Red Sea Max Owners Club - Page 10

GDESQUIRE · #**226** 10/28/2007, 06:57 PM

Reefer82 - Bubble Tip Anenome. Known to host most clowns.
Reefmack - Nice shot of the brain

Rue · #**227** 10/28/2007, 08:15 PM

Mine's a green Bubble-tip...very pretty...

Reefmack · #**228** 10/28/2007, 08:25 PM

mbdave - as dme330i said - maybe Fauchea on the red algae. I also found a picture online of Family Rhodymeniaceae that looked very similar. Difficult to ID of lot of the algae types as there are so many. Probably a lot not eveb classified yet.

Hodge · #**229** 10/29/2007, 10:30 AM

I have been dealing with brown diatom algae (orangy brown stuff) for the last couple weeks. It slowly covered most of my exposed rock and and then boom it was gone yesterday??
I did a regular water change the night before and changed the bag of Fluval Phos-x ?? I've been running above my LR rubble.

I didn't have a test kit for phosphates until yesterday so don't know if I had elevated levels or not...test last night = near zero phosphates.

Could a replacement bag of phosphate remover type stuff, a water change and reduced lighting (kept the lights off an extra 6hrs) have that quick of an effect or did it just die off?? either way I'm glad its gone.

Reefmack · #**230** 10/29/2007, 12:51 PM

Hodge - that's pretty quick. Maybe it was a combination of all of those things that did it. Mine didn't disappear that quickly.

Reefmack · #**231** 10/29/2007, 12:51 PM

Hodge - that's pretty quick. Maybe it was a combination of all of those things that did it. Mine didn't disappear that quickly.

aarazorfish · #**232** 10/29/2007, 02:46 PM

Hey Mack,

After a lot of screwing in and unscrewing and a schematic assist from Josh & Jana, the Tunze is in. Running about 12 hours and obviously nothing to report. The cup did fill up with water for some reason at first, but hasn't since. No bubbles which is awesome and plenty of room now for other fun mods in the back if I want.

Also replaced the old fans with the upgraded fans that Pinky at RSM sent out. You don't even know the fans are on. I had to check twice. They are REAL quiet.

Chiller is keeping the tank at a perfect temp, but my America Marine thermometer took a dump so that has to go back.

My cycle is going a little unexpectedly. I've had 50lbs. of uncured running for about 10 days now and my ammonia won't go past .025 — there's GOT to be stuff dying on this rock, so that's a bit strange.

Anyways, I went off on a tangent. I'll keep an update on the skimmer as it (hopefully) produces brown gold.

Thanks,

aarf

Reefmack · #**233** 10/29/2007, 03:53 PM

Hey aarf - that's good news on the Tunze & fans! I remember when I set up the Tunze it was a lot of in & out till I got the bracket adjusted correctly. Good news on the lack of microbubbles too. It may take a few days till it starts skimming and then make minor adjustments on the air screw - and don't loosen it up so much that it falls out and into the tank LOL. Bummer on the thermometer. Maybe the uncured LR was more cured than you thought? What are the nitrite & nitrate figures?

Hodge · #**234** 10/29/2007, 04:06 PM

I just posted a pic and question in the propagating section...maybe one of you smart RSM owners might be able to help first??

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1239320

aarf, I never got much of an ammonia spike or any spike for that matter during my cycle. No bubbles...gonna have to order a tunze, as my second rsm skimmer isn't any better than my first.

aarazorfish · #**235** 10/29/2007, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Reefmack
Hey aarf - that's good news on the Tunze & fans! I remember when I set up the Tunze it was a lot of in & out till I got the bracket adjusted correctly. Good news on the lack of microbubbles too. It may take a few days till it starts skimming and then make minor adjustments on the air screw - and don't loosen it up so much that it falls out and into the tank LOL. Bummer on the thermometer. Maybe the uncured LR was more cured than you thought? What are the nitrite & nitrate figures?

