Elmar's Red Sea Max

[elmar]

After many trips to several LFS and reading threads online, I finally went out and bought myself a Red Sea Max's 34 gallon tank. I must say, this is an awesome setup, especially for people like me who are just embarking on this great hobby. I have owned many FW tanks in the past, but always was afraid of trying SW, until recently. My goal with this tank is to get my family involved and participate in this hobby. I've always loved marine life and soon after I met my wife, my love for dolphins eventually rubbed on to her. We are lucky to live off the Southern California coast where often we drive through the highway and get to see dolphins near shore. Our home is surrounded by sea life including paintings and sculptures, so the only thing missing was our true marine nano reef. Like everyone, my biggest fear is to fail in keeping the reef going, but with dedication and love, I will try my best to make this a successful tank.Below are my first pictures to share with you all.I have about 47 lbs of LR with only 10 lbs of LS. I bought my first 22 lbs of LR together with the tank and just today I bought another 25lbs from a LFS which is running a sale, so I couldn't resist on picking up some more. Also, on one of the rocks, it looks like it has some calcium build-up or what could this be?

[supreme_spork]

very nice aquascape elmar, and

 

i think the circled stuff in your pic is an SPS skeleton... it will look great as coralline starts to cover it.

 

good luck! looks like you're off to a great start.

[RedSeaGal]

After many trips to several LFS and reading threads online, I finally went out and bought myself a Red Sea Max's 34 gallon tank. I must say, this is an awesome setup, especially for people like me who are just embarking on this great hobby. I have owned many FW tanks in the past, but always was afraid of trying SW, until recently. My goal with this tank is to get my family involved and participate in this hobby. I've always loved marine life and soon after I met my wife, my love for dolphins eventually rubbed on to her. We are lucky to live off the Southern California coast where often we drive through the highway and get to see dolphins near shore. Our home is surrounded by sea life including paintings and sculptures, so the only thing missing was our true marine nano reef. Like everyone, my biggest fear is to fail in keeping the reef going, but with dedication and love, I will try my best to make this a successful tank.Below are my first pictures to share with you all.I have about 47 lbs of LR with only 10 lbs of LS. I bought my first 22 lbs of LR together with the tank and just today I bought another 25lbs from a LFS which is running a sale, so I couldn't resist on picking up some more. Also, on one of the rocks, it looks like it has some calcium build-up or what could this be?

Your tank looks so nice!! You will be happy with the LR you bought, I have about the same amount in mine and I thought it might be too much, but I really like it! You will do great, don't worry about that..I have set up everything with only the help of all the great people on this forum. Considering about 3 months ago, I didn't know ANYTHING about sw, my tank is doing fine! I've had lots of questions and got some great advice. My tank is only a month old now, but I am still surprised when I wake up and major disaster hasn't struck!

That is great that you have bought this tank with your family in mind! I bet they will love it just as much! My family seemed a little jealous of it at first, mainly because of all the time I spent on it and looking up information on it, but now... they look at it everyday and seem to be just as interested in it as I am now! You can't help but be fascinated by all the unique things, things that you could never see in a fw tank!!

 

Good Luck to you and I hope you and your family have a Happy Thanksgiving!

[StevieT]

I love the aquascape!!! to the red sea max family !!! I am so satisfied with mine. Confirmed, the circled picture is a skeleton of SPS. It was alive at one time but since that rock was removed from it's environment, the coral has died. It looks pretty cool, you can cover it in the future with new coral frags, or leave it and purple coralline will grow over it.

 

Good luck and feel free to shoot me any questions.

[elmar]

Thank you all for your comments. I had my 7 year old girl help me out with the aquascaping. I had sketched one up about a month ago, so I had a good idea of what I wanted.

 

Also, thanks for the ID help. If coraline starts to cover that up, it definitely will look very cool - can't wait til that starts to happen.

[Hodge]

Nice aquascaping. I've had my RSM running since Aug. As hard as it is, take your time and don't rush the process. I spent the 6 weeks I waited for a complete cycle, reading anything I could find (i'm a sw newb as well) and just watching the fascinating life on the LR.

Some tips I've learned:

Don't run the skimmer during cycle period (not needed yet)

Ditch all the stock filtration parts: bio rubble, foam etc (only cause problems with Micro bubbles)

Save up for a Tunze nano skimmer (unless you're one of the lucky few to get the stock one to work properly)

Run a bag of this (chemipure, phosban etc) when you've added livestock.

