Ask Red Sea

[adamsfour]

I have a question? Living in the east coast we sometimes get power outages. I have added an air stone to the tank. The devices will provide 28 hours of battery life if the power goes out. I placed it next to the protein skimmers where the water enters from the main tank. I placed it there so no bubbles would escape back into the tank. Do you see any problems with this?

[Reefmack]

adamsfour - I can't speak for Red Sea, but if the purpose is to areate the tank during a power outage, I doubt the main tank will get any oxygenation putting the airstone in the back section. With no pumps running to pump the oxygenated water back into the main tank, it would seem to be wasted air into what would be a stagnant back section? In this case I think you would actually want air bubbles in the main tank! I have a battery powered air pump that I used in the main tank during an overnight outage this summer. The airstone was a big round one, over an inch diameter, and the pump put so much air and bubbles through it that it even created a slight bit of current in the corner I placed it. Yours is nicer than mine - mine has no ability to be set up to come on when the power goes off.

Another thing to consider in the cold of winter is how cold the room air will become if the outage is extended. An air pump and air stone will be pumping room air into the tank, and if that room air gets very cold it would cool the tank water down more quickly than it normally would. In the summer this isn't a big problem.

Anyway - those are just my thoughts on it. I wish they made a battery powered powerhead. The only other option is a generator, but my wife would flip if I bought a generator for my tank.

[adamsfour]

Thanks for the reply something I never considered. In terms of Heat. I have a 500 Watt UPS attached with only a heater. The temp of the heater is slightly lower than the main RSM heater. It would only come into play if the power goes out and the temp drops My hope is given the short burst the heater has to do it would last long enough to keep the temp stable.

[Reefmack]

Sounds like you've got the heater issue already resolved!

[mzreenie]

Can you please explain to me the difference between Red Sea Salt and Red Sea Coral Pro Salt? I found the following information concerning Red Sea Salt

Special Characteristics:

Calcium:
The calcium content of Coral Reef Red Sea Salt has been formulated such that after dissolving in normal tap water it will produce a solution that contains 380-425 ppm (dependent on the level of calcium present in the tap water) of calcium, without precipitation and the consequent loss of trace elements.

Salinity:
While the Red Sea has a higher than average salinity, the composition of natural seawater is the same throughout the world. Coral Reef Red Sea Salt can be mixed to any desired salinity and is suitable for marine fish and invertebrates from every sea and ocean.

Technical data:
2.8 lbs dissolved in 10 US gallons or 1 kg in 30 liters of Reverse Osmosis (R.O.) water at 78 degrees F (25 degrees C) will produce a seawater solution specified as follows: Specific gravity: 1.021 pH: 8.4 (after 2 hours mixing or aerating) Alkalinity: 2.2 - 2.5 milliequivalents/liter.

Can you please give me the comparable characteristics and Technical Data pertaining to Red Sea Coral Pro Salt?

Thanks,
Irene

[MatthewJ]

Originally Posted by adamsfour

Thanks for the reply something I never considered. In terms of Heat. I have a 500 Watt UPS attached with only a heater. The temp of the heater is slightly lower than the main RSM heater. It would only come into play if the power goes out and the temp drops My hope is given the short burst the heater has to do it would last long enough to keep the temp stable.

I've kind of wondered about doing this too Adam, but it seems like you're only going to get ~1 hour total run time with a 100W heater on a 500W UPS, and probably less. If it switches on for 15 minutes of every hour...that's only 4 hours. I wonder how after the heater actually turns on???

[steveh]

I'll ask out techie guys to answer the airstone question as I'm not sure whether you are better adding it to the filtration section, in order to keep the aerobic bacteria alive, or whether it would be better to aerate the main aquarium. Certainly this would add to the speed of cooling the tank which would be a downside.

[steveh]

With regards to the difference between COral Pro & Red Sea Salt:
Both salts have unique natural properties, giving a homogenity of trace and minor elements which is unlikely to be seen elsewhere. For all the info check out www.redseafish.com. The difference between the 2 salts can be summed up thus: Coral Pro salt is formulated for use with RO water and is perfect for coral reef aquariums. It will give a calcium level of 450ppm and balanced Mg & Alk levels. Std Red Sea salt was formulated for use with tap water and for fish-only aquariums. It contains lower levels of calcium which are of course augmented by the calcium naturally existing in tapwater.

[mzreenie]

Thank You Steve

[adamsfour]

Thanks for getting an answer.

[Reefmack]

steveh - one of the RSM owners (of the 130D I believe) got what I think is wrong information from an online supplier - that the RSM is acrylic. Can you confirm that all of the RSM models are indeed glass?

I know my 130 is, and I'm 99.999999% sure that all models are glass, but better to ask I guess.

[steveh]

Thanks ReefMack- I am happy to confirm that ALL MAX aquariums are made from high quality glass. The Max130 & Max130D have 8mm glass throughout. The Max250 has 10mm glass and all aquariums have rounded corners.

[steveh]

Ok, I got an answer on the battery powered air pump issue and it seems the suggested route is to aerate the main aquarium, and to use airline without an airstone in order to increase the rate of gaseous exchange. Hope this helps.

[Reefmack]

Thanks steveh!

[maysorum]

Do you know when the RSM 250 will be available?