Adrienne's Red Sea Max C-250

Adrienne

Well-Known Member
Way back in January I ordered a Red Sea Max C-250, the first shipment of which was due to arrive in NZ mid April. This was my first foray in to reef keeping and was instigated by my husband who wanted a marine tank.

Three weeks ago we finally picked up the tank from our LFS



and a couple of days later my husband and I put the cabinet together. Being a total newbie to reef keeping I had been searching the net for information on how to build the tank and cabinet and by very good fortune, the night before I had come across Roy Page's videos on YouTube which gave me way more information than the instructions that came with the cabinet.
Construction of the cabinet took about two hours and then we placed the tank on top. At that stage I headed away for a weeks holiday.



Last week over several days I placed all the equipment in the sump and here I struck problems. Being that my tank is most probably the first tank set up in the country so no actual tried and true information available, and with no idea about a skimmer, I found the instruction manual seriously lacking in detail. My LFS could not answer my questions so on to the net again and I came across Reef Sanctuary and this group :whstlr: and immediately found that I was not alone in trying to work this out. However with my questions now answered I moved on on Sunday with the layout and filling of the tank.
The tank has 25kg of partially cycled rock and 18kg of Red Sea Sand (pink) - this became available in NZ only two weeks ago.
With everything ready to go the tank was switched on and apart from one of the circulation pumps being faulty (replacement arrived today) the tank is now GO!



Yesterday morning the tank was relatively clear - 20hrs after initial fill but by mid morning there were a lot of bubbles in the tank causing cloudiness (this seemed to be coming from the skimmer). Today with the one pump going the bubbles from the skimmer seem to be being pushed into the tank by one of the circulation pumps however it may just be that the flow is pushing the skimmer bubbles around the tank. This evening the millions of bubbles are still there, but with both circulation pumps running I hope that the tank will be clearing by morning. I have put the white cap on the skimmer hose and turned it down to keep the skimmer from overflowing into the tank. Perhaps I should have left it off?

Here are some recordings:

Day 1 - temp 23.5, Salinity 1.032 (earlier in the day it was 1.025)
Day 2 - temp 23.9, Salinity 1.028 (after removing 16 litres of water and replacing with RO)
Day 3 - temp 24.8, Salinity 1.026 (afer removing a further 12 litres of water and replacing with RO), Ammonia 1.2, Nitrite 0, Nitrate <5

The heater seems to be struggling to get the temp up, it is currently set at 27 and the only fans running are the ones inside the hood. I had thought that it would be the other way in that it would be difficult to keep the temp down.

I'm really pleased with the tank and the look of it. I do have the patience to wait until the tank is completely ready before adding anything else to it :) Mostly because I also have two freshwater tanks to tend to.
 

Godly3vil

New Member
Hey there stranger :makefun:

With all the OEM skimmers from red sea max it is quite common for them to produce large amounts of microbubbles for the first few weeks until it breaks in.
 

Wrangy

Acropora Nut
RS STAFF
PREMIUM
Awesome seeing a new member down in this end of the world!! :yup: Looking neat as already :) You're off to a good start!

What sort of plans do you have for your future lovely reef tank??? :)
 

Mark9

Has been struck by the ban stick
Welcome to RS.
Are you using a swing arm or a refractometer to measure sg?
Regardless, I suggest you have it calibrated.
Multiple instances of them being off (me included).
Ultimately, you should get a refractometer if you do not have one.
Micro-bubbles are something most people experience.
I don't have the C, so can't help you there.
The rock looks great!
 

Pat24601

Well-Known Member
Rock looks really great! Nice work! I look forward to following your tank.

I don't gave great advice on the heater. I think I did used to run around 76 before I ran my skimmer and lights regularly and now I run 79, but I've never relied on my heater at all. Maybe yours is broken? I wouldn't know. The C-250 is better at displacing heat that the old max from what I can tell. Sorry, no good opinion.
 

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
Cheers for starting a tank thread so we can follow along with your beautiful new RSM C250 - nice looking LR & great start !

The pumps in RSM tanks generate heat, you should not have problems with your heater & getting that sorted. On the microbubbles & proper skimming, water levels are key. You will need to topoff daily (ro not sw) or at least every other day, as the new tank breaks in they will decrease too.

