Let's see those Red Sea Max tanks

[Reefmack]

Looks great angelpro! Nice job - you're on your way now!

[petsolutions]

We have one set up in our office now, it's only a few weeks old so no pictures yet, we're just starting to get it stocked. Once it is presentable I'll submit a couple of photos.

 

So far I'm pretty pleased with it, that white sponge is going to have to go though it clogs every week and keeps the pumps from getting enough water.

 

John

[Reefmack]

Yep - I still run the white sponge but it really needs to be cleaned every 2-3 days ( & replaced every couple weeks) to keep the flow going through the back, plus keep the microbubbles down - same reason that I cut the black sponge down to 1 inch. Replaced the ceramic media with LR rubble, carbon with Chemi-Pure Elite, etc. Tried several impeller mesh mods to get the skimmer working better (none a success) so I'm going to be trying a Tunze Nano Doc 9002 skimmer in the back, and DIYing some type of mechanical filter. Also waiting for my new Current USA Outer Orbit HQI/T5 light fixture to arrive. A lot of us RSM owners have changed a lot of things, but the majority of us still love the tank.

 

Here's where I'm at right now - going on 5 months:

 

[petsolutions]

That's a really nice looking tank Reefmack, definitely one to be proud of. I come from computer modding, (aka how to turn your computer into a refrigerator or a wind tunnel, depending on your personal preference, hehe) so I fit right in with you nano modders. However, our tank is at work, and provided by work. I think they would frown upon doing some of the things to it that you guys do, haha.

 

John

[Phixion]

That's a really nice looking tank Reefmack, definitely one to be proud of. I come from computer modding, (aka how to turn your computer into a refrigerator or a wind tunnel, depending on your personal preference, hehe) so I fit right in with you nano modders. However, our tank is at work, and provided by work. I think they would frown upon doing some of the things to it that you guys do, haha.

 

John

 

Afterhours... What they don't know and can't see, won't hurt. I come from the sam background and have seen some crazy cooling mod techniques with computers in my days. I never knew a motherboard could actually operate submerged in a bath of babyoil that's super chilled, in a styrofoam ice chest at that, lol!

[stan-o]

Yep - I still run the white sponge but it really needs to be cleaned every 2-3 days ( & replaced every couple weeks) to keep the flow going through the back, plus keep the microbubbles down - same reason that I cut the black sponge down to 1 inch. Replaced the ceramic media with LR rubble, carbon with Chemi-Pure Elite, etc. Tried several impeller mesh mods to get the skimmer working better (none a success) so I'm going to be trying a Tunze Nano Doc 9002 skimmer in the back, and DIYing some type of mechanical filter. Also waiting for my new Current USA Outer Orbit HQI/T5 light fixture to arrive. A lot of us RSM owners have changed a lot of things, but the majority of us still love the tank.

 

Here's where I'm at right now - going on 5 months:

 

 

Hey Reefmack,

 

How is that chemi-pure stuff, and how is it used??

 

I have cut my black filter media down to around 1 inch as well and use a different white filter floss, also added a powerhead with a filter on it as well, till the tank is clean, then the hydor goes back in. I also have the LR in the back, my skimmer seems to be doing okay, but I have nothing to compare it to. I drilled 6x 1/32 inch diamer holes in the top and it appears to be working much better.

 

I'd like to hear more on the RSM mods.

 

Stan-O

[Reefmack]

Hi Stan-O. I use the Chemi-Pure Elite - the Elite contains some extra things to take out phosphates, etc. If you go to one of the sites like Foster & Smith or Marine Depot and find it you can get more information. Supposedly it will let you go 6 months without a water change, but the longest I ever go is 2 weeks, and I usually do a 3-4 gallon water change every week regardless of the Chemi-Pure claims. It is a lot more expensive than carbon though.

 

As far as other mods, I started a RSM Owners "Club" thread on Reef Central that got so long it was recently split. Lots of good info. in there! Not long ago I went through it and tried to summarize all the Tips/Mods/etc. and came up with the following temporary list (keeps growing as people do more mods or change things):

 

TIPS:

 

Cut RSM black sponge back to 1 or 2 inches to help eliminate microbubbles

(clean white pad every other day to help with microbubbles)

 

Cut the black sponge and took out the white pad

 

Took out all of the mechanical filtration (black and white pad)

 

Replaced carbon with

Chemi-Pure Elite

Sea-gel and Purigen

 

Put the carbon, chemi-pure, etc. above the skimmer pump, or left side of skimmer

 

Replaced the RSM ceramic Bio-media with Live Rock rubble in a media bag

 

Replaced the original lights with Current-USA Outer Orbit 1x150Watt MH, 2x65Watt Dual Actinic

 

Replaced the original noisy hood fans (older models) with RSM fan upgrades (contact RSM for upgrades).

