"Shamus' RSM130D Tank Thread"

[Shamus]

Hi Red Sea Max Owners and Reef Sanctuary Members!

I'm a new member to the forums (and pretty inexperienced forum member in general, so bear with me) and a new excited aquarist. My RSM 130D is on order and is scheduled for delivery this week! Let me just tell you how useful this forum and the experienced hobbyists have been for my research - what an incredible resource and helpful bunch! I can honestly say it's been extremely useful (and I'm sure it will be in weeks, months, years to come).

I'm working closely with my not-so LFS with help on the setup and ensuring that I'm ready to complete my setup and I think one of the most important pieces of advice I've seen to newbies is be patient. I'm sure I'll gather plenty of experience surfing the forums, but any experiences/advice you have to a new member to the hobby would be much appreciated.

I also hope to use this thread to post pictures of the 'birth' and progression of my setup, so stop by often to check up!

Looking forward to getting to know everyone!

Steve

 

[seafansar]

Re: New RSM 130D Owner and Marine Aquarist

:welcomera

Excited to see your tank build!

 

[Reefmack]

Re: New RSM 130D Owner and Marine Aquarist

And another :welcomera !

Welcome to Reef Sanctuary and the RSM Club! Great to see you find us. Lots of owners in here so just ask if you have questions. And don't forget the other parts of Reef Sanctuary - this is the best place to learn about the RSM as well as everything else!

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Re: New RSM 130D Owner and Marine Aquarist

Steve - :welcomera to ReefSanctuary & RSM owners forum, you will find here lots of nice members that are very knowledgeable & always willing to help

Congrats on the new 130D, looking forward to watching your tank progress & pics !

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Re: New RSM 130D Owner and Marine Aquarist

oh... my best getting started advise is ... read all the threads you can on the forum & ask any questions you have... there are no dumb questions & we all started new at one time...

One of the owners & founders of RS, wrote the below article (Travis), which I think is a very good read... enjoy.

10kFriendsArt.

 

[Nowellsy SNR]

Re: New RSM 130D Owner and Marine Aquarist

Welcome to RS and the members forum

Bet your excited and cant wait to get started i remember waiting for my 250 3 mounths it took to come i was a kid at christmas when i went to pick it up lol

Look forward to your pics

 

[Shamus]

Re: New RSM 130D Owner and Marine Aquarist

Thanks for all the warm welcomes!

I've seen several of people's setups (Reefmack, Glenn) and you truly provide something for a newbie to aspire to!

I do feel like a kid at Christmas! The aquarium can't come soon enough...I did have a funny/scary story about the delivery...FedEx had left a Door Tag at my house last week (a day after I had ordered the 130D - which I thought was too soon...) but not knowing what the door tag meant (it hadn't been filled out at all), I threw it away. After thinking about it a bit, I realized that might not have been the smartest idea! Luckily, the door tag was left with the package we had received that day and wasn't related to the all-anticipated delivery...but my heart jumped a bit!

I am sure I will get plenty of help from all the forums on this site (and thanks for posting the article from Travis - that's another thing I've learned...research is a huge help in this hobby). I do have a couple of questions (I'm sure many more to come as I get deeper into this hobby!).

I have access to double distilled water. Would you recommend this over RO? I'm just trying to find if this is a viable option rather than long-term installing an RO system. Initially, I plan on purchasing pre-made saltwater from my LFS (they're going to set me up with live rock as well).

Also, the RSM I ordered comes with NitroBac biological starter. I plan to use live rock, but should I also utilize the NitroBac? Can there be too much of a good thing?

Thanks for all the welcome messages! Looking forward to showing my progress and getting to know everyone!

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Re: New RSM 130D Owner and Marine Aquarist

re: NitroBac

I ask the same question... Terry (Reefmack) advised me to use it, so I did, my cycle progressed nicely & all went well, so it seemed to work for me &/or not hurt. Not sure about the double distilled water - maybe others can add some feedback here...

 

[Reefmack]

Re: New RSM 130D Owner and Marine Aquarist

I used the Nitrobac, but also used Bio-Spira. I've used dry bacterial additives in the past, and they did nothing. They also get terrible reviews - mostly dead, wrong bacteria, etc. Bio-Spira has always worked for me, but I added the Nitrobac because I had it LOL! For any of them to do any good you need a source of ammonia - either die-off on live rock, fish, a dead shrimp, etc. With no ammonia source the bacteria you want can't multiply.