OR, the rock was never out of the water that long and I literally missed any kind of bloom overnight and there won't be much die-off. Either way, I'm waiting another week, then a big water change, then wait again.

m

Stuart60611 · #**236** 10/29/2007, 06:04 PM

Just thought I would share my personal experience. I was using chemi pure elite for a while and decided to give the purigen bag a try. The purigen bag is much smaller than the chemi pure bag and fits far more neatly over the skimmer next to the heater with a far less propensity to restrict the flow than the chemi pure. I use a plastic fork wedged in between the skimmer pump and the back wall to act like a gate over the water line to keep the purigen completely submerged and not pulled out of its area by the water flow. Although much smaller, the little purigen bag treats up to 100 gallons.

I decided to make the change b/c my overstocked tank needed a some additional filtration. I had read that purigen is supposedly the most potent chemical filtration in terms of the volume it removes of organic waste, nitrites and nitrates. Since the change, my water is noticebly clearer, far less algae, and my corals seem to be opening wider.

On the emprical front, my nitrates at the worst of times reached as high as nearly 20 ppm but since the change I have for the first time reached undectible! I realize that I am giving something up by the switch b/c unlike chemi pure, purigen has no phosphate remover. Obviously, I could add additional phosphate removal media, but I really don't have a problem on that front, particularly b/c I am using Catalina pre-mixed sea water from petco.

I also like the fact that the purigen can be easily reginerated and turns a dark brown color when exhausted so that one can easily determine when to change it out.

I thought I would share this information b/c I am sure others are looking for some additional filtration help to deal with their overstocked RSMs.

jameshongth · #**237** 10/29/2007, 07:14 PM

Hi,

At times, I still encounter thousands of tiny bubbles produced by the Skimmer, so pls kindly advice what 's the step or method to stop such thing happen

!

RSM bought on 29 Sept07.

Thing that I have done.

1. Cut the Black sponge into half.
2. Drop down the inlet grill and raise the water level slight higher, almost reaching the top of the grill.
3. New version skimmer pump.

Thanks.

dme330i · #**238** 10/29/2007, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Stuart60611

I decided to make the change b/c my overstocked tank needed a some additional filtration. I had read that purigen is supposedly the most potent chemical filtration in terms of the volume it removes of organic waste, nitrites and nitrates. Since the change, my water is noticebly clearer, far less algae, and my corals seem to be opening wider.

I've used Purigen in the past on all of my tanks. When I started my RSM three week ago, I threw in a bag of Purigen.

To your point, it works great. I place my bag over the black sponge right behind the overflow.

Stuart60611 · #**239** 10/29/2007, 09:43 PM

dme330i:

Just a thought. You may want to reconsider the location where you place the purigen b/c you are applying chemical filtration right b/4 the water gets skimmed. With the crappy RSM skimmer, I think you would want to give the skimmer the dirtiest water possible and them apply the chemical filtration. This way you remove as much as the RSM skimmer is capeable first getting the most out of it. I applied my chemi pure elite b/4 in the same location you place your purigen and noticed a sharp decline in skimmate generated. I would be curious to know if you moved the purigen over the skimmer pump like I did if you notice any increase in skimmate.

brycek · #**240** 10/29/2007, 09:49 PM

I was just wondering if anyone else has used rods food for feeding their entire reef? I was given a few samples at the MACNA show about a month and a half ago and have been using it exclusively in my RSM since. Everything has been doing extremely well. I have one small package left and will have to start buying from my LFS once that is gone.

donna53w · #**241** 10/30/2007, 01:11 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jameshongth
Hi,

At times, I still encounter thousands of tiny bubbles produced by the Skimmer, so pls kindly advice what 's the step or method to stop such thing happen !

RSM bought on 29 Sept07.

Thing that I have done.

1. Cut the Black sponge into half.
2. Drop down the inlet grill and raise the water level slight higher, almost reaching the top of the grill.
3. New version skimmer pump.

Thanks.

