Red Sea Max 130 (34-gal) build thread

GvineReefer · 12/09/2010, 08:55 PM

Hey guys, I picked up a used RSM 130 2 weekends ago and am beginning my build. It was in worse shape than I thought, so over the past week I've been ordering new parts and getting ready for my build. I received the rock Monday night and started playing around. I requested small to medium sized pieces of rock due to the size of the RSM, but I think they sent me some fairly big pieces. I haven't decided if I will take a hammer to them or not, so let me know what you think. The whole tower idea seems to be put to rest, as I'm not sure I can create what I was envisioning with the large rocks I have. Part of me wants to break them up, and the other wants to make do with what I have. Decisions, decisions. I've heard mixed reviews on the black sand, but I really like it, so I'm going to give it a shot. I'll let you know how it goes.

Here is the black bags of sand I picked up yesterday:

Here is the rock fresh out of the bag

I made a few structures outside of the tank, then tried one inside. What do you think?

What do you guys think of the structures so far? I'm still playing around, but I like a few of these. I want room on the sand bed for LPS (brains, scolly's, lobo's, wellso's, etc.), so I'm liking the ones with more room in the front left hand side of the tank. The rest of my parts will be here Monday, so I'm going to take a few days to play with it before I commit. If you see something that would improve the look, let me know. I'm always open for options/opinions...

Another question: Has anyone used the pre-wired superflux LED's and replaced the moon lights in a RSM? I'm thinking of taking apart the hood and making 4 new holes, and replace the current moon lights, for a total of 6 of these superflux lights. I haven't ordered them yet, but definitely considering it...

http://www.oznium.com/marine-led-floodlight/photos

Or the pre-wired regular LED's??

http://www.oznium.com/prewired-leds

geezers11 · 12/09/2010, 09:33 PM

Liking the landscaping. I know many like a certain amount of lbs of LR but some are using less and liking it more. It does leave room for more of the "good stuff." Keep the posts coming.

GvineReefer · 12/29/2010, 10:44 PM

A few updates.

Goodies

Upgraded skimmer to Tunze 9002, inTank media basket and skimmer cup. Good skimmate after 5-10 mins.

Beginning of cycle

LED mod

And FTS with new LED's only.

I'm 3 weeks in and things are going well. Hoping to add a fish after the new year and a week after my first water change. I'll be watching the params to make sure she's ready. I plan to do only softies and LPS, so this should be a fun little tank. The LED mod was cheap and easy and made with LED's from Oznium.com. Took very little time and I'm more than happy with how they turned out. They don't provide any additional color with the stock lighting on (at least not to my eye), but they definitely give me something to look forward to at the dusk/dawn times.

I'll update as things progress...

Korrine · 02/08/2011, 11:10 AM

looks good! Anything new?

I'm now pondering getting one of these. Are you happy with it still?

JLillie · 02/14/2011, 11:57 PM

Looking good, I too got a used 130 from a friend. Looks like it hasn't been used in a year or more.

Anyway, was wondering if you could do a short write up on the LEDs? I'm looking to do a conversion.

GvineReefer · 02/15/2011, 11:12 PM

This isn't a full LED conversion. I added 8 individual LED's for pure actinic purposes. I don't mind going back through how I did it if that is what you are looking for. The LED's I added are not used for PAR and you can't really tell they are on when the main lights are on. I did the mod to have a good sunrise/sunset affect. Let me know and I'll go into more detail.

Korrine · 02/16/2011, 09:01 AM

You have an updated photo of the tank?

driftsafari · 02/28/2011, 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GvineReefer

This isn't a full LED conversion. I added 8 individual LED's for pure actinic purposes. I don't mind going back through how I did it if that is what you are looking for. The LED's I added are not used for PAR and you can't really tell they are on when the main lights are on. I did the mod to have a good sunrise/sunset affect. Let me know and I'll go into more detail.

Im interested in how you did it. Im looking to add a few more led's for "moonlighting"

GvineReefer · 03/01/2011, 12:24 AM

It's actually really simple. You just have to be comfortable with drilling a few small holes in the part of your hood that faces the water. I bought the LED's from Oznium, found a drill bit that fit the head of the LED's, and drilled. I super glued the LED's on the inside of the hood, so on the underside, all you see is the LED's heads. I tied all of the LED's into each other and put them on a separate power supply and timer. They are on from an hour before to an hour after my main lights. You can't tell they are on when the main lights are on, but they look great when on by themselves. This was my first "custom" job of any kind on the RSM, so I was a bit nervous as well. It really is very simple though, and now I laugh at how nervous I was. It only took about an hour to do and it worked out really well in my opinion.