 

Replaced friction fit powerheads on older models with pumps with screw on powerheads (contact RSM for upgrades)

 

Replaced the original heater with Hydor 100W

 

ADDED:

Replaced hood with Current-USA Outer Orbit 1x150Watt MH, 2x65Watt Dual Actinic

Nanocustoms MH hood modificaton

HP Chiller 1/15 HP or other

Temperature controller for heater/chiller or heater/fans

Hydor Flo

Koralia #1 or #2 on right side

Tunze 6045 Powerhead

 

Hydor Flo - rotating flo gadget to put on one or both powerheads

Additional cooling fan in back port (separate or wired into hood)

 

 

MODS:

Various skimmer impeller mods (none totally successful)

Drilled hole in skimmer cup lid to help with foam formation

Tunze 9002 skimmer being tested to replace RSM skimmer

Creating fuge in back, or an add on fuge

 

PROBLEMS (not seen on all RSMs):

Noisy, vibrating friction fit powerheads - see above

Light timer has failed

Moonlight(s) stopped working

Heater stopped working

Original skimmer pump had a black fitting that caused microbubbles

Contact RSM for free "Blue ring" upgrade

Noisy hood fans on older models - see above

Overheating skimmer pump on older models - contact RSM

 

I hope that's helpful.

 

Terry

[snake plissken]

hey reef mack - i just broke up some live rock and filled the far left chamber (beneath the power heads) with LR rubble. i had some in there before, but now it is full!

i also bought some chemi-pure (one unit). i put it to the left of the skimmer (to the right of the heater chamber). it was fine for a while, but then my flow was restricted and the power heads startign spewing bubbles. right now the chemi pure is sittign in a bucket

i dont want to put it in the far left chamber

1) its now full of LR

2) the stock filter bags and any others i tried in there got sucked into the powerheads from beneath and restricted flow

3) its a PITA to remove the powerheads and get down in there to change media, filters etc

 

can you give me a littel more detail about how you placed your chemi-pure? did you use a "half unit" instead of the "one unit". marine depot sells both

[Reefmack]

Hi snake! I had the same experience you did with the Chemi-Pure (1 unit here also) on the left side of the skimmer. The chemi-pure is too fine of a particle, and it compacts and cuts the flow, starves the pumps, and microbbubles occur. I ended up putting it back above the power head pumps, above my bag of rubble. I can't remember what the chemi-pure bag looks like - does it have a string tie? I know you just filled up that pump chamber with rubble but you may not have any option other than to try to pull some rubble back out & put the chemi-pure back in there. If the bag has a string put it on the down side. I couldn't see any other way to do it. I know some others have added things on the left side of the skimmer, but if it's a carbon with a big granule size the water can probably get through it more than it can get through the chemi-pure. I think I tried the Chemi pure on top of my 1 inch of black sponge on top of the skimmer pump and had the same flow restriction problem, but I'm not 100% sure about that. I'd give that a go first before pulling the rubble out. I put my rubble in a bag - it doesn't sound like you did?

 

That list I put above is a list of things several people have done, but I wasn't successful myself with chemi-pure any place but that darn pump chamber. If you figure out a way to use chemi-pure in some other location let me know.

 

I agree that pump compartment is a big pain to keep media in! The last time I was working in there I had the little clip on plastic impeller cover keep falling off the bottom of the pump into that compartment, and my hand barely fits in there to get it out. Be careful you don't do that and have it fall down into any loose rubble or you'll be pulling rubble out till you get to it. In my case having the rubble in a bag made it easy to feel the pump cover.

 

Another plus of me getting the Outer Orbit lights is that the back compartment won't be covered, and the lights will just lift off, which will make it easier to work in back.

[snake plissken]

my buddy has a cadlights system and he just dumped all of his LR rubble directly into the back chamber with no bag. thats why i decided to go that route. using the bag does make it easier to remove i guess, but you have to worry about 1) the media bag gettign sucked into the powerheads 2) possible build up of detritus on the bag

 

I had a bag of purigen to the left of the skimmer and it did great. as you said, it is much smaller bag and even though the particles are fine and compact easily i think the small size of the bag allowed better flow.

 

i guess ideally you want all water to flow through the bag (not around it) but after two months my purigen was discolored so it must have been gettign enough flow to do something!

 

the chemi-pure is to replace the purigen (i am doign the pepsi challenge to see which i like better) maybe i will try it on top of the black sponge on the right of the skimmer and see if i get better results. i am guessign the large bag of chemi-pure is going to restict flow there as well

 

last night i was pulling the pwoerheads and the plastic cover kept falling off into that far left skinny chamber (the black hole as i call it) arrgghh! what a pain!!

 

i guess last result i will dump the chemipure in there. did you out it under your bag of LR? or is it on top? do you not have any issues with it getting sucked up into the power heads? the chemi-pure i bought has a zip tie around the top keeping it closed. i am tempted to dump some out and re-secure it with another zip.

then i could get some of the benfit without all of the flow restirction?!?!?!?

