I am a newbie reefer.....

vion

vion

Member
Hi Everyone.

I am new to reef keeping.

Currently I have a 33 g, starting reef that has cycled with a couple of Damsils and CUC.

I JUST bought a 130D, woo hoo..... but sadly cant set it up till November d/t moving.

Can I use the same same, water, LR in the tank from my 33 or should I just start again and have 2 tanks?

Any thoughts?
 
jpsika08

jpsika08

Well-Known Member
First of all WELCOME :)

You can use the same water, LR and LS but you have to keep the 33g tank running until the moment you will transfer everything to the 130D, this will avoid dead organisms in the LR and avoid your tank to begin another cycle.

Anyhow, there are lots of real experts here and will gladly give you their advice

Hope to see pictures soon :thumbup:
 
imaccat

imaccat

Active Member
Hi and welcome to RS,

I had the same issue and got the RSM up and running and cycled with some new LR (as I needed extra anyway) and then gradually moved livestock
and the LR over to the new tank.

Good luck
 
vion

vion

Member
Another little question.

My old protein skimmer gave up the ghost and I am looking for a good, stable, skimmer.

What would others recommend regarding a skimmer? (up to $300 range).

Thanks in advance.
 
proenca

proenca

Member
As far as I know, there is only two options if you want to upgrade your skimmer to a decent one in a RSM130 :

Tunze 9002
Euroreef ( thread here in Reef Sanctuary , from the vendor )

Euroreef seems to skim a LOT but has the drawback that you cannot close the lid and the skimmer cup will be seen. Second drawback is that if you live in europe, the pumps are not compatible and you have to buy recommend pumps and mod the skimmer yourself : a pain in the arse basically.

Tunze is silient and skimms decently, not as much as the euroreef but good nonetheless. Also with the special rack and cup, fits like a glove in the chamber and everything can be closed down like the stock RSM and wifes tend to like that if the tank is in the living room ( my own experience :) )

Oh and last note : newbie reefers ? we all are by the way :)
 
BigJay

BigJay

Well-Known Member
You could drill your tank in the back , add bulkheads and then employ a sump under your tank allowing you to use a larger skimmer. Its not as hard as it sounds. I did it on a 6g JBJ nano with great results. I am pretty sure I put up a how to as well somewhere on this board if you want to search for it. In the under $300 range I like the ASM skimmers.
 
Reefmack

Reefmack

NaClH2O Addicted
PREMIUM
Welcome vion! Some good advice above. Red Sea has often told owners that the glass on the tank is not a type that is drillable, so that may not be an option. Some of us with cabinet sumps use a LifeReef siphon to drop water to a sump.
 
BigJay

BigJay

Well-Known Member
Reefmack said:
Welcome vion! Some good advice above. Red Sea has often told owners that the glass on the tank is not a type that is drillable, so that may not be an option.
Click to expand...

eeesh thanks for that info. I assume that is to say its tempered glass all around? Something I should have mentioned to check for before advising it.
 
Reefmack

Reefmack

NaClH2O Addicted
PREMIUM
Hi Big Jay. I'm not sure if it because of voiding the warranty, or if it's because it's tempered glass on the back. Good question to re-ask Red Sea again. I almost think I remember someone going ahead and drilling it, but I'm not sure about that. Better safe than sorry! I'll go put the question in the Ask Red Sea thread.
 
proenca

proenca

Member
Reefmack said:
Welcome vion! Some good advice above. Red Sea has often told owners that the glass on the tank is not a type that is drillable, so that may not be an option. Some of us with cabinet sumps use a LifeReef siphon to drop water to a sump.
Click to expand...

Best advice here ; drop the idea of a drillable glass - for sure you will void the warranty and you might crack the whole glass.

Just use a lifereef overflow box ( they have one that is specific for RSM130 and use a sump
 
vion

vion

Member
Thank you so much. I am thinking of replacing the stock skimmer, prior to set up. However, I guess I should see if the stock works well or not. I have read that there are many systems that it has worked well with.

With my 33 g, my old skimmer broke. I guess I could put the Tunze 9200 till I see?

Thanks for making me feel so welcome - great forums.
 
Reefmack

Reefmack

NaClH2O Addicted
PREMIUM
The 9002 might be a good one for the 33g, till you figure out how the stock skimmer works for you. No sense spending money you don't need to.
 
vion

vion

Member
I am also looking for suggestions on a light system. T5s, I guess?

Are "Sunlight Supply T5 Lighting Fixtures" adequate for a reef?
 
Reefmack

Reefmack

NaClH2O Addicted
PREMIUM
vion - I ran the Tunze 9002 in my cabinet sump for a while, then upgraded to another skimmer, so yes, the Tunze can be run in a sump. I'd suggest going with the stock hood for a while, and if you think you need it you can always upgrade later. There are other alternatives, if you want to lose the "closed hood" appearance. I just switched from an older Orbit T5/metal halide fixture (fixtures now discontinued) to a newly released 24 inch 6xT5 CoralVue fixture. I'm not really familiar with the Sunlight Supply fixtures, but 4xT5 might be borderline for enough light - it's not easy to find 24 inch 6 bulb T5 fixtures that are reasonably priced. The stock lights are actually very good.
 
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