Add a Korilia for flow

Add a hydor or 2 on the pump outlets for better water movement

Really think about what you want to put in there, making sure everything will be get along. (it's hard to catch that lil damsel after he starts picking on your prize fish. lol

Most importantly...test alot. great learning experience and you'll get to see the cycle happen.

[elmar]

Thanks Hodge -

 

So what is this about the stock RSM skimmer not working properly? What are the symptoms?

 

Also, is this the hydor deflector you are talking about?

[Urchinhead]

Save up for a Tunze nano skimmer (unless you're one of the lucky few to get the stock one to work properly)

 

Does the Tunze nano fit in the same spot as the stock skimmer? Any links to photos and instructions on this?

 

I am not all that happy with my RSM skimmer. Either I don't have it dialed in right, it is not working properly, or I don't have enough crap in the tank to have skimmate. I am leaning towards the first and second and was considering replacement.

 

Any advice on how to make the stock one work or what to replace it with without a big redo of the back chambers or not being able to close the back lid would be great!

 

FH2

[StevieT]

Thanks Hodge -

 

So what is this about the stock RSM skimmer not working properly? What are the symptoms?

 

Also, is this the hydor deflector you are talking about?

 

 

that is it, very cheep. Add it to your far right output

[Urchinhead]

that is it, very cheep. Add it to your far right output

 

Steve,

 

What about the skimmer? Any thoughts? And on the Hydor, on the far right output is there a certain angle I should put it at? I just put an extension on my far right because I wasn't getting good flow around the far right side of my tank and had a diatom bloom in the area due to poor current. Would the Hydor take care of that problem better?

 

I got a Korilla Nano and had to put it down near the bottom back area to take care of the bloom back there. Should I up it to a Korilla 1 so I can relocate it to the top right instead of the bottom right back?

 

Sorry for the bombardment but this diatom bloom has been driving me nuts. At first I thought it was a PO4/Nitrite problem due to my previous over stocking but after a series of large water changes, removal of stock and good PO4/NO3 readings and it still being there I realized it was a flow problem and fixed it but am not happy with how I fixed it.

 

FH2

[StevieT]

Does the Tunze nano fit in the same spot as the stock skimmer? Any links to photos and instructions on this?

 

I am not all that happy with my RSM skimmer. Either I don't have it dialed in right, it is not working properly, or I don't have enough crap in the tank to have skimmate. I am leaning towards the first and second and was considering replacement.

 

Any advice on how to make the stock one work or what to replace it with without a big redo of the back chambers or not being able to close the back lid would be great!

 

FH2

 

There has been a lot of disscussion about this on reefcentral.

 

Here are a few links. I hear it sticks up a little outside the back cover, so it is NOT an exact fit. I was going to upgrade but my skimmer seems to be pulling enough out now that I have enough bioload. It is not as much as my remora but it does work. Drill a few holes in the top cover, that seems to help.

 

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.p...mp;pagenumber=3

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...=131564&hl=

[elmar]

that is it, very cheep. Add it to your far right output

 

OK - so is one sufficient or should I get 2 of them like Hodge suggested? Indeed they are cheap. And what about the stock skimmer? I haven't used mine yet since I am still cycling. However, I turned it on to of course test it out, and did notice that it is pretty loud. Louder than the light fans.

[StevieT]

I would go with only one. I have two available but only put one on mine because they cut 30% of your flow down to run the gears that spin the deflector. If you add two you will be cutting that much flow off from two pumps.

 

I would hold off and try the stock skimmer, mine is louder than the fans which were upgraded from RSM. It is a loud skimmer compared to other brands. I would run it after your cycle and test it out. Performance can be measured completly after you stock with fish. I wouldn't go out and blow the money on that skimmer just yet, drill holes in your lid, just like the pockets on a pool table ( 6 holes total). Good waterchanges can take the place of a skimmer, there are a lot of nano-reefers that go skimmerless. Personally I would never run a reef without one.

[Hodge]

I put one on each cuz they were a cheap and easy way to get water movement. They do a good job of breaking the surface (good when you start skimming).

