My Tiny Ocean - Gur's RSM 250

Gur

Gur

Member
Dear members,
I am happy to announce that I am a happy owner of a brand new RSM 250.
It was my dream for years, since i saw the RSM 130 in a LFS, and just decided a few weeks ago that the time had come.
I'm in the fish & aquariums hobby since the age of 6, my parents owned a pet store and our house was always full of aquariums, cages and all kinds of beautiful creatures around.
I got back to the hobby 15 years ago when me and my father built a koi pond in my yard, later I started a freshwater aquarium, low-tech planted aquarium and in the recent years a high-tech planted aquarium. But I always had this dream to have a piece of what I discovered while scuba diving 25 years ago, the most beautiful creation of nature, the tropical REEF.
I am reading, studying & exploring the salt water & reef aquariums for a few months already and I feel that I'm fully prepared, armed with a lot of knowledge and PATIENCE !
So now is the time, the MAX was delivered to me three weeks ago. Upon it's arrival I did a lot of preparations for the system so it will be efficient and easy to take care of.
Here's what I prepared before the system arrived:
05/09/2011

Power center:
Electricity.jpg


RO/DI system (next to the aquarium outside the house):
Osmosis.jpg


Chiller shelter (next to the aquarium outside the house):
Chiller.jpg


Water Preparation Zone:
Chiller&Osmosis.jpg


Chapter 2 - Setup - in my next post (you will get all 4 first chapters in a few hours)
 
Last edited:
Gur

Gur

Member
CHAPTER 2 - Setup

Chapter 2 - Setup

The RSM was delivered on 06/09/2011, I was so excited, just opened the boxes and finished assembly in 3 hours.

RSM 250 ready to go:
pre-RSM.jpg


A day later, two experienced friends, deep from the ocean, came to help me Aquascape with the Indonesian dry rocks i ordered.
Rocks.jpg


I prepared the working area, prepared marble glue and the art of aquascaping began.
Working_area.jpg


In the process:
Working_process.jpg


After a few hours we got to better results then i was expecting:
Right View:
Reef_right.jpg


Left View:
Reef_left.jpg


Top View:
Reef_top.jpg


And the Full Magic:
Reef_front.jpg


I am so happy from the results, really looks like a piece of nature and it's even before the water went in.

Now I started filling the RO/DI water on 08/09/2011
Water_filling.jpg


Next Chapter - Operating the system
 
Gur

Gur

Member
Chapter 3 - Operating the system

08/09/2011 - tank was 75% full with RO/DI water, I mixed the 25% remaining water with the Red Sea Pro Salt that came with the package and added it to the tank with all pumps working.

Salty_water.jpg


a lot of noise came from all pumps, i needed to move and try to adjust them to reduce the noise, i Partially succeeded but the system is quiet noisy till now.

I was away for the weekend, system left to work by itself, came back on 11/09/2011 and found a soda tank, full of micro bubbles coming from the skimmer.

DT water level:
DT_Level.jpg


Sump water level:
Water_Level.jpg


Skimmer gate level:
Water_gate.jpg


Skimmer cup and the wet bubbles down there:
Skimmer_cup.jpg


Soda source (Skimmer pump):
Soda_Source.jpg


Soda close-up:
Soda.jpg


My Tiny Ocean:
Soda_Tank.jpg


Cycle began officially on 09/09/2011

Next Chapter - Chapter 4 - first evidence of life
 
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BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
Wow! This is going to be a VERY nice system. I LOVE the rockwork!

You mentioned you prepared "Marble Glue". What exactly is that?

I LOVE your rock!!
 
Gur

Gur

Member
CHAPTER 4 - First evidence of life

Captains log:

17/09/2011
Added two frozen baby shrimps in a net to fuel Ammonia into the system.

22/09/2011
Started adding Brightwell Aquatics Microbater7 daily to the system.

Water Tests:
Ammonia - 1.0 ppm
Nitrite – 0.5 ppm
Nitrate - 15 ppm
Salinity - 35 ppm
Temprature - 26.5 c

24/09/2011
15th day of the cycle, staring at the dead sea tank

15_day_3.jpg


15_day_2.jpg


15_day_1.jpg


and while staring I found LIFE !!!
Green algae, never was so excited from algae...
15_day_algea.jpg


26/09/2011 Day 18

Water tests:
Ammonia - 0.25 ppm
Nitrite – > 1 ppm
Nitrate - > 20 ppm
Salinity - 35 ppm
Temprature - 26.8 c

Algae continues to spread on substrate:
18_day_algea.jpg


General view:
18_day.jpg


And we got to the present day,
today is the 19th day of the cycle,
I will get home in a couple of hours and check what is new today.
I will continue sharing with you
THE CREATION OF MY TINY OCEAN

Have a wonderful day,
Gur
 
Gur

Gur

Member
BigAl07 said:
Wow! This is going to be a VERY nice system. I LOVE the rockwork!

