Red Sea Max -- box opening

[Izzue]

^^^ Totally agreed...just stating how Finnex got started with listening to the customer.

I have one all-in-one (finnex)...Never again.

Better off just building it the way you want...but not a bad idea for anyones 1st Nano...until they catch the BUG!!!

 

Izzue

[aquamac]

"I don't understand why one of these companies can't build a tank that will not need up grades"

 

 

Probably because not every buyer wants a high-end tank with everything...this also raises the price considerably.

 

As far as a fuge goes, my bet is more people would prefer a skimmer than a fuge. And there really isn't room for both on an all-in-one. If you want both, don't buy an all-in-one. Serious reefers probably are going to configure their own tanks as they wish and not buy this kind of tank anyway.

 

For me this tank is going to be a 'show tank' in the living room so plumbing, wiring, sumps, and the 'hodgepodge' look were out...I have other tanks where I can customize things without regard to limitations.

[henry22]

Thats some what true. I dont think it would raise the price considerably. For a fuge all you do is remove the rain trays and maybe make it bigger and add a light. But I do agree that serious reefers are going to configure their tanks the way they want them to be. Anyways, get some water in this thing!

[aquamac]

Having metal halides and the fans to cool them, that's where the price is.

 

Speaking of fans, looks like one will fit in here:

 

[RaSooch]

I'm going to make a 3 sided black acrylic box like this, to insert into the filtration area. This will block the fuge light from spilling into the tank.

 

Why not just cut a peice of acrylic to slide into the display area on top of the exsisting rear wall instead of making somting so complicated?

[aquamac]

That's possible too, but it would still need a cutout for the overflow.

 

Actually this piece will be easy to make; there is no need for a bottom piece like in the first drawing.

 

It's just three pieces and two seams:

 

[aquamac]

The two fans in the hood are too loud for my taste. I found the specs of the fans:

 

Sleeve bearing, 50mmx15mm, 12vdc, 5500 rpm, 14cfm, 32dBA

 

These are basically dirt cheap Chinese fans.

 

Now I'm on the hunt for a ball bearing fan that has a much lower dBA rating...

[aquamac]

Photo of the disassembled hood:

 

 

And close up of the fans which will soon be replaced with fans rated 10dBA quieter:

 

 

Looks like there is plenty of room for enterprising modders.

[illuminum]

Photo of the disassembled hood:

 

 

And close up of the fans which will soon be replaced with fans rated 10dBA quieter:

 

 

Looks like there is plenty of room for enterprising modders.

 

 

Very cool. Where'd yo get the fans from?

[SecondBreath]

Very cool. Where'd yo get the fans from?

 

Yes, the fans can be a bit loud, but I'd say the skimmer is just as loud.

 

I just added a nanostream to the tank and saw my temps go up a bit so I'm more interested in adding another fan to the back of the canopy in place of the pop out slot.

 

I'm assuming the fans in the canopy fit this slot?

 

Let us know what replacement fans you get.

 

And great breakdown by the way.

 

-Mike

[aquamac]

Yes, the fans can be a bit loud, but I'd say the skimmer is just as loud.

 

Since I haven't plugged in the skimmer I assume you are right.

 

I just added a nanostream to the tank and saw my temps go up a bit so I'm more interested in adding another fan to the back of the canopy in place of the pop out slot.

 

I'm assuming the fans in the canopy fit this slot?

 

Yes, the fans from the hood will fit into the slot in the back. 12vdc would have to be routed to that location.

 

Let us know what replacement fans you get.

 

I've ordered some Sunon fans that are rated at 22dBA. They are lower cfm but I'm betting they will move enough air to keep things cool.

 

They should arrive Monday and I'll provide an update then.

 

And great breakdown by the way.

 

Thanks...just trying to assist, as there isn't much info out about the Max yet.

[SecondBreath]

Agreed; love the max just wish there was more info especially at the lfs level.

 

How hard wa it to remove the casing for the hood? If it's not too difficult I may swap out the fans for something stronger and less noisey if possible in addtion to the extra fan in the back.

 

I'm dreading this summer and the need for a chiller so anythign I can do to cool this down the better!

 

When are you going to add water to your tank?

[aquamac]

How hard was it to remove the casing for the hood?

 

 

Six screws hold it together; they are hidden by plastic plugs; plus 2 screws that hold the light bulb brackets. It's pretty easy...

 

When are you going to add water to your tank?

 

I've filled it with tap water for a system test, and temp measurements. I'm going to get the fuge going, and then transfer rock from my 90 but that probably won't happen for a couple of weeks...wish I could make it happen faster!

[traderdan]

Since the red sea max has a place for the chiller tubes, can't you just use these and make an external fuge under your tank?

[aquamac]

Since the red sea max has a place for the chiller tubes, can't you just use these and make an external fuge under your tank?

 

Yes, that would be possible, but not for me...due to the tank location I don't have an option of running tubes out the back...

[SecondBreath]

So my tank's till running a bit warm and we're experiencing some really warm weather this weekend...

 

I'd like to add the rear fan to my tank but was wondering how hard it would be to run power off the existing canopy/fans?

 

Any ideas?

[mliu]

Its been warm for me too her in S. Ca. I want to hook up a chiller, I will use the JBJ 1/15th HP, any thouths on what is the best way to hook up chller. Looking on the red sea web page, it looks like they used a powerhead and wend out the back down to chiller and back up. My question is, won't the vinyl hose kink at the bend?

