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Red Sea Max 130 Build Log

56K views 435 replies 9 participants last post by  badxgillen 
#1 ·
Hello,

I’m super excited to take the plunge into SW. My original setup was going to be a 25Gallon DT and a 20 Gallon sump. There is a thread here with lots of ideas and info. After some thought I decided an all in one setup like the RSM 130 would be better. I found a deal on Craigslist and grabbed it.

The tank came with some goodies including ~60 pounds of rock and 2 clown fish. I need some other supplies before I can get the RSM going (mainly RO/DI) so the clowns are in a 20Gallon High QT tank with ~20 pounds of rock, a Mazi-jet 400, heater and its all under a single t-8. There are also two snails in there. Since I did not have time to mix my own water for the QT I took water from the craigslist guy. Here are my readings:

Nitrate – 5.0
Nitrite- .1
Ammonia- .25
pH-8.4
Temp 78
Hydrometer – 1.024

Other than giving the RSM a good cleaning ill be replacing the stock bulbs and that will be all for now. I plan on upgrading the sump to a Tunze at some point down the line, and ill be making some other mods.

I may be able to order the RO/DI tomorrow, not sure when it will come in. I was going to attempt to use only some distilled for now in the QT until the RO/DI is setup. The RSM will run nothing but RO/DI.

Here are my questions:

1. I did not fill the QT all the way; I marked the Water level to know where to replace evaporated water. What and when do I need to do it to keep the clowns safe?
2. As you can see in the pics below, the rock has a lot of red growth. I also have two other 5 gallon buckets with LR and water. The tank had a lot of cyano, and the owner said high phosphates. I’m OK with “killing” and cleaning the rock and “starting fresh” rather than trying to keep the other LR wet and having issues. How do I go about doing that? Dry it out and take it outside to the hose with a toothbrush?
3. What is the mushroom growing in the QT. Is it healthy? Worth trying to save for the DT? Will it last under a single T8?
4. One clown is large and the other is small. I did not ask the owner about them. The small one follows the big one around. Big guy nips him a little at times, but they also roam around freely. They both ate Mysis shrimp tonight. Are they Ocellaris Clowns?
The Before:



The Haul




Cleaning to do:



The QT:



 
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#3 ·
lolz

Just ordered this RO/DI. I will be storing RO/DI for topoff's in something like these (already have them), And mixing the Salt overnight in one of these with the Maxi-Jet 400.

Hopefully RO/DI gets here soon so I can do a WC in the QT and lower those numbers. If its not here by friday I'll Grab some distilled.

Any insight on the questions i posted above?
Also, whats the difference exactly between a powerhead and a circulation pump? Currently i have the maxi-jet as a powerhead in my 20high QT. Is that OK for all my QT in the future?

What should I grab for the RSM 130. The DT is 29 gallon while the total is 34. i want 20x's for corals. The RSM has two 146gph return pumps on the left hand side.
 
#7 ·
Thanks. I wanna clean the tank and LR but I'm kinda sick. I'm gonna just take the garden hose and a toothbrush to the LR not in the QT so I can get it cleaned.

Can you Id the mushroom in the pics above. It does not look as nice today. It's just under a T8. At this point I don't care if it does before it gets to the DT I just don't want it to die in the QT and foul the water.
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#9 ·
sweet. This is all too exciting!

Im still feeling under the weather but hopefully I can get to my parents and clean the DT today. LFS run on sunday so thats when the fun will begin I hope.

The clowns are super greedy. They will most likely eat from my hand as they attack my turkey baster when I feed them. I noticed the little guy having a "seizure" when the big one gets close. I read the smaller one is submitting to the larger. Is this true? Anything to be worried about?
 
#12 ·
They are like super crazy at night when I walk up to the tank. They know its dinner time and they go insane and will eat from my hand.

Spent a lot of time cleaning the tank tonight. It looks great. I have the plastic parts and the skimmer sitting in a vinegar/water mix. There are white, hard "tube worms" all over the internals of skimmer that I can't get off.

I rinsed the rock in fresh water and now it's sitting in an empty bucket. There are still red spots I can't get off. There same white tube things are around the rocks as well. Anything to worry about? Should I just give up on cleaning it? I'll post pics tomorrow.

I'm going to order another 20-30 pounds of dry rock as well and use a mix of that and the old rock. I'm also thinking of going with 'natures ocean white sand"
 
#14 ·
Staying in tonight as work has been hell and im still sick........

RO/DI unit at refractometer shipped today.

Got a few questions and thoughts.