+1 on invest in a refractometer your salinity should not change through out the day but a very little bit
 

Adrienne

Well-Known Member
I have a refractometer which I re calibrated yesterday morning although it really was not out of calibration. I haven't tested as yet today, will do so this afternoon and at the same time check the temperature.
The micro bubbles are coming from the left side (when facing the tank) circulation pump outlet and are a result of the bubbles coming out of the skimmer. I have the gate on the skimmer raised slightly so the water just flows over the top of it but am not sure that this is correct. The collection cup air inlet I have turned down so the bubbles are rising to about halfway up the intake. If I turn it right up the bubbles and water fill up the collection cup within a matter of minutes. Where should this be? The tank water level is at maximum. Is this too high?
 

Adrienne

Well-Known Member
Test results today :)
Temp 25
Salinity 1.025
Ammonia 0.1
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5 - 10
pH 8.0

I've now bumped the heater up to 28 to see if I can get the temp to 26
The ammonia has dropped significantly since yesterday
 

Adrienne

Well-Known Member
I have been having a read through various posts - the C-250 has a moveable gate on the skimmer but I think the following is why I might be getting so many bubbles. I have filled both the tank and the sump area right up to the top of the window viewing area. There is a marker part way down the window which is the optimal level for the sump. This means that the sump area does not get filled as high as the main tank?
 

Danreef

Well-Known Member
I had the 250. So I will not comment about the skimmer. Mine is different. But concerning sump, because you have the return pumps, the sump has always lower volume than the tank. If you stop the pumps, the level on both areas will achieve the equilibrium, if the level in the tank with pumps off is over the overflow level.

Daniel
 

Adrienne

Well-Known Member
Thank you Daniel for that. I had it at the same level with the pumps on - I reduced it to the optimum level and that seems to have reduced the micro bubbles so hopefully they will stop in a few days. Onwards and upwards :)
 

Roy Page

Active Member
I have been having a read through various posts - the C-250 has a moveable gate on the skimmer but I think the following is why I might be getting so many bubbles. I have filled both the tank and the sump area right up to the top of the window viewing area. There is a marker part way down the window which is the optimal level for the sump. This means that the sump area does not get filled as high as the main tank?
Adrienne,

It was nice to see that my videos on YouTube helped you in the assembly of your C-250.

We are at Day 87 of starting our C-250 so we have a little more experience in starting up our tank.

Here is how we set the water level and the skimmer:-

Water Level
The Right side pump chamber will usually be a bit lower than the Left side chamber due to the reduced flow of the water passing up through the media shelf unit.
We keep the water level above the water window line which indicates the recommended water level.
In fact we can only see about 3 mm [1/8"] of air in the upper part of the water height window.

Skimmer Setting
Ours is working very well, but we are still using the air throttling valve.
Our water height gate is set all the way down to the bottom.
Obviously the height of the water in the rear compartment controls how high you need the gate.

If you are setting the water level at the height line shown in the side window:-
I would suggest you raise the gate about 20 mm and then control the foam height with the air valve.
Alternatively, you probably can put the gate all the way down and remove the air throttle valve, the slowly raise the gate to get the foam to the height you wish.

Remember that your skimmer will not have much water born protein to remove at first so you can't really set it up totally accurately until the tank is producing some bio-load.

ATO
This very good Red Sea aquarium is missing a vital function, which is an ATO [Automatic Top Off] which will keep the water level constant very much helping the consistency of the skimmer's foam production.
We fitted the Tunze 3155 which works extremely well and keeps the water level exactly the same height all the time.
Our C-250 with the water cooling fans running 24/7 evaporates about 1 US gall [3.8 litres] of water per day.

Now that the tank is stating to mature a little better we have the T5 lights on 10 hours per day and can maintain a water temp of 79/81F [26/27C]

Hope these pointers are useful.

Roy
 

Adrienne

Well-Known Member
Thank you Roy. I was thinking about ATO and how I would go about it. Something I never ventured into with my freshwater tanks :)

This morning my water level is below the optimum line once again - I seem to be replacing about 3 litres ummm 3/4? gallon per day atm and I do know evaporation will increase significantly in another few weeks based on my freshwater experiences so getting an ATO may be essential. I am fortunate in that I work from home making keeping an eye on the tank easy :) I will take my readings early pm as I have done the other days and note them here as well as in my notebook.
 