[aquamac]

So my tank's till running a bit warm and we're experiencing some really warm weather this weekend...

 

I'd like to add the rear fan to my tank but was wondering how hard it would be to run power off the existing canopy/fans?

 

Any ideas?

 

See the little junction block with the red wires on the lower right? You could probably tap into there...although if you remove the hood, you'd have to remove your fan or have wiring that disconnects.

 

[SecondBreath]

Yeah, I'm dreading buying a chiller but if this winter is any indication of Socal's upcoming summer than I should probably just go out and buy one now and save myself the trouble of addind an extra fan.

 

Red Sea's manual recomends a 1/10 chiller and to run the pump in the same compartment as the skimmer and place the tubing direclty in the heater compartment.

 

Aquamaq, thanks for the info. i may pull my canopy off tommorow and inspect.

Although you make a good point that I'll have to disconnect the fan from th canopy whenever i pull it off.

 

I emailed red sea to see if they have any ideas. I 'm hopeing that they have something planned for this slot that they designed into it.

[aquamac]

Personally I don't think that fan port will do a whole lot, but it might help with evaporative cooling. I might do a test to see if I'm wrong.

 

I'm forgoing the skimmer, which means less heat since there is no skimmer pump. So the only heat generation are the lights and the two return pumps.

 

I'm used to open top tanks and fighting temp battles here in Texas. I don't want to buy a chiller...

[SecondBreath]

Really? I like the idea of a fuge, but one of the main reasons I got the RSM is becuase of the built in skimmer. So far, the simmer has been working awesome and I've had to empty it each day so far.

 

I'm hoping the fan will in fact take fo some cooling, but I'd appreciate if you did do some tests!

 

I'm going to start doing some research on the chiller tomorow.

[aquamac]

When the fans for the hood arrive tomorrow I'll install them and do some temp tests just for the hood. First, I'll test the hood with the stock fans and note the temp as compared to ambient. Then, I'll swap the fans and repeat the test.

 

Then, I'm going to take one of the old hood fans, and install it in the rear fan port, and check temps again, comparing to ambient temperature.

 

Regarding the simmer, at least at the beginning, it is not part of my plans. I reserve the right to install it at any time, however. It's my thinking that smaller tanks don't really need skimmers, since it's so easy to do water changes.

 

On my 90 a 20% water change is 18 gallons which is 4 buckets of water.

 

From a purely selfish standpoint, changing 20% in the 90 greatly exceeds my personal laziness factor. Plus there is some thought that not having a skimmer means there is more stuff floating around in the water for the food chain to utilize, ultimately benefitting the corals.

 

A 20% change in the 90 involves: preparing RO water in a big rubbermaid tub; siphoning the RO into a large rubbermaid trash can and mixing in the salt; then siphoning the new salt into individual buckets, thru a filter sock to catch the month's worth of dust and dirt that collects in the trash can in between water changes (no matter how hard I try to keep the trash can clean. The trash can is black plastic so what appears to be dirt-free rarely is.)

 

Then, siphoning out 4 buckets of tank water and carrying them to the bathroom to empty them in the tub. Don't forget, cleaning up the spilled water that is inevitable.

 

Lastly, carrying all the buckets of new salt water back to the tank and slowly pumping the water into the sump via a powerhead. It's an involved, time-consuming process (but it is a good workout.)

 

On the RSM, a 20% change of the main tank volume is one bucket. No need for a big trash can; it's easy to mix salt right in the bucket. It takes less time to get five gallons up to tank temperature than 18 gallons. It's easy to keep a small (white plastic) bucket free of dust. Carrying one bucket is 75% less likely to result in spills compared to carrying four buckets.

 

Because water changes are considerably less effort, I can do 20% per week instead of 20% per month as in the 90; I'm also going to only have 3 fish in the tank (two clowns and a pygmy angel) so the bioload will be low. So I think I can forego the skimmer. This has the added benefit of not having to empty the skimmer cup; there is room for a fuge; less heat due to no skimmer pump, and less noise.

 

This should explain why I'm downsizing.

 

Most importantly, I'm hoping that going this route results in a healthier tank.

[lasse]

Hi Aquamac

 

Thank you for your interesting post. The Red Sea Max has not yet been delivered to my country, Sweden. I have ordered one but I do not really know when I get it. So it is awesome to read your tread and keep on dreaming. My intentions are also to run it without a skimmer. I have run a several small tanks without skimmers for the past one and a half year and they have all worked out very well. I do regularly water changes of 20 – 25 % each week. For the moment I have 3 small 7 gallons Aquatic Nature running and a friend has a 24 gallons tank that I have modified and started up. I think that the 24 gallons is what you call a JBJ Nano cube. I have post some pictures of my tanks at my gallery.

 

I have one question according to your pictures. I one of them you show the moonlight in the filter chamber. Is it meant to be in the chamber or in the hood?

 

Sincerely Lasse

[aquamac]

Lasse,

 

That picture is a light I placed in the filter chamber to show that the back wall is not completely light-proof. The moonlights are in the hood.

 

I'll look at your pics on the gallery.

 

Hopefully your Max will arrive soon...good luck!

[aquamac]

The Sunon fans arrived today...they are definitely quieter, but it appears the problem isn't the fans. The hood has slots to hold the fans, and the slots appear to be too snug, so the fans create a resonance in the hood plastic. So now I'm trying find a good way to mount the fans with velcro or some sort of foam to insulate the vibrations that go into the hood.