RSM 130D Mechanical filtration

[PaulBromley]

Hi all again,

as I explained on the microbubbles thread I am going to swap my skimmer for the Tunze9002 with the collector from Intank. I am also running on the tank an external canister filter (tetratec ex600) mainly for ease of changing the carbon and Phos remover media. The bottom tray in the canister is filled with ceramic tubes and I have the supplied bag of ceramic tubes under the pumps. My experience is some 20yrs out of date but it seems to me that I will have little in the way of mechanical filtration ? do I need to re instate the foam block or will the skimmer be enough in terms of particulate removal. Your help and opinions would be most welcome. Tank is new and has had live rock in today.

Many thanks
Paul.

[dankent]

You dont mention the media rack. Are you planning on putting the Foam in where the heater would normally go ? The tunze isnt big enough or the magnetic power will not hold a foam block in place to make the surface skimmer work.

Also your tank is very new and has no real bio load on it, your skimmer isnt going to break in until it can produce some solid waste and gunge things up inside a bit. Give it time. Unless your going to put the media rack in as well ... I wouldnt switch to the tunze 9002.

So with that said I wouldnt worry about the foam. Since the filtration will be primarily done from the canister filter. You will however need to clean out the skimmer section more often as junk and leftovers will make its way in there.

I am running the tunze 9002 and the only difference i have experienced so far is that it is quieter then the RSM Skimmer. The skimmate i am getting is a little brown ... but i am still in the work in phase .... 2 days now. Will see in a week. The media rack is the best thing i have .... unfortunatly it wont work with the RSM skimmer, without modification... If it doesnt work out for me, I will be modding the stock skimmer to fit with the media rack.

[Reefmack]

Hi Paul. Did you order the media rack too? That's the ideal place to keep some media and a filter pad under the gate.

[PaulBromley]

I didn't order the rack as well but if it is a must will do so asap.

Thanks

Paul.

[Reefmack]

It's not a must do, but even if you just used it to hold a filter pad it would keep your cannister and back section cleaner if using the Tunze 9002.

[PaulBromley]

Thanks I have just sent a message to intank to add the rack. I might as well get this right from the outset.

My tank is having its first night with live rock in as we speak, I hope to take some pics tomorrow.
Many thanks

Paul.

[Reefmack]

I think you'll appreciate the rack. Now you get to start rock watching! Have fun spotting new life popping out of it!

[dankent]

Nice You wont be unhappy with the rack ... its nice.

Its too soon for me to say i love the tunze 9002 .... but the company has a solid rep and people have good things to say about it .. so i will give it time to prove itself.

You might want to try running the rack with out the cannister filter for a bit ... I am sure you will find it will do a much better job .... Mind you I havent run a Canister since .... 2006 ish .... FX5, nice unit. But I think the Media rack will take care of your needs just fine and you allready have the circ pumps built in.

[PaulBromley]

It wont hurt to run the canister as well will it ?, I like being able to add and change media in the canister really easy and my better half will be happier without dripping water all the time on her floor !!!! LOL

Paul.

[Reefmack]

Paul - a few of us "early RSMers" ran cannister filters for a while and found that even with a weekly cleaning they turned into nitrate generators, and we abandoned them. But, I think we were all running sponge mechanical filters in them (these were "pre-media rack) days. I'd advise if using the cannister to leave out the sponges and just keep chemical media in it, and rinse the bags weekly. As Dan said, you might find the media rack is all that you need.

[StevieT]

inTank you. Your order will ship later in the week. We ran out of director pieces for classified reasons but they will be in I believe Wed/Thursday.

[StevieT]

Originally Posted by Reefmack

(these were "pre-media rack) days..

I remember those I had a life after work and all we did was ***** about the stock skimmer.

[dankent]

If you want to go through the extra of running the cannister as well as the media rack, go for it, like reefmack said without the sponges. It certainly wont hurt to have more filtration happening ....

Some if not most of the media rack users do not really have to pull out the rack for 3 - 6 months at a time. only the top floss/polypad gets replaced and you dont need to pull the unit out to get at it. Some run Purigen and Chemipure elite ... in the other two spots, these last quite a while before requiring changing/regenerating.

[Reefmack]

Originally Posted by StevieT

I remember those I had a life after work and all we did was ***** about the stock skimmer.

The "Good Ol' Days"? At least the early owners had some common bonds to complain about - the skimmer and the Chamber Of Death. Gee - those common complaints still exist LOL!