Hey, assembling the tank is as much fun as setting up the tank. You will miss this fun if your LFS does it for you. I surely had a lot of fun while I was doing mine and maybe you should try it too...
Tim's (lakelivin) RSM 500 build
- Thread starter LakeLivin
- Start date
Hey, assembling the tank is as much fun as setting up the tank. You will miss this fun if your LFS does it for you. I surely had a lot of fun while I was doing mine and maybe you should try it too...
Those screws are part of the fun. Remember the headaches they gave when they broke off and you are left scratching your head as to how to get them out?. Ha ha
LakeLivin
Active Member
Take daily measurements for ammonia, itrite and nitrates
you then will know for sure where your cycle is and when it's completed and ready for the CUC
Pls share with us the measurements
I certainly will... That is the part of having a reef again that I don't enjoy and not looking forward to. I'm still trying to decide on the best/easiest test kit to use, but will be using the Red Sea ones at least in the beginning. I just don't like comparing and trying to decipher subtle color shade differences to get a reading. I'm still looking for a good digital kit that hopefully will take some of the guesswork out of the equation.
LakeLivin
Active Member
Everything is all setup! I'm extremely happy I did not attempt this without some professional help. Here's what I have other than the basic stuff the tank comes with:
APEX w/just about every option they sell
2 little fishy reactors
3 dosing pumps
2 MP40's
Battery backup for pumps
I took a picture of my rockscape, but it's not very clear because the tank has some settling to do yet and has only been up and running for a couple hours now. It's difficult to tell in the picture, but I made lot's of little ledges for corals and there are lot's of openings for fish to swim through and hide in. The sand looks great, but I need to push some of it around a bit because there is more in the front than the back. MP40's are running at about 65% power and with no issues with blowing sand. I can see where the MP40's are creating little waves in the sand so the coverage appears to be excellent. Still have a lot of fine tuning to do to get things perfect, but I'm very pleased so far.
[URL=http://s422.photobucket.com/user/armyranger10/media/photo1.jpg.html]
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APEX w/just about every option they sell
2 little fishy reactors
3 dosing pumps
2 MP40's
Battery backup for pumps
I took a picture of my rockscape, but it's not very clear because the tank has some settling to do yet and has only been up and running for a couple hours now. It's difficult to tell in the picture, but I made lot's of little ledges for corals and there are lot's of openings for fish to swim through and hide in. The sand looks great, but I need to push some of it around a bit because there is more in the front than the back. MP40's are running at about 65% power and with no issues with blowing sand. I can see where the MP40's are creating little waves in the sand so the coverage appears to be excellent. Still have a lot of fine tuning to do to get things perfect, but I'm very pleased so far.
[URL=http://s422.photobucket.com/user/armyranger10/media/photo1.jpg.html]
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Looks great !
jvelkgrove
Member
Looooooking Good!!!
LakeLivin
Active Member
I should have mentioned that the APEX autofeeder almost started a fire. I had it setup and a couple minutes later I smelled burning wires and noticed smoke rising from it. I may just return it for a refund because it appears it will not connect to the RSM display tank. Anyone reading this using one or have info I would love to hear from you.
The APEX itself is awesome! They did not have anything like it when I was last in the hobby that's for sure.
The APEX itself is awesome! They did not have anything like it when I was last in the hobby that's for sure.
LakeLivin
Active Member
I could use some advice on when I should run the lights during the cycle. Also, should I run the 2 reactors now or wait? Same goes for the skimmer, I know there should not be much in the tank for it to clean out at this point, but was wondering if I should try to start fine tuning it or will it be a waste of time without it actually producing waste? Did I mention I love the APEX!! I love being able to control all the lights, pumps, reactors, probes, skimmers etc from the comfort of my chair using my iPhone, iPad or MacBook. I can see what my tank is doing temp, salinity and PH wise wherever I'm at. I have to work on getting email notifications setup and a learn what some of the other stuff means, but so far it's great. Did I mention I love the APEX stuff?
You don't have to run the lights at all while cycling, many don't, but imo it won't hurt either, what I always did, was run them a few hours a day while I was home, so I could enjoy the tank & rock watching, then ramp up the light cycle an hour or two each week. When ever you choose to turn on the lights, you will have some "new tank algae" explosion, it will run it's course & after the cycle completes your cuc of snails will handle it.
Same with the skimmer, depending on the state of the LR & how much die off it has, I always ran mine a few hours a day to break in it, this will take a couple weeks & it may not produce much, all depends on the bioload produced from the LR from almost none to quite a bit depending on how cured the LR was to start with.
Here a great :read: from RS member prow - don't let the "newbies" in the title throw you, it is an excellent read, I have read many times, on cycling and what's happening in your tank at start up.
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums...something-cycling-breaking-new-reef-tank.html
Same with the skimmer, depending on the state of the LR & how much die off it has, I always ran mine a few hours a day to break in it, this will take a couple weeks & it may not produce much, all depends on the bioload produced from the LR from almost none to quite a bit depending on how cured the LR was to start with.
Here a great :read: from RS member prow - don't let the "newbies" in the title throw you, it is an excellent read, I have read many times, on cycling and what's happening in your tank at start up.
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums...something-cycling-breaking-new-reef-tank.html
I have the RSM 250, so others will have to advise... but in general running a new skimmer is getting a slime coat built up on it & to start, a warm water and vinegar bath to remove any oils from the plastic is not a bad idea either. You won't go wrong here... you can run it from day one all the time if you want, it won't hurt or slow your cycle imo.
another good read... from Dr. Mac a RS sponsor & owner of Pacific East Aqua Culture
http://www.pacificeastaquaculture.com/curing_rock.asp
another good read... from Dr. Mac a RS sponsor & owner of Pacific East Aqua Culture
http://www.pacificeastaquaculture.com/curing_rock.asp
Mdk16
Member
Hey Tim, the tank looks great. Regarding the skimmer, it won't truly start skimming until there is enough waste/bioload in the system for it to skim. Over the next month or so you will most likely have to play with the settings. It will take a few days to break in, then as your water quality changes and you introduce more life, additives and waste you will have to readjust. Small adjustments go a long way with this skimmer and make sure after you tweak it you check back frequently as what looked right one minute most likely will be overskimming the next. It took me about a week to dial it in and then another 2-3 months of adjusting periodically to produce the most skim. I believe I have it just right now, only took me since July.
Good luck, my other suggestion is to get the overflow dialed in first and then work on the skimmer. Once you turn on the skimmer and open the main valve you will have to readjust the overflow and then work on the skimmer. As they share a pump, one obviously effects the other.
Good luck, my other suggestion is to get the overflow dialed in first and then work on the skimmer. Once you turn on the skimmer and open the main valve you will have to readjust the overflow and then work on the skimmer. As they share a pump, one obviously effects the other.
Choff
Well-Known Member
Glad you like the apex. I love mine. Check out the ORP probe. I'm a big fan. Its more of a trending tool, but on more than a few occasions it has let me know when things were not quite right.
As for the feeder, what version of the OS are you running right now? Neptune is rolling out a lot of new updates for the pending upgrade they have coming for the new Web interface. It could be related.
...stupid auto correct
As for the feeder, what version of the OS are you running right now? Neptune is rolling out a lot of new updates for the pending upgrade they have coming for the new Web interface. It could be related.
...stupid auto correct