Taking the plunge, countdown to the new tank ~1month

suspiria2

suspiria2

Member
Starting on the road to getting a RSM S 500 probably in about 1 month
Rearranged the living room to allow enough space for the tank with space on either side and allow the tank to be 10 inches from the back wall.

Went to the LFS to get pricing and availability for the tank and start getting a list of additional items needed. The list below is what I think is appropriate to get started, any please let me know if i am missing something important

The RSM S 500 (obvious but makes it to the top of the list)

An RODI unit, maybe the Typhoon III Extreme from theh2guru.com (any suggestions greatly appreciated, I do not have a permanent home for it so I will also need an adapter to connect it to a faucet)

Rock - About 100Lbs (going to go with dry rock, no hitchhikers)

Substrate - About 2-3 inches (have not worked out exactly how much that will be)

A Chiller - no real preference, maybe a JBJ Arctica 1/4 HP or a Coralife 1/4HP

Heater - EHEIM Jager Aquarium Heater 2x200Watts (read that 2 heaters are better then 1)

Rubbermaid Brute 32 Gallon bins (2 of them)

If anyone has any thoughts on something that would be needed initially that I have missed or if i am going in the wrong direction please let me know

Thanks for any input, this site has been very valuable in giving me confidence in starting this hobby.
 
suspiria2

suspiria2

Member
Of course I forgot the small items

Testing Kits (Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates)- from Red Sea or if anyone has a recommendation
Other testing kits - not sure what others are required
Refractometer
Deli Shrimp in an old pair of tights
 
D

DaveK

Well-Known Member
suspiria2 said:
...
Rubbermaid Brute 32 Gallon bins (2 of them)...
Click to expand...

Overall what your planning looks good. On the Rubbermaid bins, I'm not sure if your looking at the rectangular ones or the round ones. In any case, get the round ones if you want to put water in them. The rectangular ones will bow out quite a bit in the sides which will put a lot of stress on them.
 
Squatch XXL

Squatch XXL

Well-Known Member
DaveK said:
The rectangular ones will bow out quite a bit in the sides which will put a lot of stress on them.
Click to expand...
I can vouch for this. I have a rectangle cure tub in my garage that 2 sides bulging. One side got jammed up against the block wall, and the other got a 5 gallon bucket filled with gravel. Its been like this for months, and I doubt it will blow out.....but it don't look good.
 
suspiria2

suspiria2

Member
I will get the round bins. I suppose that i willalso need a heater and powerhead for doing the water changes.
 
suspiria2

suspiria2

Member
Starting to look at cleanup crews and fish

After the cycling of the RSM 500 has run its course should be about 3-4 weeks from what I have been reading.

For the clean up crew snails and shrimp seem to be the way, the crabs look interesting but don't know if they will be trouble with the fish or the other invertebrates. Still on the fence about the crabs.
Probably run the CUC for a couple of weeks

Fish (finally!)

Clown fish - 2
Lawnmower or Starry Blenny
Sixline Wrasse
Banggai Cardinal
Royal Gramma
Mandarin (maybe)
Foxface Lo (maybe)
Powder Blue Tang
Kohl Tang
Purple Tang


Looking for a time line of

Clown Fish and Blenny first, wait for about 1 month.
Add the Wrasse, Cardinal and Gramma, each about 1 month apart
Liked the Mandarin but read that they are hard to feed so I don't know if the tank will be ready for one, tank will be 6 months mature in at this point.
Probably wait an additional month to see how things are going
Undecided about the Foxface, could be an issue with Corals
Add the 3 tangs together as juveniles as the last of the fish

At this point the tank the tank should be stocked and i do not plan on any additional fish

Will be looking to add a few beginner corals probably starting at about 3 months in

This is an idealized plan and of course depends on how the tank cycling goes

As ever any insights or information is greatly appreciated
 
suspiria2

suspiria2

Member
Just got my estimate from the LFS

I will be starting with

Red Sea Max 500 white
Crushed Coral 100lbs
Fiji Rock 150lbs
Heater 300W Eheim
Chiller Arctica JBJ 1/4HP
C-SCope Refractometer JBJ
Aquarium master thermometer
Tetra test stripes 6in1/Ammonia

Unfortunately i have a couple of business trips coming up so I will have to wait on the order, teh LFS said it would take about 2 weeks to get the tank
A small step but at least I have the list in front of me and now just waiting to purchase
 
D

DaveK

Well-Known Member
On your estimate from the LFS I recommend the following changes.

Get aragonite sand rather than crushed coral. Also, don't get that very fine sand, sometimes called sugar sand.

Get regular test kits rather than test strips. Test strips are not accurate enough to be trusted.
 
suspiria2

suspiria2

Member
DaveK said:
On your estimate from the LFS I recommend the following changes.

Get aragonite sand rather than crushed coral. Also, don't get that very fine sand, sometimes called sugar sand.

Get regular test kits rather than test strips. Test strips are not accurate enough to be trusted.
Click to expand...

The Coral is "medium" size, not very fine, I did some reading on the aragonite that you mentioned and it does look like the better way to go, I will check with the LFS about pricing.

Test kits sounded better that the strips, I will check on that too.

Thanks for the information
 
suspiria2

suspiria2

Member
Danreef said:
Take a look to Melev's reef to see what he has. Excellent customer service.

I got from him the RODI unit I am pasting. I have well water. so this model is working perfectly with my water pressure. Read his articles. It will help in your selection. He has also a more standard RODI. This one is fully equipped at a really competitive price.
http://www.melevsreef.com/catalog/150-gpd-boosted-rodi-system
Click to expand...

I just checked the link and although I don't need the boosted system (my water pressure is 70 psi) the 100 gallon per day unit looks good and comes with all the fittings. Nice to have multiple options tocompare.

Thanks for the link
 
D

Danreef

Well-Known Member
suspiria2 said:
I just checked the link and although I don't need the boosted system (my water pressure is 70 psi) the 100 gallon per day unit looks good and comes with all the fittings. Nice to have multiple options tocompare.

Thanks for the link
Click to expand...


That is good. Mine is,around 50-60 PSI and the pump in the RODI system increase it to 80 PSI . The system has been working flawlessly for the last 4 months.

Cheers
 
suspiria2

suspiria2

Member
After rearranging the room for the new tank I found that I had more space that I expected. On seeing the free space my wife said I could get the bigger 650 tank if i wanted. Now I dont know if I want to take advantage of this or if i should stick with the 500.
Does anyone have preferences between the two, obviously the 650 is bigger but I dont know if it will be too much to handle
 
nanoreefing4fun

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
MAX S Model :nessie: a 175 gallon tank would be nice, only thing I would think about is bigger water changes... besides that... all positive imo

Specification Description MAX S 400 MAX S 500 MAX S 650
(110 gal)
(135 gal)
(175 gal)
 
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