The Nothing from the Ocean RSM 130 New pics pg10

[reog3]

InTank Media Basket, Poly Filter Floss, Chemi-Pure Elite, and Purigen.

Did Steve change the media basket so it works with the stock skimmer? OP said no mods and appears to be on a bit of a budget. That said if it has changed I am getting one ASAP. Had it in my Aquapod and loved it.

[SerenityReef]

Skimmer's doing its job!

 

 

No my friend...that looks more like sand. You have nothing to skim out of your tank yet as you tank isn't dirty. I wouldn't even bother running the skimmer till after your cycle.

[tennis20]

What's is your fish stocking plan? There are not alot of aquacultured fish out there.

No not yet. But it will be hard. Maybe a pair o 'cardinals and a clown or two

 

 

Did Steve change the media basket so it works with the stock skimmer? OP said no mods and appears to be on a bit of a budget. That said if it has changed I am getting one ASAP. Had it in my Aquapod and loved it.

 

 

I think you have to take out the stock skimmer

 

 

No my friend...that looks more like sand. You have nothing to skim out of your tank yet as you tank isn't dirty. I wouldn't even bother running the skimmer till after your cycle.

 

 

Well the tank is all cloudy now because I dumped in my sand about 2 hours ago. It looks like it's taking out the cloudiness a bit but I'm really not sure. Should I use that magfloat stuff that came with the sand?

[SerenityReef]

Well thats why we dont pour sand in...

 

Shut your skimmer off and let the cloudy fix itself, might take a few hours.

 

No point in filtering sand. All you're doing is damaging your skimmer with sand and creating something else to clean.

 

 

Shut off everything till it settles, last thing you want is pumps and skimmers full of sand.

 

That packet? Sure why not or water/sand from an established tank (just a little)

[tennis20]

Well thats why we dont pour sand in...

 

Shut your skimmer off and let the cloudy fix itself, might take a few hours.

 

No point in filtering sand. All you're doing is damaging your skimmer with sand and creating something else to clean.

 

 

Shut off everything till it settles, last thing you want is pumps and skimmers full of sand.

 

That packet? Sure why not or water/sand from an established tank (just a little)

Please excuse my lack of skimmer knowledge, I'm really just learning about them now

[Fsarmien]

If you want to clear the sand. I heard getting a fish net and poly filter and sifting through the tanks helps. Good luck with your tank. Patience is key.

[tennis20]

If you want to clear the sand. I heard getting a fish net and poly filter and sifting through the tanks helps. Good luck with your tank. Patience is key.

Oh cool, I'll try that later. And thanks

[SerenityReef]

Please excuse my lack of skimmer knowledge, I'm really just learning about them now

 

No need for an excuse, just trying to share what I have learned from one RSM owner to another. No one is picking on you, just trying to help you avoid a few pitfalls .

 

So think of it like this, first thing your tank does is cycle...let your tank get dirty and cycle. You need water movement but you don't need any filtration (or lighting technically) this will just extend your cycle.

 

Let your sand settle and later this afternoon start running your pumps. Maybe in a day or two run your powerhead. Test for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate...and wait. This is the most boring part of it all, but the most important biologically speaking. No need to test for anything else.

 

Then clean it up. In simple terms...skimmers clean food and poop, of which you have neither.

 

So save your lights and filtration, aka save your money, for a few days. Post cycle add filtration and if you want you can run your skimmer. Just don't expect a lot of skimmate. But you can break it in and play with settings. I don't know of any but do a search for mod to the skimmer and see if you find any, you can do them while your cycle creeps by.

 

 

[ward827]

Heed Serenity's advice . . . he has a killer RSM tank and knows his stuff.

Good luck with your RSM. It's a great set up! W-

[Spirofucci]

Congrats on the RSM! IMO and most others, the stock lighting is very good, but the stock skimmer, heater and filtration are pretty sucky.

 

As soon as you have extra $$ get Stevie's Media Rack and the tunze 9002 skimmer. I would do this before you even invest in any livestock.

 

Also, I highly recommend you read Stevie's thread from start to finish. Good reading on the RSM and also has some NR history on there.

[tennis20]

I have a spare aquamaxx hob-1. Could I submerse the whole skimmer in the back chamber? I'm not saying will it fit, I'm saying will the skimmer work if it's submersed? Since I already have it and it's a pretty good skimmer so why not?

