DarkKlown's RSM 500

[DarkKlown]

Hi All,

It's taken awhile (I'm based in Melbourne, Australia) but i'm so happy with the tank it's not funny. It's running so quite and it looks fantastic. Currently it just has salt water but I'll be getting some live rock tomorrow and will post some photos over the coming days.

One question i had for other owners was how do you top up the ATO? It seems in a difficult position and siphon filling seems impossible. Do people use external pumps? Currently I'm purchasing RO from the LFS in a 25kg container and it's just a little too heavy to control pour into the ATO inlet.

 

[modulok]

Congrats!

For the ATO fillup, I have a long hose I run from my RO tank and fill up the ATO tank. I also bought a water alarm so it will beep when water fills up to the alarm sensor (to prevent water spillage).

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Congrats on the new RSM 500 !

Look forward to seeing the pics :chair: :lurk:

 

[byronredsea]

Congrats From Byron Bay Jason I have a 650S with the RO i run a line from RO/DI to tank every two days just check it ever hour and if it does over flow i have found the water goes into over flow :cursin:chamber

 

[Choff]

Gratz, looking forward to some picts!


I have a water station in my basement that I plumbed up through the wall behind the tank that I then have a pipe running to the ATO as well as the sump. Depending on my valve config I can fill the sump with SW for a WC or the ATO with RODI. Makes WC's a 10 min affair. I almost look forward to them.

 

[DarkKlown]

Here's some pics of the new tank..

LFS guys doing all the heavy lifting for me..

Empty tank with lights on..

Just add water and sand..

And now the first lot of rock..

Hitchhikers!!

Some spiny starfish too!

 

[byronredsea]

Looks good how big are those star fish ??

 

[DarkKlown]

Looks good how big are those star fish ??

Quite large... I put the rocks in that container and gave them all a quick shake before putting them in the tank and the container is 56x36cm... i didn't want to hurt them by opening them all the way up.. I'm quite happy with the live rock i picked it up 5mins after it was delivered to the LFS so most of the hitchhikers make it into the tank alive.. The rock also appears to have 2 Urchin's in it.. about 2-3 cms in diameter...

 

[modulok]

Are those TWO Mantis Shrimp? Better find out before you stock the tank.

 

[GREYBOLT03]

Are those TWO Mantis Shrimp? Better find out before you stock the tank.

I was thinking the same thing

 

[DarkKlown]

I don't think so. They both are very tiny.. about 1-2cm long.. I haven't heard any sounds from the tank since spotting them.. they look more like tiny lobster than shrimp..

 

[dmatt88]

U aussies don't mess around with ur rock do u?

Google mantis shrimp n see if that's what u have. Neat pets no doubt but they can really cause issues in a mixed reef

..........reefing. not for the faint of heart.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Great start - really nice fresh LR ! Be good to get out the bad HH now

Really a pretty new tank !

 

[DarkKlown]

Found another hitchhiker..

So you guys think i should try and dig out the lobsters?.. i think i've seen like 3-4 of them with the moonlights on..

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Wow a Eunice Worm !

I think I would be removing anything that could eat my fish or prized corals to come

 

[DarkKlown]

Well the Eunice worm is out. I also spotted 2 other smaller worms while i was digging around. 1 was a bristle worm (the other a smaller eunice) so i thought i'd keep him in the tank.. unfortuneatly for the little guy when i put him back in the tank he kind of got blown around and ended up being sucked into one of the circulation pumps inlets.. oops.. he hasn't come out yet.. :smack:

 

[byronredsea]

Mate I hate to say it but if you have one big one you will have 100s small ones in your LR . I thought I'd get a clown wrase to get rid of mine it just killed my tank turened all my small rock over.

 

[DarkKlown]

Oh and here's a photo of one of the urchins...

and some cool growth on the live rock.. (reasons to break out the macro lens!)

 

[ElTurco]

Hi D;

These two are certainly mantis shrimp strongly suggest to take them out while there is no stock in your good tank.

 

[DarkKlown]

Tried putting a bottle trap in the tank last night.. unfortunately when i checked it this morning the green spiny star fish had reached into the bottle and snagged the bait and then pulled the entire bottle trap to his rock.. i'll have to move the starfish to an out of reach area and give it another go tonight..