Our new 650

[BTimmons]

Hopefully our 650 will be in this week, can't friggin' wait! I've been prepping in anticipation. Reinforced our floor joists in the living room. I have 130 pounds of pukani dry rock from BRS cooking in a 44g brute can. Talk about smelly, ooh wee! Might need a little more rock but I will probably pick out some live rock at an lfs if necessary. Just rinsed our 160 pounds of Caribsea seaflor reef sand today. That was a chore I'm glad to be done with. I read somewhere that the new units are shipping with the new reef spec t5 lights, is this true in the US? That would be a bonus. Thanks for looking, I'm sure I'll have tons of questions soon.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Choff]

Gratz and start up a tank thread with picts and more picts. We can generally be bribed to answer questions with lots of picts.

Heh, your post sounds exactly like mine 7-8 months ago. Did up my floors and had ordered everything under the sun in anticipation. That is a lot of sand though. You may not need that much unless you are going DSB. 100-120 did me up just over 2". I did put my rocks down first though.

Can't answer the light question for sure, but I think that is correct.

One thing to think about while you are waiting, how are you going to manage water changes? You want to make that as painless as possible. If you are doing 10% you are looking at close to 20G of SW and another 10G of RODI to fill the ATO.

 

[DianaKay]

I ordered my RSM250 & it was delivered from Houston Texas to S.E. Oklahoma via transport truck & I got it in less than a week. I was in total shock that it got here so fast. And it did come with T5's Super HaPpY with the whole set up & I love having this forum to get advice from. Super people here & they have made this set-up a success so far. I'm going to depend on more help as I add to my tank after it cycles. Get ready for EXCITEMENT cause this is FUN! Sounds like you are ready now.

 

[BTimmons]

I used a sand calculator but that doesn't take rock into account. I got 40# bags for $24 online, lfs wanted $50, so I just got plenty while it was on sale. I have no basement to plumb to for water changes and my garage is on the opposite end of the house so I've been contemplating the water change issue. My ro/di unit is in the garage. I'm only 27 so I really have no qualms about bucketing once a week. I've also thought about siphoning out the water in buckets and then using a submersible pump to pump new saltwater from my garage to the tank. My only concern is what bacteria might build up in the hose over time. My mother in law got the "pocket hose" and that looks neat for keeping in the garage. Im definitely thinking of doing my initial fill via the pump method if it proves practical.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BTimmons]

Im jealous Diana, I've been waiting since late october for this tank. Best of luck to you


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Nob35]

Hi and welcome to forum. Why did it take so long to get the tank, I ordered mine and got it in less then a week. Have fun with it it is a great system. I bought 120lbs of tropic Eden reef flakes and only used 90lbs and my sand bed is about 2 inches. I started off with only about 120lbs or rock and added nicer pieces later also. My tank was delivered in October and it did come with the new reef spec bulbs, but not sure how they look with water in tank because I converted to LEDs, but I have read a few others that have them and seem to like them, the only complaint I have read was with the 2 pinks as they thought at least one of them should have been purple.

There are quite a few of us here that here that have gone through what your about to do so if you have any questions just ask. When putting it together the best thing to do is watch the 4 videos on YouTube, it is very good step by step directions.

 

[BTimmons]

The dealer told us it would be a 6 to 8 week wait, stating that there had been a run on RSM units and production was behind. I really like your LED conversion Nob; I've read both yours and Choff's tank threads. Both of you guys have some cool things going on. I can't wait to join the ranks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Nob35]

Thanks, when I decided to get the S650 I had an idea in my mind of what type of system and how I wanted it set up, but as I started pricing it and piecing all the parts the total kept rising. Once the total went above $7500 is when I started looking at the S Series. I decided on the 650 because even with the changes I wanted to make it would have been about the same price but with a much nicer finish to it.

You will not be disappointed with yours, if you have not seen one in person I think it is going to surprise you at how big and compact it is all at the same time. Take your time and look at each mod you want to do and decide what will work best for you and the tank. The lights were one of the main things I wanted to do, to make sure I kept the long term expense down, I did research for a couple weeks before deciding on how to do it with alot of measuring and remeasuring to make sure they would fit. I have been very happy with the outcome.

I recommend figuring out how you would like to do the sump, for a refugium it is not exactly to good of a design as the refugium needs more flow. Also almost all have changed the sponges for sock filters and are running some type of reactor for GFO and/or Carbon. You will need a pump to run a chiller if your getting one, which you will need for the stock system.

We have all had different things happen in our builds so don't hesitate to ask any questions.

 

[Choff]

Thanks B and I won't take offense to being called old or lazy <cough>

Seriously though, the biggest issue for me with bucket brigade apart from time, is the mess. You are looking at 2-3 trips to remove the old water and then 4 trips to fill. With each trip being 2 - 5G buckets filled with around 4G. There is no way I am not spilling salt water somewhere/everywhere. I would end up spending more time on the cleanup than the actual WC. Not to mention that is going to kill your carpets and/or hardwoods over time.

Not saying you need to go full auto or anything crazy, I just meant to think through how you were going to do it. Some folks forget about that part when they are planning.

Good luck....should be coming any day now huh?

 

[FishOuttaWater]

We use a trash can that we mix the saltwater in our kitchen. ROdi unit is under the sink. Then we just push the trashcan over. We use jugs to syphon or pump out. Then throw a pump in the trash can and pump it back in. Works great for us.

 

[David Shaw]

With regards to wet carpets...

I set up my 4 jerry cans of water that i get weekly from the LFS and pop heaters in them all until they come up to temp.

I then syphon water out of the main tank through a very long tube and directly to the drain outside.

Then i fill a large container with the replacement water from the jerry cans, add a pump to the end of the tube that was leading to the drain, put it into the large container and then pump the new water back in. Topping it up from the jerry cans as i go along.

Doing it this way gives me no water spillage, no wet carpets and the complete water change is completed in about 10-15 minutes tops.

 

[BTimmons]

Thank you all for the input. I started a real tank thread now. Timmons' S650. Follow along, I need all the help I can get!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk