Pablo's RSM 250

pablomay28

pablomay28

Well-Known Member
Hello Gents

I am the proud owner of a used RSM 250. I have rescued some of the coral since they were in pretty bad shape. I have made some modifications to keep the water parameters stable. I added a tunze ATO to keep the salinity stable since these systems run hot and I can loose from 1/2 to 1 gallon a day to evaporation. I will list other modifications and pictures later.









 
pablomay28

pablomay28

Well-Known Member
Ok. So I went back to the original skimmer after following some advise from some fellow RSM owners I got it tuned in.
 
pablomay28

pablomay28

Well-Known Member
Hey guys I got some montipora frags. Any suggestions on feeding. I currently use Coral Frenzy and Zooplankton. My RSM has ATI lights 1 actintic, 1 coral plus, 1 blue plus, 3 aqua blue special. BTW the smallest piece was free. Who would say no?

 
pablomay28

pablomay28

Well-Known Member
This is how I do my water changes.

1 Shut both main pumps and skimmer. I keep my Tunze nano stream running for water circulation.
2 Remove all sponges.



3 Insert my 1/2 inch pvc pipe for water removal.



4 Start syphon and fill 3 buckets (I did a 15 gal change this week)



5 When buckets are filled I use that water to clean the black sponges by squeezing them in the water until all of the nasty stuff is gone.

6 Once clean I cut out new filter floss to be placed on top of sponges.





7 I then roll in my salt water tub and insert the 5/8 hose into the pump and pump in fresh salt water at 1.025





8 The sponges are placed back in the tank. 2 large bags of Chemipure elite go on top of the ceramic rings and 1 bag of Purigen gets placed on top of the small black filter and filter floss.
 
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OzzieReefDude

Member
Most people remove the ceramic rings and black sponges altogether. They are a nitrate trap. You have lots of live rock that will hold enough benificial bacteria. So the rings and sponges are not needed.
 
pablomay28

pablomay28

Well-Known Member
I wash them every week and have not had an issue.
My test results are:
KH=9
PH=8.2
MG=1280
NO3=0
NO2=0
NH3/NH4=0
PO4=0
Calcium ran out I ordered new.

I tend to stick with what works and I see how much gunk sticks to those filters when I clean them out. I would rather remove the gunk than to let it circulate my aquarium and just depend on water changes. Keep in mind I throw the filter floss away every week and clean black filter and ceramic ring bag.

If you run your RSM without the black sponges, what do you use? I am open to recommendations. I am no expert most of what I know is thanks to forums and people like you with experience.

Thanks for your response.
 
Oxylebius

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
The sponges provide mechanical filtration. The rings provide bacterial filtration. Over time both can cause unwanted high levels of nitrates if they are not cleaned.

By cleaning the sponges weekly you are essentially keeping your mechanical filtration working at its maximum. Cleaning out the gunk that has build up over the week from the sponges should work well for you (depending on the tank set up, other use socks for the same purpose).

Now rinsing out the rings weekly, this may not be benefiting you, it may not be harming you either, but think about the rings purpose... The rings purpose is to build up bacteria, to add to the bacteria colonies that your live rock has. By disturbing the rings weekly you are disturbing the bacteria. So I'm not sure this is benefiting you. Some use the rings for a certain amount of time and then replace them w/a new set. That is b/c the rings can eventually build up gunk that contributes to nitrates. So, yes cleaning them is helpful, but weekly might be too much. Just something to think about.

If it is working for you then great. Keep at it. I posted this as something for you to ponder. :ponder2:

You asked what others are doing - I got rid of my rings and sponges. I siphon out the back area of the tank monthly to get debris that has built up back there. I believe my corals, sponges, and gorgonian like the extra 'food' debris from fish pop, etc. and thus blow debris off my rocks twice weekly. Sometimes I use the filter floss to capture it, most of the times I don't. I vacuum the sand weekly with water change.
 
pablomay28

pablomay28

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the information. I got rid of the ceramic rings yesterday but opted to keep the black filters since I see how much gunk they accumulate. I still clean them out every Saturday with my water change and also siphon the back area monthly. My sand is kept clean by my sand sifting goby but I still clean it every two weeks.
 
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