Sean's RSM 130D

reefer gladness

Well-Known Member
Hello from southern California! :thumber:

After admiring the reef tanks at my LFS for the past several years I've finally taken the plunge. This will be my first fish tank of any sort so I've a lot to learn. I've kept bearded dragons for years but after my last beardie passed on (RIP Dave!) I donated my terrarium and lights to the kids down the street who recently found a box turtle.

One vacant spot in my living room has led me to a larger vacant spot in my bank account but I'm looking forward to it. An impulse buy to be sure but I did a fair amount of internet research before making the purchase. Ordered on Friday and anxiously awaiting the shipping notification.

The deciding factor for me was the enthusiastic :thumbup: from the guy at the fish store. I've done business with these guys for years so I trust them a little more. Maybe even moreso now because they don't sell the RSM 130 but still had good things to say about it and didn't try to sell me something else instead.

Finding an active community of RSM owners is kinda the cherry on top and really making me feel good about the choice for the 130D. Love the pictures you all are putting up, especially the build threads starting from an empty tank so I'll do my best to take pics as well.

Cheers!
Sean
 

Reefmack

NaClH2O Addicted
PREMIUM
Sean - Welcome to Reef Sanctuary and the RSM Club!

Glad that you found us - this is the best place on the web for RSM owners. Congrats on the RSM 130D!
 

Hongkonger

Member
I started about three months ago and this place has helped so much with info and suggestions. Welcome and enjoy!
 

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
welcomefish.gif

to ReefSanctuary and the RSM Club, a real Sanctuary of reef forums, with lots of very nice members
745.gif


Congrats on the new 130D & thanks for starting a tank thread :dance:
 

reefer gladness

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the warm welcome! The freight company called this morning to arrange delivery tomorrow and I can hardly wait!

I am going to be investing in a chiller, and after reading about exploding RSM heaters I'll pick up a different heater also. For better or worse, I'm not able to control the temps inside my house very well. We have 3 dogs and I always leave the back doors open so they can freely go between the yard and the house.

The weather is fairly temperate in southern california but it does drop down to the 50's in the winter and mid to upper-80's in the summer are common. With that in mind I want to go overboard a little on the heater and chiller.

I'm thinking 150 watts for the heater and an AquaEuroUSA 1/10hp chiller rated at 1485 BTU's. The 1/13hp chiller is rated at 800 BTU's and for tanks up to 60 gallons but I'm hoping the larger 1/10hp chiller would need to run fewer minutes to maintain the same temperature and ultimately consume less power and hopefully discharge less heat.

Does this sound reasonable and does anyone have any comments about the AquaEuroUSA line of chillers? They seem to be priced much lower than comparable JBJ chillers.
 

Reefmack

NaClH2O Addicted
PREMIUM
Your reasoning sounds correct on the chiller hp. No chiller experience here so hopefully you'll get some replies on the AquaEuro brand.
 

reefer gladness

Well-Known Member
Chiller is on the way, the reviews are pretty good on marinedepot.com (crosses fingers). It doesn't come with the dual thermostat control for a heater like the JBJ units but for the price I won't complain if it runs fairly quiet.

In researching some options for cabinet cooling I've come across a thermostatically controlled power cord (AC) for cooling fans. The fan cord senses the ambient temperature of the air and turns on at 88 degrees Fahrenheit and shuts off around 80 degrees. It's called a 'green fan cord' and is made by a company called Gardtec. I'll be ordering one today from Newark.com along with a 120mm AC cooling fan and let everyone know how it works out.

By the way, tank was delivered yesterday and I got the cabinet assembled. They're not kidding when they say lifting the aquarium takes 2 people. I managed on my own but I wouldn't recommend it.
 

reefer gladness

Well-Known Member
Let's see if I can post a picture successfully. Here's a full tank shot of the 47 lbs of tonga rock I picked out today. Think I went overboard but can there be too much of a good thing?

RedSeaMax130Dsetup007.jpg
 

reefer gladness

Well-Known Member
Thank you, I definitely feel fortunate to find the Tonga rock locally at good price and have the opportunity to pick the pieces out myself. Haven't done any rockscaping yet really. There are 3 large pieces I picked out for the base on the bottom and the other pieces were just piled in as quickly as possible to keep from drying out. Will be some more pics coming after I do some re-arranging.
 

reefer gladness

Well-Known Member
Here we are after a first attempt at some rockscaping. The aquarium will be viewed from all 3 sides so we have some spaces on the sides to attach frags.

Front:
RedSeaMax130Dsetup008.jpg


Right side:
RedSeaMax130Dsetup010.jpg


Left side:
RedSeaMax130Dsetup009.jpg
 
Top