 

As far as the skimmer goes:

I #####ed at RSM for a month over constant micro bubbles and they finally sent me a replacement. It's no better. The skimmer does work for skimming once it's broke in and there's something to skim but the bubbles drive me nuts. I've tried every freaking tip, trick and mod to no avail. So I gave up and ordered a Tunze (It does fit under the stock lid if mounted properly, just can't lift the main lid without taking the skimmer cup off)

 

If you remove the control panel and look inside the back compartment when the skimmer is running, you can see bubbles getting pulled out the bottom by the circ pumps. I far as I can tell it's just a crappy designed skimmer.

[elmar]

I would go with only one. I have two available but only put one on mine because they cut 30% of your flow down to run the gears that spin the deflector. If you add two you will be cutting that much flow off from two pumps.

 

I would hold off and try the stock skimmer, mine is louder than the fans which were upgraded from RSM. It is a loud skimmer compared to other brands. I would run it after your cycle and test it out. Performance can be measured completly after you stock with fish. I wouldn't go out and blow the money on that skimmer just yet, drill holes in your lid, just like the pockets on a pool table ( 6 holes total). Good waterchanges can take the place of a skimmer, there are a lot of nano-reefers that go skimmerless. Personally I would never run a reef without one.

 

Thanks Stevie -

 

I will go with one deflector and I will just wait on the skimmer as well.

 

Question: Most of the rock (70% of it) was bought from an established tank (3 years). Most of it is evident cause it has lots of coraline on it. How long should I wait before I test my water parameters? I have noticed I have some sort of hitchhiker (looks like a snail), is it cool to add my CUC now? Also, my LFS suggested to buy some SUPER BAC which I've added to help accelerate the cycling process, so I am hoping that and the established rock would enable me to at least get some life in there. I know this hobby requires patience, but if theres a chance to take a small jump ahead, I will be first in line to do it...lol

[StevieT]

No problem

 

How long have you been cycling? I would go ahead and test your perams today to see where you are at. You can test every 3-4 days thereafter to monitor your cycle. That rock will really help your cycle, but it will not introduce any ammonia becaue of the lack of die off. You may need to throw in a coctail shrimp to introduce some ammonia, which will jumpstart the production of NO3 and NO2.

 

I also added the bac to my tank, i don't know if it did anything but my cylce was short, yet i was using old water from my other tank and 50% of the rock came over from that tank.

[elmar]

I put one on each cuz they were a cheap and easy way to get water movement. They do a good job of breaking the surface (good when you start skimming).

 

As far as the skimmer goes:

I #####ed at RSM for a month over constant micro bubbles and they finally sent me a replacement. It's no better. The skimmer does work for skimming once it's broke in and there's something to skim but the bubbles drive me nuts. I've tried every freaking tip, trick and mod to no avail. So I gave up and ordered a Tunze (It does fit under the stock lid if mounted properly, just can't lift the main lid without taking the skimmer cup off)

 

If you remove the control panel and look inside the back compartment when the skimmer is running, you can see bubbles getting pulled out the bottom by the circ pumps. I far as I can tell it's just a crappy designed skimmer.

 

Hey Hodge -

 

I will just have to wait until I add some livestock to give my true assesstment on the stock skimmer, but I do know that it is loud thus I am not looking forward to that at all. I have turned it on and have not noticed the "bubble" problem, but then again, it hasn't been on all day.

[elmar]

No problem

 

How long have you been cycling? I would go ahead and test your perams today to see where you are at. You can test every 3-4 days thereafter to monitor your cycle. That rock will really help your cycle, but it will not introduce any ammonia becaue of the lack of die off. You may need to throw in a coctail shrimp to introduce some ammonia, which will jumpstart the production of NO3 and NO2.

 

I also added the bac to my tank, i don't know if it did anything but my cylce was short, yet i was using old water from my other tank and 50% of the rock came over from that tank.

 

Hey Stevie -

 

My tank has been cycling for 5 days. I am expecting my testing kit today as I ordered a bunch of accessories online. I should have asked for more tips before hand so that I could have ordered that deflector. I'd hate to just order one thing and pay for too much shipping, so I am going to have to check my LFS.

[StevieT]

Yeah, the shipping can be a pain. Let me know before you buy what they charge, I have a used one that works fine and I can get it to you cheep on the shipping. I would wait till next week to test then, 5 days is very very early in the game. Wait till week 2 to add a clean up crew.