Double distilled water sounds fine:

"In chemical and biological laboratories, as well as industry, cheaper alternatives such as deionized water are preferred over distilled water. However, if these alternatives are not sufficiently pure, distilled water is used. Where exceptionally high purity water is required, double distilled water is used."

From:

Distilled water - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Good luck & keep us updated as you get that tank set up & running.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Re: New RSM 130D Owner and Marine Aquarist

+1 on adding a deli shrimp...

 

[Sapphire]

Re: New RSM 130D Owner and Marine Aquarist

Welcome along! Great to have another member - look forward to following your progress!!!

 

[redsea reefer]

Re: New RSM 130D Owner and Marine Aquarist

welcome to rs and the rsm crew...

 

[Reefmack]

Re: New RSM 130D Owner and Marine Aquarist

Steve - I'm not sure how it's handled these days, but Fed Ex called ahead to arrange a delivery date & approx. time. It seemed to be the norm 2 years ago that all they're required to do is drop it off. The guy would have left it on a skid on the street in front of the house, but was nice enough to dolly the boxes it to the front door, and then picked it up & hand carried in to my family room. I think I gave him a $10 tip - it was worth it to get it brought in the house, and save my old back. The tank & stand are pretty heavy, even with the tank empty.

 

[Shamus]

Re: New RSM 130D Owner and Marine Aquarist

Thanks for the quick replies to the questions!

Terry, I think you're right - when I did some investigation last week, the company told me that FedEx would call to schedule delivery, so I think all is OK. Hopefully they don't decide to leave it on the street!

 

[Shamus]

Re: New RSM 130D Owner and Marine Aquarist

It's on its way and will be here tomorrow! I'm so excited!

I have a question for anyone who can remember the size of the packed unit - I got a song and dance from the delivery company that they may not be able to get the semi in my neighborhood (I've seen semi's in the neighborhood and think it will be fine). But the person I spoke with asked if I have access to a pickup truck JIC. We have a small SUV (Santa Fe, probably about the same size as a Jeep Grand Cherokee or similar) - would anyone be able to venture a guess as to whether I'd be able to fit the equipment in the back of my SUV if the semi has to stop short of the house? I've seen pictures of the boxes, but they can be deceiving...

Thanks everyone! I'll be sure to post pics of the assembly and tank soon!

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Re: New RSM 130D Owner and Marine Aquarist

I'll take a stab... just from memory... something like 32" x 32" x 4' on a pallet and come in two boxes tank and the stand, that can be separated & maybe like 125 lbs. Best guess...

 

[Shamus]

Re: New RSM 130D Owner and Marine Aquarist

Thanks Glenn! That's a huge help - of course you know what will happen, I'm doing all this worrying now and the truck will have absolutely no problem getting into the neighborhood. Murphy's Law I guess.

Appreciate the quick response. I've been searching on the forums as well to see if I can get an idea of the packed size, but pictures are sometimes tough to use as a judge of size.

 

[dmyers557]

Re: New RSM 130D Owner and Marine Aquarist

Did it come yet? I remember when I got mine, super excited. I used nitrobac and it worked well for me. I do recommend buying a Koralia powerhead or Ecotech mp10 or mp20 if you have the money. The stock setup definately needs an extra powerhead. Without it, I started to see red hair algae because there was not enough flow in the tank. Just a heads up. Good luck.

 

[Shamus]

Re: New RSM 130D Owner and Marine Aquarist

Hasn't dome yet - it's scheduled for delivery tomorrow!

Thanks for the post and suggestion - I've noticed from several of the other posts and pictures that many like to use the Koralia powerhead with the stock powerheads (it's not on order yet, but I have to make a trip to the LFS this weekend for LR, so maybe a bonus purchase if they have it in stock...).

BTW, went to the link of your tank - what a beauty! Definitely gives a newcomer another tank to aspire to!

It feels like Christmas Eve!

 

[Reefmack]

Re: New RSM 130D Owner and Marine Aquarist

Mine was delivered on a small delivery truck - not the normal Fex Ex delivery vans, and not a semi. I guess it depends on what's available in your area. I think Glenn may be close on the dimensions of the boxes. The tank box & stand can at least be separated. Hopefully the semi can make it to do the drop off.