Lethals RSM 250

[lethal]

After all the queries and great advice from this forum, at LAST I'm up and running. The tank has had water mixing in it for a week and the live rock went in yesterday. Haven't seen any hitchikers yet but it is early days.

I'm certainly glad that I have a chiller as the temps were getting quite high. All was fine until the skimmer was switched on and up they went. I keep it at 26-27C - is this a good temp to aim for?

I am very happy with the noise levels. The cooling fans and chiller are the noisiest part but certainly not overbearing. I have an internal pump fitted into the right hand pump chamber and I removed the RS pump - good advice from Tinwillia. It is very quiet. I think the flow has been reduced but I am hoping to get a Vortech MP40W in the near future.

In the meantime, here are a few pics. Please feel free to comment or make suggestions as this is my first reef tank and all advice is greatly appreciated.

Hailea 1/4 Hp Chiller

RO/DI Unit

 

[Reefmack]

Nice setup Leigh! 26-27 C (78.8F - 80.6 F) should be fine in my opinion. As we head towards winter, you folks are approaching summer. I guess it must be spring time there?

 

[hallie]

WOOOOOHOOOOO...congratz Leigh. Im glad to see it up and running (finally).

26-27 is perfect.

Is it a bit smelly? A few days after I added my rock I was almost scared to come home because of the smell.

I deffnitley reckon more flow would be good especially with the way you have your rockwork. I have an unused 3000lph koralia copy u can borrow if ya want until you get your vortech,

 

[pocketreef]

Aew! Another nice tank thread to follow! Looking good Lethal.:happywalk

 

[Oakhouse]

Great start! +1 on the more flow.. I currently have the smallest tunze nanostream (6015 i think, 1500lph)... I need more.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

lethal - nice pics, very pretty rock \ aquascape, you are on your way now... thanks for sharing, always fun to see & follow another beautiful RSM !

 

[pocketreef]

The doors are well aligned, here it was a real pain.

I'm thinking about picking a chiller Hailea too but less powerfull. Any other comments on it?

 

[redsea reefer]

Good luck with your tank!

 

[lethal]

Nice setup Leigh! 26-27 C (78.8F - 80.6 F) should be fine in my opinion. As we head towards winter, you folks are approaching summer. I guess it must be spring time there?

Yes Terry, it is Spring here but it feels like summer at the moment. We've just had a week of mid 30's. With a room temperature of 22c and the lights off, the tank still gets to 27c. Thank goodness for chillers!

 

[tnwillia]

Great work Leigh. Keep the pictures coming. Thanks!

 

[lethal]

WOOOOOHOOOOO...congratz Leigh. Im glad to see it up and running (finally).

26-27 is perfect.

Is it a bit smelly? A few days after I added my rock I was almost scared to come home because of the smell.

I deffnitley reckon more flow would be good especially with the way you have your rockwork. I have an unused 3000lph koralia copy u can borrow if ya want until you get your vortech,

Yeah, the rock is super stinky. I got it from Ernie at Reeflections on Sunday so it is probably from the same batch as yours. Great shapes but alas no hitchikers that I can see.

Thanks for the offer of the extra powerhead but I think i'll talk nicely to Santa about that Vortech.

 

[lethal]

The doors are well aligned, here it was a real pain.

I'm thinking about picking a chiller Hailea too but less powerfull. Any other comments on it?

I'm happy with the chiller so far - not as noisy as I thought. It comes on at 27C and pulls the temp. down to 26 within about 5 minutes. Doesn't take long for the temps. to creep back up though:cursin:

 

[h45e]

Try to get a cabinet cooling fan. Btw: Reefing The Australian Way Forums :: Log in
I have organized a $200 redemption offer for us Australians. Link above

 

[lethal]

Cheers. I am aware of the rebate and I am just waiting for my membership card to come through.

 

[Dweezil]

That's gonna be a beautiful tank I can feel it!

 

[lethal]

Thanks Tammy, I hope you're right.

It's all a bit daunting at the moment. I have just read an article on here regarding Calc and Alk dosing. Hadn't even given any of that a thought even though I have test kits for it. So much to learn.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

2-part solutions very easy...

 

[Dweezil]

Thanks Tammy, I hope you're right.

It's all a bit daunting at the moment. I have just read an article on here regarding Calc and Alk dosing. Hadn't even given any of that a thought even though I have test kits for it. So much to learn.

I felt the same way when I first started. I had a saltwater tank many many years ago but it was FO. Reefs are in a different league. I read so much I thought my head would explode but you'll be surprised how much you actually retain and soon enough it will be second nature to you. I can't say it's easy, (but gets easier as you go) it's allot of work but IMO very rewarding work so I enjoy it and you will too.

 

[Nowellsy SNR]

Hi welcome along your tank is looking great....

 

[lethal]

Thanks for the encouragement everyone.

I am having a few problems with microbubbles at the moment. I have the skimmer gate set approx. 2cm below the top and the water level in the rear on the optimum mark. They are definitely coming from the skimmer as when I turn it off they disappear totally.

I am running the stock filter pads, carbon and bio-balls.

I am also having fun (not) adjusting the skimmer. The foam that it produces is very white and I cannot really determine what is a wet or dry foam. It does stink though. Can anyone enlighten me?