Red Sea Max Owners Club

[lpsluver]

Finally some pictures.

[Reefmack]

Sounds like it's all coming together Rue. Soon well get some pics from you!

[Reefmack]

lps - looks really nice! That must be a good sized clam! Is that some gorgonia in there?

[lpsluver]

It's the tank show piece. About a 7" Squamosa. Yes they are gorgonians. The yellow one in the upper middle is notoriously difficult to keep and is not doing so well but I have 4 others that are doing okay. Also have various color zoes and may be putiing a SPS or LPS sometime in the future.

[Reefmack]

I heard some gorgonia are easy & some difficult. I guess it depends on whether or not they're photosynthetic, or need to be fed. That is one big showpiece squamosa at 7"! I still want to get some xenia and a leather of some type in mine. I've got 3 colors of mushroom, frogspawn & torch lps, GSP, some brown & orange zoas, and a little frag of sps pink stylophora on top that's doing really well & grown a bit in a few weeks. The lights on the RSM are a lot better than a lot of people think.

[lpsluver]

Ever had xenia before? I hate the stuff. It's a weed. It took over a tank I had previously. Looks cool but a real PITA. These gorgs are all photosynthetic, so for the most part they are are the easier side to keep.

[LaurentSeattle]

Nice pictures! I am quite satisfied to see heathly corals and fishes. And also happy owners of the RSM... I was about to become doubtful about my acquisition.

[e55MD]

lpsluve, is your clam thriving? I wanted to get a small one but I thought that it might need metal halides.

[Reefmack]

lps - I know about the xenia turning into a "weed", but I'd still like to get some & try to keep it segregated on a piece of rock. Full aware it can get out of control.

e55MD - I see a lot of RSM owners with clams & so far no bad reports on them not surviving - hopefully that will remain the case long term. I've come close to getting one myself a few times and perching one up on top. lps can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think they will attach pretty firmly to whatever you put them on - the tank bottom or a piece of live rock. I have mostly big hunks of LR in my tank, so my plans were to get a piece of LR that it can attach to in case I ever want to reposition it.

Laurent - yes, there are happy RSM owners! If I ever get the skimmer working better I'll be ewven happier.

If I can find any of my coral pics I'll post a couple. I don't really have that many yet and a lot of what I have came on my live rock.

[lpsluver]

Originally posted by e55MD
lpsluve, is your clam thriving? I wanted to get a small one but I thought that it might need metal halides.

The clams (6 of them are all doing well). The thing is, I've retrofitted the tank with the 150w HQI from nanocustoms (running a 14,000K Phoenix bulb). The kit is fairly easy to install if you are somewhat handy. I have all the light I could want. The drawback is the added heat. The hood is now cooled with 4 fans and I have a chiller. The chiller, AquarEuro 1/15HP was fine with the stock lighting but can barely keep up now.

Reefmack...I am not a clam expert but I believe that the rule of thumb is Croceas and Maximas prefer the rock work and will firmly attach in fairly short order. Deresas and Squamosas prefer substrate/sand. With the stock lighting I think that there is sufficient light for Squams and Deresas anywhere in the tank. The Croceas and Maxs would probably do alright higher up in the tank. I wanted the halides to drive the color and get the shimmering effect.

[Reefmack]

Thanks for the clam info. lps. I didn't realize you had the other clams as I was so taken by seeing the "monster" in there! Also didn't realize you had the nanocustoms retrofit. I'd love that, but can't justify the cost of that or the chiller. Maybe some day. I need to stop spending my retirement money!

OK - in response to requests for more pics:

Green & blue striped mushrooms. And my camera hogging diadem dottyback - he seems to want to be in every picture.



Triple headed Frogspawn:



One of 2 pieces of organ pipe that were in the bag with my LR. I almost threw then out as they weighed nothing, but I did have polyps come out shorty after putting it in the tank. The piece on the upper right is the sps Pink Stylophora that's been doing real well up on top.

