Red Sea Max Owners Club

[dxtr]

Thanks Reefmack and NaCl+H2O - yea many years now learning, experimenting, fixing, and learning more has brought me to what I believe is a great start on my RSM.

Cycle was little less that 2 weeks since I used the water and sand from my established 14g basically using the 2-3 gallons i took out of the 14g for water changes and put it in the 34g.

Over the 3 weeks I've had the RSM, I believe about 75% or more of the water is from the 14g through the water changes.

Just ordered the clean up crew from Liveaquaria. Not a bad deal, free shipping on orders over $80.00 with their "Build your own" reef cleaner package.

More pics to come as we learn and grow. Thanks all!

 

[NaCl+H2O Fish]

What CUC crew did you order???

 

[DontXtripNfall]

dxtr - it looks really nice! you should consider submersible LED's for in that cave and have a lil colony of stuff that looks nice under blue LED

 

[dxtr]

DontXtrip - that is a cool idea! gotta look into that.

NaCl - standard blue and red leg hermits, nass and cerinth snails, emerald and sally light foot crabs, peppermint shrimp, etc. total was just over their $80.00 minimum to get free shipping.

My GBTA is actually getting his "bubble" tips back on a few tenticles! woohoo! :rollface:

Thanks!

 

[GDESQUIRE]

Ridehavoc- where are you in Denmark? I'm actually leaving for Copenhagen tomorrow.

 

[NaCl+H2O Fish]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12970470#post12970470 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dxtr
NaCl - standard blue and red leg hermits, nass and cerith snails, emerald and sally light foot crabs, peppermint shrimp, etc. total was just over their $80.00 minimum to get free shipping.
Thanks!

dxtr - JMHO.... but keep an eye on your new CUC. The pictures you posted show a new FAIRLY CLEAN tank......
Your CUC will need stuff to eat!!!
My current crew is 4 - Mexican Turbo snails, 4 -Cerith snails, and 4 - Nassarius snails, a red Serpent Starfish, and two Emerald Crabs. I am not a fan of hermits.... JMO! I also have a Peppermint, Flame/Fire and Skunk Cleaner Shrimp. Seems to be a good balance...

The Mexican Turbos were such algae eating pigs that I traded back two of the six I originally purchased.... leaving four. The shrimp, Nassarius snails and Red Serpent Starfish clean up over feeding of the fish.
Kent a.k.a. NaCl+H2O Fish

 

[MPeer]

IMHO, hermits shouldn't be kept in the same tank with snails.

One of my blue-legged hermits made mince meat out of one of my nassarius snails last week. He and his posse have "moved on" to the LFS. Hasta la vista!

On another note, I found two nudibranches on my zoo frag today. I did a dip and hopefully I don't find anymore.

 

[dxtr]

I've had mixed results with hermits and snails. never had the Nass get bothered; however, the turbos do either get eaten or die when they fall off something and cannot right themselves.. =(

I was thinking the same thing NaCl. I have some good algae growth on the 18# of rock from the 14g and good algae build up on the glass now. I also suppliment with mysis, cyclopeze, flake and nori. =) i didn't orderr nearly as many as I was used to order, simply because of the "cleanliness" of the RSM right now. =)

thanks!

 

[NaCl+H2O Fish]

Crabs are not to be trusted!

Crabs are not to be trusted!

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12971452#post12971452 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Aaron Peer
IMHO, hermits shouldn't be kept in the same tank with snails.
One of my blue-legged hermits made mince meat out of one of my nassarius snails last week. He and his posse have "moved on" to the LFS. Hasta la vista!
On another note, I found two nudibranches on my zoo frag today. I did a dip and hopefully I don't find anymore.

Mrs. Peer - My friend David who works at a local LFS and you would be "amigos"! He is NOT s fan of ANY crabs in his own tanks! They just can't be trusted! The Emerald's are probably the most benign. He DOESN'T like hermits or Sally Lightfoots! Small Sally's may be OK... but become big time predators when they become larger!
What was the problem with the Nudibranchs???? What variety???
Kent a.k.a. NaCl+H2O Fish

 

[MPeer]

These nudibranches are the type that eat zoanthids and they also produce eggs. I plan on using tweezers to pick them off if I find them.

Someone suggested a wrasse, but aren't they coral nippers?

 

[NaCl+H2O Fish]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12971558#post12971558 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Aaron Peer
These nudibranches are the type that eat zoanthids and they also produce eggs. I plan on using tweezers to pick them off if I find them.
Someone suggested a wrasse, but aren't they coral nippers?

OK.... not good! Can you remove your zoanthid frags from the tank and pick the nudibranchs off with tweezers using a magnifying glass?
Wrasses present their own set of problems...
Kent a.k.a. NaCl+H2O Fish

 

[MPeer]

Well in the meantime I'm going to dip them every other day and monitor them. I bought this colony along with another colony from the same tank at the LFS. One of them is thriving and this one has not opened since the day after I bought them.

 

[Reefmack]

Mrs. Peer - are you checking the zoas for nudibranch eggs as well. I'm not sure if the dips kill the eggs or not? I haven't heard anything really negative about a six line wrasse. From Foster & Smith: "..............the Six Line Wrasse will search for live foods in the form of small crustaceans such as pyramidellid snails (clam parasites), urchins, and commensal flatworms. The Six Line Wrasse is also known to feed on unwanted pests on live rock, such as bristleworms"

I guess if you want the bristleworms, and small snails, maybe not a good addition. I've seen a lot of them kept by RSM owners though.

 

[tyleratl]

Well, my red slime algae problem only got worse since my last post. I first tried using some SeaChem Phosguard but it made my Galaxea coral close up for days. It has still not fully back to normal. So, I ordered some replacement Chemi-Pure elite since it has been about three months since the last unit was placed in the canister filter and phosphates must be high in order for cyanobacteria to thrive. I also ordered two replacement Red Sea Max bulbs. It has been six months since the original bulbs were installed. I replaced one of the bulbs and will wait a few days to replace the other. I have to tell you guys that there is a noticable difference in the light intensity and hue of the blue color portion of the bulb. Six months, in my opinion, is about all you should count on for these RSM bulbs. I would have replaced them a month ago if I thought that the lower lighting intesity would contribute to the red slime bacteria, which thrive in low light and high phosphate environments.

 

[Reefmack]

tyleratl - I'm not sure if phosphates are the main cyano contributor or not. Here's a somewhat humerous, but also educational, article on cyano:

Cyano

 

[tyleratl]

Interesting article. But, it does conflict with other sources a bit. For example, my blue-legged crabs won't touch this stuff. It doesn't taste good I guess.

 

[ilcop]

Hi to you all,

I am fron ISRAEL and new here .

That is my RSM ...

 

[tyleratl]

ilcop - Nice Red Sea Max!!! I was a cop too until I changed professions last year. Be sure to change those bulbs when they fade or you might be overrun with red slime!

 

[ilcop]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12975135#post12975135 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tyleratl
ilcop - Nice Red Sea Max!!! I was a cop too until I changed professions last year. Be sure to change those bulbs when they fade or you might be overrun with red slime!

Thanks :thumbsup:

I will change those bulbs avry 6 months

 

[snake plissken]

nice "full" tank ilcop! i like it.

just wondering...do you have trouble keeping algae off the sides of the tank since your live rock extends all the way out to the left and right?

i like the look, just wondeirng if it was hard to keep clean