Mark's RSM 130D Adventure

[skioutwest]

Hello everyone. Thought I would start a tank thread to share my experience with you all, as well as to gain some knowledge from all of you experts here on RS.

I purchased this tank used back on Jan 18th, risking my life as I drove in an ice storm from Philly down to DC. The tank was in great shape and the price was right at $400. It had no modifications, so I was able to start from scratch.

I got it home and immediately ordered some supplies online:

Basic Saltwater Test Kit (API)
StevieT media rack
RO/DI filter
Tunze 9001
2 bags of Agra-Alive Fuji Pink
Replacement fans (the ones on the tank were really noisy)
Chemipure Elite
Purigen
Refractometer
And a bunch of other maintenance stuff

I added water and sand on Jan 28th and immediately realized that I made a mistake by not washing the sand....what a mess. I plan on vacuuming the tank after the cycle. Here is a pic



I also added the live rock, which I got from Premium Aquatics. This was a fiasco within itself, because a snowstorm hit and the package got delayed for two days while sitting on the truck. Needless to say, the rock was not in the greatest shape. The shop was going to replace it, but they are in the process of moving and did not have any good rock left (not sure I believe them, but oh well). I decided to keep this rock, as the pieces are pretty nice and fit the tank well I think.

After a week of clearing out, I 'scaped the rock:



Then I later realized that there were likely not enough horizontal surfaces for corals and such, so I re-scaped and this is where I stand now.



So, at this point, I am almost two weeks into my cycle. Nothing living in the tank due to the rock being frozen on the truck for two days. I have some Ammonia reading, but not very much. Thought I had a Nitrite reading, but it was zero tonight. Will just need to be patient I suppose...

Thanks in advance for any participation in my thread.

Cheers,

-Mark

 

[pablomay28]

Tank looks nice and love the rockscape. I highly recommend the HANNA Ph, Alk, and Calcium checkers if you plan on having coral. I had the API kit and got tired of the color comparing. Having a RSM 250 myself I highly recommend and automatic top off, the tunze osmolator nano has worked wonders for me. It will help you maintain your water level and allow your skimmer to operate efficiently.

 

[NickF]

Looks great so far Mark, tank looks as good as new and I like the rockscape. Now it's just a case of patience, which is difficult when you have a new setup but I recommend spending the time reading loads of the great threads on here, really helped me out.
Good luck

Nick

 

[Fordemups]

Nice scape.

Looking forward to seeing how it progresses.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Cheers for starting a tank thread Mark ! Great start & I really like your latest scape !

I bet in a couple weeks as the tank cycles... you will see some life in the rock even after what it went through, best of luck & keep posting pics

 

[Oxylebius]

Did you add any ammonia sources to kick start the cycle? Are you only relying on anything that was dead/dying on the rock?

The more ammonia you add the larger/stronger the cycle will be, which can make it easier adding fish later on as you may not have little cycles or issues with ammonia spikes later on.

Nice rock scape.

 

[skioutwest]

Thanks for the feedback everyone...much appreciated.

Pablomay28 - I definitely plan to get a reef test kit and will check out the one you mentioned. Being colorblind, the API can be a challenge.

I was also planning on the Tunze 3152. Seems to be popular and I trust the brand.

I did not add any ammonia sources except for the rock. I have read about using a raw shrimp or even putting a drop of pure ammonia in, but haven't gone there yet. Anyone think I should?

I am rather patient but my wife really wants to get a CUC in there. I am glad she is into it.....a good sign!

 

[melvis]

Nothing beats the missus being into it mate, really helps get past the "how much???" questions. Mine was all for me getting into this but wasn't overly enthusiastic about helping out. So far she's removed two nasty swimming crabs, regularly feeds the fish, cleans the glass and has got into helping research corals etc. Result!!

I'd recommend the raw shrimp to kick start ammonia, that's what I was told and it worked for me, even though my ammonia didn't spike massively. Wait until the levels are coming down for this and nitrite before adding the CUC though - which I'm sure you've read somewhere on the site already. I found the wealth of knowledge on here a real help in those early days when patience is key lol.

 

[skioutwest]

Thanks Melvis....may end up doing this but would be surprised if 40lb of skanked Rock wasn't enough. Will test again tonight and see where I am at. If it is still questionable I will throw a shrimp in there


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[skioutwest]

Really strange....Was out of town today and just came home to find my tank a gallon short of water with the pumps spraying fine bubbles through the tank. I assume this is because the pumps lost syphon, but why would this happen if the level of the tank was up to the plastic trim as of last night?

How did I lose a gallon so quickly? There was nothing on the floor, so no apparent leaks.

My reading are the same they have been for about a week....Looks like Ammonia is .5ppm and Nitrites 0.

