reefer gladness
Well-Known Member
I took down my RSM 130D a couple weeks ago and moved everything over to a 56 gallon tank so I figured this is a good time to sum up the first chapter of my RSM experience. In the past year I have literally replaced/upgraded just about every component except the timer, the tank thread is here:
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/red-sea-max-owners-club/70605-seans-rsm-130d.html
Some of what I say will be critical of the system. No offense intended to anyone, if I were to sum up the RSM 130D in one word it would be compromise but I think that applies to every all-in-one tank in this category. For the record I chose the RSM tank over the other less expensive cubes in large part because of the existence of this forum and it's members and certainly no regrets there.
Tank and stand
The aquarium itself and matching stand have a clean, modern appearance. The stand goes together like ikea furniture but it's pretty solid. The rounded corners on the tank are a matter of preference. The lady of the house prefers the rounded corners but I look at the tank a lot from an angle and the rounded corners distort the view.
Filtration area - The Chamber 'o Death
The label Chamber 'o Death says it all really... This is certainly one of those design issues that doesn't make a lot of sense. Adding filtration media that acts as a detritus trap underneath the 2 return pumps that must be removed each time you need to clean the filter media adds way too much unnecessary work. Fortunately the In-tank media box is availabe as an aftermarket item but it doesn't reflect well on the original RSM 130 design.
Standard equipment
Lights - I didn't keep the stock flourescent lights long enough to review them. The success shown by others though proves they are capable of just about everything but the most light-demanding SPS corals and probably certain varieties of anemones and clams.
Heater - The stock RSM heater has a poor record based on other several other owners. Like many I didn't take the chance and yanked it immediately but I do use it to heat the mixing bucket once a week.
I went with the Eheim Jager heater and here is where you'll probably first notice that RSM used an uncommonly thin ribbon power cable on all components. Just about every other aquarium product uses a much larger gauge power cable which does not fit through the wire holders (unless you start cutting). As soon as you start upgrading the stock RSM components you lose potential for the 'one plug' concept of the system.
Skimmer - The skimmer works and does produce skimmate. It's also extremely loud and sounds like a coffee perculator at full steam. There are plans available to make a silencer from a pill bottle etc... but for .50 cents worth of plastic components it's a major failure in my book that RSM didn't incorporate a silencer to begin with. Especially given the relative high cost of the system.
Pumps and circulation - I'll start by saying I think it was a mistake to put both return pumps on one side. A better design would have the over flow in the middle and a return pump on either side. Put the power box down in the cabinet where it belongs. The pumps are a bit noisy but not too bad and they do work. The Eheim 600's though are better pumps for the size which make them an inexpensive upgrade but now you have even more flow all coming from one side of the tank... In the end you'll probably want add some kind of aftermarket circulation pump on the right side of the tank that will take up more display room.
Overflow box in the display - I yanked after a few months. I understand this was one of the feature upgrades from the 130 to 130D model but it just took up valuable display space.
Upgrading the lights to LED's
Several different ways to skin this cat. I'll sum it up by saying it's certainly possible and the benefits are real but if you know you're going to go LED eventually why pay for the flourescent lights? My build thread for the LED's is here:
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/red-sea-max-owners-club/71935-rsm-130d-led-retrofit-dawn-day-dusk-controller.html
Adding an external sump and chiller
The idea behind adding an external sump was to increase water volume, accomodate a larger aftermarket skimmer (Turboflotor Blue 500) and have a place for a pump large enough to push water through a chiller and back up to the display.
First thing you'll discover when doing this is the back of the RSM tank is unusually high leaving the option to either cut the back (it's plastic) or pay extra $$ for the custom U-tube overflow box from Lifereef made just for the RSM 130. Sump options are limited in what will fit in the cabinet as well.
There's also an issue with matching the flow of the return pump from the sump to the 2 return pumps in the back of the RSM. Basically you end up having 2 sump areas (only 1 being used) but you still need pumps to move the water out of the RSM sump. This isn't a very efficient way to setup the pumps as the display tank only benefits from the RSM sump pumps and it adds extra heat to the tank as well...
Another issue that developed was the accumulation of detritus in the back of the RSM sump area since the filter sock and skimmer were moved to an external sump. To solve this issue I added the In-Tank media box. The media box is quality piece and functions well but I did have to adjust the pumps again to match flow rates.
Verdict on external sump - probably not worth it unless you want a really big skimmer. To run a chiller I would use an external pump like an Eheim hobby pump next time and connect it using RSM accessory kit. Filtration would be the In-tank media box and probably the Turboflotor 500 skimmer again but mounted in the RSM sump area.
To sum it up from a newb who had never even kept a goldfish before, I'd still say the RSM is a darn good all-in-one tank system but with the caveat that every all-in-one tank in this size category make a lot of compromises to fit everything in a small package. For example, the amount of money I spent on the RSM system and it's upgrades I could have purchased a drilled Lee-mar 24x24 rimless cube made from starphire glass, the stand, sump, lights and everything else needed. It's been a great learning experience.
