Ranchu's RSM 250 - 65 gallon
 

December 30, 2014
Not sure if anyone would actually read this, but i figure I'll start a tank journal.

I've been in the aquarium hobby since I was a kid, when my dad had a small fish tank for me and my sisters.

We started with red ear slider turtles. They were really neat to have as a kid. but i remember they were too much work for my dad.

Then i remember vaguely having small fish tanks with community fish. We had goldfish from night markets, and then of course the Betta fish.

At one point, we had the fish tank in the backyard after he shut down the tank. My friends and i went to the local swamp in Coquitlam where the Town Centre stadium is today and caught minnows and tadpoles. Of course none of them survived.

When i started working, I went into the classifieds section in about 1998 and i bought myself a 33 gallon tank, Petcetera brand for a steal. i raised all sorts of freshwater fish, including Angels, Plecos, Red tail sharks etc.

After I moved out and got my own home, I left the fish tank with my dad. It is still up and running today, over 15 years later.

In 2006 I got the itch to start an aquarium again. This time around, I fell in love with the Ranchu goldfish. The way it waddles as it swims with no top fin, still entertains me today. These guys had personality and I felt were quite the characters. i guess this is where I made up the Forum name "Ranchu"

After having kids, life got busy and my Lil Ranchus died after about 5 years.

i shut down my tank, and moved homes again.

This is when a friend of mine, Jus68 talked me back into the hobby, but this time around, into Reef tanks. Jus68 talked on and on about how non complicated reef tanks can be. it boggled my mind and felt like a lot of information at first.
But eventually, I cracked and I went out, and found a good deal on an Oceanic Biocube29 in the fall of 2012.

To be continued .....

I like a good story... Please continue.

I am interested to see your tank and the continuation of your story...

I love stories like this :) please post some pictures of your tank. I'm a huge fan of RSM tank :)

Continued .....
 

It was the fall of 2012 when I signed onto Canreef for the first time.
There was (and still is) ridiculous amounts of information on the site!

I spent days and weeks reading; tank journals, tank builds; the classifieds;

Ridiculous! There are some amazing tanks you guys have!!

But reading didnt mean anything until i picked up a 29 gallon stock Biocube!
I quickly found a brand new stand for the tank, got some salt and sand, and i was ready to go!

I inherited a snowflake eel, 2 blue damsals, a starved goby, a clownfish and a brown anenome.
The live rock i inherited came with some mushrooms, a bit of xenia and some other crappy looking corals, which turned out to be majano anenomes and aiptasia.

The xenia disappeared almost immediately, goby wasnt eating and the anenome was moving all over the place!

I was glued to Canreef and google, trying to solve mini issue after mini issue.

At the same time, a cheap investment in the tank turned out to be hundreds and hundreds of extra dollars, buying supplies such as a refractometer, new bulbs, a protein skimmer etc.

The hobby was really expensive I found out quickly!

Over the first few months, and spending too much $, i was demoralized a bit, and almost quit.

Biocube pics
 

http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...psitbpxofx.jpg

The picture above is after sand was poured in.

below.
My friend took me out to see a good guy out in Surrey named Tom. His two double tanks were absolutely amazing! This gave me inspiration again, to keep at it, so i can create a bit of mini Ocean inside my house. Tom hooked me up with a beautiful Gorg (corky finger), some green star polyps, and a neon green singularia.

My daughter and son also helped me stay in the hobby, as they kept asking questions, wanted to watch the fish eat, and showed interest!

http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...psy6hrdc9h.jpg

Continued ...
 

over time, my interest wavered up and down. Family life and other hobbies kept creeping up. The biocube ran well and was easy to maintain.

There was spurts of time where I didnt do a water change in 2 months. Then other times where I did water changes every week.

I picked up a bi-coloured blenny, who did well for a year, but then magicAlly disappeared.
I tried two yellow clown gobies who were a pain in the ass to feed. They too died over time.

Finally on Boxing day 2013, I picked up A beautiful Royal gramma who has taught me quite a bit on how to get into the habbit of feeding frozen food.

Throughout 2014, I researched the heck out of the internet to find the most economical, efficient way in upgrading the Biocube's crappy power compact lighting.
It didnt make sense to me, that I have to replace these bulbs to keep my corals thriving, and to eliminate terrible algae blooms.

the Biocube is definitely the perfect starter tank, but it definitely is just that. Its a tank that is easy to run, maintain and keep but there is very limited options you have when it comes to fish selection, coral choice and tank upgrades.

In December of 2014, I found a great deal on a Red Sea Max 250, 65 gallon tank! It was too hard to resist!!!!!