You mentioned you prepared "Marble Glue". What exactly is that?

I LOVE your rock!!
Click to expand...

Thank you Big Al !

Marble glue is the glue you use for marble, comes with a hardner, very cheap glue, dries in minutes and strong like a stone, has no effect on the water and the best way to Rock scape. here's an example of the type of glue (I used a local one) -
Tenax S.p.A.
 
ErnestoC

ErnestoC

Member
Gur,

Nice tank, great rock! I like the way you prepared everything for the coming tank (RO/DI, Chiller....). Enjoy it and keep this thread updated :)
 
Gur

Gur

Member
nanoreefing4fun said:
welcomefish.gif

to ReefSanctuary and the RSM Club, a real Sanctuary of reef forums, with lots of very nice members
745.gif


Great start !!! Nice setup & rockscape - thanks for starting a tank thread & sharing with us the great pics !!!

1085.gif


If you have not already solved the micro bubbles... check out the skimmer gate height - http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/red-sea-max-owners-club/66778-rsm-250-stock-skimmer-tips.html
Click to expand...

Thank you for the greetings and compliments.
Micro bubbles are gone, it was due the new system and nothing the skimmer could process, once it broke in all bubbles were gone.
 
Gur

Gur

Member
ErnestoC said:
Gur,

Nice tank, great rock! I like the way you prepared everything for the coming tank (RO/DI, Chiller....). Enjoy it and keep this thread updated :)
Click to expand...

Thanks Ernesto.
I will keep this thread updated as my Tiny Ocean will slowly mature.
 
N83259

N83259

Member
^1+ Liking your rock scape too. Very dramatic! Especially that top piece. Welcome to RS.

I'm guessing "living next to" the Red Sea, you have access to lots of cool fish, corals and other critters. It's my dream to get there someday and do some diving. I've known divers who've been all over the world, and they say that the Red Sea is in a leauge all its own.

On another topic: I can't remember why I have this impression, but I think I heard that the Red Sea company is based in Israel and/or the product is manufactured there? Just curious, is that correct?
 
Gur

Gur

Member
N83259 said:
^1+ Liking your rock scape too. Very dramatic! Especially that top piece. Welcome to RS.

I'm guessing "living next to" the Red Sea, you have access to lots of cool fish, corals and other critters. It's my dream to get there someday and do some diving. I've known divers who've been all over the world, and they say that the Red Sea is in a leauge all its own.

On another topic: I can't remember why I have this impression, but I think I heard that the Red Sea company is based in Israel and/or the product is manufactured there? Just curious, is that correct?
Click to expand...

Thank you !!

Yes, living next to the Red Sea is a gift, this is where I started dreaming about my own reef, at the age of 16 while scuba diving in the Red Sea.
In a matter of fact we have no access to fish and corals from the Red Sea, it is illegal to take anything out of there and I'm happy with it because this place is so beautiful and magical and it isn't so big, so let's leave it as it is for future generations to come...

The Red Sea company was founded in Israel 30 years ago more or less, I think most of it's business is done in the States these days. They manufacture some of the products in a city called Eilat in the south of Israel, on the shore of the Red Sea. I don't know which products exactly, i think it's mainly the Test kits and of course the salt they harvest from the Red Sea. the RSM isn't manufactured here, it is being imported here and actually I think we pay the highest price in the world for the system.
 
Dweezil

Dweezil

Well-Known Member
Welcome to RS ~ As others before me have said that is some beautiful rock you got there. Probably the best I've seen.
Good luck on your aquatic adventure!
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
Gur said:
Thank you Big Al !

Marble glue is the glue you use for marble, comes with a hardner, very cheap glue, dries in minutes and strong like a stone, has no effect on the water and the best way to Rock scape. here's an example of the type of glue (I used a local one) -
Tenax S.p.A.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the link. On that page it's showing "Crystal" and "Crystal Liquid". Is that what you used?
 
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