My First Saltwater Tank! ! RSM C-130 Build

JoshH · Oct 4, 2017

And today is move in day!!! Cycle is complete and after a good sized water change I was (After a lengthy battle) able to move my little guys over to there new home

. They seem to be doing awesome and are exploring away as I type. Next stop (After some coral that is) a new controller but that's probably a Christmas upgrade for now while my little guys get comfy.

JoshH · Oct 4, 2017

Couple of the other inhabitants, now any thoughts on a first coral?

JoshH · Oct 13, 2017

A little lighting and some extra plumbing done, still waiting on some unions to finish up the manifold but sitting back and loving the look.

markstubb · Oct 31, 2017

How do you plan to harvest whatever you're going to grow in the fuge?

Servicing those reactors looks like it will be interesting. Can you get them out with that fuge overhead?

JoshH · Oct 31, 2017

The fuge can be totally drained and it slides out the front in as long as it takes to twist off 2 unions and the sump has the same set up but with 3 unions and a skimmer cup lol, just untwist and pull out, the sump only has to come out 8" from where it sits to completely remove both reactors with room to spare. I also don't currently have any plans to continually run media through the reactor's, that will come later on when I figure out what my media needs really are.

markstubb · Oct 31, 2017

So you have to drain your fuge to harvest any of the chaeto (or whatever else you plan to grow)?

JoshH · Oct 31, 2017

I do yes, that is the one downside to the design but did the best with the space I had. In retrospect I could have hung reactors on the side and had a fuge section in the sump, I wouldn't have been able to use the lifereef reactors though. But hindsight is 20/20, If I'm motivated I can reach over the edge of the fuge and pull cheato out that way but I digress

JoshH · Dec 16, 2017

It's been quite some time since I've had an update and things are going pretty good aside from some endless dino that I've been struggling with which I think are being fed by my sandbed and will hopefully pass in time. Recently set up a new QT which is a little smaller than my previous one but gives me the flexibility to QT corals and fish separately. Currently have a shipment of snails and cheato in the one and the other is cycling, with some rock from my previous QT. Wondering what others suggest for good filtration for these two tanks? Waiting on an AI Prime to come in the mail for proper lighting but other than that.

tdunmore2 · Dec 17, 2017

Do they share the same water?

JoshH · Dec 17, 2017

No they do not, two separate nuvo 10s so fish are separate from any coral or inverts for medicating purposes

markstubb · Dec 17, 2017

Very close for aerosol contamination tho

JoshH · Dec 17, 2017

Interesting, what types of contamination would I need to worry about being transmitted through the air between tanks?

Doing a little digging I've found a few things that should be easily overcome by scheduling my additions into QT properly. The QT is suffiecently spaced away from my DT so that's not an issue.

markstubb · Dec 18, 2017

AFAIK, ich can be spread via aerosol

JoshH · Dec 18, 2017

Ick along with velvet, I did do some digging and I think I'll be okay as long as I schedule new additions appropriately. Thanks for the heads up on that I wouldn't have known about it otherwise!

JoshH · Feb 7, 2018

So it's been quite some time since I last gave an update. I've recently added my first few corals and things seem to be going swimmingly for now aside from a cranky toadstool. I hope that these corals thrive with the stock RSM PC bulbs but if not I have a spare AI Prime HD I will be taking apart to replace one of the PC bulbs with which should be more than sufficient for my stocking needs now and in the future. Sorry for the rough pics, cell phones not the best.

JoshH · Mar 27, 2018

So with some more coral additions on the way I decided to step up the lighting inside my tank. After lots of debate on what type to get I decided to just take what I had and add another. So with a little modification I've managed to get one AI Prime under the hood and will be adding another in the next few days. To do this I removed the back cover on the prime and replaced it with a flat cover made from some spare acrylic I had kicking around. To make sure the light was still mounted solid in the hood I removed two of the threaded inserts from the Primes top cover. I then took a plastic coat hanger (Don't tell the girlfriend) and cut two roughly 1 1/2" pieces off. After sanding each end smooth I drilled a 1/4" hole in one end for the threaded insert to slide in. Pushing the insert in place I then installed them onto the light and slid the makeshift top cover overtop of everything. Once everything was in place I then glued the top cover to the coat hanger pieces and used an elastic band to hold them in place until they dried.

Once the glue dried I inserted the light into the hood and positioned it where I wanted and marked where the two pegs landed. After marking it I removed the light and used superglue gel on the bottom of each peg and where the marking were. Reinserting it back into the hood I lined the pegs up and pushed everything together, holding it in place until the glue set up. Once things were all done I put it all back together and things are running great now. I just need the second one as my tanks pretty dark on one side right now lol which should be here in the next few days.