Chuck's Red Sea Max Nano Build

[MtnDewMan]

Hi all. I have been out of the hobby for many years. I was an avid reefkeeper many years ago as can be seen by my TOTM October 2002. I am back but have gone much smaller with an AIO Max Nano I just put together. Hope it works out as nice as my tank of the past.

Equipment

• Red Sea Max Nano with white stand
• Red Sea ReefLED 50 lights
• Red Sea Max Nano skimmer (original with kit). Still breaking in, unsure about it's future so far.
• Replaced filter sock with filter cup and using Sera Crystal Clear filter media
• Tunze 3152 ATO replaced the stock ATO
• 10 gallon Bashsea ATO reservoir
• Aquatop 100w heater
• 240 gph return pump (original with kit). So far so good, nice and quiet
• Tunze 6040 nanostream, soon to be replacing with AI Nero 3 in the coming days (smaller footprint, hopefully less vibration noise)
• Neptune Systems ApexEL (controller, energy bar, temp probe, pH probe). Controls heater as well as power to whole system.
• Neptune Trident Water Analyzer (tests Alk, Ca, Mg automatically)
• Red Sea Reefdose4 (currently dosing Red Sea Coralline Gro and Red Sea Foundation B Ca)

Livestock

• Lightning Maroon Clownfish (Cultivated Reef)
• Thunder Maroon Clownfish (Cultivated Reef)
• Gold Nugget Maroon Clownfish (Cultivated Reef)
• 20 lbs live rock

 

[Doctorgori]

Just following, posting so it’s easier to find this thread and check your progress …. nice tank so far

 

[New&no clue]

Following along. Your old tank looked amazing. I am sure you will have similar success.

 

[TheWB]

Cool, nice to see another local build thread. 3 maroon variants, how is that going? Seems risky but kinda neat if you can pull it off. Following along.

 

[Gedxin]

Following! Excited to see how your tank grows.

What sort of live rock did you get?

 

[mfinn]

Glad to see this.
Welcome.

 

[MtnDewMan]

Thanks, been a long long time, nice to see you here.

 

[MtnDewMan]

Following! Excited to see how your tank grows.

What sort of live rock did you get?

Local store live reef rock. I guess these days it's hard to get real live rock with all of the cool critters that come with it. I liked those days.

 

[TheWB]

Local store live reef rock. I guess these days it's hard to get real live rock with all of the cool critters that come with it. I liked those days.

You can still get it but you have to fly it in from FL or TX. Not ideal. I really wish a local store like Saltwater City would bring in some real live rock and then use it to seed other rock that they would then sell. Since nobody does it I’m guessing there’s no money in it.

 

[MtnDewMan]

You can still get it but you have to fly it in from FL or TX. Not ideal. I really wish a local store like Saltwater City would bring in some real live rock and then use it to seed other rock that they would then sell. Since nobody does it I’m guessing there’s no money in it.

That's where I got this rock, Saltwater City. I thought it was more cured than it actually was, experienced a very large bacterial bloom for a few days until I tried some UV.

 

[MtnDewMan]

Made some big changes.

1. Was not a huge fan of the ReefLED 50 lights, so converted to Ecotech Marine XR15 lights. I much prefer the output of these lights.
2. Was not a huge fan of the Max Nano skimmer, so put in a Tunze 9001. Fits nicely and seems to be starting to skim.
3. Just added a Neptune Automatic Fish Feeder. Have it set up, haven't calibrated with food yet. It is SO noisy ... wow
4. Had a huge bacterial bloom so have been using UV for the last few days, it has helped tremendously.

 

[TheWB]

That's where I got this rock, Saltwater City. I thought it was more cured than it actually was, experienced a very large bacterial bloom for a few days until I tried some UV.

I was just there yesterday and I looked at the bin with the reef rock. I think it’s just wet, not sure it’s tied in to anything that’s actually alive.

 

[tinyfellows]

Nice to see some local reefers I just started my first reef tank and I’m the Edmonds area. Is saltwater city your go to store?

 

[TheWB]

Nice to see some local reefers I just started my first reef tank and I’m the Edmonds area. Is saltwater city your go to store?

For me it’s Saltwater City and Barrier Reef in Newcastle near the Seahawks practice facility. Barrier Reef is more convenient for me and lately the fish look better there. Both have decent selections and quantity of corals.

 

[tinyfellows]

I will have to check out barrier reef next time I’m on the east side

 

[TheWB]

I will have to check out barrier reef next time I’m on the east side

Make sure you look it up, it’s a hole in the wall store at the back corner of a strip mall where the McDonalds is. You’d never know it was there unless you know it’s there lol.

 

[MtnDewMan]

Nice to see some local reefers I just started my first reef tank and I’m the Edmonds area. Is saltwater city your go to store?

Yes Saltwater City and there are a couple of others near Saltwater City. Seattle Coral and Sea King Aquariums. All within a few miles of each other.

 

[tinyfellows]

I have got a couple frags at seaking and planned to get my fish at saltwater city cause of their quarantine process and their selection seems to bigger for beginner fish

 

[JayFish4004]

Yes Saltwater City and there are a couple of others near Saltwater City. Seattle Coral and Sea King Aquariums. All within a few miles of each other.

Hows the progress? Im just now hitting my one year mark on the Red Sea Max Nano and have loved every minute. It’s a killer setup with a couple hacks like the ATO reservoir. I have yet to get to dosing pumps in my first endeavor at reefing, seeing how long I can avoid it haha

Highly recommend getting a pair of Hygger nano wavemakers on each side, the return pump is a beast you don’t need much.

Also a good idea to use a bit of coral glue to create a barrier so you don’t have water bypassing the sock compartment - you’ll see what I mean its to the right of the skimmer. Some have done a 3d printed deal but Im not that fancy, coral glue works great and you can take it off for cleaning after it hardens.

 

[MtnDewMan]

Coming along nicely. Still getting the up and down algae issues. My clowns are happy, added some nice coral frags. Some doing well, others not so well. I'm so used to metal halide 10ks from 20 years ago, getting hard to adjust to the more blue look but fun to see the corals pop a bit more with the blues. I certainly am not good at pictures with the bluer lights. I made lots of changes from the original red sea kit but am pleased with the equipment so far:

Tunze 9001 skimmer
AI Nero 3 pump
Radion XR15 G5 Blue light
Jebao DC 1200 return pump
Green Water Killer 3w UV
Eheim auto feeder
ReefDose 4 (Alk, Ca, Mg)
ApexEL