Red Sea Max Owners Club

[donna53w]

Originally posted by mbdave
Donna I run phosban inbetween two pieces of poly flter on top of the skimmer pump works great.

Thanks mbdave. I am glad there's a simple solution to placing media above the skimmer pump. That saves a lot of fiddling around, removing pumps etc., and I have the pump chamber full of LR rubble.

Donna

[lpsluver]

Originally posted by aarazorfish
Hey Mack,

Yeah, everything is tight. It's totally not the return pumps that's causing the issue, for whatever reason I'm not getting proper circulation from the skimmer. Even with the air valve practically shut, it's still flushing an incredible amount of bubbles through the system. I tried and retried every configuration last night and the only time there are no bubble is when the skimmer is OFF.

aara...This is exactly why I had a sump/fuge made for the cabinet, it contains my bigger and much better skimmer and will be a fuge. Protein skimmers are too important for reef tanks to have to deal with the POS skimmers that are supplied with these units. I know some have them that actually work but they are rare birds. Or they are like MBDave who essentially redesigned the unit to make it work. My skimmer compartment is now just an extra reservoir that contains my chiller pump and my overflow. Guess what...no bubbles, with the exception of the rare times the return pumps get starved for water.

[donna53w]

Originally posted by aarazorfish


Guys...don't know what to do anymore. This is a continuation of the problem I had earlier today — although now I find out my never ending bubble storm is the fault my skimmer??

aarf

This may be a dumb suggestion, but have you checked the position of the gate intake to the skimmer? Is it closed too far ... if it isn't already ... push it all the way down to open it completely and see if that makes a difference. Another obvious, but possibly overlooked suggestion ... do you need to add top off water? Are any sponges, etc. sucked up onto bottom of your pumps?
You've probably long since checked these things, but sometimes it's the simple ones that get overlooked.

Good Luck.
Donna

[donna53w]

[i]Originally posted by Reefmack

Laurent - I went & entered the nTotM. I did that a while back just for the heck of it. Not a lot of entries this month for some reason. I think mbdave, yourself & many others should enter as well.

G[/B]

Wow!!! You guys ... those tanks are absolutely gorgeous. Yes, I agree, enter the TOTM ... all of you. All those pics are so inspiring & I have a long way to go until the tank is mature enough to even begin adding anything!!! It's really nice to see what you have done ... and how well you have done it!!!
Donna

[Reefmack]

donna - thanks. Good suggestion on the gate, etc. too. I agree that we sometimes overlook the simple things and head right into discussing the more complex ones. I noticed last night that the level in my pump chamber seemed a bit lower than usual so I cleaned my filter - made no difference. Then I checked the gate and my big blue Linkia had again partially obstructed the flow by blocking it with a couple arms. After a gentle nudge he went over and crawled onto the rock work.

[aarazorfish]

Hey Mack,

I notice you have a Remora, and you can obviously see from the past 24 hours my frustration with the stock unit. My question is this: if I installed a Remora, would I still have a place for my chiller pump?

Thanks,

mike

[lpsluver]

Mike,

Unless you are either willing to remove the skimmer compartment cover or the hood the Remora is not the route to take. It is a good skimmer in my experience but Mack is using it because he removed his hood to install his Orbit lighting fixture. If you want something that will just slip into the existing space go with the Tunze 9002. It fits right in there and from all reports is whisper quiet and no bubbles. And it is about 30-40 dollars cheaper than the Remora.

[Reefmack]

aarazorfish - lpsluver is correct - I have no RSM hood to deal with. I'm not even sure if the Remora would fit with the skimmer flap removed, and still allow the hood to be fully raised. with no hood - yes, there would be space for the chiller pump & tubing. With the hood the Tunze Nano Doc 9002 would be the way to go.

Question for those running the Tunze - since the Tunze is mounted on the heater pane, that would block the usual chiller access point through the back - yes? Anyone running the Tunze and a skimmer? Did you put the pump & chiller pipes on the right side of the Tunze?