Check out the pic's up top for reference. If you'll look at the pic with the guts of the hood showing, you'll see the extra wires coming out. Follow them and you'll see where I placed the LED's. I added a total of 8; 6 in the actual hood and 2 on the other side of the light reflector from the stock moon lights. These are the LED's I ordered:

http://www.oznium.com/prewired-superflux

Oh, and as far as an update on the tank goes, I ended up giving the RSM to my dad who wanted to get into the hobby. I have a 90 gal and it keeps me busy, so I wasn't paying enough attention to the RSM. He wanted to try it out, so I gave him the RSM instead of making him spend a bunch of money trying to get into the hobby. He loves it to say the least, and currently has a custom 120 gal on order. I'll be out at my parents house in a few weeks and I'll update this thread with the new stuff we've done to it at his house now. It's pretty cool to be able to hang out with my dad and be able to share the same interests. Heck, my mom loves it too. She's all about adding a ton of coral, lol. They've got frogspawn, torch, brain, acans, devils finger leather, nuclear green paly's, and a few other small stuff I've given them. It's not looking too shabby for some newbies, lol.

12/09/2010, 08:55 PM	#1
GvineReefer Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Republic of Texas Posts: 175	Red Sea Max 130 (34-gal) build thread Hey guys, I picked up a used RSM 130 2 weekends ago and am beginning my build. It was in worse shape than I thought, so over the past week I've been ordering new parts and getting ready for my build. I received the rock Monday night and started playing around. I requested small to medium sized pieces of rock due to the size of the RSM, but I think they sent me some fairly big pieces. I haven't decided if I will take a hammer to them or not, so let me know what you think. The whole tower idea seems to be put to rest, as I'm not sure I can create what I was envisioning with the large rocks I have. Part of me wants to break them up, and the other wants to make do with what I have. Decisions, decisions. I've heard mixed reviews on the black sand, but I really like it, so I'm going to give it a shot. I'll let you know how it goes. Here is the black bags of sand I picked up yesterday: Here is the rock fresh out of the bag I made a few structures outside of the tank, then tried one inside. What do you think? What do you guys think of the structures so far? I'm still playing around, but I like a few of these. I want room on the sand bed for LPS (brains, scolly's, lobo's, wellso's, etc.), so I'm liking the ones with more room in the front left hand side of the tank. The rest of my parts will be here Monday, so I'm going to take a few days to play with it before I commit. If you see something that would improve the look, let me know. I'm always open for options/opinions... Another question: Has anyone used the pre-wired superflux LED's and replaced the moon lights in a RSM? I'm thinking of taking apart the hood and making 4 new holes, and replace the current moon lights, for a total of 6 of these superflux lights. I haven't ordered them yet, but definitely considering it... http://www.oznium.com/marine-led-floodlight/photos Or the pre-wired regular LED's?? http://www.oznium.com/prewired-leds __________________ GvineReefer Current Tank Info: 120-gal tank/sump from Planet Aquarium, 2xMP40W ES, Apex Lite, Reef Octopus XP2000SSS, NextReef SMR1 bio-pellet reactor, BRS carbon reactor, Mag7 for manifold, QuietOne 5000 return, Bubble Magus doser, 48" TEK 8-bulb T5's, DJ Power Switch

12/29/2010, 10:44 PM	#3
GvineReefer Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Republic of Texas Posts: 175	A few updates. Goodies Upgraded skimmer to Tunze 9002, inTank media basket and skimmer cup. Good skimmate after 5-10 mins. Beginning of cycle LED mod And FTS with new LED's only. I'm 3 weeks in and things are going well. Hoping to add a fish after the new year and a week after my first water change. I'll be watching the params to make sure she's ready. I plan to do only softies and LPS, so this should be a fun little tank. The LED mod was cheap and easy and made with LED's from Oznium.com. Took very little time and I'm more than happy with how they turned out. They don't provide any additional color with the stock lighting on (at least not to my eye), but they definitely give me something to look forward to at the dusk/dawn times. I'll update as things progress... __________________ GvineReefer Current Tank Info: 120-gal tank/sump from Planet Aquarium, 2xMP40W ES, Apex Lite, Reef Octopus XP2000SSS, NextReef SMR1 bio-pellet reactor, BRS carbon reactor, Mag7 for manifold, QuietOne 5000 return, Bubble Magus doser, 48" TEK 8-bulb T5's, DJ Power Switch

