Yes, and on the older tanks (more than 6 months old) people cut the black sponge in half and leave out the white sponge.

If you have live rock in the display you don't need the ceramics in the back.

That makes a lot of sense.I do have 24lbs of live rock in my display. I guess i dont need the ceramics. Thanks for your help.

it only took me 2 monthes to stop using the top filter layer.

Anyone having issues with theirs? my poserbar the skimmer plug stoped working. i have to plug it into the wall.

Glad to hear it was just a mix up with the boxes. Good thing you asked. If it had been me I would still be trying to put it together.:biggrin: While we are the subject of the redsea max. Can anyone tell me if my skimmer is working. I have 35lbs of live rock in the display, I took out the carbon and ceramic bags from the chamber and the white sponge. I find that the bubbles are not travelling up the skimmer neck, thus no skim goo. I turned the air valve to 3/4 open. My water has lots of bits floating around. Any suggestions
thanks

It has taken my skimmer 3 weeks to produce a constant foam. I believe it has to be broken in for awhile if it is new. I have also heard if your tank is clean it wont skim as well because it has nothing to clean.

Mine is now up and running and starting a cycle (hoping for a quick one!) with rock and water from other tanks and live sand. I am dealing with a TON of microbubbles which is aggravating but will keep trying different things. I did remove the white sponge, and cut the black one down....will see how things settle in....any suggestions?

try to squish the air out of the black sponge when inserting. i usually try to squeeze it against the bottom of the sump. it will hold lots of air. if this sponge is not totally soaked it will trap air.

Here is Red Sea's sheet for how to fix microbubble problems

http://www.rsmreefers.com/downloads/...20CUSTOMER.pdf

make sure the overflow trap is all the way down, get rid of the white sponge and keep the media chamber empty.

Redseamax - Carbon Bag??
 

is anyone using carbon or not?

my RSM is now 6 months old and all is well.....should i take the carbon out and not use one ever again?