[aarazorfish]

Originally posted by Reefmack
aarazorfish - lpsluver is correct - I have no RSM hood to deal with. I'm not even sure if the Remora would fit with the skimmer flap removed, and still allow the hood to be fully raised. with no hood - yes, there would be space for the chiller pump & tubing. With the hood the Tunze Nano Doc 9002 would be the way to go.

You have BOTH been gentlemen and scholars. I have a Tunze 9002 already being overnighted as we speak.

Thanks for all the GREAT advice.

mike

[Reefmack]

AArazorfish - read up - I added a comment.

[lpsluver]

You're surely welcome (I know...stop calling me Shirley )Welcome to the "no longer using the POS RSM skimmer club". Your T-Shirt is on the way

[aarazorfish]

Originally posted by Reefmack
aarazorfish - lpsluver is correct - I have no RSM hood to deal with. I'm not even sure if the Remora would fit with the skimmer flap removed, and still allow the hood to be fully raised. with no hood - yes, there would be space for the chiller pump & tubing. With the hood the Tunze Nano Doc 9002 would be the way to go.

Question for those running the Tunze - since the Tunze is mounted on the heater pane, that would block the usual chiller access point through the back - yes? Anyone running the Tunze and a skimmer? Did you put the pump & chiller pipes on the right side of the Tunze?

Thanks, worst case, I could run the chiller pump to the right of the skimmer, or mod up another way to mount the Tunze on the right. Based on what you've seen, would a modded mount work?

aarf

[Hodge]

Aarf, I feel your pain...went thru the same thing as you. RSM eventually sent me a new skimmer, which I finally installed last night. I will give it a couple days to break in but so far it acting about the same as the old one.
I found with the MOTY mounted in the skimmer lid, the hose was getting pinched when I closed the lid. Having a spare cup now, I drilled a hole (7/32" is a nice tight fit) in the end of the the cup instead...lid closes, no pinched hose and not a big deal to pull the hose out to clean the cup.

[Reefmack]

aarazorfish - I had the Tunze in for a short time. Long story - I lost the air screw into the tank and into my rock within 1/2 hour. IMO it would have to mounted on the heater pane, but I'm sure you'll figure out how to put the chiller pipes on the right side of it, and be able to close the hood. I think Josh was able to do that, and maybe some others running the Tunze. I think it could be mounted on the lip of the power cord center, but not with the hood on. If there's any other way to mount it I'm not aware of it.

[aarazorfish]

Originally posted by Reefmack
aarazorfish - I had the Tunze in for a short time. Long story - I lost the air screw into the tank and into my rock within 1/2 hour. IMO it would have to mounted on the heater pane, but I'm sure you'll figure out how to put the chiller pipes on the right side of it, and be able to close the hood. I think Josh was able to do that, and maybe some others running the Tunze. I think it could be mounted on the lip of the power cord center, but not with the hood on. If there's any other way to mount it I'm not aware of it.

Not too concerned about closing the hood — you're talking about the back part of the hood right? Not the MAIN hood?

Was the air screw on the Tunze a PITA? So you have the Tunze running now right? Or are you still with the Remora?

[Reefmack]

Still the Remora here. I may yet try the Tunze again. The air screw loss wasn't from it being a PITA - it was from my my lack of attention to what I was doing - I loosened it too much and plop it went into the main tank, into a crevice in my rock. I ordered some spares. The plastic screw eventually made it's way to a cavern under my rock, and my serpent star has eventually pushed it to a place I could probably get at it, but it's not bothering anything and not very visible. I had it mounted on the power center lip - in that location the hood wouldn't be usable.

Mounted on the heater pane no problem - at the worst the back flap might not fully shut, but if you drop the skimmer low enough even that will close. Maybe someone with the Tunze will pop in here with a pic and be able to give you a better idea.

[Reefmack]

aarazorfish - I found a picture that Josh had me post for him a while ago. It's the Tunze mounted in the RSM - on the hearter panel. It should give you an idea how it sits. That black sponge in the picture is a piece of the orginal RSM filter that Josh rigged up as part of a DIY filter for the Tunze - the sponge in the picture is not in the original spot where it was over the RSM skimmer pump.



