Drew's C130

Drew

Member
Hi there!

I recently joined the forums and have spent the weekend setting up a C130. I've been researching for the last few months so very excited to have finally have my reef tank and start cycling.... I've had a planted freshwater tank for a few years now.

I have a heap of toys for the tank already including... an MP10QD, Tunze Osmolator, and also Steve's LED's waiting to be fitted when I get the chance... looking forward to the sunrise and sunsets!

The tank has 18kg of South Sea dry rock and 20kg's of Red Sea Live Pink sand in it. Ph is ~8.2 and I'm having a bit of trouble interpreting the Salifert Ammonia, however my API Freshwater is currently reading ~1ppm... :yup:

It's been great following the other 130's that have started up in the last few weeks and am following them closely - along with all the other great tank threads here!

Thanks,
Drew
 
Hi Drew,

Welcome to the C13o gang! i am really interested in what modifications you have selected for your lighting mine is really noisy so i am exploring the option of changing the hood for something else.

The only problem i am having at the moment is Diatoms being a real pain.

I am a beginner also but if i can help in any way please ask i am sure someone will always help they have all been great to me.
 

Drew

Member
Hi Kerry! Thanks! I agree, the lighting fans are way to loud. I haven't pulled the hood apart yet so not sure how hard it will be to do, but ultimately I'd like keep the stock moonlights and just replace the tubes with the LED kit. Many others here have the LED kit also :) If you google 'Steve's LEDs' you should find them.

I'm counting the days until something starts growing!:)
 
Oooo!!! it won't be long, a little hit for you, if you are putting live rock in, either put a hard water jet on it 1st or pour boiling water over it to get rid of any hitchhikers, i have 3 and they were a right pain to get out traps are useless.
 

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
welcomefish.gif

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

Cheers for starting a tank thread - we love pics !
 

whip

Well-Known Member
Hi Drew,

Welcome to the C13o gang! i am really interested in what modifications you have selected for your lighting mine is really noisy so i am exploring the option of changing the hood for something else.

The only problem i am having at the moment is Diatoms being a real pain.

I am a beginner also but if i can help in any way please ask i am sure someone will always help they have all been great to me.

I agree with Kerry... welcome to the 130 Gang! Cool thing is; you started at a perfect time. There are a lot of 130's just starting out. We have been following eachother closely and we have comments flying back and forth on eachother's threads. We are all learning at the same time, so no question is a bad one.
 

Delareef123

Well-Known Member
Alright another 130 starting up! :cheers:super cool. Welcome Drew.
I just completed my cycle and now on to the fun stuff! (i hope) I can tell you there is plenty of room in the hood for Steve's LEDs. I actually had to open mine last week to replace the timer. Everything was pretty straight forward. Here is the document I got from Red Sea about the replacement. It's for a 250 but I was able to see how the 130 hood would dismantle.

Okay the timer replacement file wont load - too big, but the fan replacement file loaded and this is for the RSM 130. I failed to remove the screws that hold the T5 tubes at first. Once done, the hood pooped right open.

I thought about upgrading to LED but decided to defer that to later if needed. I did add a blue led strip and it does add light. I have it set up to go on 1hr prior to T5 and stay on 1hr after the T5s off.

Keep us posted and upload lots lots pictures.
 

Attachments

  • MAX130-hood-fan-replacement-instructions.pdf
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Drew

Member
Thanks for the warm welcome guys! :)

Whip, I've been lurking here for a few months now and have been 'watching' all the new 130 threads with excitement these last few weeks! :bounce:

Delareef, Thanks for the info! Main reason for the LED's for me is the heat... Tank runs 28-30°C (I think thats about 82+F) with the T5's only running for a few hours... cutting back on the hood fans will be a bonus!! :yup: I have tomorrow off so looking to do the conversion then! :bigbounce:
 

whip

Well-Known Member
Hey Drew,

If possible, would you mind posting a step by step pictoral of your installation? I, like Delareef, have be "thinking" about it too.
 

Delareef123

Well-Known Member
Drew I second what Whip has requested. I came home yesterday and the tank was at 82F after the lights had been on for 6 hours! I also added a surface skimmer and left it running to I think that also heated the water.

Have fun...................
 

Drew

Member
The kit is now almost plug and play... each connection has a unique plug so it's just a matter of plugging all the matching plugs together and switching the dip switchs into the down position. However.... the instructions (on page 14) regarding the extension cable are incorrect!! The cable came with 4 wires... one of which is green, and needs to be used! :banghead:

With the extension plugged into channels 1 and 2 like this:

20150513_085910_zpso7gc2jwu.jpg~original



The next issue is the driver PCB only has one spare ground port! :ponder2:

20150513_081750_zpsocvupmaq.jpg~original


With the cable plugged into the controller as above in the first photo...

Black = DIM1
Green = DIM2
Red + Yellow = Ground

20150513_085945_zpsmwkjhcvv.jpg~original



With everything now plugged together... let there be light!

20150513_085716_zpsi1u4qo4r.jpg~original




Installing into the hood took awhile as I had to work out the best way to do what I was after.

1) I wanted to use the original hood power lead to power the power supply - that way I can still use the light switch in the cabinet
2) I wanted to keep the moonlights in the hood

Inside the hood before gutting it out:

20150513_091404_zpsddlytwja.jpg


I ended up removing everything, including the timer as the dimmer knobs don't fit in that area with the 2 switches as shown in the instructions (it looks like the 130D only has 1 switch??)

I had some minor tweaks to make to the wiring to fit my needs but basically I just followed the instructions so didn't take any photo's of that stage.

LED's running @ 50% blue + 50% white:

20150513_125447_zpslrpxrdoi.jpg~original


:woohoo::woohoo::woohoo:
 
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miro

Active Member
Great job & thanks for sharing! :bounce:
I´ve been looking around for a while now and trying to decide what to do about the lighting on mine.. keep coming back to Steves leds :) Seems also simple enough for me to get it done on my own i think!

If you dont mind, could you take a picture of how it looks now under the hood? :cool: (with lights off)
 

Delareef123

Well-Known Member
Nice Job Drew, thanks for sharing. Seems you were able to get through it some what painlessly.
So here is the big question. Was it worth it?
 

Drew

Member
Thanks D! It's not complicated to do if you have some basic wiring knowledge and are handy with a screwdriver. Only thing I don't like about it, and something I didn't think of before hand, is because the led's have constant power supplied, the fan is permanently on.... I was thinking today a relay may help to cut power to the fan once the controller has finished fading down for the night?? Will need to sus out how warm everything runs once the lights are dimmed to 0%...

Given the benefits over T5 such as not needing to replace bulbs frequently, being able to setup fading etc I think it was worth doing. :)

I like the shimmer effect they give too!
 

Drew

Member
Did another round of testing tonight.

Day 5

Ph: ~8.2
Ammonia: ~1.5
Nitrite: ~0.25
Nitrate: 5-10
Temp: 29°C when lights go out

I also noticed my rocks are starting to get furry! :bounce: Need to get my ato and chiller up and running quick smart before I finish cycling!

I had the dry rock sitting in a tub for two weeks trying to kick start the cycle process while waiting for the tank to arrive, which along with the live sand has seemed to help get things moving along nicely. Very happy with progress so far! :bounce:
 
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