RSM 250 questions.

[Matt27]

I recently picked up a RSM 250 for free and after many hours of getting it reef ready it's finally been cycling for a little over a week. I am having some issues with it though. My biggest concern is the skimmer, it doesn't seem to continuously run, I'll fine tune it and it'll run great for an hour then go right back to running like shit. I've followed the owners manual to the T. But that issue goes hand in hand with another one, I can't seem to keep the water level stable to save my life. The left side of the gate is very loose and it may be sliding down but I can't say for sure, all I know is the water level fluctuates so damn much I had to unplug my ATO because it was dumping water into the tank so much that it almost overflowed. The last problem I'm having is the heat. I haven't had the lights on and the temperature in my room is 70 - 75 but the temperature inside the tank is 85 still, even with the fan on the back left at full power. I can't afford a chiller so has anybody done anything to remedy the heat?

 

[RedSeaKev]

I recently picked up a RSM 250 for free and after many hours of getting it reef ready it's finally been cycling for a little over a week. I am having some issues with it though. My biggest concern is the skimmer, it doesn't seem to continuously run, I'll fine tune it and it'll run great for an hour then go right back to running like shit. I've followed the owners manual to the T. But that issue goes hand in hand with another one, I can't seem to keep the water level stable to save my life. The left side of the gate is very loose and it may be sliding down but I can't say for sure, all I know is the water level fluctuates so damn much I had to unplug my ATO because it was dumping water into the tank so much that it almost overflowed. The last problem I'm having is the heat. I haven't had the lights on and the temperature in my room is 70 - 75 but the temperature inside the tank is 85 still, even with the fan on the back left at full power. I can't afford a chiller so has anybody done anything to remedy the heat?

Hi Matt, the first thing I would like to mention is that skimmers do not produce skimate at all times, it is perfectly normal to produce skimate then ideal, this is perfectly normal, as for the weir height you may need to insert a little plastic to wedge it as it sounds like its worn, pumps on times can give off excessive heat, switch one off at a time and monitor for a few hours, I would start with the skimmer pump, the running level also plays a part in heat, check out the help file.

 

[Matt27]

Hi Matt, the first thing I would like to mention is that skimmers do not produce skimate at all times, it is perfectly normal to produce skimate then ideal, this is perfectly normal, as for the weir height you may need to insert a little plastic to wedge it as it sounds like its worn, pumps on times can give off excessive heat, switch one off at a time and monitor for a few hours, I would start with the skimmer pump, the running level also plays a part in heat, check out the help file.

Thank you for the attachment, I read it over and will give it a go today. However, the original owners manual said to keep the water level at 3-4 notches from the top as optimum water level for the skimmer and the attachment you gave me says to keep it 6-7 notches below the top for temp management. If I keep it at 6 notches will I be able to tune the skimmer well enough as to not put so much strain in the skimmer pump and will I still be able to use my Tunze ATO? I currently have my ATO pumping into the tank itself, should I re-route it to run into one of the pump compartments?

 

[Matt27]

I forgot to mention, I did try unplugging one pump at a time and there wasn't even one whole degree of a temperature change for each one. I think I'm gonna unplug them all and see what happens.