 

[pablomay28]

Really strange....Was out of town today and just came home to find my tank a gallon short of water with the pumps spraying fine bubbles through the tank. I assume this is because the pumps lost syphon, but why would this happen if the level of the tank was up to the plastic trim as of last night?

How did I lose a gallon so quickly? There was nothing on the floor, so no apparent leaks.

My reading are the same they have been for about a week....Looks like Ammonia is .5ppm and Nitrites 0.

A gallon might be a bit excessive. My RSM 250 loses about 1/2 to 3/4 of a gallon a day to evaporation that is why the top off is necessary some. The person I purchased the tank from used to run it without the fans on and used to do manual top off, he said that no fans = less evap but that puts a strain on the chiller as these tanks tend to run a bit hot. You can see a video of my set up on YouTube under pablomay28 you can see a couple of mods I did at the time and if you like classic cars you might see some mustangs that I built but that’s another hobby. Good luck!!

Forgot to mention I get all my stuff from Marine Depot great prices and fast shipping.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

You will need to top-off ro/di water (not sw) every couple of days, evaporation - something like 2-3 gallons a week on your 34 gallon RSM 130D

when the water gets too low... your pump will start with the spraying fine bubbles through the tank

this is also related to the height of your in DT (display tank) surface skimmer cup & the water level height in your water level window. I always ran mine, near the top line on my 130D & the surface skimmer cup near it's top position - just take a but of tweaking - hope this helps

The other possibility is you are running the black &/or white/blue sponge/filers and they have become clogged with debris and need to be cleaned, effecting you water flow.

 

[skioutwest]

Thanks for the tips. I think it may have been my filter floss getting clogged and lowering the water level. I may see about a Red Sea pump upgrade. Thinking this may address some of the problem if the water level falls but the Tunze will likely help too.


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[skioutwest]

Not sure how I lost so much water but thinking it was from the fine mist shooting all day increased the evaporation rate?


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[skioutwest]

Just a quick update and followup question. I ended up putting a couple raw shrimp in the tank almost a week ago.

My ammonia did go up, and I also saw some Nitrite a few days later, however I wouldn't necessarily say they "spiked". I saw as high as 1-1.5PPM of Ammonia and about .5PPM of Nitrite a couple days ago. I tested this morning and the Nitrite seems to be back to zero, and Ammonia is down to near zero.

My questions are:

-Should these reading have gone up higher on the scale?
-Is it possible the my Nitrite cycled in a day or two?

Thanks in advance. Here are the readings:

 

[DarkHippo]

A side point here... I noticed the magnetic glass cleaner in the tank. I also have an RSM 130 and found out the hard way that its better to remove it between cleans. The first snail that snuggles up beside it unseen, will result in a lovely scratch in the glass as you drag it across. Hoping not to teach anyone to suck eggs, but I wish someone had told me!

 

[Oxylebius]

Any bits of sand that gets in it also will scratch the tank. Always make sure that it is cleaned of any debris before using it. I always have little pods in mine that I need to clean away before using it.

 

[skioutwest]

Hello everyone. Just popping in to provide an update. I did my first water change two days ago and went out to That Fish Place yesterday and picked up a clean up crew. I hope I didn't overdo it, but I got:

5 blue leg hermits
5 red leg hermits
3 med nassarius
5 small nassarius
5 ceriths
3 margharitas
3 bumble bees
a striped brittle star (about 4 inches across)
a small emerald crab (about an inch)
a skunk cleaner shrimp
a peppermint shrimp

So far, everything looks good, although the brittle star is just curled up under the rocks, but I assume this is normal?

I also picked up a Red Sea reef test kit (the Hanna was too expensive, but I may get one for Nitrates), an Tunze 3152, and the Red Sea pump upgrade. I am going to use a 5 gallon aquarium for the top off (RO/DI) water. I removed the magnet from the tank per DarkHippo's suggestion.

I did a test today and it appears that my nitrites and nitrates are zero, but I am picking up some ammonia. I am a little nervous about this....could it just be a mini cycle?

Also, I am getting quite a bit of hair algae, but I assume this is normal as well. At one spot, it is like 6-8 inches long. The clean up crew is doing a good job, but should I manually pull off this long section of growth?

Thanks for your help everyone. Going to give this 2-3 weeks to see how it goes. I assume I can add a fish after this? The kids are getting bored

I will add some pics shortly...Photobucket appears to be down...

-Mark

 

[skioutwest]

Here are the pics:

 

[Oxylebius]

I'd watch that ammonia level, maybe a mini-cycle. A partial water change would bring it down.

As for the 6-8 inch long hair algae, I'd harvest that out. It will make it easier for your cuc to scrape it off the rock when the long stands are harvested out. The rasping tongue of the snails do a much better job of scraping the rocks verses eating long strands of algae.

Would love to see pics.