65g RedSeaMax250... I want to be a reef when I grow up.....

[CoralGarden]

Hi everyone...

New to the boards and recently posted about happily coming back into the hobby after purchasing the "all in one" Red Sea Max... Well we started our cycle recently with some cured rock... and thanks to a very local and wonderful member, :-* our cycling is going quite well...not much of a cycle actually.. ;D

We are still taking it slow and have just a few snails, hermits and one darling Emerald for some excitement ! Hoping to add our first fish friends soon...

So as I had said originally, the stand is great, real solid, and the tank is really nice the way the glass is molded into curved edges, makes it feel so seamless. I decided against putting on the doors, too modern for my style. I think it looks okay without them... ??? Oh how I wish it came in cherry....

Everything has it's own compartment on top, the heater, skimmer, filters, plugs, etc. and went together easily, though I am not sure how to get this skimmer working.. I never was good at that...

A little rock from here... a little from there..... and off we go..

So now it's been a little over a week... and away we go... just a few critters making the place homey for the fish... I have blinds being delivered next week because the only place I had a good spot for it was my sunroom, which was all plants no window treatments, so it's getting sun in the morning, & getting algae on the glass... I guess the snails will like it.. ???

I still may add more rock, build it up some more.....so far it's about 45 pounds, looks like less to me though ???... Not sure where I am going as far as looks yet, I go back and forth between solid rock wall vs. cavernous...

Anyway, just wanted to get a few pics up... suggestions welcome...

 

[onefish2fish]

very nice and very clean.

i suggest more live rock (as you know this is most of your filtration) and investing in an RO/DI unit in this months air,water,ice group buy. it beats having to carry around jugs of water and will save in the long run.

 

[CoralGarden]

Thanks, yes I agree about the rock, the more I look at the pics, the more I see the need.....

are you talking about the MAX50 that is on the group buy link ?? It says under the sink... so does that make the faucet water RO ?? ??? I am clueless.... used to doing the jug thing....

Lori

 

[onefish2fish]

air water ice makes all sorts of RO units. the under the sink thing sounds like an entire house unit. i figure since this months buy is from this company it would be a good time to pick up a unit to save on trips of getting water and the cost. if the jug thing is working for you by all means do what works, i just figure in a year or so an RO unit will pay for itself.

 

[Hirobo]

Thats a really nice setup i like it very clean

 

[JohnS_323]

Looks great, Lori. I'm looking forward to following your progress. You've got me sold on that Red Sea Max. I like it a lot and it really looks great with doors off.

 

[albie611]

if you dont mind.....where did yoy purchase it and price...im looking fo something the same size and would like to look at it in person instead of buying on line.

ps looks good , i 2nd the vote on more rock......happy reefing .al

 

[CoralGarden]

onefish2fish~ No I definitely hear ya on the sense of buying one.... I will have to research a bit... our closest R/O place is about a half hour away so it would surely pay itself off.

Hirobo~ Thanks !

JohnS_323~ Thanks as well... If I had gotten the non ridge doors, I might have considered putting them on, but the ones it came with are way to modern for me...

albie611~ I bought it at Tropaquarium in Ocean.. I believe it was $1400, but cant find the receipt right now... I'll keep looking......They had one out of the box, it was the smaller version, but you can still get a feel for it... online people comparing the two seem to like the 65g's inner's better... Let me know what you think when you check it out

 

[CoralGarden]

Hey again...

Just wanted to continue the tale.....

As suggested I've added some more rock, about 45 lbs... (Thanks again Phyllis! :-* ) I now have a descent sized wall towards the rear glass now with lots of spaces for circulation....and left enough room for our future Tang to do laps..... I left the partial conch in there because the clowns seem to think it's there anemone or something...so I felt bad removing it... The CUC is doing a fine job... and we also have two Skunk Shrimp in there. I let my son hold a fleck of flake between his fingers and he was smiling ear to ear when one of them climbed onto his and and grabbed it .. They are fun to watch.

