650 S Planning Stage/Need Feedback

[downwithfescue]

Hello Everyone,

With Steve's LED's retrofit weeks away from completion has made my 650 purchase one step closer. I wanted to ask you current owners a couple of questions. I will be doing a mixed reef of SPS/LPS.

1. Did you customize your sump?
2. Do you have Cheato Morpho or some other Algae?
a. What type of light did you install. I was thinking of an LED to not increase heat.
b. I wanted to use this area for Cheato and housing some zoa/paly's that need time to heal before going into the sump and falling off the plug.
3. Did you replace the skimmer?
a. What did you replace it?
4. Do you run a calcium reactor, 2 part, drip?
a. What kind of reactor/s(I want to go with Calc Reactor so any feedback on a quality one would be appreciated)?
5. Are you using Bio-pellets? I have heard mixed results with SPS.
6. Did you increase your ATO capabilities with an additional storage container?
7. My LFS is charging a 500.00 transportation and setup fee. Is that about right?

So many questions. I have gone over many threads but these are some of areas I am not 100% sure of.

Any pictures or videos would be great, sorry a visual guy.

I will not be purchasing it right away; I want to make sure I have everything planned out before I bring in the behemoth.

Thanks for you help in advance.

Colin

 

[goma]

Welcome to RS!!!

 

[DianaKay]

Hi Colin
:welcomera WELCOME to Reef Sanctuary!

There will probably be others come along shorty & be able to answer your RSM 650 questions.
Sounds like you have lots of modifications already in the plans.
Are you buying the 650 new or as a previously set-up tank?
I've never checked in to the features of that RSM tank but it seems like it would be very expensive to buy it with the intentions of changing it into a DIY tank for the most part before you even get it.
RSM tanks are beautiful! I bought mine (RSM 250) because of that & so I didn't have to figure every detail out, not a DIY person at all.
I bet you are going to have an AWESOME tank...Glad you found RS & hope you start a tank thread to share it!
BEST WISHES :biker

 

[downwithfescue]

Hello Diana,

The only MOD I really want to do is the LED retro. The room I will have this in faces the afternoon sun and the room gets a little warm. I had a tank before in here with Halides and my chiller was constantly running. too hot. So the wife wanted me to go with this plug and play since I was complaining about the last tank not being user friendly. And unlike Choff I do not have a basement...

As for the sump I want to be able to dose the system for SPS and and see what other filtration ideas are working for others. I just want to get an idea of what other people are doing and finding success with.

Can't wait. It will be a bit since I will probably purchase the other items first.

Thanks,
Colin

The sump area

 

[Choff]

Hey Colin, welcome to RS and thanks for posting on my thread earlier.

1. Did you customize your sump? - I replaced mine. Went larger and moved it to the floor below. There are a few folks here who have customized their sumps and I am sure they will chime in soon. Check out Nob's thread for 1 example.
2. Do you have Cheato Morpho or some other Algae? - I was planning on it, but decided to vinegar dose. I just started doing this a week ago. No feedback yet.
a. What type of light did you install. I was thinking of an LED to not increase heat. - 4x Kessil 360's
b. I wanted to use this area for Cheato and housing some zoa/paly's that need time to heal before going into the sump and falling off the plug.
3. Did you replace the skimmer? - Yes, but only because I seriously upsized my TWV. Otherwise I was happy with the c-skim other than it was the loudest component.
a. What did you replace it? SRO XP 3000
4. Do you run a calcium reactor, 2 part, drip? No. Kind of shocked I don't, but my numbers are stable with 10% weekly water changes. I never skip them. When I do need to dose, I will use 2part. Not interested at this time in a calc reactor.
a. What kind of reactor/s(I want to go with Calc Reactor so any feedback on a quality one would be appreciated)? - see comment below
5. Are you using Bio-pellets? I have heard mixed results with SPS. - I used these for 6 months with great results, but you really have to watch your alk. There is some risk with these and why I discontinued. I planned on switching to chaeto.
6. Did you increase your ATO capabilities with an additional storage container? It shouldn't be necessary if you plan on doing weekly WC. When I was running stock, my ATO lasted almost exactly a week.
7. My LFS is charging a 500.00 transportation and setup fee. Is that about right? - Transport should be free within a certain mileage from the store. Set up fee of $500 sounds on the high side, but not totally unreasonable. My store delivered free and wanted 250 to install, but I was the first person to buy one so they didn't know what to charge for set up. I did the setup myself, but my guess is if they had done it for 250 for me, the price would have went up for the next customer. It takes quite a bit of time. Personally, I wanted to do it so I knew all the ins/outs of the tank.


