I'm reviving this thread for the fun of it.
I have an RSM S-line 650 which has been running for about a month now in my living room. So far everything seems to be working well. Here are some preliminary observations:
- The overflow is very quiet
- Pro: There is no shortage of water flow with 4 circulation pumps, 1 giant return pump, and 2 Vortech mp40s.
- Con: There is no shortage of water flow. I'm having trouble making my sand bed stay put. Hopefully with the addition of some coarse grained material in high flow areas plus the geneartion of bacterial grain coatings over time things should stay put.
- Pro: The built in 15 gal ATO is very convenient.
- Con: The built in 15 gal overflow barely lasts a week in Calgary. Will need an external ATO to top off my ATO when I'm away.
- Pro: The lights are very bright and low to the water to minimize lost light.
- Con: The lights are almost unbearably bright at night. Will have to get a room divider or turn the whites off much earlier. Also, at 800 watts these lights really heat things up. Daily temperature swings on the order of 5 degrees F (not too bad). I've ordered a chiller to stabilize things ($1000 ouch).
- Pro: Plenty of room for a refugium or a calc reactor in the sump. The high sided sump is well designed with a multi-tier chamber that forces water to flow through the carbon holder.
- Con: The skimmer is a bit on the noisy side. I haven't actually run it in production mode, perhaps once some slime builds up in the pipes it will be a bit quieter. One can only hope.
That's all I can really think of at the moment. If anyone has any specific questions let me know. I'm looking forward to putting some livestock in this thing starting with a legion of crabs and snails. (Ordering from liveaquaria in the USA and sending them to Babb, MT where I will pick them up). Big savings and better selection compared to what we see here in Calgary.
03-09-2013, 11:03 PM
Red Sea Max S-Series
Linear Mode
