Back In The Hobby With A RedSea 130D

Lester Verano · Mar 9, 2023

I'm back to the hobby after getting my butt kicked the first time out. I found a RedSea Max 130D in excellent shape and got a great bundle deal. So much a good deal in fact, I'd say I recuperated from the losses I took in my first year in the hobby, and came out on top and then some.

I lost a lot of fish during my first year, and believe a lot of it was due to stress I caused combined with some really disgusting rock I bought on Craig'sList. I remember the rock was almost black in color. I bought about 40 or 60 pounds of it from a closed down 60 gallon cube, which the rock probably sat in its murky filth water until sold to me. Being new to the hobby I never gave it much thought, but looking back I'll bet the rock leached out ammonia into my water, thus stressing out and killing my fish. I lost many fish to velvet, which I believe derived from the rock and stress from poor water conditions.

I'm happy to say I am testing all water parameters now, and working with only new happy purple and pink rock, and I'm hoping I might be on the path to success. Much better equipment and knowledge in my hands now than I had before. I still have tons to learn, but I know enough to be happy in the hobby for now. I just need to know if there is any particular existing thread where people talk about their RedSea Max 130D aquariums, and share pictures and stuff like that. Thanks. Lester.

Reefahholic · Mar 9, 2023

Welcome back man!

xsnys · Mar 16, 2023

Would love to see some pictures of the tank! I have a C-130 myself and used to have a 130d. I love these tanks. They really feel like a completely contained system, closed off from the elements.

I attached a photo of mine. I just started an anemone tank with some 5 year old (rather pest-free) liverock I got locally. I retrofitted a Radion XR30 G3 Pro Inside.

Gumbies R Us · Mar 16, 2023

Welcome back to the hobby!!!

Lester Verano · Mar 16, 2023

xsnys said:
Would love to see some pictures of the tank! I have a C-130 myself and used to have a 130d. I love these tanks. They really feel like a completely contained system, closed off from the elements.

I attached a photo of mine. I just started an anemone tank with some 5 year old (rather pest-free) liverock I got locally. I retrofitted a Radion XR30 G3 Pro Inside.

Awesome, thanks for the pic upload! I have the black version 130D. I bought it with a phenomenal upgrade already done with Steve's LEDS and a Bluefish WiFi controller. I hated to do it, but I removed the top OG lid an installed a Kessil 360x, which I feel I like better because of the shimmer. The Steve's LEDS though I believe have the ability to synchronize with live Fiji weather, and with a bluetooth speaker you can get live real time thunderstorms and sounds of rain as it storms over your tank. I'm kind of torn over if I want the Kessil on there or the OG lid. I would probably not have to do as many top offs with the OG lid, but I'll bet my temperature will almost require a chiller in the summer months if I do use the OG.

I have two bags of porous media in the first chamber, and I use an upgrade media basket from "InTank" next to where the skimmer would be. I have carbon, floss, and poly filter in that thing. I run a 10 watt uv light, and that is it. I dose a little of this and that, but nothing too heavy handed. Never do too much they say. Eheim heater like yours. No skimmer. Copepods and phytoplankton now and then for my 3 fish. Lots of Zoas coming soon. I will for sure add pics soon! Thank you for sharing!

Lester Verano · Mar 19, 2023

drolmaeye · Mar 19, 2023

Lester Verano said:

Looking good. Great looking zoas, and I'm a big fan of Kole tangs.

xsnys · Mar 20, 2023

Lester Verano said:
Awesome, thanks for the pic upload! I have the black version 130D. I bought it with a phenomenal upgrade already done with Steve's LEDS and a Bluefish WiFi controller. I hated to do it, but I removed the top OG lid an installed a Kessil 360x, which I feel I like better because of the shimmer. The Steve's LEDS though I believe have the ability to synchronize with live Fiji weather, and with a bluetooth speaker you can get live real time thunderstorms and sounds of rain as it storms over your tank. I'm kind of torn over if I want the Kessil on there or the OG lid. I would probably not have to do as many top offs with the OG lid, but I'll bet my temperature will almost require a chiller in the summer months if I do use the OG.

I have two bags of porous media in the first chamber, and I use an upgrade media basket from "InTank" next to where the skimmer would be. I have carbon, floss, and poly filter in that thing. I run a 10 watt uv light, and that is it. I dose a little of this and that, but nothing too heavy handed. Never do too much they say. Eheim heater like yours. No skimmer. Copepods and phytoplankton now and then for my 3 fish. Lots of Zoas coming soon. I will for sure add pics soon! Thank you for sharing!

I just saw this reply but awesome to hear. I did run my very first 130D without the lid as well until I sold it. I do prefer my current c130 with the lid as it helps with evaporation. Haven't had any issues with heat yet. The tank stays between 77-78 degrees.

I also don't run a skimmer on mine. Never have on any of my tanks and probably never will haha. I like to keep things as simple as possible as well.