Wil it all go wrong?

[smudger]

Hi all,

I have recently bought my first RSM 130D and after four weeks of cycling I am now ready to add my first fish. The clean up crew are in and the water parameters fine. Apart from a slightly noisy skimmer pump, I am very pleased with my purchase. I am concerned however that everything is likely to go wrong! Having read numerous posts it appears the vast majority of people change the pumps, skimmer and heater, in fact all of the working parts. I purchased the RSM because I wanted a neat, compact, all in one unit. I do not want to cannibalize it and have componant parts sprouting from every corner. If this was the case I would have chosen something else. What is the point of only being left with the tank? Is it as bad as everyone seems to think or is it because a number of people have made alterations everyone else thinks they have to as well?

As stated I am new to this intriguing hobby and fully understand that there are many far wiser people than me!

Cheers

 

[redsea reefer]

I have not changed anything but the skimmer. In its place is the inTank media rack and Tunze skimmer. The only thing I would say to replace is the heater.

 

[Bobi1956]

Well I am only one opinion but here it goes - I think alot here desire the look of the RSM 130 and 250 - alot of our wishes were at first similar to yours. Some of our mods/changes have been due to necessity, while others were in attempt to provide a better environment for the corals, etc in our aquariums. The hydor skimmer pump is a joke at best - should have been advertised as a superheater as it takes tank temp to elevated levels faster than most good heaters could lol. The chambers on back of RSM's can make for some convenience but don't neglect cleaning them out periodically or you will begin to understand comments you might see here concerning the "chamber of death". All in all I like my RSM, I've only had it for a week and in my former life had a 120 gallon saltwater tank with 20 gallon sump, etc etc. The looks of my RSM, though is gonna end up supermodified is still desirable to me - the red sea test kits that come in the starter kit are not the best out there - course I wouldn't really know because mine came in a box that was full of salt as the salt bag had burst and basically ruined everything in the box except for plastic bottles and a $12 hydrometer - oh yea my starter kit was absent the reef base also - are you ready to sell your RSM yet? just kidding and good luck but don't kid yourself into thinking you have an all in one outfit !!!

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

I am concerned however that everything is likely to go wrong!

smudger - here is my advise... don't worry

the 130D is Red Sea most proven tank... I have run mine stock for almost a year now with zero problems (I have yet to have a need to contact Pinky).

With water changes & basic tank maintenance (change carbon, etc...) you will have a beautiful & sucess reef tank. In fact... for all the post you read about any RSM tank, have you every seen anyone, who does not have a beautiful RSM tank?

Mods... are fun & improve things... but imo & in my experience, they are not necessary to have a beautiful & sucess reef tank.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

+1 The only thing I would say to replace is the heater.

for $20, it's a good investment to get a better heater... I did upgrade mine, I still use my stock RSM heater to heat my water for water changes, everyone needs one for this anyway...

 

[tvreaves]

No, I believe a lot will go right too!

 

[Tufftey]

I think you need to keep it in perspective. For everyone who has had a problem with their tank there will be many more who haven't. It's human nature to complain when something is faulty/ not working as it should. Unfortunaely when things are going well we don't take the time to let other know. Search any product on the internet and you will read more horror stories simply because when we have a problem we go searching for an answer/solution.
That said my pump stopped working this weekend( but since mine is an ex display model and I don't know how old the pump was I've decided after a lots of thought about changing models to get another RSM one and see how it goes from new)
And I got my first fish today , but I'll post that on my thread

 

[David Shaw]

Run it stock and see what you think, i would definitely replace the heater though as most fail and can cause a lot of damage compared to the small cost of replacing it.

I too went for the all in one sleek look of the RSM 130D, and although i modified it, i still retain the exact same look. I put the Tunze 9002 skimmer in with the media rack in the back chamber and changed 1 x pump for a maxi jet 1200 for greater flow, along with the new heater.

I bought 3 x 3 pin to 2 pin adapters for a few quid from amazon.co.uk (heater, skimmer and pump). I then ran the cables into the main plug box so they can be controlled through there as if you would with the stock items.

In doing this, you would actually never know by looking at it that i had modified it. Same look, but quieter and more efficient and still only one mains plug !

Let us know what you decide to do.

 

[Reefmack]

smudger - other than replacing the heater, to be safe, I think you'll do just fine with the tank. A lot of the probems you hear of are related to the 250 model, not the 130D. On my older 130 model there were more problems than with the 130D, and that started me on my way to cannibalizing my tank, and improving a lot of things once I got started.

 

[Bobi1956]

+1 on issues with the 250 lol

 

[smudger]

Thank you everyone for your own personel views. Opinions obviously vary from individuals own experiances! I think for the time being I will run it stock apart from a differant heater. This is obviously the main concern should the stock one fail. However I will have to see if I can put up with the slightly noisy skimmer pump, if not than I may change that as long as the unit as a whole does not change appearance? Is the skimmer mentioned with the media rack easy to fit (Does the lid still close etc) and is it readily available in the UK?
I hope to post some pictures soon to show you all how things are progressing.

Cheers :apint:

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Is the skimmer mentioned with the media rack easy to fit (Does the lid still close etc) and is it readily available in the UK

yes, yes, & I think so

 

[David Shaw]

Yep. Just take the stock skimmer out and slide the media rack in with a Tunze 9002 attached by magnets (provided). Dead easy.

You cant run the media rack with a stock skimmer as there is no room unless you get the Tunze.

Then get a 3 pin to 2 pin adapter from amazon.co.uk, few quid, and you can operate from the control panel.

Steve T ships from the US no problem

 

[David Shaw]

PS Yes lid closes. Look at my tank thread and you can see how you could never tell.

 

[magnum]

Smudger I bought my tank just about a year ago. I then found this site and was upset to see that so many people were upgrading this or that. The reason I bought the red sea max in the first place was so I did not have to. My tank was fine running stock but what I found to be true in this hobby is it is hard to leave well enough alone. I have made some changes but they were my choice and the whole time I was asking my self why am I doing this. I added the Tunze 9002 and media rack to give me some options for filter media. Unlike most of the people here I did not have any issues with the stock skimmer I only made the change to fit the media rack. So my advise is don't stress over it, it is a great tank and if you decide to tinker with things that is up to you.

 

[smudger]

Thanks Magnum, I think that was the answer I was hopeing to receive from someone! Like you I think I will be patient and wait to see how things develope befor changeing to much.

Cheers :apint: