GregT's RSM250

[nanoreefing4fun]

Dario when I 1st read Greg's post I though this too... I think the room temp got to 30C when the air failed. Without a chiller if the air fails in the hot time of the year, you need to be ready for frozen bottles of water, if you are home when it happens, at least that my plan or a generator and a room air conditioner.

 

[Tokalosh]

Nano, please bear in mind that i originate from South Africa, where I experiences similar temperature extremes. I would not go away, nor would i run a RSM in that sort of environment without a chiller, SA and New Zealand reach temperatures hotter and drier than Ghandi's flip flops.

Tok

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

I understand...

this is where I live we use a lot of air conditioning
Arkansas 49 °C (120 °F) Highest temperature ever recorded

New Zealand 42.4 °C (108.3 °F) Highest temperature ever recorded

but I agree... without a chiller & when taking a vacation/holiday, you are taking the chance of crashing the tank if your home loses power or the air conditioner breaks, unless you have a good backup plan in place.

well if you lose power & are on a vacation/holiday... unless you have someone on hand to implement your back up plan pretty fast 24 hours a day when it's over 100F outside, you are at risk... even with a chiller... some have whole house generators this is best, with a transfer switch.

 

[GregT]

Didn't you realise that your tank could potentially get to 30 degrees? How experienced was this reefer friend of yours? Surely it would have been apparent long before the tank overheated that the temp was going to hit critical levels? Why was your air con not left on or any contingency's left in place for this scenario?

Forecast was cold temps in Wellington and totally the opposite the day (Xmas Day) after I left. Wellington very rarely gets above 26C ever so was fairly confident. Friend is very experienced and wouldn't know how hot the lounge gets plus the heat transfer unit I recently installed didn't pump the hot air out - I set it wrong! (Chiller for the tank is coming soon)

I understand...

this is where I live we use a lot of air conditioning
Arkansas 49 °C (120 °F) Highest temperature ever recorded

New Zealand 42.4 °C (108.3 °F) Highest temperature ever recorded

but I agree... without a chiller & when taking a vacation/holiday, you are taking the chance of crashing the tank if your home loses power or the air conditioner breaks, unless you have a good backup plan in place.

well if you lose power & are on a vacation/holiday... unless you have someone on hand to implement your back up plan pretty fast 24 hours a day when it's over 100F outside, you are at risk... even with a chiller... some have whole house generators this is best, with a transfer switch.

I hear you Glenn, Wellington is one of the cooler cities in NZ so the high temp was unexpected, but concede I need a chiller.

 

[GregT]

Running the heat transfer unit costs me less than $20/month and is working well to keep the temp down.
Tank getting back to normal now.
Have been lucky in some local reefers supplying me with some coral frags to replace my lost ones.
Doing 40 litres waterchange weekly and switched to NSW.

I use 25 litres of my weekly RSM250's water change as the 'new' water for my 6 gallon. This way I get the right doses of zeo into my nano. I don't run a skimmer or filter on this. Corals are looking good and growing in this.

 

[GregT]

Upped my water changes to 60 litres NSW weekly now.
I've changed my livestock/corals due to falling in love with a Lemonpeel Angel.

So I'm mainly concentrating on mushrooms and soft leathers at the moment although the Lemonpeel won't touch a Green staghorn (I think it is?) and Gorgonian.
By trial and error be able to add some more sps.
Will post some pics later today.

 

[GregT]

Weird. My stock skimmer made a weird sucking noise a couple of nights ago.
Thought I'd better look at it, pulled it out to empty, and my Bubble Tip Anemone was stuck to the bottom of the screw in cup!!!
- pic to come

Don't ask me how it got there - I'm stil trying to work it out? <puzzled>
I can only think it squeezed through the grate into the top of the cup and was working its way down to the skimmer motor!

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Wow he was trying to escape, like Nemo, back to the ocean

 

[GregT]

Wow he was trying to escape, like Nemo, back to the ocean

Certainly was, he's now back in the display moving around looking for his spot again! The bit I hate about anemones.

 

[GregT]

Crazy that my updates disappeared!
Not sure if they'll come back...