We decided to add 3 small fish, a fire and a pair of False Percula's..... My readings were all good, then the other day I tested a low reading of Nitrites/Ammonia , it hasn't gone up or down the past 3 days... Nitrates are 0....... not sure if it's from the fish or what... I have to admit that the protein skimmer is still not running perfect... but how much waste could these 3 little guys make at this point ??? I am not overfeeding, so I'm a little confused.

??? Any suggestions?? a water change perhaps ? or should I just test daily and make sure it drops ??

Thanks for reading.....

 

[onefish2fish]

IMO your going way to fast. the tank was empty a week ago, the skimmer isnt working well yet because it for one needs to run for a week or two to build up a slime to skim properly and there isnt much bioload yet.
slow and steady wins the race.

anyways, its coming along good. a water change wouldnt hurt anything. you may want to also test the water your adding prior to adding it. i think ive read somewhere that someone got it with ammonia or nitrite or something but im not sure. regardless your rock was still having die off and your seeing the results of that.

 

[JohnS_323]

Ordinarilly I would agree with Jon (that you are going too fast) but knowing that your rock came directly from a well established system I think you're OK. You might be seeing a small rise due to some slight die off on the rock that occurred on the ride from our house to yours . . . ya know, all 2 minutes of it!

I have done quite a few "instant start-ups" using established live rock. I never really tested parameters but was always successful. I'd recommend leaving things just the way they are with the exception of maybe doing a water change. Those numbers should come down in no time. Once the system has had a chance to go for a while I'm sure your skimmer will start producing gunk for you.

 

[onefish2fish]

didnt know it was from an established tank. i'd still do the water change as inverts are sensitive to those readings.

 

[CoralGarden]

Hi Jon

& JohnS... (didn't realize that it was you.. Thanks again also! )

Well I agree that I am going a little fast..... but things were testing good..... as JohnS has mentioned, the die off really would be very minimal, it was out of the water very briefly.... Almost all my rock is from the same established system, so it came with a good bio-load.. I think it's been 3 weeks also, not that it makes a difference at this point....

I will test my purchased RO water for ammonia etc. that would be pretty bad if I filled my tank with contaminated water..

How many gallons do you suggest for the W/T ?

Lori

 

[JRWOHLER]

I think you should be OK too. I would do 10 gallons ish should be good. If you have bio balls in that back chamber you might be generating something? Could it be your test kit is crappy? Looks good though that is some nice rock you added.

 

[onefish2fish]

yea bio balls, sponges, filters of the sort trap debris and detritus causing an increase in excess nutrients.

 

[CoralGarden]

James~ Thanks I love the rock too.

I do have the bioball type media that came with the tank... they look like rigatoni pasta, but thicker and there is a big sponge that was part of it too??.... The test kit is ok. Do you think I should remove that media ?? Replace with LR ? I hate to mess with it, as it supposed to be a good system as is...

 

[jerzsky]

remove it! bio ball media and sponge like said just traps debris, and will eventually foul up ur water! everyonce and a while i run some filter floss just to clear the water after im messing with stuff. but besides that, some lr, some chaeto, and ur skimmer would be perfect! just make sure to have a bright light for the chaeto.

 

[CoralGarden]

Thanks Jerzsky... Ya, maybe I'll replace the media........ I will have to get more LR from my "local store" on Knightsbridge.. LOL ;D

I think I found part of the nitrite rise issue.. I had put the fine particle cartridge in the other day after rearranging rock to catch the debris.. It's just for a quick water refining... well I never took it out so it was full of a few days of gunk !

 

[JRWOHLER]

I would remove all the media if you can. I liked having a refugium in my nano but it was only 24 G vs your 65 G. If you can figure a way to run a light in the back chamber with cheato as a refugium that is great. I would sort of assume that you could run the tank as a "nano", even though it isn't obviously, since it is a self contained unit. Good luck with all of it.
James

 

[jerzsky]

i know on the nano cubes, and i think the bio cubes, you can cut the black backing they have on the back of the tank, and ive seen people mount a light right to the back of the tank. or you could go here www.mediabaskets.com steve has submersable lights for refugiums.