[Reefmack]

Blue Acan (Favia on the left):



Got this one as "Euphyllia species" - I just call it a torch:



These are some green center zoas (top) and brown ones with orange centers that came on my LR. My lawnmower blenny is perched on top:



I'm pretty sure the small brown anemone (green mouth) in the center is a bad boy majano - it's kind of wedged in a crevice in the LR and hasn't moved or multiplied - I keep an eye on it. Easy to get at with Joe's Juice if I want to kill it, but as long as it stays put I've let it be. above the majano is what I think is a pretty zoa with bright green tentacles, but I can't get a good view of it other than from the top with all of the pumps off, but in 3 months I've yet to remember to look at it from the top with the pumps off!



Not a coral - nice purple Brazilian featherduster. Unfortunately its tube position shifted a week ago, and it was constantly being "bothered" by the Euphyllia tentacles to the right, and wasn't fully opening for about a week. Yesterday it popped off it's pretty crown, but the worm is still alive - I saw it pop up it's "bald" head last night. Another thing I need to do on the weekend - get a small piece of LR cemented in place to push the worm tube away from the coral (can't move either - the tube has attached, and the coral was cemented in):



Not a good picture (haven't taken many with my new camera) - red & green Favia - much prettier than the picture - bright green & red, and under the moonlights the green part looks fluorescent. It's not receeding - that's how I bought it, and it's doing well and has recovered the rock a bit:



One of three ricordia that came on my LR, that I've "misplaced" - I moved the small pieces of LR that they were on and they're probably still in the tank, but I wasn't thinking & repositioned the rock pieces so that they're not viewable anymore (duh!):



Red "shrooms", brown zoas, and green stars that came on my LR & were opening within hours of putting the rock in the tank. There were originally just a few of each and they have all really multiplied - more so than even in this picture. The green star polyps (GSP) are another "weed" coral as they can take over a tank if you let them - they are pretty though:



I guess that's enough for now. I'd still like to add some "xenia weed" and a leather of some type, and maybe some others - in time.

[Reefmack]

Where'd everybody go today? Setting up tanks or having problems?

Hopefully I can get to try the skimmer mod this weekend that Josh&Jana did that seems to work. As a backup to not getting mine running the way I'd like I sent an email to Tunze support today about the Tunze Nano DOC 9002 skimmer. I think it would work in the RSM as a last option for me, but I still need to pull the RSM skimmer & take some measurements. I was surprised to get a same day reply from Tunze. The skimmer dimensions can be found online, but not the specifics I needed to be sure it would fit. Here's what I asked & the answers:

The width (diameter) of the skimmer cup? (The cup is 3 and 7/8" in diameter)

The height of the skimmer cup - not including the tube underneath - just the height of the exposed part that would be sitting on top of the black unit after sliding the base of the cup down. (The cup is 4" tall)

Couldn't tell from the online manual that I looked at - how does the unit actually attach to the hanging rack does it slide onto the rack or ? (It attaches with small screws)

Is the vertical position of the skimmer on the hanging rack adjustable up & down, to account for the actual water level? (Yes, the rail has a hole every cm and you just screw it in where
you need it.

I'll have do the chamber measurements of the skimmer compartment, keeping in mind those strips in there that support the RSM skimmer. But I'm thinking it would work as a last resort for me. I'll try a lot before I'll dish out $135 on the Tunze.

[josh&jana]

lpsluver
cool looking clam tank mate, i think ill wait untill the new tank is set up for some clams cant fit ant more in the RSM...

reefmack
nice corals, good to see you got a lot of them with your LR, must have picked your rock well.
i was thinking last night if your impeller is different there is a fair bit if room in there to tie some green scrubber to it with out having to make any major mod to the blades. if i remember correctly the blokes thread that you put up with the pro prisim skimmer had a fan type impeller to, he did shave his impeller down but probably cause there is not as much room in there.
you will be wrapped with the mod though as mine runs in it is getting better....

[Reefmack]

Thanks for the comment J&J. Yes - I did get a lot of life on my rock. It was fully cured, and a lot of the zoas & mushrooms were opening within a few hours of putting the rock in - I was really amazed. Got it from Reefscience - a few hours drive but I had it shipped overnight. No dieoff, never had any free ammonia and it was like an instant cycle - I was really pleased.