No need for an excuse, just trying to share what I have learned from one RSM owner to another. No one is picking on you, just trying to help you avoid a few pitfalls . So think of it like this, first thing your tank does is cycle...let your tank get dirty and cycle. You need water movement but you don't need any filtration (or lighting technically) this will just extend your cycle. Let your sand settle and later this afternoon start running your pumps. Maybe in a day or two run your powerhead. Test for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate...and wait. This is the most boring part of it all, but the most important biologically speaking. No need to test for anything else. Then clean it up. In simple terms...skimmers clean food and poop, of which you have neither. So save your lights and filtration, aka save your money, for a few days. Post cycle add filtration and if you want you can run your skimmer. Just don't expect a lot of skimmate. But you can break it in and play with settings. I don't know of any but do a search for mod to the skimmer and see if you find any, you can do them while your cycle creeps by.

Thanks, I could use all the help I can get! This is very helpful.

 

Congrats on the RSM! IMO and most others, the stock lighting is very good, but the stock skimmer, heater and filtration are pretty sucky.

 

As soon as you have extra $$ get Stevie's Media Rack and the tunze 9002 skimmer. I would do this before you even invest in any livestock.

 

Also, I highly recommend you read Stevie's thread from start to finish. Good reading on the RSM and also has some NR history on there.

If it requires modding then I can't get it but if it fits it seems like a good idea. And I will definitely read his thread!

 

Heed Serenity's advice . . . he has a killer RSM tank and knows his stuff.

Good luck with your RSM. It's a great set up! W-

Yeah, I've seen. Keep it up Serenity!

help I get

[SerenityReef]

Have to ask, why no modding? Just need to know what we're working with, know its has something to do with a Dad rule. I'm guessing it has to do with the price tag of the RSM...then throwing everything out.

 

The media rack requires no modding and is the single best addition I can think of.

[mrnugget]

If by modding you mean making physical changes to the equipment (drill holes, etc.), then you should be good with StevieT's media rack and the Tunze skimmer with StevieT cup - all fit in the back of the standard RSM with no changes to the RSM. The media rack slides in the first chamber and is made to fit the guides in the standard RSM.

 

The Tunze9002 attaches to the media rack with the magnet, but you would have to leave the back-flap top open (or off) if you use the Tunze cup - which is where the StevieT cup comes in - lower profile so the top will close.

[Reefer82]

Sell the aquamaxx, buy a 9002 and Stevie's basket w the proceeds. You'll clear $120+ on that thing. I had a first Gen RSM 130 in 07 and hated that pos stock skimmer. Doing that isn't modifying the tank in any way, you're just upgrading the equipment, all which is reversible if you hang onto the originals. If those were available back then id have gone that route, instead I lost interest in the hobby after struggling w a near $1100 tank at the time and shelved it for two years before selling it for $400.

[SerenityReef]

I'll make you a deal on a 9002 and StevieT cup. Still use the rack.

[tennis20]

Have to ask, why no modding? Just need to know what we're working with, know its has something to do with a Dad rule. I'm guessing it has to do with the price tag of the RSM...then throwing everything out.

 

The media rack requires no modding and is the single best addition I can think of.

You're right. He doesn't want me changing everything after I spent all that money on the tank and neither do I. But I do want what's best for the animals. Also he doesn't want me physically changing anything, meaning no drilling or anything because we don't have the best tools per say.

 

If by modding you mean making physical changes to the equipment (drill holes, etc.), then you should be good with StevieT's media rack and the Tunze skimmer with StevieT cup - all fit in the back of the standard RSM with no changes to the RSM. The media rack slides in the first chamber and is made to fit the guides in the standard RSM.

 

The Tunze9002 attaches to the media rack with the magnet, but you would have to leave the back-flap top open (or off) if you use the Tunze cup - which is where the StevieT cup comes in - lower profile so the top will close.

I've decided not to change anything until it isn't working. I'll see how the skimmer works and if I need to change it I will, but not preemptively. Anyway, I've seen people have success without adding or taking off anything on the rsm.

 

Sell the aquamaxx, buy a 9002 and Stevie's basket w the proceeds. You'll clear $120+ on that thing. I had a first Gen RSM 130 in 07 and hated that pos stock skimmer. Doing that isn't modifying the tank in any way, you're just upgrading the equipment, all which is reversible if you hang onto the originals. If those were available back then id have gone that route, instead I lost interest in the hobby after struggling w a near $1100 tank at the time and shelved it for two years before selling it for $400.

