Red Sea Max 130d Lighting and Filtration

[Sappy]

Hi all,

I have recently taken over my fathers old Red Sea Max 130d from him.

I had cleaned up the tank toughly and set it up using the live rock that was previously in the tank plus a few extra pieces of sea rock and new Aragonite substrate. I have a Hailea HS-28A chiller running on the tank as well.

Everything seems to be running well but I have a few concerns with the tank, namely with the lighting and the filtration.

I have replaced all the filter media Sea Chem Matrix, added new activated carbon and replaced the skimmer sponge with fine carbon sponges. One of the original circulation pumps had failed on the tank and I have replaced it with a submersible pump with a flow rate of 600L/H. I saw on the original circulation pump remaining that they are 550L/H which is why I tried to match this flow rating. This being said the replacement pump I have used does not seem to match its stated flow rate as it give a noticeably slower flow that the original. I would like to know if this would be an issue?

I am aware that Red Sea has a new replacement circulation pump that replaces both of the older pumps with a single 1550L/H unit, however I would like this option to be my last as I have received a quote of R2,400 for this pump which seems abit much to me.

Moving on to my second concern of the lighting. The 55w T5 power compacts that are in the tank definitely need to be replaced as I am sure they are over 12 months old. I have not been able to find any of these available in the country and have been considering if it would be better to rather convert the hood to accommodate LEDs. I am a bit apprehensive about this option as I do not have a lot of electrical experience.
The other option I have seen is to remove the hood completely and use and LED light. I have seen a few images online of people that have done this to their tanks, however I am concerned that the skimmer at the back would be abit of an eye sore unless a filter cover such as the one from inTank is used. https://www.intankaquatics.com/intank-filtration-cover-for-red-sea-max-130-130d-c-130
Finally I am not quite to sure as that what LED light I could use that would fit on the tank and what LED light would be appropriate.

If anyone could give me some advise or some of there personal experience I would highly appreciate it.

 

[FruiTee]

I think Jungle Aquatics sells T5 Compacts on their website *Edit* Nevermind they just sell normal T5s*

 

[Vijay]

If you not going to reuse the hood, you can remove the front section and use it as a cover. That’s what I did. LED you can go with whatever suits your budget taking into consideration of what you plan on keeping in the tank

 

[Sappy]

If you not going to reuse the hood, you can remove the front section and use it as a cover. That’s what I did. LED you can go with whatever suits your budget taking into consideration of what you plan on keeping in the tank

Thank you so much! That is a great idea to use the front cover, your tank really looks great! If I may ask what lights are you using currently?

 

[Vijay]

Thank you so much! That is a great idea to use the front cover, your tank really looks great! If I may ask what lights are you using currently?

Thanks, currently using radions

 

[RichardL]

Hi
You don't need to buy the RSM pumps, way too expensive. Replace it with any cheaper pump matching the flow rate and that is small enough to fit in the back. I have done this successfully.

The RSM specific T5 lights are hard to come by, but are available. Phone the Red Sea rep, he is quite helpful - Sylvester 082 506 8786
I have tried using another LED as well and not really successful - The stock lights work well for the tank

 

[Sappy]

So I have an update on my tank after a few modifications and some stocking.

I have upgraded the after market circulation pump that I was using to a 600L/H pump and this seems to be working really well. My skimmer has been working perfectly but I do have to make sure that the water level is high enough otherwise it does not skim properly even with the skimming cup at its lowest setting so I may be looking to add an auto top up system in the future.

With regards to the lighting, I removed the hood completely and installed a Zetlight UFO onto the back of the tank, however I have not been able to place it in the middle of the tank due to the skimmer box being in the way of the lighting mount. I am not sure if anyone could possibly give me any recommendations here as I think the tank would look significantly better with the light in the middle. I built a cover to hide the skimmer box out of flexiglass and painted it black but I an not satisfied with how it looks at the moment and will probably redo this in the future to get a better look.
Since removing the hood, I have noticed the water does evaporate significantly faster and requires me to monitor the water level constantly to ensure the skimmer works correctly as I have stated above. This being said, there is a huge reduction in the amount of noise that the tank makes as the Red Sea cooling fans in the hood were very loud.

The tank has been running for 40days today and cycled in about 13 days tanks to the help of the aragonite substrate, live rock and the Seachem stability that I used. After the cycle was completed, I added an Electric Blue hermit and Trochus snail.
At first the Trochus snail seemed to be struggling and was constantly falling off the rock on his way up to eat the algae growing on top of the rock and was not able to right himself. I was very concerned with this and frantically googled and searched all the forums and websites I could find but I could find no helpful information. I then assumed that the snail may just be weak due to a lack of food as it did not seem to have the strength of climb the rocks or right himself when falling so I placed him on top of the rocks where the algae was and he immediately began to devour the algae. He did fall a few more time after I initially placed him on top of the rocks but I just moved him back up again until he fell no more. I am happy to say that this worked, and I have a healthy snail!!

On day 26 I added a cleaner shrimp and nassarius snail. The cleaner shrimp has been a great addition to the tank and has thoroughly cleaned the tank and even my hand on occasion. The nassarius snail on the other had does not seem to be very active but it does seem to be healthy eating on the brine shrimp scraps.

Then this past weekend was the day I had been waiting for since the start of the tank. I added not only its first fish but the first coral too! I added two juvenile Black & White Ocellaris Clownfish as well as a Green Star Polyp frag! The two clowns have been a joy to watch swim around the tank as the explore their new home. I am hoping to add more frags in the future as my knowledge and experience grows but I am completely hooked on reefing.

 

[BigMoe]

Hi guys, sappy, so i also did a mod on my one, Vijay, i love your setup and want to know where you got that back cover from, i would like to get one to put in my tank

 

[Sappy]

@BigMoe you can find them from inTank. You can get them off wantitall in SA

inTank Filtration Cover for Red Sea Max 130/130D/C-130

inTank aquarium-specific designed Filtration Covers hide unsightly equipment and cords around the rear filtration area

intankaquatics.com

https://www.wantitall.co.za/petsupplies/intank-filtration-cover-for-red-sea-max-130-130d-and-c-130__b00cuo8gim

They are pretty expensive though which is why I tried to make my own one

 

[Vijay]

Hi guys, sappy, so i also did a mod on my one, Vijay, i love your setup and want to know where you got that back cover from, i would like to get one to put in my tank

Thanks, I removed the front section off the original hood and used that as the cover