine sleeps ontop of the circ pumps or nestled with one of the clowns in the sand at night... He spends his day playing in the currents and hanging out with one of the clowns who seems to be bonding with him faster than with the other clown who's hosting my Frogspawn. =) Link to comment
grink dude Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 i love my midas blenny, hes very funny, he has this little hole in the front of the tank, and when i scare him, he reverses back into the tank, and it looks very funny Link to comment
RaSooch Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 Wow, Great mod to the hood. tank looks great. I may install some fans in the back of the stand to help the chiller and this ballast cooldown but so far the heat inside my stand is minimal. Can you put your chiller someplace else? Because they say it is best for the life of the chiller to keep it out of the cabinet w/ good circulation. Link to comment
SecondBreath Posted March 28, 2007 Author Share Posted March 28, 2007 Thanks! I just found a small nudi branch this morning crawling across the front glass...at least I think it's a nudi-branch. It's a tiny slug of some sort that's greenish brown with orange spikes coming off it's back. I've heard that these are hard to keep or one of the fish will eat it, correct? It'd be cool to keep but does anyone know what this is and if it's possiblt to keep? I'll try to get a pic. And yeah, a blenny in reverse is way funny! But he's rarely scared and is practically eating out of my hand know. Never knew they were so bold. Link to comment
gulinias Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 I would have probably gotten the red sea for the price you paid but the cheapest I could get it here to my house for would have been a liitle over 800 for all three things.approx 750 for stand and tank) I found cheaper prices but with the freight I was closer to 900 to 1000. That and doing the mods would have made it well over a 900 dollar tank and honestly probably more like 1100 to 1200. I got an awesome deal on biocube with stand for less than 330 out the door. I get the skimmer, a nice heater and the halide light mod from nanotuners and I am at less than what I could have bought the Red Sea for stock. I think so much depends on what you want to spend and what tank you get the killer deal on. Link to comment
aquamac Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 $629 with stand, including delivery...email Jim @ superfishstore.com.... fishstore@hotmail.com No affiliation...just a satisfied customer. Link to comment
Irie Mon Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 $629 with stand, including delivery...email Jim @ superfishstore.com.... fishstore@hotmail.com No affiliation...just a satisfied customer. aquamac- how can i get all the info on your cooling fan upgrade?? Did that change void your warranty? Link to comment
aquamac Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 What info do you need that isn't in the other thread? Let me know and I'll be happy to help. With regards to warranty, I'm not sure if warranty is affected, but if the hood stopped working, I suppose I could put the old fans back in there before getting warranty service. Red Sea emailed me saying that they were following the thread but they didn't say anything about voiding warranty. Link to comment
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