1. Removable inlet grill with adjustable shutter for surface skimming
2. Two stage (coarse/fine) mechanical filter sponges
3. Professional turbo protein skimmer driven by a 1,200 lph/320 gph pump
4. Compartment for chiller pump
5. Access panel for chiller inlet/outlet tubes
6. Thermostat-controlled heater
7. Highly porous ceramic biological filter media
8. Activated carbon chemical filter media
9. Twin circulation pumps with adjustable direction outlets

Here is the layout of the back of the RSM. To prevent buildup of nitrates Should I keep the filters in #2? I was thinking of grabbing a few sets and swapping WC and clean the other with tap/old water?
In spots 7 and 8 he had the bio rings and old carbon. The rings have been sitting out and they are now dry. Should I rinse and use the same ones, buy new ones or ditch them all together for something else? Is chemi-pure and purigen suggested? How about phosguard?
 
#16 ·
Cool.....

Thinking of stock again, top is priority going down to not so much

2x Ocellaris Clown
Yellow Watchman Goby and Pistol Shrimp
Firefish or Purle Firefish
Bicolor Dottyback or Royal Gamma
Cardnial fish or Chromis

Any thing else you reccomend I take a look at?

Also would like hermits if they can be trusted with coral. And maybe another shrimp if they will not bother the Goby/shrimp pair. And a red sea star down the line.
 
#18 ·
Man, I wish I could ditch this sinus infection and actually get some progress here. I have built my shopping cart for saturday. Ill only get things instore if theyare cheaper than online but this will be the only time ill be close to this LFS without making an extra trip so if its cheaper there then I want to grab it.

Id like to get a Koralia Nano...they come in 240 and 425 gph. What do you think? I figure they are better since i can move the head around. The 240 will give me 530GPH total and the 425 will be like 717 gph. Im worried one will be not enough flow and one will be too much....and not having a clue as to which corals will be added and where they will be located i donno what to do.........

I think im over thinking this lol..............maybe Ill get an MP10.....oh wait.....thats like almost what I paid for the tank itself..........ok back to bed............:sick2:
 
#20 ·
Lol sorry for that blah talk. Finally feeling better an got to work on the tank.

Got pretty much everything I need except maybe some more dry rock. I donno if I can afford more at this time.

I'm waiting for the ro/di still to get started. The tank is cleaned and everything looks almost brand new except for the skimmer which has those calcium like worm things inside and I can't reach in with anything to scrape them off. Lol.

Went with a lot of friends to the LFS store. They are not into fish. A buddy asked me ". Why are some of the colorful rocks $500" lol.

Hopefully the fun part starts next week.

Also the mushrooms in the QT are taking over all of the live rock. It's insane.
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#22 ·
Allright, here is my burning question.....

I currently have LR that was in the tank when it was setup that has now been washed with hose water and allowed to dry in buckets.

I also have LR that has been moved with the old tank water, which is in my QT. It still has some cyano and other buildup.

I want to use all of this rock in my DT and possibly add some more Dry rock.

Do I have to do anything for either the once LR that has been washed and dryed or the Rock in the QT before it goes into the DT?

Do I need no buy a few pounds of LR from the LFS to help seed? If so how much is a few pounds.

And can i add dry rock at anytime during or after the cycle without it affecting anything?
 
#23 ·
If its just base dry rock without any growth on it than you could add that after the fact. The washed and dried rock is going to have some die off because its been out drying and anything alive is dead so it could start a small cycle when you put it in. I've added quite a bit of dry base rock to my tank without any ill affect but I did see a small quick spike in ammonia after adding "dry live rock" like your washed and dry rock.
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#24 ·
If its just base dry rock without any growth on it than you could add that after the fact. The washed and dried rock is going to have some die off because its been out drying and anything alive is dead so it could start a small cycle when you put it in. I've added quite a bit of dry base rock to my tank without any ill affect but I did see a small quick spike in ammonia after adding "dry live rock" like your washed and dry rock.
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Thanks....this is what I assumed. I can move the LR and Dried live rock now as I start my tank, because it will need to cycle anyway. But I can add base dry rock at anytime.

My car needed to go to the shop so I dont have anything big enough at the moment to get the tank from my parents to my apartment, so............:x
 
#27 ·
Rock ordered.......:-D

So I found something to keep me occupied for the time being. Im not placing the tank in my office now, but rather the living room so it can be enjoyed by all from the couch.

It will be diagonally in the corner, if this is OK, and if I can insure a cat can not get behind it somehow.... This will give it the best view in the room.

This is next to a walk in closet in which i plan on building a shelf where i can but my water containers on. Im then going to cut a hole in the drywall into the living room and run some tubing so I can start a manual siphon for top offs and water changes. This will limit my use of carrying buckets back and fourth all the time. Ill only have to move them from the kitchen where the RO/DI is made to the closet. This will keep me busy until the RO unit and rock gets in. Ill post updates as they happen. For now enjoy a comparison of the mushrooms in the QT

when I got the tank....


This morning as lights come on.....

2 hours after lights...
 
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