Rsm250 pics
 

http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2vqv4s3b.jpg

http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8ycnsiad.jpg

http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...psi2d8jrva.jpg

Great Journal, looking forward to seeing updates ! :)

Nice... ?Christmas present for yourself :x-mas:

Your story sounds a lot like my start in fish... I attribute my interest to a tank of tropical fish my dad had when I was growing up. Loved watching those fish :)

When my boys were little they each had a betta in a pickle jar... over time some fancy guppies were added (cause still no extra supplies were needed)... then not soon after a complete tank... and yes some baby red eared slider turtles were added to that tank also lol... they were a pain as they grew!!!

Like you over time changed to saltwater. My first attempt was converting my tropical tank to a marine system... Lol a lot has changed since that time!

Then got a used 120g salt tank that someone built complete with an oak cabinet. Over time that too became outdated. Got myself a new RSM 250... great tank!! :mrgreen::mrgreen:

Have since upgraded again... This hobby does that to you :wink:

Looking forward to seeing your tank transform :)) any questions on the RSM 250 you can always pm me

From a fellow RSM owner :wave:

I love RSM250.. I currently have RSM130 and would love to upgrade it to 250 oneday! yeah ONEDAY I will ! lol

Thanks Seabreeze!
I will definitely PM you. i always have lots of questions.

I hope I won't have the urge to change tanks again soon.

This is the biggest tank i've ever had.

I love the all in one systems, because they are clean looking and easy to operate.

At home ....
 

I've been home quite a bit over the past week due to the flu.
Now my son has it as well.

Adjusted the Mp10 today a bit.
the rsm 250 stock skimmer is loud and finicky.

Today I had time to play around with the rock structure.

i definitely need more rocks!
The goal is to create a two column structure, with a canyon in between.

Inside the tank are easy corals from my old tank.
branching hammer coral
Green trumpet coral
Red candy cane coral
A yuma
Corky finger gorg
A dying green singularia
A bit of GSP
And a tiny chunk of xenia


I will love to try a bit of easy SPS in the near future.

One coral I really want to try is the Monti plate. i love how that thing grows, and spirals. Just need to find a good location for it.

The plan is to havea good mixture of soft and hard corals.

HAving wayy too many expenses already, this will be a very slow process. But i don't mind buying small frags and watching them grow!


http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...psszpnmdxd.jpg

http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...pskmldkqgl.jpg

Looks like your pumps and nozzels could use a vinager bath

the skimmer for RSM tanks will affected by water levels, someone upgraded hes skimmer with Aquac skimmer here is the forum if you wanted to see it
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...max-250-a.html

You need to take Seabreeze up on her offer for some pointers on how to run and maintain your tank, really! Have her send you a pic of her tank and you'll understand. She'd be tank of the month/quarter easy if only she posted some pics :lol:

LOL gonna need to owe you a frag for that Hung LOL

Pic to come when I figure out how to post it LOL

One thing I do suggest (RSM reps please close your eyes and cover your ears) ...change out the skimmer. I went for the Deltec MC500. You only need to do a very tiny adjustment to fit it in. Did it myself and you couldn't notice anything. Picked it up from J&L.

Much much better skimmer if you plan on SPS

There's a few clips on youtube... here's one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l53AKnL89x0

Any yes a bit of a vinegar soak will get everything looking like new :mrgreen:

hey there, I like bedtime storries, keep those pics coming, greetings from campbell river, regards ken

Yes, I gotta do that soon.
just been a bit lazy haha

Seabreeze, yes please post photos! I would love to see the tank.
i would love to get a deltec, but I'm not willing to spend the $ on it yet. Its definitely not cheap!

One thing I have noticed is that there is a lot of evaporation. i need to buy an ATO soon.

Is Tunze the only way to go?
Anyone use the JbJ ATO?

Or other brands?

hey Cousin Ken!
You need to post pictures of your 500 gallon tank out in Campbell River.
The links in your website do not work for the tank.

I need to drive out there to see ya sometime!

Algae bloom
 

The tank has been up and going for almost a month now.
I have a bit of algae bloom on the sand. (Brown parts)

I bought 12 astrea snails and 10 blue leg hermits for clean up to add to the 4-5 other hermits i had remaining.

I hope they help!

Pics
 

Not much of a tank update.
I picked up some dry rock from Rishu Pepper a few weeks back. The rock is in a heated, cycling bucket in my garage. I Will wait a week or so more to work on adding the rocks to my set up.

I just wanted to show off a new addition to the tank.
I put an order in for this little Rainford Goby about 3 months ago. They finally had one in stock last week. He was visable for 2 days, then went MIA for 3 days. I thought he was dead.

http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...psypgbzzq4.jpg

I love his colours and how he picks at rocks and sand all day.
I hope he'll find enough food to stay healthy because he didn't go for the mysis i feed the other guys.

http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...psiti0zghg.jpg