On the chiller - it may be that a hole saw or drill bit might be needed to drill spaces in that back lip to get the chiller pipes through, but I'm not sure about that. I haven't had a need for a chiller. Like I said hopefully someone with the Tunze and chiller will have some answers.

[aarazorfish]

Originally posted by Reefmack
aarazorfish - I found a picture that Josh had me post for him a while ago. It's the Tunze mounted in the RSM - on the hearter panel. It should give you an idea how it sits. That black sponge in the picture is a piece of the orginal RSM filter that Josh rigged up as part of a DIY filter for the Tunze - the sponge in the picture is not in the original spot where it was over the RSM skimmer pump.



On the chiller - it may be that a hole saw or drill bit might be needed to drill spaces in that back lip to get the chiller pipes through, but I'm not sure about that. I haven't had a need for a chiller. Like I said hopefully someone with the Tunze and chiller will have some answers.

The Tunze is on the way. Will be here in the morning. Yeah, I'm going to first see if it's possible to mount on the right, if not, we'll make the chiller pump work where the foam usually goes. The foam is basically useless anyway. I'm not worried about losing the rear hood flap. I leave it open for ventilation anyway.

aarf

[Stuart60611]

Well, after about 6 months of peaceful co-existence, My royal gramma and yellow tail damsel have started to not get along. A few minor squirmishes, but the real problem is my gramma will now only come out at feeding time and remains hidden in the rockwork for all remaining time. I have decided that I need to get the yellow tail damsel out of the tank. However, the fish is impossible to catch. I have tried to lure him to the top with food to quickly net him without success. He goes hidden in the rock work. I definitely do not want to go through the pain removing all my rock and corals to get the damsel out of my tank Any ideas on how to catch him? I hate to have to get rid of the damsel, but if I have to pick between the damsel and the gramma, the gramma wins.

[Reefmack]

Stuart - sounds like my dottyback Pseudochromis and yellow tail, but in my case the dottyback rules, and makes the damsel go hide for a while. Neither one hides all the time though, and the dottyback has always preferred the rock work even in pre-damsel days. Skirmishes but only quick chases. If no actual harm is being done maybe just live with the situation? Pulling all the rock out would be a real pain!

[Stuart60611]

Reefmack:

No real harm is being done, and the gramma is eating. But it really sucks b/c I NEVER see him execpt for when he quickly darts out of the rock work to eat. It really takes the enjoyment out of having the fish. The gramma used to also go into the rock work but spent plenty of time in the open. I miss the fish. As such, I do want to get the damsel out. Just looking for a good way of doing so.

Also, my gramma used to also dominate. Like your situation, there would be the occassional chase and nothing more b/c the damsel backed down. However, the tables have turned and now the damsel is dominating, even though he is smaller. You take notice of that as it relates to your situation b/c I believe it is only a matter of time until your damsel gets the best of your gramma, and you will see your gramma hide all the time like mine.

[Reefmack]

I'll keep an eye on it Stuart! If you come up with a way let us know.

[lpsluver]

Now don't laugh. In the local reef club forum that I visit as much as this one there are some really experienced reefers that have had success with very small barbless, baited fish hooks. Perhaps from the fly fishing side of things. Do a search in the FMAS forum, there is also info about a successful DIY fish trap made from coke bottles and wire ties. .http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1235461

If that Gramma is hiding, and it had gotten progressively worse over time, I don't think it will get any better. Damsels are one of the fish that I avoid like the plague (or like Xenia, Sorry Mack ). I've seen it written that they, as a genus, are pound for pound, the meanest fish going. I tend to believe it

[Stuart60611]

lpsluver:

Thanks for the info. Will check it out. But once I remove the damsel, the gramma should gradually resume its prior behavior of not hiding, right?

[lpsluver]

I do believe that will be the case. Happy fishing. Let us know how it goes. If you are successful you can probably get a small credit for it at your LFS.