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/red-sea-max-owners-club/70605-seans-rsm-130d.html
Some of what I say will be critical of the system. No offense intended to anyone, if I were to sum up the RSM 130D in one word it would be compromise but I think that applies to every all-in-one tank in this category. For the record I chose the RSM tank over the other less expensive cubes in large part because of the existence of this forum and it's members and certainly no regrets there.
Tank and stand
The aquarium itself and matching stand have a clean, modern appearance. The stand goes together like ikea furniture but it's pretty solid. The rounded corners on the tank are a matter of preference. The lady of the house prefers the rounded corners but I look at the tank a lot from an angle and the rounded corners distort the view.
Filtration area - The Chamber 'o Death
The label Chamber 'o Death says it all really... This is certainly one of those design issues that doesn't make a lot of sense. Adding filtration media that acts as a detritus trap underneath the 2 return pumps that must be removed each time you need to clean the filter media adds way too much unnecessary work. Fortunately the In-tank media box is availabe as an aftermarket item but it doesn't reflect well on the original RSM 130 design.
Standard equipment
Lights - I didn't keep the stock flourescent lights long enough to review them. The success shown by others though proves they are capable of just about everything but the most light-demanding SPS corals and probably certain varieties of anemones and clams.
Heater - The stock RSM heater has a poor record based on other several other owners. Like many I didn't take the chance and yanked it immediately but I do use it to heat the mixing bucket once a week.
I went with the Eheim Jager heater and here is where you'll probably first notice that RSM used an uncommonly thin ribbon power cable on all components. Just about every other aquarium product uses a much larger gauge power cable which does not fit through the wire holders (unless you start cutting). As soon as you start upgrading the stock RSM components you lose potential for the 'one plug' concept of the system.
Skimmer - The skimmer works and does produce skimmate. It's also extremely loud and sounds like a coffee perculator at full steam. There are plans available to make a silencer from a pill bottle etc... but for .50 cents worth of plastic components it's a major failure in my book that RSM didn't incorporate a silencer to begin with. Especially given the relative high cost of the system.
Pumps and circulation - I'll start by saying I think it was a mistake to put both return pumps on one side. A better design would have the over flow in the middle and a return pump on either side. Put the power box down in the cabinet where it belongs. The pumps are a bit noisy but not too bad and they do work. The Eheim 600's though are better pumps for the size which make them an inexpensive upgrade but now you have even more flow all coming from one side of the tank... In the end you'll probably want add some kind of aftermarket circulation pump on the right side of the tank that will take up more display room.
Overflow box in the display - I yanked after a few months. I understand this was one of the feature upgrades from the 130 to 130D model but it just took up valuable display space.
Upgrading the lights to LED's
Several different ways to skin this cat. I'll sum it up by saying it's certainly possible and the benefits are real but if you know you're going to go LED eventually why pay for the flourescent lights? My build thread for the LED's is here:
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/red-sea-max-owners-club/71935-rsm-130d-led-retrofit-dawn-day-dusk-controller.html
Adding an external sump and chiller
The idea behind adding an external sump was to increase water volume, accomodate a larger aftermarket skimmer (Turboflotor Blue 500) and have a place for a pump large enough to push water through a chiller and back up to the display.
First thing you'll discover when doing this is the back of the RSM tank is unusually high leaving the option to either cut the back (it's plastic) or pay extra $$ for the custom U-tube overflow box from Lifereef made just for the RSM 130. Sump options are limited in what will fit in the cabinet as well.
There's also an issue with matching the flow of the return pump from the sump to the 2 return pumps in the back of the RSM. Basically you end up having 2 sump areas (only 1 being used) but you still need pumps to move the water out of the RSM sump. This isn't a very efficient way to setup the pumps as the display tank only benefits from the RSM sump pumps and it adds extra heat to the tank as well...
Another issue that developed was the accumulation of detritus in the back of the RSM sump area since the filter sock and skimmer were moved to an external sump. To solve this issue I added the In-Tank media box. The media box is quality piece and functions well but I did have to adjust the pumps again to match flow rates.
Verdict on external sump - probably not worth it unless you want a really big skimmer. To run a chiller I would use an external pump like an Eheim hobby pump next time and connect it using RSM accessory kit. Filtration would be the In-tank media box and probably the Turboflotor 500 skimmer again but mounted in the RSM sump area.
To sum it up from a newb who had never even kept a goldfish before, I'd still say the RSM is a darn good all-in-one tank system but with the caveat that every all-in-one tank in this size category make a lot of compromises to fit everything in a small package. For example, the amount of money I spent on the RSM system and it's upgrades I could have purchased a drilled Lee-mar 24x24 rimless cube made from starphire glass, the stand, sump, lights and everything else needed. It's been a great learning experience.