I just did my weekly 4 gallon water changed and pulled the skimmer pump. I do have the same impeller as you so that should make it a lot easier with those prongs on there. I guess I didn't look close enough the last time I opened up the skimmer pump. I measured that compartment for the Tunze skimmer and while I think the skimmer body & rail would fit , it doesn't look like the width of the Tunze cup would fit, about 1/4 inch too wide. It would definitely be tight. I'll measure again to be sure (I should have just measured the RSM cup - would have been easier!). The heater would have to be relocated to the right side, in order to hang the rail, but that would have been no biggie at all.

Anyway - the mod is option one, and won't cost more than the price of the scrubby thing. It should work based on your success.

[robthedarter]

Originally posted by Reefmack
Thanks. BC 29 owners are welcome too!

Hi just new to this site i,m from the uk i have just recived my new rsm not yet set this up i sent the old model back when i found out about all the upgrades you can tell if it,s the new model by looking though the fan grills the new fan will say redseamax the old ones will be in chinese also the fixings will be screw ones for the pumps and the skimmer pump will have a blue ring instead of the old black one hope thos helps, hope to post some pics when i,m up and running
regards
robert

[morello]

pic at about 7 weeks see its still full of bubbles

tank looks alot different now at about 9 weeks will have to post a more recent pic

[Reefmack]

Hi Robthedarter. Thanks for the pointers on telling if the tank is an older or newer model. I'll have to check my fan, but I do have the screw on powerheads and kimmer pump (blue ring). It sounds like since I bought mine that RSM may be sending out the additional cooling fan & dc adapter with tanks being shipped now. Are you happy with the skimmer on yours?

morello - looks great at 7 weeks! If you get a 9 week pic we'd love to see it. I like that star too! I was looking at that type in a book today - I think it's a Fromia species, but I'm not sure? Nice corals & fish too.

[neverwouldof]

good stuff !

[Rue]

...okay...your pics are all starting to make me drool! I'm not quite up and running...but I managed to put it all together...the main issue I had was with stiff cords...they wouldn't stay put...but I still got most of it to hold in place...more or less...

...didn't have quite enough R/O water...so I'll have to make another water run tomorrow before adding the salt...

[Rue]

I have the newer tank (thank goodness!)...here are the components...



...and this is where it's going...in the basement...doesn't look as nice as having upstairs obviously...but it's in what was once a kitchen (where the stove used to go)...so I have counters and the sink handy...I have 2 other tanks down there as well...



...once I get around to painting the downstairs and finishing the myriad of little things that need doing...it'll look a little better (not much, but a little!)

[Rue]

...the little 10g beside it has 4 dwarf puffers...

...ignore the brown water...tannins from a little piece of Malaysian driftwood...and that's AFTER soaking it for a few weeks and AFTER a water change...lol...

[josh&jana]

morello
nice set up mate,
has your BTA settled there or is it still moving round i have two in my tank and half the time i never see them there always down the back behind the rocks, hope yours stays there its in a good spot.
cool looking star to..
i havint seen anything like that in my LFS stores they are all a bit boring in colour

[Reefmack]

Rue - Looks good! I know what you mean on the stiff cords. I had some problems fitting them in the tracks in back (after 20 minutes of nasty words wondering where the tracks were, till I realized that they were hidden under those track covers). Then I had another good 20 minutes of nasty words trying to fit all of the power cords in that hidden power center compartment.

[morello]

hey thanks for the comments folks

the starfish is a maldives, i ordered it in for myself as i work in a shop as far as i know they arent too hard to get hold of

the BTA does the same as yours its always on the move and keeps poking out the back of the rocks rather than the front. its lost a bit of colour now too which is a shame

i've added a few bits of coral since that shot just getting my dad to take some pics now. also added a midas blenny he's great, had to take a peice of LR when i bought him tho as he wouldn't come out of it theres also a indonesian firefish in there he was in before the percs but is quite shy

btw rue im so jealous of your smoke coloured skimmer i got a crappy clear one i haven't been having the skimmer on all the time because of the bubbles, i was toying with the idea of going skimmerless and using the space as a miracle mud fuge but dont think its possible as the tank is already setup. im just rambling here to be honest :P

more pics to follow