Frizzles7 Red Sea Max S-500

[SPR1968]

Oh man, everything looks great but there's one thing I'd like to warn you about!

I've had plenty of friends run into issues mounting their electronics / control panels / Apex stuff inside the sump area. I've also had friends with no issue whatsoever.. but the few that have had equipment failures due to rust have made me very nervous of equipment down there.

Sorry to come in sounding negative, but be careful with the apex EB8 down there. If you need inspiration for building a cabinet, there's more than a few threads here, and it can be as easy as going to ikea and getting a little cabinet with doors for $20 and mounting it all inside. It can look not-ugly!

@Frizzles7 will confirm but looking at the picture the EB8 is in the dry part of the cabinet (were the power centre normally is) which is separate to the wet sump area in the Max S 500 so it’s completely dry and should be ok. Well it will be ok because it’s normally we’re all the power switches are.

 

[Rakie]

@Frizzles7 will confirm but looking at the picture the EB8 is in the dry part of the cabinet (were the power centre normally is) which is separate to the wet sump area in the Max S 500 so it’s completely dry and should be ok. Well it will be ok because it’s normally we’re all the power switches are.

Awesome, I thought the dry cabinet was only with the 750xl -- don't mind me, just derping along this morning -_-

 

[Frizzles7]

All looking very nice @Frizzles7 !

I think you need to go shopping and fill the beast up! Lol

Exciting times

I so want to shop, but I’m trying to go slow. I also would like my husband not to kill me, so I need to spread the spending of money out!

But I’ve been working on a shopping list while I’m waiting.

 

[Frizzles7]

@Frizzles7 will confirm but looking at the picture the EB8 is in the dry part of the cabinet (were the power centre normally is) which is separate to the wet sump area in the Max S 500 so it’s completely dry and should be ok. Well it will be ok because it’s normally we’re all the power switches are.

Awesome, I thought the dry cabinet was only with the 750xl -- don't mind me, just derping along this morning -_-

I do have it all setup on the dry side. I realize I hadn’t posted a pic of what that all looks like now, so here you go. Please excuse the wires - I haven’t cleaned all that up as I’m still finding things I need to adjust.

Interestingly, I was wondering if the dry side would get humid at all, which is why I put the Apex in the back, where it’s open. I have some pretty good space between the tank and the wall, so I’m hoping that’s plenty of airflow to not have any issues.

 

[Frizzles7]

@Frizzles7
Looking Great and riding along.

Lol!!!
I'm in Murfreesboro and Happy Easter.

Thanks! Happy Easter to you too! I’m in Franklin, so not too far away at all.

 

[najer]

Very nice, following.

 

[Frizzles7]

Here’s an update with coral pics.

Some of my zoas. Green zoas (not sure what kind - came from my LFS) and Darth Mauls.

My red branching cyphastrea, which I think is so cool. It seems to be growing again in the new tank.

Some of my acans. I just love these.

My candy cane coral. My clownfish have taken an interest in this lately. They like to rub their faces in it. I can’t blame them. It looks so fluffy.

My hammer (my personal favorite) and frogspawn.

And here are my two little nubs of SPS. An atomic orange montipora and a tequila sunrise montipora. They almost died in my old tank (don’t think the lights were strong enough) but they are making a comeback now and definitely growing.

 

[Frizzles7]

Got some new additions. Yay!

The pajama cardinals came out of QT.

They are named Mal, Zoe, Wash, Jayne, and Kaylee.

I also added two fire shrimp, a conch, and some Nassarius.

I did try one new coral. The ORA Verde Acro. Polyps started coming out just after a few minutes in the tank after acclimating and dipping. Here’s a pic about 15 minutes after I added it to the tank.

We will see how it goes.

 

[Frizzles7]

Updated pic of my first WWC coral.

#reef2reef #worldwidecorals #mywwccontest

 

[Frizzles7]

I received a large shipment today from Unique Corals. These look even better in person!! Here are some of the new additions.

 

[Frizzles7]

So this was a crazy weekend. First one of my lights went out on Monday of last week. Poof dead. AI shipped me out a new one which arrived late on Friday, and I spent the week moving the remaining lights back and forth so nothing died. New light installed on Saturday and all seems right with the world again.

Except it was time to clean my skimmer. So I pulled the whole thing out and cleaned it all. Pretty gunky. But I don’t think I should have cleaned it all. Maybe I should have just cleaned the pump because now it seems like I’m breaking it in again! Gah! Kicking myself that I just didn’t leave that alone.

 

[SPR1968]

So this was a crazy weekend. First one of my lights went out on Monday of last week. Poof dead. AI shipped me out a new one which arrived late on Friday, and I spent the week moving the remaining lights back and forth so nothing died. New light installed on Saturday and all seems right with the world again.

