Red Sea Max Owners Club

[Hodge]

Dustfp:

Using the largest Hydor adapter, I heated it up with a hair dryer and slipped onto the end of directional attachment. I held it in place till it cooled down and it's stayed together so far.

[JimJones]

Titans,
the setup used was a Canon XTi. Paired with a 100mm f/2.8 macro lens.

I am reposting this due to inadvertently replying under workmates log in name.

[lpsluver]

Time for my next project...Now that I am running the skimmer in my sump/fuge I do not have skimmer-generated microbubbles in my tank. I do, however, have still have microbubbles. The only possible source is the return pumps, which I believe are sucking in air because they are so close to the surface. I know that we have a pump mod (in this thread somewhere) to drop them lower, which would/did fix this problem but then we still have the issue of crappy pump design (housing not gasketed or locking). The plastic housing is just plain a dumb design. How many of you have cleaned the pump, then replaced it only to have the housing fall off because it only snaps in place?

Has anyone replaced the two stock pumps with 2 other pumps or one pump with equal output? If so, what kind? I was thinking about putting a MJ1200 in there and splitting the output with a Y- barb then adapting it to the 2 holes and the loc-line. Thoughts? Comments?

[Fishy Something]

Hi Donna53W,

You summed me up pretty well, not new to reefing by any stretch - have had a number of reef tanks ranging from very big to very small, over the past 15 years & have spent the last 5 years breeding clowns, banggais & dottybacks with varying degrees of success. This became too much like hard work & not enough like a hobby, so I have just about sold off all the broodstock & bubs & decided something simple & small was the way to go at least in the short term. Hence the RSM.

RSM has been up for 4 - 5 weeks, have just added CUC & I am working through the usual hair algae & diatom blooms of a new tank. Will be stocked with ponies, pipes & probably a couple of coral gobies and or decora gobies - but that is a fair way off.

Will become a contributor once I catch up...

Cheers

[Stuart60611]

Well, as I posted before, my flame hawk used to get along with my royal gramma b/4 the yellow tail damsel I have since removed upset the mix. Despite considerable time passing, a partial re-arrangement of the rock work, and a two hour removal of the hawk from the tank, things have not gotten any better. Thef hawk still chases the gramma when he comes out of hiding, which he never used to do b/4 the damsel was added and now since removed.

I am making a final attempt to resolve things b/4 I remove one from the tank. I caught the hawk and put him in a breeder's box in the tank right in front of the royal gramma's cave home so that they could see each other easily. The gramma is now starting to come out and face the hawk. I am hopeful this will allow the gramma to reclaim his territory and break the hawk's strangle hold on the gramma's movement. I will try to keep them separated like this for at least 3-5 days of the gramma re-exhibiting its normal behavior. Bob Fenner of wetwebmedia.com indicated that this may help. We shall see.

[bookpile]

Good luck Stuart,

Just so you know out of my two clowns, dottyback, and bi color blenny. My yellow tail damsel is the most peaceful out of the bunch. He's also the only one I've had since the beginning when I started the hobby.

[Stuart60611]

Thanks Bookpile. Unfortunately, I think I will need some luck to pull this off.


I was wondering if anyone had an opinion if I stand a greater chance of success keeping the hawk confined in a breeder's box in the display tank as described in my previous message or fully removing him to a quarantine tank for a while. I do not have a quarintine tank at this timet, but I certainly could pick up a small tank quickly and set it up. Any thoughts?

[lpsluver]

Purely my thoughts, so keep that in mind, I'd take the hawk back to the LFS. Hawkfish are considered semi-aggressive to aggressive. You will not only need to be concerned about the Hawk and your current fish but you will need to be concerned about all future additions (including CUC and other invertebrates). They are territorial and will eat inverts and small fish.

I know I sound like the fish police on this thread but it is only because I am much more comfortable talking about fish. I've had a lot of them, made a lot of mistakes with them and have read many books, etc about them. Compatibility charts help but are too general in many cases. For instance, Liveaquaria's compatibility chart says that hawkfish and basslets (which includes your Royal Gramma) are compatible yet the Royal Gramma is a peaceful species that needs to be housed with peaceful fish. The majority of hawkfish should be housed with larger more aggressive fish and are very territorial. A RSM tank can easily encompass the entire territory for a hawkfish.

Climbing down from the soapbox now...

Good luck with what ever you choose to do.

[Stuart60611]

Thanks lpsluver.

I hear you on the hawkfish. I just may wind up taking him back. I also did research b/4 purchasing him and found that the hawk was listed as compatible with the gramma. Moreover, the gramma and hawk got along fine b/4 the damsel messed everything up. That is why I still hope for the best. Just not sure what to ultimately do here.

On the one hand, I want to give this separation a try. On the other hand, it was a pain to catch the hawk and if the separation does not work, I do not want to go through the hassle of catching him again for removal. Moreover, I am not sure whether I want to keep the gramma or the hawk.


I guess I have a lot to think about b/4 makiing any decission.

[lpsluver]

I forgot to ask...what kind of hawk is it?

[Stuart60611]

lpsluver:

It is a flame hawk.

