Updating a Red Sea Max Need Help

[Huly]

Hi

 

Not everyone knows but Pez and I have experienced a tank crash. We have lost most of our fish but our coral are still going strong. We are looking for ways to improve our tank while it is fishless for the next 4-6 weeks.

 

Here is what we have:

 

RED SEA MAX 250

 

http://www.redseamax...x_specs250.html

 

 

Behind the wall in our family room where it sits is an office. We would like to set up a refgium in the office and run it through the wall into the Red Sea Max. We have never built one of these and we are not sure what or how to do it on a RSM 250. Any thoughts or suggestions? Pros or Cons? How can we connect it to the RSM?

 

Thanks!

 

 

Edited November 1, 2012 by Huly

[Muddy357]

I have a 15 gallon tank made into a sump that would work for a fuge for you it has the baffles installed. Let me know if you want it.

[nbgen12]

Not too sure how to plumb one into that setup, but i have a 40g breeder which is a nice fuge size, if you need a tank for it.

 

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[BowieReefer84]

What made your fish die that 4-6 weeks is a long enough period to run tank fallow?

[Origami]

Personally, I don't like overflow boxes as I think they can be failure prone, but here's one RSM250 that was retrofitted with an Eshopps PF-300:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j32WbydqiKk

 

Here's the Youtube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j32WbydqiKk

 

Here's another resource thread on Reef Central:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2143092

[Huly]

What made your fish die that 4-6 weeks is a long enough period to run tank fallow?

 

We are not 100% sure there are a few possibilities. Ich, Marine Velvet, our nitrates spiked in a week, Fin rot or being picked on for one of my jawfish. There are a lot of questions right now but on Saturday we still had 4 clowns and 3 chromis, the others died the night before. Started a copper treatment in a QT tank and now only have 1 clown and 3 chromis. All others died without any definite signs of anything. (1 clown did look fuzzy, we did have one issue with Ich, and the 1 jawfish did have a right fin ragged) Within a week our nitrates spiked from 0-40 (but we did loose a few fish in the DT and some say that it might be that) Also we might have gotten a bad dose of water from an not so good LFS (Salinity was super low when we tested it after we added it. We tried to correct it but being new or being from a bad LFS we are not sure.

[Huly]

Personally, I don't like overflow boxes as I think they can be failure prone, but here's one RSM250 that was retrofitted with an Eshopps PF-300:

 

Here's the Youtube link:

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=j32WbydqiKk

 

Here's another resource thread on Reef Central:

http://www.reefcentr...d.php?t=2143092

 

 

Will check those out. You do not think our system would benefit from an extra clean up with better protein skimmer, maybe a UV steralizer, and some of that green plant stuff (can't think of name)

[Huly]

We will need a tank so thank you guys but I am not sure on what size would be best.

[Origami]

Will check those out. You do not think our system would benefit from an extra clean up with better protein skimmer, maybe a UV steralizer, and some of that green plant stuff (can't think of name)

I think it can benefit. I'm just cautious about hang-on-back (HOB) overflows. Many people still use them, though. The reliability of any HOB overflow depends on maintaining siphon to get the water over the tank edge. Break that siphon and the return pump will continue filling the main tank until it either runs dry or begins to overflow the main tank, in which case it will continue doing so until it also runs dry.

[Origami]

An Avast ATO could possibly be used to turn off the return pump if the level got too high in the main tank, though.

[BowieReefer84]

If it was Ich you want to run the display tank fallow for 8 weeks min. 12 being ideal. I say this not to derail your topic, but b/c I am going through the same ordeal right now and just looking out.

 

back on topic...

[nbgen12]

I highly recommend the overflow(cant remember the name off hand) which uses an aqualifter pump to keep the siphon after an outage. It is great, as long as you leave room in the sump for the back siphon which wouldn't be bad in the rsm tank.

