My first reef aquarium RSM 250

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Hello all, I am totally new to reef aquariums and recently bought a 2nd hand rsm 250. Thought I should start this thread as I go through my reefing journey.
 
So this is the tank, just after I picked it up.

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After a good wash, I found myself really disappointed as the scratches revealed itself.
 
Finally got over the disappointment and decided I would take a chance and try to restore this tank.

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Welcome to the forum. Nice start with the RSM
By restoring do you mean polishing the scratches out?
 
Yes, gonna strip everything out and have the glass polished. Gonna do everything myself.
 
Ok so I started with the hood, stripped it down, washed it, replaced the 4 fans and replaced the leds. Apologies for not takin more pics off the hood when I stripped it.

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Let me know how removal of the scratches goes. I attempted cerium oxide on mine with very little success and a lot of work :banghead:
 
Did you try manually or with a polishing machine?
 
Did you try manually or with a polishing machine?
I used a buffing drill bit. Guy I got the cerium oxide from also said he was unsuccessful. There is a company called "glassscratchout" they have a Durban branch and quoted me R1200 to remove all scratches completely and call out. They sand down to the depth of the scratch and then use their buffing technique to get the glass back to normal. If you don't mind spending the money id go for this option.
 
Hi Bud,

Also in the process of starting up an RSM250 although i have not started working on the hood as yet.

Where did you buy the fans from and how much were they?

Regards
Kogan
 
Try RSE electronics in jhb for the fans. They were around R80 each if I can recall correctly
 
Ok so I’ve been gathering rock for a while now and seem to have ended up with around 75 kgs of rock. I know, it’s way too much for an RSM250 but I Figured it’s always better to have extra pieces so when it’s time to aquascape I have a wide variety to play around with. Put the rock out today, gave it a good hose down and it’s now soaking in a solution of bleach with a power head for circulation. Read this is a good way to cure dry rock.

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Back to the tank and it’s scratches. I thought of removing the scratches my self but a fellow reefer referred me to a company called glass scratch out so I gave them a call. They did a fairly decent job. I watched the entire process and it seems fairly easy if you a DIY kinda guy.

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Awesome job they did on scratches. You can also try soaking the rock in hydrogen peroxide and warm water, I found this cleans it quite well as it oxidizes out the organics, bleach just bleaches them. The rock you got from me I cleaned like that, I can spot them in the pic as they are the whitest looking rocks out of the lot. :lol:
 
Thanks hotdog, will see how the rocks are after the beaching. If it’s not clean and white then i’ll try the hydrogen peroxide.
 
The one thing I’ve come to learn in this hobby is patience. Looks like it’s gonna pay of in the end cause the tank is lookin as if it’s brand new.
 
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