[Reefmack]

Snake - I'll have to agree that the LR in a bag would probably collect detritis, but I just thought it would be easy if I ever wanted to pull it. Not easy getting rough edged LR into a bag! I used a bag with a velcro type closure, so no string or anything to plug up a pump. I did put the chemi-pure on top of that, making sure that the zip tie side was down against the bag of rubble, as I'm hoping I won't have to pull the rubble out. I see you're already familiar with that piece falling off the pumps - that caused some nasty 4 letter words to spew from my mouth! I can't remember what Purigen does - I'll have to check - maybe I'll try that instead of the chemi-pure next time.

[snake plissken]

purigen details-

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...p;N=0&Nty=1

 

chemi-pure details-

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...p;N=0&Nty=1

 

i was home at lunch and decided to "mod". I cut the zip tie on the chemi-pure. poured half back into the container that i bought it in. used a new zip tie to seal the bag back up. placed it on top of the black sponge (right of the skimmer) and all is well....for now

 

i am sure when i get home from work, the chemi-pure will have compacted and sealed off the flow and i will have a tank full of bubbles again...geez, and i thought i was an optimist

 

last night i was cursing up a storm as i groped around the bottom of the chamber trying to recover the plastic. i actaully dispalced some water out the back. My RSM is in a corner and its nearly impossible to get back there to clean up

[Reefmack]

I just checked out the Purigen. Sounds pretty good. I was thinking if I got some maybe mix some carbon in with it? Just a thought. Hopefully you won't have a tank of bubbles when you get back.

 

My RSM isn't in the easiest place to work in the back either! If nothing else I've learned to be very careful now holding that pump so the bottom won't pop off if I have to pull them or put them back.

[stan-o]

Damn Live rock in a bag?? never thought of that, I just dumped that stuff in the back, left about 2 inches to the pump inlets. oh well too late now.

 

My cycle has finished, waited an extra week or two to be sure, I did a 75% water change to dilute the Nitrates ( now they are at about 10-20ppm ) so I guess I'm ready for a clean p crew.

 

I'm wondering what you guys use for a good CUC in the RSM?

 

i plan on getting corals once the coraline starts growing.

 

Thanks

Stan

[Reefmack]

The usual CUC here. Turbos & nassarius snails, hermits, lawnmower blenny, and added a serpent star I after a couple months. You may be waiting a long time if you wait for coralline to start growing before you add corals. IMO waiting that long isn't necessary to add some corals, once your cycle has completed. But, if you haven't been through the diatom and green algae phases yet, it might be wise to hold off so that if you have to start pulling or brushing algae off you won't have the corals in the way. JMO.

[stan-o]

The usual CUC here. Turbos & nassarius snails, hermits, lawnmower blenny, and added a serpent star I after a couple months. You may be waiting a long time if you wait for coralline to start growing before you add corals. IMO waiting that long isn't necessary to add some corals, once your cycle has completed. But, if you haven't been through the diatom and green algae phases yet, it might be wise to hold off so that if you have to start pulling or brushing algae off you won't have the corals in the way. JMO.

 

 

I have the green algae growing right now, today i hope to pick up a few critters.

 

I's like to pick up some chemi pure but really don't have a good place to put it in the back. With the chiller pump on the left of the skimmer, there isn't much room left. any ideas?

 

Thanks, great info

Stan-O

[Reefmack]

You could try it on top of the mechanical filter pad(s) above the skimmer pump, but it may cut the water flow too much based on my experience. Unfortunately the best place for Chemipure seems to be in "the dreaded pump chamber" on the left. Just my opinion.

[stan-o]

You could try it on top of the mechanical filter pad(s) above the skimmer pump, but it may cut the water flow too much based on my experience. Unfortunately the best place for Chemipure seems to be in "the dreaded pump chamber" on the left. Just my opinion.

 

 

Yeah, I'm sure you know how hard it is to get that chiller pump out. I'm thinking one day i'll buy a more powerful pump, and have it outside the aquarium as an in-line pump, rather than a submirged, may work better for rear access., then I can get further down with a tube so it can't run dry.

 

Thanks again

Stan-O

[StevieT]

Is there a reason why cheato can't be kept to the left of the skimmer? If you could mount a light on the skimmer cover, it seems like there is enough water in there to keep cheateo. Or will it mess with the flow? I am trying to find a spot to grow some.

 

Placement here :

 

[petsolutions]

Is there a reason why cheato can't be kept to the left of the skimmer? If you could mount a light on the skimmer cover, it seems like there is enough water in there to keep cheateo. Or will it mess with the flow? I am trying to find a spot to grow some.

 

Placement here :

 

 

Chaetomorph algae will grow into almost a solid mass, completely impeding water movement in a small area. If you are planning to go into that compartment regularly and thin it out then it would probably be ok, but to me that would be more trouble than it's worth. Just my two cents.

 

John

[StevieT]

yep, that would be bad. I dont' want to thin it out, back to the idea board.

[StevieT]

 

 

[GAR1964]

Brand new RSM that's 3 days old. Added first LR a couple of hours ago...

 

 

See thread in signature for more details.

 

-George