 

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[surf&turf]

I highly recommend the overflow(cant remember the name off hand) which uses an aqualifter pump to keep the siphon after an outage. It is great, as long as you leave room in the sump for the back siphon which wouldn't be bad in the rsm tank.

 

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CPR

[Jon Lazar]

Hi

 

Not everyone knows but Pez and I have experienced a tank crash. We have lost most of our fish but our coral are still going strong. We are looking for ways to improve our tank while it is fishless for the next 4-6 weeks.

 

Behind the wall in our family room where it sits is an office. We would like to set up a refgium in the office and run it through the wall into the Red Sea Max. We have never built one of these and we are not sure what or how to do it on a RSM 250. Any thoughts or suggestions? Pros or Cons? How can we connect it to the RSM?

 

Thanks!

 

Sorry to hear you lost your fish!

 

If your goal is to add a refugium in the adjacent room, I would place the fuge above the height of your RSM. Then use a small pump to lift water from the RSM into the fuge, and an internal overflow in the fuge to drain back into the RSM. IMO this would be less prone to spillage.

 

As far as other ways to improve your tank, you could add a media rack from media baskets, and an ATO. (I have a Tunze and am disappointed with the accuracy.) A tunze 9002 with a custom skimmer cup is another common upgrade for the RSM.

 

Good luck!

 

Jon

[Huly]

Thank you everyone.

 

Any idea how to connect something like this to our tank?

[Sharkey18]

I have a smaller RSM. 34g.

Most of the equipment is comes with is insufficient IMO especially the skimmer and I have found that modding it in any way is a pain in the neck.

 

I now use mine as a QT.

 

Also if most of your fish died in one night, that is very suspicious. I would suspect some nasty contaminant over disease. Disease will kill everyone but not usually at the same exact time....

[Origami]

Laura, the disease was either brooklynella or oodynium. I actually visited a few days before the die-off and noted the white-haze developing on some of the darker clowns and, upon closer, inspection on several of the other fish. At the time, the chromis were looking OK. As you know, once you can see it covering their body, the disease has progressed a long way and it's often too late.

[dandy7200]

My suggestion here is to add a second tank in the office. I won't call it a sump because by definition it wouldn't be. This second tank should be placed higher in elevation than your RSM. So, if your RSM water level is 60" from the floor, then your second tank water level should be 70" above the floor.

 

 

Second tank has 2 chambers, one for skimmer and one for refugium. The back of this tank is drilled and fitted with a bulkhead so the water flows out of it, down hill, through the wall, and finally to your RSM back chamber. Then simply add a very small powerhead like a maxijet 400 or even a minijet to pump water from your RSM to the second tank.

 

There are some finer details that you would need to implement to ensure this worked perfectly and safely but that part is simply trial and error with some simple plumbing fiddling.

 

[Huly]

My suggestion here is to add a second tank in the office. I won't call it a sump because by definition it wouldn't be. This second tank should be placed higher in elevation than your RSM. So, if your RSM water level is 60" from the floor, then your second tank water level should be 70" above the floor.

 

 

Second tank has 2 chambers, one for skimmer and one for refugium. The back of this tank is drilled and fitted with a bulkhead so the water flows out of it, down hill, through the wall, and finally to your RSM back chamber. Then simply add a very small powerhead like a maxijet 400 or even a minijet to pump water from your RSM to the second tank.

 

There are some finer details that you would need to implement to ensure this worked perfectly and safely but that part is simply trial and error with some simple plumbing fiddling.

 

Do you think something like this would work?

[Origami]

Do you think something like this would work?

Yes. But the tank in the back room has to have a water level that's higher than the water level in the RSM. (Not necessarily hugely so, but it should be higher.) This would put things like your heaters, an in-sump skimmer, etc. at a height where you would probably want to have a small ladder handy. Ideally, the plumbing should all be above the entry point into the RSM, too, in order to keep any detritus from clogging the plumbing at a low spot. This would keep you from having to use an overflow box as you'll drill the other tank.