TEA's RSM C250

TEA

TEA

Active Member
I figured I'd post this here as well as the intro section . After keeping a 55 gl freshwater tank for years, and having a 400 gl goldfish pond in the backyard, we took the plunge into saltwater. We had been wanting one for some time. The goal is to set up a reef tank so we decided on the Red Sea Max C250. Quite a bit of assembly, 60 lbs. of dry rock, 80 lbs of sand (50/50 dry/live), and a bunch of water jugs later and we are off and running. Running slowly that is! I want to take my time and not rush anything. We still have, and love, our FW tank and pond, but are looking forward to this new adventure in the aquarium hobby.
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DianaKay

DianaKay

Princess Diana
RS STAFF
Hello TEA :wave:
:rbwwelc:Welcome to Reef Sanctuary :crowd:
Congrats on your awesome choice of the RSM C250 &
:yeehoo:Cheers for starting a tank thread!!:yeehoo:
I think you'll L:heart:VE the SW adventure...thanks for sharing your build!
What are your plans (wants!) for livestock?
Please feel at home to questions as you go...this forum is why my 250 has been doing good. I asked about everything :chatter: and got all the answers to keep me going successfully. :smile:
You are in a good place. :thumber2: Very BEST WISHES...:cruiser:
 
TEA

TEA

Active Member
Thanks DianaKay! We'd like to keep a fairly small amount of fish and then, of course, corals. Not sure exactly what kind of coral yet, We are still looking. This is what I've thought of so far:

CUC:
Hermit Crab (Blue leg / Red leg) - maybe two of each
Turbo Snail - perhaps two
Astrea Snail - maybe two of these as well
Cleaner Shrimp - one
Pistol Shrimp
Blenny - one (not sure which one yet)
Coral Banded Shrimp - one / maybe! (don't want it to eat my snails or crabs)

Fish:
Yellow Tang - one
Clownfish - one or two (probably go with two)
Diamond or Pink Spotted Watchman Goby
Firefish Goby
Not sure if we'd get anything else, if so then only one or two more max.

I'd like to get some corals first and start placing a few after my CUC but before my fish go in. Not sure if we'll be able to hold out on that as the wife and I love to look at the fish in the stores and the temptation to add a fish prior to coral may prove too much. We'll see what the bank account will allow. :)
 
DianaKay

DianaKay

Princess Diana
RS STAFF
It's just my opinion from my experience, CBS (coral banded shrimp)are mean and creepy! :ofr: I had one and it killed my peppermint shrimp, and tried to sneak up & pinch fish after they settle in when the light went off. It took me a long time to catch him out but I return him to the LFS. Just so you watch carefully IF you get one.
I have 2 red stripe cleaner shrimps & they are good CUC. They spawn in my tank (free food). I have 2 clownfish & they also spawn :D
Just do your research before you let temptation take over & you buy a fish you don't know about.
I read up on them at liveaquaria.com because it's easy to look them up there.
 
TEA

TEA

Active Member
Yeah, that's why I'm hesitant about adding the CBS. As cool as I think they are I know I can do without and not loose too much sleep over it. Thats for the tip on the livestock profiles.
 
TEA

TEA

Active Member
Trying to get my ammonia up. I've read all the posts about using raw shrimp. Well, I love to eat shrimp so I'm not throwing money into the tank that could go in my belly!!! So, I decided to use some frozen silversides we have in the freezer. We use them to give a treat once in a while to our son's Red Claw Crab tank. Perhaps I'm not putting (did not put) enough fish in the tank. It's taking forever for my ammonia to go up. I just hit 0.50 today on ammonia and I've got 0 nitrites. I could go buy ammonia but I like the fact that I've already paid for the silversides! Guess I'll just keep testing and adding fish as I see the need to.
 
DianaKay

DianaKay

Princess Diana
RS STAFF
I added an additional couple of deli-shrimp to my tank after a few days.
Smush the silversides up in fine mesh bag or cut off piece of ladies hosiery.
It won't be as hard to remove or make as big of a mess that way.
I even lured out an extremely long bristle worm who wanted to clean up the shrimp. :yummy: The cycle takes lots of patience: Hang in there & keep testing.
Doing it the right (s-l-o-w) way is worth the time :thumbup:
 
TEA

TEA

Active Member
Been running my tank with the lights off for a few days. I read the lights are really not necessary during a cycle and, hey, it will save me some electricity. One thing I have noticed is there is a lot of condensation on the underside of the hood. I did not see this when running the lights. Perhaps because the fans were on and pulling air under the hood when the lights were on kept it dry. I'll run my tank with the lights on for a couple of days and see if I notice a difference. I hope so because I really dislike water dripping down the back of my tank and onto my floor when I raise the canopy.
 
Pat24601

Pat24601

Well-Known Member
I don't remember my cycle very well, but I know I dont have condensation now. Maybe the fans? Dunno.
 
TEA

TEA

Active Member
I think the fans must have something to do with it. I'll find out!


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TEA

TEA

Active Member
Added more silversides to try and get the ammonia up. Still at .50 ppm. I have 0 Nitrites and 0 Nitrates. Hmm! I have diatoms building on my glass, sand bed, and some of the rocks already. I thought diatoms were at the end of the cycle, however I've recently read that diatoms present themselves when nitrites start to show up. Perhaps my live sand had all the bacteria I needed?
 
TEA

TEA

Active Member
Definitely getting some diatoms! Ammonia still at .50 ppm. Even adding the extra silversides didn't raise the ammonia today. On a positive note, running the lights with the fans drastically cut out the condensation I was seeing under my hood. I do not have the water cooling fans on just the fans that come on when the lights come on. Since I'm seeing 0 nitrites and 0 nitrates I am somewhat confused. I am at day 12 since I filled the tank but I will continue my patience with the tank and its "cycle." I know everyones tank cycles differently. I know the diatoms are a good sign. At least I can see SOMETHING happening in my tank!:)

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Joeys Tank

Joeys Tank

Well-Known Member
I would consider adding some CUC based on what you are seeing at this point. The diatoms will help feed the CUC which will add to your bioload and generate wastes for ammonia breakdown.
 
TEA

TEA

Active Member
Joey, you may be right. I finally registered some nitrates on my test this morning. They are < 5.0 ppm but this is the first time I've seen any. Nitrites are still at 0 and my ammonia is going down. Ammonia is definitely less than .25 but not 100% gone. This is day 13 for me and though I didn't see any drastic spikes on my test readings I would say that my tank has cycled. Still, I'll give it a few more days. I'm not even sure I can get to the LFS (which for me is about an hour away) to get some CUC this weekend anyway. But I'll try!!!!
 
TEA

TEA

Active Member
Have not had my heater on in over a week now. Wanted to test the temperature fluctuations of the tank prior to having anything living in it. My house stays around 70 on average. My tank has been maintaining a temp range of 79-82. Last night it reached its highest ever point at 83.4. After lots of reading, that isn't such a bad thing. There are plenty of articles out there's that debunk the 77-79 temp range guidelines. Having said that, I'm turning on my cooling fans for the first time today to see what that does to the temp. I'm trying hard to have this tank without a chiller.


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