Red Sea Max 250 media basket any good?

[kementer]

Hi guys,

Just got a used red sea max 250 with deltec mc 500 skimmer and intank media basket . Came with some petco pumps so i ordered the originals cause they seem very weak should i get better ones then originals?

How do i clean that skimmer since its incased in glass do i just soak it in vinegar for a few hours? Do i run it with vinegar for a half hours or so?
Hands to big to fit in there to lossen those white screws.

I have read on some threads that the intank media basket tray is good for maintaining the tank since its a pain gettting those bags out of the tank every
few months?

Is that media basket any good ? With chemi-pure,purigen and filter floss on each level or should i just use those ceramic balls and charcoal bag etc?
Very concerned hope i didnt waste my money .

The tanks going to be have a few fish and some beggining corals then later on will be nice reef tank .
Any suggestions on what it needs . Any advice will be grateful.
Thanks
Mike

 

[JimmyR1rider]

I have my new RSM250 up and going. If you look there's plenty of room to get in to get to the bag of ceramic media in it to maintain it. I don't think the in tank basket is necessary. What I did do though is I took out the RSM pump on the right side(right next to the power center) and had run an external pump for my chiller and 2 externals for my MR-1 Monster dual reactor. I am right now in the process of changing back to internal pumps due to getting micro bubbles with use of the accessory plate. I don't know if that was the cause but am getting rid of it anyway. I just cut out the area the accessory plate went in to and am running all vinyl tubing with no junctions to possibly lose perfect siphon or let any air in.

I would run a fluidized reactor even if you keep the carbon in bag in the stock place. You'll get much better results and much more surface area of the media touches the water and does its job much better.

Good luck with the RSM, and to answer your question I don't think you wasted your money. I love mine, just like everything else it takes some tweaking to get it to exactly how you want it.

 

[Coralreefer1]

I would remove all the media material, bioballs etc., and add live rock rubble instead. This adds more beneficial surface area for both anaerobic as well as aerobic bacteria to grow and gelp you to handle ammonia, nitrites and nitrate issues efficiently.

 

[JimmyR1rider]

There are no bioballs in the RSM250- just a small media bag and a tray with a bag of carbon. theyre in an area that's too small to benefit from rubble, if anything it would be a detritus trap. I think it would hurt more than help.