Red Sea Max Owners Club

[Hodge]

Did the MOY last night. It is quieter, foam production seems about the same or less. I have to wait to see about MB's as my lights went off shortly after the mod.

[lpsluver]

Originally posted by aarazorfish
Cool, that's how I have it too. Are you using hose clamps at all? I'm nervous about using stainless steel clamps, but your thought about air getting in is one I'd like to address. However, all my seals seemed tight. Maybe I'll check the seating rings on the chiller itself again.

I fina;;y had a bubble-free tank until this chiller showed up. But I gotta tell you, it keeps the temperature spot-on.

Sorry I'm rambling on, but I have one more question for you, was your chiller reading the wrong temp? Cause I have an American Marine digital and the temp on that and the one on my chiller are about 2 degrees off.

thanks for sticking with this. ha!

aarf

I use the stainless steel clamps on the fittings on the chiller. There are no (or shouldn't be) any worries about salt water in that location. I don't use a clamp on the pump because the tubing is snug enough to hold the pump in place and I really don't care if it is water tight. I think my temp is pretty close to spot on. I believe there is a way to change the temp display to create an offset to "calibrate the temp. Do consider which instrument is correct before doing any changing though. Your American Marine Digital may be the unit that needs to be calibrated.

[aarazorfish]

Originally posted by lpsluver
I use the stainless steel clamps on the fittings on the chiller. There are no (or shouldn't be) any worries about salt water in that location. I don't use a clamp on the pump because the tubing is snug enough to hold the pump in place and I really don't care if it is water tight. I think my temp is pretty close to spot on. I believe there is a way to change the temp display to create an offset to "calibrate the temp. Do consider which instrument is correct before doing any changing though. Your American Marine Digital may be the unit that needs to be calibrated.

Yeah, already calibrated the thermometer. Perfect.

Ok, we'll I'll check for those airleaks tonite and get back to you. thanks for the help!

aarf

[MAXreefer]

Update for the RSMreefers

We welcome:
"Houmax" from Houston, TX
"MDHatter22" from New York,NY
"ReeferLV" from Las Vegas, NV

Update:
More blogs are coming up from new owners to document their setup and progress.
Added a few pics to PrimoPaul's gallery

Some numbers:
9428 unique visitors
129714 Page Views

Michael
MAXreefer

[Reefmack]

MAXreefer - I checked out the new RSMreefers and...Wow! That Scolymia in ReeferLV's RSM gallery is beautifully huge! PrimoPaul's tank sure looks different now with the corals added. Nice.

[brycek]

I was talking to the guy at my LFS last night(they don't sell Red Sea products at all) about the RSM skimmer and the latest mod on here etc. Anyway he told me that he would custom make me a skimmer and only charge me for the acrylic and pump if I can give him the exact dimensions of the skimmer chamber on th RSM. I have been looking around maybe in the wrong places. Does anyone have the dimensions? I am willing to give him a try and see how it works.
a

[mbdave]

From tonight, not the greatest but my camera is not thew greatest



Sweet ricordea yume love this mushroom,



Scopas, blastmussa, and some nice red macro thats growing.



Middle right



My bubble mushrooms, "LOVE THEM"



Full tank



Nice new palythoas
Good reefing!

[LaurentSeattle]

Just wanted to show off my latest pictures...









And the inevitable FTS:



All pictures as of tonight...

[Reefmack]

Wow - the tank looks great mbdave! Those colors are great. Where'd you get that red macro?

Nice pics Laurent!

[MAXreefer]

As always great pictures Laurent!!

Great progress with your tank!

Michael
MAXreefer

Maybe I should start a photo contest for the nicest RSM at the RSMreefers?

[mbdave]

Reefmack it just grew out of some Bali rock I am lucky for that.

[Reefersteve]

Any one trying an elegance in there RSM, I picked one up last week and I have to say it is my favorite piece I have and seen in a while.

Also, I cant believe the number of mods being posted here, some many great Ideas. Thanks for sharing

MBDave, how is your skimmer mod doing, I think you posted before the split?

Thanks Steve

[mbdave]

It is much better than the original skimmer. It always skims and I have allot less bubbles. As you can see above the tank is really waking up. I got a new skimmer today that I am doing the mod to and some improvements I have developed since the original mod. Can't wait to get it done!!!

[Reefersteve]

Right on, keep us posted on your progress.

Cheers

[Reefmack]

mbdave - great hitchhiker on the red macro. I wish I could find that stuff available. It sounds like you may be able to go into business soon making modded RSM skimmers. Maybe you should patent that thing!

I like those nice reds you have mbdave. I wish I could get some red corals or macro to liven up my rock. I have a group of several nice, bright red mushrooms that came on my LR, but they're all on the left side of my rock and barely visible. I guess I need to frag/relocate some to the front. Since we're posting some FTS today here's where I'm at as of Sunday. The new zoas are starting to multiply now, and the pom pom xenia is multiplying into new branches & separating into separate colonies. The $^% Xenia elongata (upper left) is getting out of control again, and it's now aggravating my clam. Time to hack it off again this weekend.

Help - Anyone know the best way to move a crocea clam? Do you carefully cut the byssal threads underneath? Will that kill it? I'd really like to move it, since the yellow Figi has really grown and is shading the Crocea as well as the Xenia. I'm afraid I'll lose the clam if I leave it where it is.

[brycek]

Hey has anyone every bought any livestock from PETCO? I just received a flyer from them with a 25% off any saltwater fish coupon.
Also has a coupon for 25% off for Aquatic Gardens Premium Marine Salt Mix. I have never heard of it and just wondering if it is worth me getting a bag.

[LaurentSeattle]

Reefmack: this is a nTotM shot! Go enter the contest, I believe it is still time...

