ToeSloth's Serenity! RSM 130D

ToeSloth

Member
How'd the upgrade go mate?? Any new pics under the new lights if you got them done? :)

I put a separate thread together for it so it wouldn't get buried in here.

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/showthread.php?t=89534

Thanks for asking, and it is going well. No fans except the one off the back running all the time. I note that my temp range is now about .2 during a full day. The acclimation just put me into week two.

I will take some pics over the next few days and post. Just getting back from NYC.

Chris
 

Wrangy

Acropora Nut
RS STAFF
PREMIUM
Haha didn't see that one wicked job though :yup:

That's certainly an awesome temp range and I do love the look and feel of led's, especially getting the shimmer you get with halides :)
Looking forward to seeing some new tank shots :)
 

ToeSloth

Member
So having a 16 year old son that likes my tank has made me get back into shape, been cleaning up things doing weekly water changes versus letting them go longer and added CuC and around 6 coral frags nothing IMO amazing. Parameters looking good but have a Cyano bloom that we are treating atm. I will do a tank shoot soon but not much to see really!

I switched out the AquaMedic Skimmer to a Tunze 9001 (saves tons of room in the back) and I'm running Chemi-Pure Elite and Blue media with filter floss in the top, having to change it out like very two days. We also added a Tunze Nano ATO.
 

ToeSloth

Member
Ripped the hood off the 130d tonight after all these years and mounted an XR15 G5 Blue on a mount arm. Bit high at 9 inches off the water and I can't seem to figure out how to get it down to around 7 so that I'm not spilling light all over the room!

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated - I'm using the Radion g4 arm with the g5 kit that came with it. I don't see any way to adjust the height at all on the arm which seems strange...

If I can keep the tank improving like I have over the last month with all this extra time on my hands I will post some pics that I'm not too ashamed of as well.
 

ToeSloth

Member
Sooooo, the mount arm is fixed height and can't be adjusted. Guess I'm stuck with it for now and shooting some light into the room.

I started the hacksaw work on the rim from each side lat night and stopped when I realized the arm on the saw wasn't going to let me get close enough inside the tank for the cut. I ordered a mini-hacksaw to finish the work and it will be here early next week.

Here is a pick of the first cut on the outside. I hadn't seen any posts of this in any threads or videos so I hope it helps someone else but I know this 130d is a dinosaur at this point!

tankcut.jpg tankcorner2.jpg
 

ToeSloth

Member
Par readings were way low! Probably because it is so much farther off the water so I pushed the intensity up some and will do some new readings. No wander I wasn't really seeing much from my corals on the bottom of the tank!
 
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PSU4ME

JoePa lives on!!!
Staff member
PREMIUM
Yeah understanding par within the the tank is one thing most people skip but it can be wildly beneficial to know!
 

ToeSloth

Member
Any details on what you did when removing the hood. Looks like you've made a cut in one of your pictures.

Yeah - Let me post a better pic of the cut I made (lights up) and a few more as I go along next week.

I noted that a few of the post videos and "talk" over the years but not a lot of pics of the cut spot. The other thing is tools, I noted a hacksaw but when I went to do it I realized I couldn't get to the cut inside where I wanted so I bought a mini hacksaw, where there is not bar to get in the way, to cut off the rim inside area. I have the cut from the outside done from both sides and I used a plastic putty knife to push under the rim from inside and out to break most of the seal.

I'm planning of doing the inside cuts next Saturday afternoon(4/18/20) when I do a 25% water change - this will give me the ability to catch all the small plastic rim cut bits in a container from inside the tank.
 

discol76

Active Member
Thanks for that. I'm a little confused still. I thought the cuts were made if you wanted to make the front of the tank rimless. Obviously you have had to cut yours to get it looking like that. I'll go down and look at my tank. It will probably make sense to me when I look at it lol.
 

ToeSloth

Member
Thanks for that. I'm a little confused still. I thought the cuts were made if you wanted to make the front of the tank rimless. Obviously you have had to cut yours to get it looking like that. I'll go down and look at my tank. It will probably make sense to me when I look at it lol.

Yeah, the cuts are on the left and the right parts of the rim. Cutting in these locations would allow technically for you to put it back on if you really wanted to although I know that isn't going to happen for me.

I did look into a glass or acrylic cover as well, looks like it would cost ~$100 for that to be made and it would take a few months to get it. If someone has other ideas besides the DIY mesh screens for a nice clean look let me know.

If you need additional shots of the cut from different angles let me know and I do so. I never saw anyone with a straight shot of the cut, it was always a video moving and from further away...which didn't really help.

I still plan on taking the rim off this coming Saturday when I do the water change just in case maintenance is needed at the same time.
 

discol76

Active Member
Excuse my stupidity. Why did you have to do the cuts if you weren't taking the front rim off?
I'm planning on getting the rear section cover too. Looks so much better.
 

ToeSloth

Member
Excuse my stupidity. Why did you have to do the cuts if you weren't taking the front rim off?
I'm planning on getting the rear section cover too. Looks so much better.

I started the cuts to take the rim off and realized I needed a different tool (mini-hacksaw) to make the inside cuts. I will be finishing the cuts on Saturday as I said above and removing the rim completely.

I will also be using the hacksaw and Dremel to cut out the inside of the hood to make a cover for the back so I can compare it to the one I bought from inTank.
 

ToeSloth

Member
Getting prepped for a BIG Clean tomorrow as well the final cuts to take the rim off! Will probably end up with a 50% water change as I'm going to rinse and brush off my live rock and clean out the sand bed. My tank reboot was around six years ago and I have never done more than routine cleaning so it is way overdue

I will also redo the rock work aquascaping afterwards as well, I did PAR readings and so I want a bit of better flow and placed to put my corals for both lighting and flow.

I expect this work to take me 6-8 hours to complete. I will post some pictures either tomorrow night of the adventure or the next morning depending on how long it takes me!
 

ToeSloth

Member
Operation "Know it all" Deep Clean - will start when my 19 year old gets up!

Make 8 gallons of Salt Walter - in process
Prep large tub and 5 buckets - done
Layout Towels prep gloves and cleaning equipment in bathroom
Move water from DT to Small Tank (ST)
Move Black Joker (Clown fish) to ST
Turn off heater, skimmer, return pump and MP10's
Evacuate gallons of water to large Tub with small apex pump - heater in tub as well to maintain temp
Remove Corals and Rock and place in Tub
Cut the rest of the rim off the tank - I will clean the rim after the rest of below is done most likely
Move tank gravel to two 5 gallon buckets
Clean out tank and scrub out any scum with toothbrushes
Clear gravel outside with water hose
Clean up some new gravel - done
Clean detritus and algae from live rock with toothbrush in removed tank water and rinse in RO - careful with some zoa pods on a few rocks!
Place some of the sand in tank for a small base for the rock
Place rock back in with new layout - pull out and glue together
Put remaining sand in the tank around rock
Pump tub water back into tank
Pump water change water back into tank to correct level
Place corals back in tank
Turn pumps back up and on
Place fish back in the tank after water clears up

Wish me luck or yell at me! :)
 
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