Red Sea 130D AIO

[redfishbluefish]

Here's my recommendation: Put down some tape where you want the hole. Draw a circle that represents the hole (trace the Kessil using a Sharpie). Now either cut out the majority of the hole with a hole saw or cut out the majority of the hole using a saber saw. Cut close to the line, but not right on it. Now use a power rasp to take away the needed plastic, right up to the line. Sand to make it look pretty.

Here's what I have.....a 3 1/2 inch hole saw, and two power rasps. Hope this helps.

 

[Trio91]

Perfect, thanx for the tip Paul. I'll pick one up at harbor freight as there is one down the block from me. I'll tackle this, this coming weekend. I'll keep everyone posted

 

[mnat]

I think that was the reason we did not setup the basket and passed it along. If we had kept the tank long term (we gave it to Karen when we won a tank at MACNA), we would have replaced the skimmer and run the basket. The baskets really do help.

 

[Trio91]

I think that was the reason we did not setup the basket and passed it along. If we had kept the tank long term (we gave it to Karen when we won a tank at MACNA), we would have replaced the skimmer and run the basket. The baskets really do help.

well, as long as i am not the only who couldn't figure it out, at this point i am going to look into getting that tunze skimmer this way i can keep the media basket

 

[Trio91]

on a side note, before i cut into this hood to install the led light, i did some research on replacing the entire hood. RS reached out to me and said that they do carry that hood and to replace it with: stock hood, t5 light fixture (with everything in it) as well as the fans would be $225.00 <- assuming that's minus the tax + shipping.

so now i am going to do some thinking and by the end of this week, i am going to decide on what to do with this thing. i am contemplating on this because i have always wanted to try a different lighting source other than LED's

 

[Juano908]

Looking good Marcus, let me know if you might need some help.

Sent from my LGLS751 using Tapatalk

 

[mnat]

How many bulbs would it come with and what size are they?

 

[Trio91]

Looking good Marcus, let me know if you might need some help.

Sent from my LGLS751 using Tapatalk

Thanx juan

 

[Trio91]

How many bulbs would it come with and what size are they?

2x t5 compact lights, I believe they are 12"

 

[redfishbluefish]

My personal opinion.....if they are compact fluorescent bulbs, I think you'd be better off going LED. You can get a kit for less than the cost of the compact hood.....and even less if you DIY it.

 

[mnat]

I agree with Paul, those aren't really T5 bulbs, they are T12 bulbs which are shorter. There are not a lot of bulb options out there for them, and they are not really wide spread in the hobby. Also, 2 of them aren't really going to be suitable for much, were the kessil you already have a light that can keep just about anything in that tank. I love the Kessil we hung on our tank and I think you will be happy with it. The other big thing with an AOI tank is heat, and the T12 will add heat where the kessil really won't.

 

[Trio91]

alright cool...thanx for the info guys

i also have decided to upgrade the skimmer for this tank. i did some more research and found that the tunze 9002 skimmer was a perfect match with this that would allow me to also have the media basket in the rear. Well it turned out that this particular skimmer has been been discontinued (along with this tank) so what i ended up buying was the Tunze Comline DOC Protein Skimmer 9001.

now i know this is a small skimmer but:

the rear chamber is deep but it is not wide. the T-9002 was about 2.1'w and total width of the rear chamber is a little less than 3". The T-9004 which is rated for 65gal measures in at 3.5'w. So my alternative was to go with the 9001 which should fit snugly in at 2.5" w (it's rated for up to 37gal) ....so we'll see what happens, the reviews seemed pretty good on this skimmer

Will post pix when it comes in

 

[redfishbluefish]

I was never crazy about the 9002. The Comline series is a better skimmer in my eye. I most recently had the 9004 and was very happy.

 

[Trio91]

I was never crazy about the 9002. The Comline series is a better skimmer in my eye. I most recently had the 9004 and was very happy.

That's actually good to hear being the in have never used anything tunze

 

[Trio91]

so an update:

today I decided to mount my light fixture on the hood. after taking the advice from my esteemed colleagues on this site, I decided to mount my kessil A360we onto this hood.

for the most part the process was very straight forward. 1st I traced around the light fixture with some white chalk, drilled a pilot hole with my step bit, then just cut outwards towards the edge of my circle with my jig saw.

 

[Trio91]

I didn't take a pic of my cutting with my jig, but fast forwarding this here is a top shot with the hole cut out

 

[Trio91]

with the hard part done, I now needed to figure out how to suspend this puck. so, what I did was just leave on the plastic light cover that mounts tank-side, and just dropped it in

 

[Trio91]

and now here Is the FTS with the new light installed, looks pretty good if you ask me



all whites



blues

 

[Trio91]

now its a waiting game, basically as soon as the skimmer arrives, ill install it, fill it with sand, aqua-scape and then water. so I am assuming the latest by next weekend

 

[njtiger24 aquariums]

looking good