Brycek: PetCo, PetSmart, etc are very hard to categorize: The quality of the livestock varies greatly and truly depends on the team in charge of the fish department. I have seen the worst and the best in these chains... For anything else, go online: Everything is twice the price at LFS's or big pet chain stores. Even with a 25% coupon, you will still pay 50% more, at best...

And thanks all for the nice comments about the pictures... But I really would like to have nicer stuff to shoot...

[aarazorfish]

I HATE MY RSM!!

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?? Which has been working flawlessly for the last week until I put my chiller in. HOWEVER, it's not the chiller. Turned off the chiller, and moved out the pump and return: bubbles. Turned off the skimmer, reinstalled the chiller and ran it: NO bubbles. Sealed the bottom, left and half the right side of the skimmer: bubbles. Conclusion, for whatever reason, my skimmer has decided to blow massive bubbles since yesterday. What a piece of CRAP!! Anyone have any thoughts about this situation? Is anyone going skimmerLESS? Should I upgrade to a REMORA or TUNZE? I've been up until 3:00am the past 2 nights and basically my wife is going to murder me. WHY did RS make such a flawed skimmer??

We could have all done bigger tanks from scratch and paid LESS than all the upgrades we're adding to this box!

Can you tell I'm a touch P/Oed? HA!

All suggestions welcomed.

aarf

[LaurentSeattle]

Originally posted by aarazorfish
Guys...don't know what to do anymore. My wife is going to murder me. HA!

All suggestions welcomed.

I strongly suggest going wifeless for a little while...

Because bubbles are here to stay and impossible to get completely rid of in the RSM...

[GDESQUIRE]

Reefmack - to remove the crocea you do have to cut the byssal threads. A small very sharp knife might do the trick. The idea is to apply a small upward movement to the clam so that you can cut the thread nearest the rock. If done correctly, the clam will be fine.

[saltyreeftank]

aarazorfish:

The RSM skimmer is just not worth the aggravation in my opinion. After about a month of fiddling with mine I decided to suck it up and buy the Tunze Nano DOC 9002 skimmer. The skimmer has been rock solid since installing it.

I would ditch the stock RSM skimmer and go with the Tunze.

[aarazorfish]

Originally posted by LaurentSeattle
I strongly suggest going wifeless for a little while...

Because bubbles are here to stay and impossible to get completely rid of in the RSM...

Completely impossible to get rid of I understand, but a constant flow of bubbles is unacceptable.

Again, if anyone has an upgraded skimmer rig they are using and happy with, please let me know.

Thanks!

aarf

[Reefmack]

brycek - I've bought FW fish from my local Petco, and have always been impressed with the FW section - cleanliness of tanks, health of fish, etc. But the SW section has always left a lot to be desired - big aiptasia in the invert tanks, and the fish not always looking in the best shape. I haven't been to mine in a couple months, but maybe it's gotten better. Every store can be different. My Petsmart only sells FW fish. As Laurent said, for non-livestock items at least, the things I buy online are typically 1/2 the price in the store, the selection is often much greater, and even with shipping a much better deal.

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.

GDESQUIRE - thanks for the info. on removing the Crocea. I hope to find time to do that, and relocate it, this Saturday.

On the microbubbles, I still get a few, even with replacing the RSM skimmer. I think mine are due to the top of the pumps always partially out of the water, and air entering the pump casing. Not the greatest design to have the pumps not submerged. Hopefully RSM will address that in future tanks and drop them an inch or two to keep them totally submerged.

aarazorfish - make sure your circ pump fittings are all on tight - that piece that snaps on can come off too easily. No need to pull the pumps - just check them with your hand.

[lpsluver]

Originally posted by lpsluver
Okay. I got the sump in the stand and it is running. The system still requires some tweaking. The overflow is noisy (what a surprise) and attempts to silence create restart problems when power is interrupted. I will be modifying it by making a DIY Durso and make go to 1" PVC for the overflow to allow for more flow which, theoretically should silence the slurping. If I want to increase the flow I may need to rethink the plumbing because you sure can hear that water rushing through the tubing on its' way to the sump. The skimmer (Octopus NW-110) has not produced anything yet and I am not sure if it is because it is sitting in a new acrylic sump that needs to get "conditioned" or if the skimmer needs to be raised up a bit. I'll post some more pictures soon.

Alright, the latest update. We have success! I modified the DIY overflow by making it a Durso overflow, with a twist. The twist is that I cut some of the riser out while installing the Durso and in place of the removed section I put in a PVC compression repair coupling. This coupling allows me to adjust the level of the water in the tank (raise it up and down), which is now a function of the level overflow. The gate in the RSM is only acting as a surface skimmer now. This mod allowed me to turn the pump flow all the way to the max with no gurgling noise what so ever. The only noise I have is the flow of the water though the piping/tubing, the hum of the crappy return pumps for the RSM and a little noise from the skimmer (oh yeah, and the fans). The skimmer is still breaking in but it looks like I should be getting icky gunk any time now.

Reefer82...the unit is about as quiet/noisy as it was before so I don't think there would be any need to turn up the volume to drown out the noise.

[aarazorfish]

Originally posted by Reefmack
brycek -

On the microbubbles, I still get a few, even with replacing the RSM skimmer. I think mine are due to the top of the pumps always partially out of the water, and air entering the pump casing. Not the greatest design to have the pumps not submerged. Hopefully RSM will address that in future tanks and drop them an inch or two to keep them totally submerged.

aarazorfish - make sure your circ pump fittings are all on tight - that piece that snaps on can come off too easily. No need to pull the pumps - just check them with your hand.

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.

Sincerely,
At A Loss For Words — HA!

By the way, this is MDHatter22 (Mike) from the RSM owners site. For whatever reason, that log in name wasn't available on here, yet no one else has it.