Took delivery of my RSM250 yesterday - a couple quick questions

[black2012]

This forum is a great resource. A couple quick questions. This is my third tank but I'm interested to see how people have gone about setting up their RSM250's

Aquascaping: what is the correct order to do things in? I was thinking sand, then half a tank of water, then rock. What did you all use to hold your rocks together? I have had mixed results with the green epoxy.

Cycling: did you guys go with the deli shrimp method or put a couple clowns in the tank?

Floating sand: obviously when the tank is new, there is a lot of sand floating in the water. Do you guys run your sumps at this point or wait until the sand settles before turning anything on?

Triggers: anyone had good luck with any triggers? I know they can eat inverts but that some are better than others

Thanks in advance!

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Congrats on you new RSM 250 !

More one way to proceed... I added water & then salt to the tank (the only time you can do this...) turned on heater & pumps, mixed, added sand, added dryrock & my LR wiggled them down in to the sand bed, I have never bonded my rock... I was going to... use this great stuff E-Marco-400 10Lb Kit

bought it, but ended up not using it & just stacked the rock so it inter connected & so I could re-arrange it (several times) ... no rock crashes yet...

On Cycling use deli shrimp method or Don't use Live fish, they suffer & often die & causes harm long term health problems if they don't... the deli shrimp adds the needed ammonia to kick start everything... works great... in my RSM 250 I used 2

Rinse your sand & don't use too small of grain size, it will get cloudy, but will clear in the next day or two... just rinse your fine filer several times a day

Hope this helps ! Post us some pics & start a tank thread...

Triggers while very pretty... are very Aggressive & keeps you from having many other peaceful fish & grow quite large

 

[BigAl07]

Great advice from Glenn


Re: Trigger - I Can't think of a single type of trigger even remotely appropriate for an RSM250. Most need tanks in excess of 250 Gallons.

Cycle: My next cycle will consist of (as a test for my own research):

• Dry Rock and Dry Sand
• Either Dr. Tim's All-In-One bacteria or Brightwell Aquatics MicroBacter7
• the above fed with Pure Ammonia

 

[mtk]

Welcome and congrats on the new tank.

The way I did it was with a deli shrimp. Started using dr tims but had to be away from my tank so I then through a deli shrimp in and let it sit.

As for the rock and sand work I set my rock first then added sand. I have heard to many bad stories of rock falling when something digs under them. I used some sort of two part epoxy once I liked my rock work. I only used it is a few places and jut took small balls and pushed it onto the seam's. My rock was stable just used the epoxy as a precaution.

I used very fine sand and regret it every day. I would just rinse your sand and rocks good before adding it.

As for the salt I did the same as Glenn and mixed it in the tank.

 

[tnwillia]

 

[black2012]

Thank you all for the helpful feedback! So if I use the fine filter on my RSM250, I can run my pumps with the cloudy (sandy) water?

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

You are very welcome ! Yes you can run your pumps with cloudy water... just rinse the fine filter at the sink under tap water & shake, a few times a day over the next couple of days

 

[black2012]

Thanks for the tip!

It's unbelievable - the water was incredibly cloudy an hour ago when we finished filling it with water. Now, after turning the pumps on, its almost completely clear. Phenomenal filtration system!

We don't have the skimmer on - figured there was no need - please correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks!!!!!! What a great forum and a helpful group of people!

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

You are very welcome !

During the cycle ... I ran my skimmer a few hours a day, now & them... just to break it in, the only exception to this, is if you choose to use all very uncured LR, then you might just go ahead & run it all the time. Won't be much to skim for a while ... if you have any more questions, feel free to ask - you on your way, get the cycle "right" and you will have a successful reef tank