Hi James,

I am pretty new to this RSM set up, but so far, my micro bubbles problem has completely gone away. I cut the black sponge so that it is about 2" thick, & still use the white pad on top. Make sure it is fitting snuggly over the skimmer pump. Also, I keep the water level of the tank just slightly below the trim ... you can just see the top of the water through the front glass. Keep the skimmer collector and the neck clean... this is simple maintenance required by all with all skimmers. I also have only live rock rubble in the pumps chamber, to approx 2" below the pumps intakes.
Good Luck,

Donna

stathis · #**242** 10/30/2007, 01:21 AM

Lpslover can you please give us some details about your diy overflow.
(maybe some photo from the tank ) .
Is it noisy ?
I desperately need a refugium to move the chaeto from the main tank.
I'm feeding my corals too much, as Mr.Shimek proposed to me , so i have to keep my nitrates low, with a big ball of chaeto.
Thanks

lpsluver · #**243** 10/30/2007, 07:15 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by stathis
Lpslover can you please give us some details about your diy overflow.
(maybe some photo from the tank ) .
Is it noisy ?
I desperately need a refugium to move the chaeto from the main tank.
I'm feeding my corals too much, as Mr.Shimek proposed to me , so i have to keep my nitrates low, with a big ball of chaeto.
Thanks

Do to the space constraints of the RSM a picture of it in my tank really is of little value. If you go into my gallery you can see some pictures of it in the almost finished phase. I thought up something that I thought would work and then discovered that someone else had thought of it too. This thread has the info that you need to build one. I can fill in the gaps and describe the improvements that I made to it to make the slurping noises go away and how to provide water level adjustment. The only noise created by the overflow is the waterflow through the piping/tubing.

Reefmack · #**244** 10/30/2007, 09:00 AM

On the subject of Purigen: I have a bag of Purigen that I bought a while ago but never used. I may try it this weekend in place of the Chemi-Pure Elite that I have in now. I was thinking of using something like Phos-ban along with the Purigen - to absorb any phosphates and silicates. Anyone have any thoughts on this, or experience with Phos-ban? I suppose I could add a fresh bag of Chemi-Pure Elite with the Purigen, but I'm not sure if those two together will cut the flow too much (in the pump chamber).

bookpile · #**245** 10/30/2007, 09:19 AM

Reefmack, I was going to post more qualitative information on this later today with before and after pictures but since you asked I'll do a quick post now.

On Friday morning I added Phosban and dosed with kent marine a and b for the first time. Last night I was pleasently surprised to come home and find that the purple hair algae that had been choking and covering everything in the entire tank was all but gone except for a few patches.

I've used purigen before on a turtle tank and it worked great. In fact I just ordered a bag last night for the RSM, I'm going to try and run them both.

Reefmack · #**246** 10/30/2007, 09:41 AM

Thanks bookpile. I think I'll go ahead and try the Purigen/Phosban combination. I've already been dosing with Kent Tech CB parts A & B.

glalderman · #**247** 10/30/2007, 09:57 AM

hmmm...speaking of skimmers...guess it is time to pull mine out and see what is up with it...mine has always worked great...but lately it hasn't been making any skim? I haven't had it out to clean in ages...guess it is time!

Well...on sort of a geeky note...since I have put an AquaController 3 on my 120 and am able to control the tank through the internet at work...thought I would install a wireless camera on it also...but since it is still cycling and is boring to look at rock...I put the camera on my RSM for the time being...thought it would be better quality...but oh well...

RSM Cam

Greg

Reefmack · #**248** 10/30/2007, 10:14 AM

Hey Greg - good you "see" you again! Cleaning the skimmer should help - that gunk that builds up at the top of the main unit and on the neck of the cup acts as an anti-foam. If it's been ages since you cleaned it you'll probably have a nice buildup of it in there.

I'll have to check out the RSM webcam from home. They have streaming media blocked here at work. Bummer!

glalderman · #**249** 10/30/2007, 10:32 AM

Terry...I take the cup out and clean it weekly...just haven't pulled the whole thing out and clean the insides...or the pump...

Hodge · #**250** 10/30/2007, 03:05 PM

I picked up some Phosban as well... just wondering where you guys plan on putting it??
It looks like the kind of stuff that wont sink too well and will have to be held down to stay under water??
I'm going to make a DIY basket to fit between the skimmer/heater area I think.

Wish me luck, I'm going to try propagating my zoa colony tonight into 3 equal pieces (30 polyps ea)...

I picked up a small favia (red/green) frag on the weekend. Its covering a rock about the size and shape of a golf ball. If I put it in a depression in a larger piece of rock, should it spread onto it?? most of the brain corals I've seen pics of are covering a single larger rock...I know I should be keeping it away from touching anything else.