Have you had a SW tank before? If not, I would highly suggest running the RSM stock or at minimum just customize the sump because now is the best time to do that. Same with the lights, may as well burn the first set of t5's. At this point you are looking at almost November before you have a cycled tank and heat won't be a factor then. Learn about the tanks and water chemistry before you go investing in Bio pellets and calc reactors etc. I'd give it a good 6 months before starting to make upgrades. The stock tank runs really really well.

If you have had a tank before and you are looking at making this many mods, I would question buying an RSM in the first place. For the cost + the LED upgrade you would be much better off going full custom. This was my first tank, but at this point the only stock item I have left is the tank itself and the stand.

Edit: I was typing this up while you replied to Diana.

 

[downwithfescue]

Thanks Choff. It is really cool going through the build logs of everyone. Like a good book. Thanks for your input. My wife wanted this system because the last tank had some spills, overflows from the ATO. Is the ATO that the RSM 650 comes with quality?

 

[Mdk16]

It's a great system. I'm running it stock at the time, added only a chiller and we are super happy with it. LEDs are next as it runs hot as does the chiller. It took me about 9 months to pull the trigger and upgrade from our 110. I've been running it about 11/2 months and would definitely recommend this tank. It's sleek, clean and organized, has great flow and very clear. My fish even look happier if that's possible.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

to ReefSanctuary, a real Sanctuary of reef forums, with lots of very nice members

 

Start a new tank thread & share your tank with us so we can follow along - we love pics

 

[Nob35]

Welcome, the 650 is a great tank to either leave stock or modify. It is easy to get set up and run. I modified my sump mainly for one reason, to run a refugiumand run filter socks. The stock sump is not set up to do this to well. I had my LFS reconfigure it for me, he had all the glass cut to size then cut out the old and installed the new. I now have a large refugium and 2- 4"x7" sock filters. I agree with Choff, if you plan on doing many upgrades make sure to modify sump before placing it in the stand as it will be very hard to do afterwards. If you change it to resemble mine the only other thing you will have to do is replace the return hose with a longer piece. Everything else can run as the stock sump does and only do mods when you find what will work.

The only reactors I run are GFO and carbon. I do not use bio pellets either. I do have miracle mud in the refugium but will probably not put more once it is depleted. I also have a UV sterilizer but would not put one if you are worried about heat. My UV runs about 18hrs a day and brings up my temp 1.5 degrees if I'm judging correct.

I changed my lights to 4 AI Vegas, I went with them because they would fit in the stock canopy with some modifications. The main decision in changing to LEDs will be whether you want to keep the stock canopy or not, if you do there are not many setups to choose from. The Vegas will fit with some cutting to the inside of the canopy on the reflector rails and the kessils will fit in the center with the center section removed. If you are going to lave off the canopy you can go with any LEDs, I would just make sure to do research and make sure to get the best on the market for what you want.

I changed skimmer to the Reef Octopus Diablo 225 and find it works great, I changed for the main reason of having the auto neck cleaner and to get more space in the sump. The C Skim works well but is hard to get dialed in and it takes up alot of room.

The ATO is built as part of the tank so if it leaks it can only come from a couple places or the whole tank will fail, first would be the bulkhead fitting which will leak if you over tighten, it is not threaded on only a quick connect so you only need to do a 1/4 turn and its in place. The other would be the hose but almost all of the hose is over the sump so should not be a problem. I have a 7g jug that I connect a float valve and place in the fill compartment for when I'm going out of town, doing this I can be gone for about 11 days without worrying. The ATO by its self will last 7 days.