02/08/2011, 11:10 AM	#4
Korrine You could get a ticket!! Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Upper midwest Posts: 4,288 Blog Entries: 1	looks good! Anything new? I'm now pondering getting one of these. Are you happy with it still? __________________ Try to keep in mind that we are all human...mistakes do happen! Be kinder than necessary because every one you meet is fighting some kind of battle. Current Tank Info: 40 breeder - started 9/2011 - platinum perc and sanjay's black photon clownfishes; sps and lps, and soft corals; 250w MH, 20 long sump w Bubble Magus Nac 3.5 skimmer 12g nano cube -serpent star, mini carpet anemones, w 6 sexy shrimp, 150w MH, maxi je

02/15/2011, 11:12 PM	#6
GvineReefer Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Republic of Texas Posts: 175	This isn't a full LED conversion. I added 8 individual LED's for pure actinic purposes. I don't mind going back through how I did it if that is what you are looking for. The LED's I added are not used for PAR and you can't really tell they are on when the main lights are on. I did the mod to have a good sunrise/sunset affect. Let me know and I'll go into more detail. __________________ GvineReefer Current Tank Info: 120-gal tank/sump from Planet Aquarium, 2xMP40W ES, Apex Lite, Reef Octopus XP2000SSS, NextReef SMR1 bio-pellet reactor, BRS carbon reactor, Mag7 for manifold, QuietOne 5000 return, Bubble Magus doser, 48" TEK 8-bulb T5's, DJ Power Switch

02/16/2011, 09:01 AM	#7
Korrine You could get a ticket!! Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Upper midwest Posts: 4,288 Blog Entries: 1	You have an updated photo of the tank? __________________ Try to keep in mind that we are all human...mistakes do happen! Be kinder than necessary because every one you meet is fighting some kind of battle. Current Tank Info: 40 breeder - started 9/2011 - platinum perc and sanjay's black photon clownfishes; sps and lps, and soft corals; 250w MH, 20 long sump w Bubble Magus Nac 3.5 skimmer 12g nano cube -serpent star, mini carpet anemones, w 6 sexy shrimp, 150w MH, maxi je

12/09/2010, 09:33 PM	#2
geezers11 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 104	Liking the landscaping. I know many like a certain amount of lbs of LR but some are using less and liking it more. It does leave room for more of the "good stuff." Keep the posts coming.

02/14/2011, 11:57 PM	#5
JLillie Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Orange County, CA Posts: 3	Looking good, I too got a used 130 from a friend. Looks like it hasn't been used in a year or more. Anyway, was wondering if you could do a short write up on the LEDs? I'm looking to do a conversion.

03/01/2011, 12:24 AM	#9
GvineReefer Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Republic of Texas Posts: 175	It's actually really simple. You just have to be comfortable with drilling a few small holes in the part of your hood that faces the water. I bought the LED's from Oznium, found a drill bit that fit the head of the LED's, and drilled. I super glued the LED's on the inside of the hood, so on the underside, all you see is the LED's heads. I tied all of the LED's into each other and put them on a separate power supply and timer. They are on from an hour before to an hour after my main lights. You can't tell they are on when the main lights are on, but they look great when on by themselves. This was my first "custom" job of any kind on the RSM, so I was a bit nervous as well. It really is very simple though, and now I laugh at how nervous I was. It only took about an hour to do and it worked out really well in my opinion. Check out the pic's up top for reference. If you'll look at the pic with the guts of the hood showing, you'll see the extra wires coming out. Follow them and you'll see where I placed the LED's. I added a total of 8; 6 in the actual hood and 2 on the other side of the light reflector from the stock moon lights. These are the LED's I ordered: http://www.oznium.com/prewired-superflux Oh, and as far as an update on the tank goes, I ended up giving the RSM to my dad who wanted to get into the hobby. I have a 90 gal and it keeps me busy, so I wasn't paying enough attention to the RSM. He wanted to try it out, so I gave him the RSM instead of making him spend a bunch of money trying to get into the hobby. He loves it to say the least, and currently has a custom 120 gal on order. I'll be out at my parents house in a few weeks and I'll update this thread with the new stuff we've done to it at his house now. It's pretty cool to be able to hang out with my dad and be able to share the same interests. Heck, my mom loves it too. She's all about adding a ton of coral, lol. They've got frogspawn, torch, brain, acans, devils finger leather, nuclear green paly's, and a few other small stuff I've given them. It's not looking too shabby for some newbies, lol. __________________ GvineReefer Current Tank Info: 120-gal tank/sump from Planet Aquarium, 2xMP40W ES, Apex Lite, Reef Octopus XP2000SSS, NextReef SMR1 bio-pellet reactor, BRS carbon reactor, Mag7 for manifold, QuietOne 5000 return, Bubble Magus doser, 48" TEK 8-bulb T5's, DJ Power Switch

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