Pat24601

Well-Known Member
I just want to add my vote to Roy on Tunze 3155. The ONLY downside I can think of is that it's like $225 if I recall correctly. Other than that, the thing is amazing. It just saves so much hassle for keeping the tank topped off and is super-easy to install. I avoid DIY projects like the plague. I just don't have time to figure things out and they often end up a bigger hassle than I think, but this thing was no problem at all.

As a side benefit, it helps keep your salinity even by keeping your water level even. But really, I like it just because of the time/hassle saving.

$225 is a lot of money at at time (tank start up) when we are all already spending a lot of money, though. So, I can't just say it's no big deal in that regard.

The other thing I want to mention is about the skimmer air valve. I think this is not clear at all from the manual, but RedSeaKev says that you should really take that off your skimmer as soon as possible and just control the skimmer with the water outlet.

His comments in this post. I can kind of see how the manual says that now that he posted it, but I didn't find it clear at all and I definitely read the manual (multiple times).

His comments quoted:
"Ok Folks, with the new C series skimmers please remember the supplied air control valve is only needed for the initial break in period, ideally remove the air control valve asap, once the skimmer has settled the only adjustment needed will be via the skim adjuster (water outlet)"

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/red-sea-max-owners-club/91989-rsm-stock-skimmer-question.html
 

Adrienne

Well-Known Member
Thanks again.
So to adjust only via the skim adjuster - does that mean I adjust it so that the water only just flows over the top of the gate - by top I mean the very top (the piece you hold on to to pull it up)? Even with the breaking down of instructions like the link you gave I still struggle as I seriously have no idea. Going in to this I knew how to clean a skimmer and how a chiller works but thats it!

As to ATO the very fact that my husband and I like to get away on our motorbike for a few days every so often means that one may well be essential and atm $$ don't particularly matter. I will most likely have to go to ebay to purchase unless I can find a shop that sells Tunze here in NZ. There is quite a range of prices for this unit on ebay so I can only assume they are the identical product.
I am off to my LFS this morning to purchase 4 new T5HO for my 5ft freshwater tank so will ask there. They no longer stock Tunze I believe.
 

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
Hey guys & gals - an idea...

I created this thread in our "stickies"

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/red-sea-max-owners-club/66778-rsm-250-stock-skimmer-tips.html

we also have a sticky for the 130 skimmer

If you have not seen this thread... it has helped many & this is a very common question..... so.....

I think we need one for the new RSM C250 - as the setup is a bit different from any prior model ---- If anyone is up to creating the new thread... like
RSM 250 C model stock skimmer tips & water levels I will make it a Sticky & I think it would be a great benefit to the club, then other RSM C250 owners can add to this thread.

Same with the C130 if someone that owns this new model wants to take that on... Cheers !
 

Pat24601

Well-Known Member
Glenn, as a noob, I'll say that I personally found the old RSM skimmer tips thread confusing at best--misleading at worst. The C-250 just doesn't seem to work that way. Now, once I'm more experienced, maybe I'll see how it could have helped me if I had known better.

We do need a new one for the C-250. If I had more confidence, id write it.

Adrienne, yes, my understanding is that little water gate you pull up and down on the skimmer is the ONLY thing you should use to control it. I'm new to skimmers myself so I know exactly how you feel!!!
 

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
Yes the RSM 250D & that thread... works great for RSM D models, solves microbubbles & skimmer issues... but it does not apply to the C models - just like we needed new tips for the D models because they changed so much original "non D" models

Really it's just having someone figure out what works best, through trial & error, then sharing that with other C model owners. The tanks are so new... "what is best" is most likely still being sorted & will be for some time, but a dedicated thread would help anyone new. One thing that makes the RSM Club special...
 
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Mark9

Has been struck by the ban stick
Maybe Roy can chime in and offer some skimmer tips.
He has the C model.

I too suggest the Tunze 3155, I have one, works flawlessly.
And, do you have a powerhead?
I have the Ecotech MP40, works great.
 

Pat24601

Well-Known Member
Glenn, I totally agree. I wasn't trying to be critical in any way. These forums have been huge for me. All I was really saying is that they appear to have changed the skimmer a lot. :)
 
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