As for the delivery and setup, $500 seems high to me but not sure as mine was delivered free and I did the setup myself. The build is not that difficult until it comes time to put the tank on the stand, then it would be best to have a few friends over to help. There are a few videos on YouTube that walk you through step by step on building one and makes it very easy, unless you have problems with a screwdriver I would not pay that much for install. I'm not sure where you are getting it from or where you live but I bought mine on eBay at the lowest price i found at the time and it was delivered very fast and for free.

You can build a DIY setup cheaper and get exactly what you want but to put quality equipment and get the fit and finish that the Red Sea offers the price will be close to the same. It would also be hard to fit everything the Red Sea offers into a small space doing a DIY.

Hope this helps and good luck.

 

[downwithfescue]

Thank you Nob25. Do you still have those dimensions on the skimmer? That is more what I am looking for.

Thanks,
Colin

 

[Nob35]

I can't remember exactly but I think the space needed is 9"x10". If you plan on having it on a shelf like the C Skim it will be to high to have the auto neck cleaner. I have mine sitting on the bottom of the sump and have no problem taking it apart for cleaning and the neck cleaner does a great job. I only have to clean my skimmer every 3 weeks or so. I also recommend either making a collection jar or buying the one Reef octopus offers. I have my auto cleaner set with the apex to run for 15sec every 3hrs.

There are a bunch of new models of skimmers that came out since I bought mine so you may want to do some research before buying. I went with RO because of the reviews and price. When I did my research they were considered almost as good as bubble king and vortex skimmers for half the price. The main thing to look for when deciding which one to get is the water level needed, my diablo works great in 9" of water

 

[WarrenElvis]

Welcome Bud, sorry did not answer earlier, but have not been on for a while, my bad. Will try help where i can.
1. Did you customize your sump? - Yes , Only customized to install a kalkstirrer, which i know a few people would have problems coming right with. I basically just installed a sheet of glass and partitioned off a small section of the sump, and took the top up unit from the right and put it into the new chamber, and then i have used a Tunze Osmolator and connected it to my kalkstirrer to do my top ups. So i now have the rear chamber with ro water and an additional 20 litres in the new section.

2. Do you have Cheato Morpho or some other Algae? No, just have plenty live rock

a. What type of light did you install. I was thinking of an LED to not increase heat. - Standard Reef Spec T5's, would love to see your LED setup

b. I wanted to use this area for Cheato and housing some zoa/paly's that need time to heal before going into the sump and falling off the plug.
3. Did you replace the skimmer? - No , still using C Skim and i like it a lot, having to clean it twice a week
a. What did you replace it?

4. Do you run a calcium reactor, 2 part, drip? - No, i feel to much issue to try and dial it in. But if you SPS going to suck calcium, then would say you would need one. My tank has mixed, and parameters are stable

a. What kind of reactor/s(I want to go with Calc Reactor so any feedback on a quality one would be appreciated)? - When i was looking myself, i could recommed the Korallin C1501, i like that the use the Eheim Pumps, best pump in my mind, and apparently very easy to get going

5. Are you using Bio-pellets? I have heard mixed results with SPS. - I have a reactor and bio pellets but never used them, still sitting in storage. My advice, is in South Africa the best thing people are using at the moment are the Nitra Guard Bio Cubes from Orca, heres a good read http://reefbuilders.com/2012/09/27/nitraguard-biocubes-orca/
The guys here use it as a bomb method in a bag with airstone, and having great success.

6. Did you increase your ATO capabilities with an additional storage container? - As discussed above converted sump

7. My LFS is charging a 500.00 transportation and setup fee. Is that about right? - My tank came from Red Sea in USA, and they specially bought one in for me in 220v and then was sent to my parent company in Memphis, and they added it to my container with other stock. But my opinion, even with exchange rate my side, i reckon thats worth it, because let me tell you this tank is heavy, did not believe it as others said it was easy to lift, but yes thats from the ground onto stand. But to move it up stairs like i had to, it was damn near impossible, don't know how i did it