As I said above, I'm not going to buy anything unless I see it needs to go. The aquamaxx was from an old build that I scraped during planning

 

I'll make you a deal on a 9002 and StevieT cup. Still use the rack.

What sort of deal?

 

Again, everyone is being so kind and BEYOND helpful to me. Thank you all so much!

[SerenityReef]

I can understand that, we can have you a nice RSM with no physical mods to the RSM. But don't let mods to the equipment in and around your tank hold you back. Most are very simple and require just the very basic tools and cheap. You can tell your dad its from furthering your knowledge of the hobby and continued research on the subject.

 

What you really need to keep in mind is what you bought was glass and a stand. You'll get even more out of it using the light and strip and timers. Watch your temp swings the stock heater sucks. Pumps are fine till they break. You can get by with one good powerhead positioned right.

[tennis20]

I can understand that, we can have you a nice RSM with no physical mods to the RSM. But don't let mods to the equipment in and around your tank hold you back. Most are very simple and require just the very basic tools and cheap. You can tell your dad its from furthering your knowledge of the hobby and continued research on the subject.

 

What you really need to keep in mind is what you bought was glass and a stand. You'll get even more out of it using the light and strip and timers. Watch your temp swings the stock heater sucks. Pumps are fine till they break. You can get by with one good powerhead positioned right.

That's a good suggestion, thanks! I have a spare heater from my old 29 tank and i'll switch it out. I'm thinking koralia for the powerhead, maybe a jabeo if I can get one cheap.

[tennis20]

aww man, tank is still cloudy so I'm just sitting here waiting, but that's what this hobby's about. Maybe I'll just rinse off my rock and through it in there along with my dead shrimp just to get the cycle started.

[SerenityReef]

A good thing to remember when your doing your rock work, don't kick up sand cloudy or not your cycle will still provent you from doing anything for awhile.

 

Toss in some filter floss or 50 micron pad and let that catch it, toss it out in a day or two.

 

Feel free to do rock work, that will occupy you for awhile. You can mock it up dry too. You'll kick up sand anyway so go for it. And what are you waiting full start you cycle, you don't need clean water for that.

[tennis20]

A good thing to remember when your doing your rock work, don't kick up sand cloudy or not your cycle will still provent you from doing anything for awhile.

 

Toss in some filter floss or 50 micron pad and let that catch it, toss it out in a day or two.

 

Feel free to do rock work, that will occupy you for awhile. You can mock it up dry too. You'll kick up sand anyway so go for it. And what are you waiting full start you cycle, you don't need clean water for that.

I didn't start it yet because I don't have the pumps on, so the sand could settle, and I can't have a dead shrimp in there with out the pumps on. Right? I thought it wouldn't work. I had the filter floss in but then I turned off the pumps. I also have chemi pure and purigen in there, I gotta take that out for the cycle

[ninjamyst]

I think you should turn pump back on because you need the water movement so filter floss can do its thing. You want the filter floss to catch as much as you can instead of having it settle back onto the sand. If it settles onto the sand, what happens next time you stir up the sand? You can probably take out chemipure and purigen now and get started on your cycle.

[tennis20]

I think you should turn pump back on because you need the water movement so filter floss can do its thing. You want the filter floss to catch as much as you can instead of having it settle back onto the sand. If it settles onto the sand, what happens next time you stir up the sand? You can probably take out chemipure and purigen now and get started on your cycle.

That's what I was thinking, I was just unsure. Thanks!

[tennis20]

So I took out the chemo pure and purigen, rinsed them off and put them in sealed containers. I have 2 pieces of ff that I was using before and 2 new ones that are being used.

My house was about 77* last night and 75 this morning. Though when I woke up the thermometer read 80. I didn't have any pumps on or anything. Is my thermometer broken, I've had it for about a year or 2, or did the tank just not change temperature. it was about 80 degrees last night in the tank. I know water takes longer to change temp, but that long?

<img src="http://www.liveaquaria.com/images/diversden/approved/082913-311.jpg">

[SerenityReef]

I wouldn't read in to it without water movement. Check it for a few days the lights will make a difference too. Did you install the rear fan? Helps a little.