Anyways,
1. swapping my T5s for LEDs; main reasons = heat reduction, won't need to replace tubes annually and I just like the shimmer and 'shadow effect'
Going to breakdown the LED unit (4 LED modules, 180w total of 3w Crees and 2 drivers royal blue and cool whites) and mount each module inside the hood lens. I'll be able to space the modules better by doing this. I may also add a stunner later.
2. Adding a sump; reason = my stock skimmer packed up, and I want to add more water volume and possibly a refugium - i have an Aquareef 300 sump (adding 50 more litres) that Im adding inside my cabinet. It will require some reinforcing of the cabinet, I'll do this in steel and I'm thinking of cutting a panel to go in via the side. Other option is to empty the tank and pull the cabinet apart. Prefer the side option but need your feedback (thanks GOma for the input before I lost the posts)
I also have a Bubble Magnus Curve 5 and Lifereef overflow.
Just waiting for a spare day to fit the LEDs and the nerve to cut up my cabinet!

Cheers
Greg

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Crazy that my updates disappeared!
Not sure if they'll come back...

sorry greg ! hackers have Travis working overtime trying to keep RS up ...

the forum crashed & the host company had to restore to 9/11 because of several software security updates that were applied over several days that kept more current backups from being used - this is the 1st time in many years post have been lost from RS & losing post happens very very infrequently.

 

[GregT]

Thanks Glenn,
Best site still.

 

[GregT]

Has anyone tried turning the LED moonlights so they face down instead of sideways?
Would this make any difference to the light?

 

[GregT]

Update.
Started the install of my LEDs today.
Seemed to take ages getting my hinge pins out.
Was a great opportunity to clean and dust the hood and fans. Man there was some dust in there!
Stripped out the T5s, ballast and surplus wiring.
Stripped the LED fixture and installed and spaced the 4 LED modules in the lens cavity.
Mounted the 4 modules with the drivers and power supply going where the T5 ballast was.

Trying spacers in-between the heat sinks and reflector. Found its not necessary, the top of the reflector is cool to touch when the stock RSM fans kick in so I've left the 3 fans supplied with LEDs out.

LED modules mounted and ready for testing

Plenty of light for my corals

... More to come.
I still need to connect my dimmers and power leads into the timer control and reassemble the rest of the now clean hood
Very pleased the stock side fans are cooling the LEDs as I've already removed the twin rear fans ready for the overflow.

 

[GregT]

Almost finished
I mounted the dimmer controls on top, but after I drilled the holes realised how thick the hood plastic is - I'll need to grind with the Dremel to get the lock nuts to fit correctly.

Very pleased with original RSM timer still working and moonlights coming on.

Finally, pic last night after the reassembly.

Thanks GOMA for the great pics you posted on your thread. It really made it easier knowing what to expect.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Looks great Greg - well done !!!

 

[uncompromized]

Great thread and tank Greg.

What kind of LED modules did you use?

Keep it up... really looking forward to see the sump in there

 

[GregT]

Looks great Greg - well done !!!

Thanks Glenn. Im pleased I retained the stock hood and single power cable. When I do the sump I'll probably run a power box cord from the heater slot so I can keep it tidy.

Great thread and tank Greg.

What kind of LED modules did you use?

Keep it up... really looking forward to see the sump in there

Thanks
Theyre 3watt Crees, Royal Blue And Cool Whites driven by two drivers.
I sourced the LED unit via Aliexpress http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/1033661541/High_Power_3_Watt_Led_Aquarium.html
Very impressed with the service. There was a faulty LED when the unit arrived and the sales rep sent me two replacement modules, so there's an upgrade coming for my nano later.

 

[GregT]

Starting to prepare myself to add the sump.
As you can see the cabinet will need to be modified to allow the sump to fit. I'll empty the tank and stock into bins and containers while I cut a section out of the middle and strengthen it. Has anyone done this to their RSM250 or have suggestions on how I should strengthen the cabinet?

 

[Tokalosh]

WOW your hood mod is awesome, well done. Is it only controlled by the stock timer?

Looking forward to seeing your sump upgrade hope all goes well.

Tok