[lpsluver]

One of my all time favorite fish! Usually not a big problem. Your problems are most likely caused by tank size rather than anything else. The damsel probably ruled the tank so everyone else "ran scared". Now that the damsel is gone "there is a new sherriff in town". There has been a change in the pecking order and the next most aggressive fish stepped up.

You can try putting a mirror next to the tank, right up against the glass and see if the hawk attacks himself and leaves averyone else alone. I heard many times that this technique works.

[Stuart60611]

Lpsluver:

Since you seem to be fairly knowledeable about my issue. I wonder what you think of this approach.

My lfs agreed to take back the hawk, who is medium sized. What if I simply exchanged the hawk for a baby flame hawk. This way the baby would not have established territories like the current one and would be truly the last fish added to the tank. My problem does seem unusual and perhaps I just have a pecular hawk specimen. Any thoughts?

[lpsluver]

Originally posted by Stuart60611
Lpsluver:

Since you seem to be fairly knowledeable about my issue. I wonder what you think of this approach.

My lfs agreed to take back the hawk, who is medium sized. What if I simply exchanged the hawk for a baby flame hawk. This way the baby would not have established territories like the current one and would be truly the last fish added to the tank. My problem does seem unusual and perhaps I just have a pecular hawk specimen. Any thoughts?

I'd go for it. I'd be inclined to do the in-tank isolation thing that you mentioned above to allow the other fish to get used to the Flame before it establishes it's territory. Also be willing to accept some losses of your CUC.

[mbdave]

Lpsluver recently I have replaced my pumps with 1 maxi 1200 just used a tee to do and the original drop pump mod. Works like a champ.

[abyall]

More pictures from my new camera.[IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] My new RBTA with my old camera [IMG][/IMG]

[kmjoen230]

what kind of camera is that!?

[Reefmack]

Hi All. Last night at 10:30pm we lost power, and it didn't come on till after 10am this morning. It was the coldest night of the year here so far - down to 27F last night. The house was 61F when I got up, and the tank temperature when I had to leave for another 12 hour day of meetings was 71 and still dropping. I called a few times during breaks, and the tank was down to 70.4 before the power came back on. Of course you know what I was worried about all day. Just got back home at 8:30pm, and the tank was up to 79.5 again. The fish and the inverts that I could see, all seem to be fine, and so far the corals seem to be OK. Time will tell whether anything bad will develop. Hopefully the drop to 70F won't cause any permanent coral damage, or cause any fish to get diseased. I had to resest all of my timers as everything was about 12 hours off and my morning light cycle was just beginning. Another long day of meetings tomorrow, so I'll have to wait and see what things look like tomorrow night. I was wishing I had that UPS unit to keep a heater & powerhead going for at least a few hours of that 12! A friend of mine lost all his corals once, when his tank dropped to 69. I sure hope that won't happen to me.

[Reefmack]

kmjoen - from the exif information abyall is using a Canon Rebel XTi. It looks like a few of us have the XT or XTi now as "new additions". I wish I had more time to learn the ins & outs of my XTi.

[stathis]

Reefmack i faced the same problem during last summer .
No power for more of 11 hours and i lost 2 fishes.
Nothing happend to my corals , even the sps.
I had some problem with bubble algae and i introduced a Mithrax crab.Now the 80 % has gone.
Abyall your anemone is very nice colour but with no Bublle tips.Mine kept the bubble tips for only one month. Does anyone knows why it's happening ?
The good news is that it had give me 2 babies up to now, that made some of my friends happy.

[Reefmack]

Death tally so far from the 12 hour power outage and cold tank - 1 Emerald Crab so far. It looks like the snails & cleaner shrimp made it through OK. No sign of the 2 other emerald crabs yet. The corals & fish all seem to be OK as of now.

stathis - if the anemone has spit twice it would seem to be doing well? I'm not sure of the importance of the bubble tips - anyone know?

[Stuart60611]

I recently came accross this new product. It seems ideal for solving several issues for the RSM. One, it adds an additional power head for the right side of the tank. Two, it provides a great location for storage of chemical filtration for easy maintanence. Three, it skims the surface which is common issue for the RSM. Could be ideal for those wanting to add additonal filtration, current, and more efficient and easily maintained chemical filtration.

Dr, Foster sells it for about $30 US. Seems like a pretty cheap and viable solution for the RSM

[Reefer82]

Stuart - Would the 160gpg do much for the RSM? That looks like a viable alternative to a Koralia 1 but with a lot less flow.

[Stuart60611]

Reefer82:

I think that would be enough flow with the existing powerheads in use. It also has two power heads which are on long adjustable arms so that you can really target the flow to precisely where you want it.

[Reefmack]

Stuart - the skimmer filter looks interesting. I wish I could get a better view of how it mounts. It would take up some additional tank space, but as you said would eliminate needing a Koralia on the right, plus the 2 adjustable directional powerheads would be good. And being able to easily replace media is nice, and removing it from the back compartment would increase flow in the back, plus hopefully raise the water level back there & help keep the pumps submerged. Good idea also for turning a small tank into a nice QT tank.