 

This skimmer noise will go down over time, not all the way but mine isn't that loud. The micro bubble will take up to two weeks to disapear. As the bubbles turn to foam and catch protein waste elements less will enter your display. Give it time and don't get too frustrated at first, they WILL get better, i promise you. This isn't the greatest skimmer in the world, but it does work. I get a nice thick ass film built up in the tube every week. The overflow isn't that great, but it does produce a nice dry foam

[elmar]

Yeah, the shipping can be a pain. Let me know before you buy what they charge, I have a used one that works fine and I can get it to you cheep on the shipping. I would wait till next week to test then, 5 days is very very early in the game. Wait till week 2 to add a clean up crew.

 

This skimmer noise will go down over time, not all the way but mine isn't that loud. The micro bubble will take up to two weeks to disapear. As the bubbles turn to foam and catch protein waste elements less will enter your display. Give it time and don't get too frustrated at first, they WILL get better, i promise you. This isn't the greatest skimmer in the world, but it does work. I get a nice thick ass film built up in the tube every week. The overflow isn't that great, but it does produce a nice dry foam

 

Cool - I will wait til a little longer on my testing. I hope you are right on the skimmer noise. As for the micro bubbles, well, like I said, I haven't ran the skimmer for a long period of time, so I wouldn't know if it produces them.

 

As for your used deflector, marine depot's price with UPS ground shipping totals $16.99.

[Hodge]

Here's a mod for skimmer noise that does work.

 

Drill a 1/4" hole in the skimmer cup (top corner ) and insert the rubber skimmer pump air hose into it. It makes the skimmer cup act as a silencer. I think I had to cut about 4" off the end of the hose.

I barely hear the skimmer now...no more gurgling sucking noise.

[elmar]

Here's a mod for skimmer noise that does work.

 

Drill a 1/4" hole in the skimmer cup (top corner ) and insert the rubber skimmer pump air hose into it. It makes the skimmer cup act as a silencer. I think I had to cut about 4" off the end of the hose.

I barely hear the skimmer now...no more gurgling sucking noise.

 

Interesting - do you have any pics of this mod? I'd love to see them.

[Urchinhead]

There has been a lot of disscussion about this on reefcentral.

 

Here are a few links. I hear it sticks up a little outside the back cover, so it is NOT an exact fit. I was going to upgrade but my skimmer seems to be pulling enough out now that I have enough bioload. It is not as much as my remora but it does work. Drill a few holes in the top cover, that seems to help.

 

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.p...mp;pagenumber=3

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...=131564&hl=

 

Thank you Steve. I had to run home today because my son was doing a show at school and my wife forgot the camera. I had goofed with the skimmer this morning and now I have a nice thick foam coming out of the cup. Seems I may have had the air flow down too low for it.

 

Damn diatom bloom is back though. All over the sand in the spots I thought I had fixed the flow problem with. The spots are the the 3" wide strip behind my live rocks in the rear and the right front/rear corners of the tank. All spots that are somewhat blocked by how I have my LR. I am going to take one more crack at it this friday. I am going to add another 2-3 lbs of fully cured live rock and push everything back against the rear of the tank instead of leaving the gap in the back. From looking at your tank and others it seems that is what everyone is doing. That way I should be able to get flow taken care I hope.

 

That and I am going to upgrade to a K1 instead of the Nano I have now and add the Hydor. I am going to hold off on the skimmer replacement though.

 

FH2

[Hodge]

I'll take some pics of the mod and post for you to see. It's simple and effective for noise without any adverse affects.

 

Fishhead...If you just wait it out, the diatom will disappear as quick as it appeared. I had a diatom bloom just after I'd started stocking my tank and freaked out, it was everywhere in a few days. Within a week or so it went away and haven't seen it since. It is an ugly sight but quite normal.

[StevieT]

Here's a mod for skimmer noise that does work.

 

Drill a 1/4" hole in the skimmer cup (top corner ) and insert the rubber skimmer pump air hose into it. It makes the skimmer cup act as a silencer. I think I had to cut about 4" off the end of the hose.

I barely hear the skimmer now...no more gurgling sucking noise.

 

 

I figured most of the noise I hear is from the actual pump, it is a hummmmm or mechanical motor sound, i have never herd any gurgling or sucking. I'm wondering if some skimmer RSM produces make different noises. I also have 6 - 1/4" holes drilled into the lid, i may try the tubing after I see a picture, yet i can visualize what you mean