Recent content by DarkHippo

Hi all. We lost a royal gamma a couple of months ago due to what we suspected initially to be ich. We got him out of the DT and started hypo salinity in a borrowed tank on the kitchen table but he died on the second day of treatment. Any ways, we suspected that our problem may not have been ich...

Thanks a lot for so much detailed information. My pressure is 35 psi, the meter is a hand held unit. I need to get a reading from a known sample first from my LFS I think. That's a good idea. Your advise on adding stages made sense too. Tap water is 240ppm by the way.

Hi guys After 4 years in the hobby I have finally invested in an RO filter and TDS meter. The filter in question is a TMC V2 pure, which I let run to waste for a good 6 hours before collecting my first container. The TDS reading I received was 40 ppm. After a further 6 hours, 20 ppm. This...

A side point here... I noticed the magnetic glass cleaner in the tank. I also have an RSM 130 and found out the hard way that its better to remove it between cleans. The first snail that snuggles up beside it unseen, will result in a lovely scratch in the glass as you drag it across. Hoping not...

Hi Diana, thanks for the upgrade idea. I've had a look for some different containers, but over here it seems to be jerry cans or shallow plastic tubs with lids that'll spill and generally be less stable. I'll have a go with the Milton fluid and see how it goes!

Thanks, cracker. I was just concerned about the ammonia in bleach, and that most products now cling to surfaces even after rinsing. I can always test for ammonia before I mix I suppose...

Hi all My faithful 25ltr RO water containers that I use to haul RO about in (and store for short lengths of time) are starting to smell a bit funky. Seems wasteful to bin them but I'm unsure what would be a safe cleaning agent to use. They are jerry can style so there's no chance I'll be...

Hi all, Been a while since i've been on here - but my enthusiasm for the hobby has recently been rekindled by a friend of mine getting a tank, so I'm back into the hobby again with renewed vigor. I have a four year old RSM130d and have plans to: 1) convert to "Steve's LEDs" (rather than...

This is a close-up shot of the lid very nearly closed. Its possible to see why I needed to cut back the reinforcing webs on the lid to make room for the feeder to turn round. The real drive for this mod was to make sure the fish got more that one feed per day. I'm really pleased with the...

OK - I know its taken me a while, but I've finally got the system up and running... I used laminated plastic (commonly used for conservatory roofing) and reef-safe silicon sealant in lieu of perspex to reduce the costs while I was playing with the prototype designs. As luck would have...

Thanks for the info in your post, wpnguy. Just what I was looking for; if I get the autofeeder working with the lid down, I'll be sure to take some photos and upload them...

Hi All, Looking at installing an autofeeder for the holidays and have found a thread here at RSM Owners involving an Eheim feeder sat on a sheet of Perspex. For this to work, the front portion of the lid is left open to make room for the feeder. Well I've bought the feeder and I reckon I can...

I have a 130d not a 250, but I thought I'd add my thoughts on the heater. I run with a TC-10 temperature controller. This little box of tricks switches the cooling fan and heater on and off to maintain the desired temperature, and very accurate it is too. I was always very concerned that a...

Thanks for the Chemi Pure Elite info. How does the mix of GFO and carbon work out? Does the carbon exhaust before the Phosphate absorption gives out? When I added the phosphate reactor, I was advised against mixing GAC and Rowaphos for this very reason. However, now I have the reactor I can keep...

Thanks for the welcome messages... I've been reading with interest how some owners run their RSMs without the ceramic filter and charcoal filters supplied when the tanks were new. Is this how a majority of owners run their tanks? Is there anything I need to be wary of if I run without these...