Except it was time to clean my skimmer. So I pulled the whole thing out and cleaned it all. Pretty gunky. But I don’t think I should have cleaned it all. Maybe I should have just cleaned the pump because now it seems like I’m breaking it in again! Gah! Kicking myself that I just didn’t leave that alone.

The main bit of cleaning the skimmer is to clean out the pump so it doesn’t stop working at a bad time, but having said that I never cleaned the C Skim in over a year, until I replaced it. Mainly because I didn’t now anything about the workings of a pump at the time lol!

I was going to sell it, but thought someone wouldn’t be very impressed with my cleaning skills and it was certainly a bit ‘gunky’! Eventually it went in the bin.

They are very sensitive things skimmers, and its just a matter of maybe turning it down until it stops going crazy.

 

[Frizzles7]

The main bit of cleaning the skimmer is to clean out the pump so it doesn’t stop working at a bad time, but having said that I never cleaned the C Skim in over a year, until I replaced it. Mainly because I didn’t now anything about the workings of a pump at the time lol!

I was going to sell it, but thought someone wouldn’t be very impressed with my cleaning skills and it was certainly a bit ‘gunky’! Eventually it went in the bin.

They are very sensitive things skimmers, and its just a matter of maybe turning it down until it stops going crazy.

I have turned it down (it went crazy when I put it all back together) but it’s much noisier now. I checked that all of the o rings are in place and no extra parts, but it just sounds different. Maybe as it builds up more stuff it will go back to what it sounded like before?

I need it to settle soon, as my husband is none too happy about the additional noise.

 

[SPR1968]

I have turned it down (it went crazy when I put it all back together) but it’s much noisier now. I checked that all of the o rings are in place and no extra parts, but it just sounds different. Maybe as it builds up more stuff it will go back to what it sounded like before?

I need it to settle soon, as my husband is none too happy about the additional noise.

You will probably do what most of us have done and that’s change it. It’s a beast of a thing.

I got about 10 months use out of it so at least it wasn’t a total waste of money but then after researching out it came.

NYOS Quantum 160. Totally silent, simple to use and excellent build quality, and you will be amazed how much space there is when the C Skim comes out!

Don’t worry I’ll spend your money for you !lol

 

[najer]

Nyos 160 here as well, I have an open stand and it is in the sump about 3 feet from my desk chair, it is silent.

 

[Frizzles7]

You will probably do what most of us have done and that’s change it. It’s a beast of a thing.

I got about 10 months use out of it so at least it wasn’t a total waste of money but then after researching out it came.

NYOS Quantum 160. Totally silent, simple to use and excellent build quality, and you will be amazed how much space there is when the C Skim comes out!

Don’t worry I’ll spend your money for you !lol

Nyos 160 here as well, I have an open stand and it is in the sump about 3 feet from my desk chair, it is silent.

I won’t lie. I’ve already looked at the Nyos, and everyone seems to agree on how quiet it is. Do you find the maintenance on it to be easy? Any downsides at all?

I hadn’t had any issues with the Cskim until now, but you may be right. This may be coming out!!

 

[SPR1968]

I won’t lie. I’ve already looked at the Nyos, and everyone seems to agree on how quiet it is. Do you find the maintenance on it to be easy? Any downsides at all?

I hadn’t had any issues with the Cskim until now, but you may be right. This may be coming out!!

The maintenance is very easy and it all comes to pieces very easily and that’s when you will see the best of the build quality. Everything is solid and perfectly made. I put a smear of food grade silicone around the bottom of the cup were it joins the body and it comes of smooth as silk.

I have a large skim mate holder (large plastic tub) for the drain hose and it will last around 2-3 weeks between emptying if I want it to. It’s sealed so no smells or anything.

If you can be bothered take it to pieces when you get it before is gets dirty and you will see (I didn’t as couldn’t be bothered! Lol).

There are no downsides whatsoever from my experience. It’s very easy to dial in and it’s light years ahead of the C Skim there is no comparison.

And the difference in foot print..... it’s like ‘let there be light lol!

And it’s, well, silent....

 

[mike werner]

following along.

 

[GoVols]

I won’t lie. I’ve already looked at the Nyos, and everyone seems to agree on how quiet it is. Do you find the maintenance on it to be easy? Any downsides at all?

I hadn’t had any issues with the Cskim until now, but you may be right. This may be coming out!!

Get the Bubble King Mini 160 and tell @SPR1968 and @najer to eat their NYOS's ....

Besides the C-Skim, how are you liking your S-500?

 

[HolisticBear]

Nyos 160 here as well, I have an open stand and it is in the sump about 3 feet from my desk chair, it is silent.

I have the NYOS 120 and it's quiet and a good skimmer, but definitely not silent. I would say my Reef Octopus Varios-2 return is close to silent, but not the skimmer. Don't notice it during the day, but at night I can tell it's there. It's pretty similar to my gyre for noise.