Reviving a second-hand Red Sea MAX 250

[Sumi]

Hi Folks over the pond!

My name is András, I live in Hungary and I'm comming from another (UK) forum, so don't really want to make things redundant about the process of reviving my new to me (used) Red Sea MAX 250 tank, which also happens to be my first ever saltwater tank

I don't know if it's legal to link in the other forum that has the story about the last month, but until someone aknowledge it I'll just throw in some pictures here as a teaser

Hope you ejnoy it, and that you're interested

Cheers,
András

Day 0, with half of the coralline algae already scrubbed off:

Swapping the fans & cleaning the hood:

Before:

 

[Sumi]

After:

Cleaning with 1:5 vinegar solution:

Going DC:

Pump 1:

Pump 2:

Result (also less heat & noise):

Pimping the skimmer (going DC here as well + 3D Printed fitting):

 

[Sumi]

Backing up the system with an UPS:

PH & salinity test in progress:

Control-panel:

Tank as-is today, during initial cycle:

 

[89Foxbody]

Looks great so far! I also have a RSM and I really enjoy it! It's a nice system when you make a few tweaks to it.

 

[Plasticmask]

Wow man. That's really crazy. That looks fantastic! Liking the equipment (metres, etc) a lot too

 

[PeterHall]

What fans did you use? How quiet are they?

 

[Sumi]

Hi!

I'm glad you like it guys

About the fans:

The fans in the hood are the following:

Revoltec AirGuard 60x60x20 (2500rpm, ~20dBA, 12.31 CFM) (RL036)

They're far from silent, and I don't know how they compare to good OEM RedSea fans, as my RS fans were totally shot, and very loud. I'm guessing that these fans are still more quiet though.

There are conflicting numbers about the OEM fans, but the new fans I've got might have less airflow than the OEM ones had, so I've installed 3 of these on both sides of the hood (oem setup is 2x2).

These fans I believe are identical to the popular (amongst RSM owners) Scythe Mini Kaze (SY60212L) fans.

The so called water cooling fans are:

König CMP-FAN22

http://www.konigelectronic.com/nl_nl/1111815

Now these guys aren't on the quiet side with their 28dB sound level, but are cheap atleast

Cheers

 

[Sumi]

Revoltec:

König:

 

[PeterHall]

How hard was it to install 3 fans vs 2 in the hood? I helped my neighbor get a 250 and I think we should swap the fans out. Probably aim for a 20db fan too.

 

[Sumi]

How hard was it to install 3 fans vs 2 in the hood? I helped my neighbor get a 250 and I think we should swap the fans out. Probably aim for a 20db fan too.

Hi! It's not that hard, but takes some time & soldering.

You can read about it on the following link:

http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/showthread.php?747824-Reviving-a-second-hand-Red-Sea-MAX-250

 

[PeterHall]

Thanks! I saw your other thread when researching replacing the fans. So I ordered a bunch of fans, all with 20db ratings, so we'll see how loud they are.

 

[Sumi]

Thanks! I saw your other thread when researching replacing the fans. So I ordered a bunch of fans, all with 20db ratings, so we'll see how loud they are.

Have you swapped them already? How do you like them?

 

[PeterHall]

Finally got around to installing them. They're a lot quieter but don't push as much air. Hopefully adding the two extra in the hood helps. Also the exhaust fans were not working on the rear since the wires were corroded. So it was nice to fix and replace them.

 

[Sumi]

That's looking great! Congrats on the upgrade!

Unfortunatelly my tank has developed a leak on the bottom front left, at the black plastic rim yesterday/today.. so it looks like I'll have to give up this hobby, as I don't have any money left to replace the tank

 

[NeoYakra]

Thats unfortunate. if life gives us lemons...you say F*#% life and walk to the store and get a Doctor Pepper. Are you willing to part out your hardware? If so I would be interested in some of the items. Thanks.