EGD's Red Sea Reefer Nano

[Elgringodiablo]

I currently have four active tanks in my house, but the only one I am really happy with is my Red Sea Reefer Nano (the smallest of my four systems).

Much of this tank was started out as a 14 Gallon Coralife Biocube. Eventually I got sick of not having a sump, so I bit the bullet and bought my second RSR (have a RSR 450 in my livingroom, yes, my wife is a very patient woman). At the time, it was the largest tank I was comfortable with having on the second floor of my house.

Current setup:
- 7 gallon externally plumbed fuge with caulerpa, mangroves and a bit of red macro algae that keeps getting outgrown.
- 2L Avast Vibe Zeovit Reactor
- Radion XR15 Gen 4 w/Diffuser
- Skimz QuietPro 4.0 split three ways to the return, fuge and zeo reactor (one of the only DC options that fits in that return section, planning to try upgrading to a RO Varios 2.0)
- Skimz SN123 Monzter Mini (great size, but not totally sold on Skimz, first pump went out after a year, may try upgrading to RO Essence 130, now that I have a little space in the sump)
- Pair of Tunze Nanostream powerheads turned down pretty low with Apex controlling the flow patterns as much as possible. (considering switching to a pair of Vortech MP-10s, which I'd still have to run low, but hopefully eliminate some dead spots and get my SPS growing better in more places)
- Apex 2016 (upgraded from a classic on black friday and moved that classic over to my 40B grow system)
- Apex DOS for KH & CA
BRS Dosers for MG and keeping my ATO reservoir topped up

Livestock:
- Pair of Sea & Reef Phantom Clowns, who I've had for about 3 years
- Marine Betta who eats pellets
- Bunch of snails
- Small tuxedo urchin
- handful of small hermits
- anemone crab
- peppermint shrimp who probably picks at my LPS
- 3 maxima clams (2 pretty small, one medium)
- bunch of nice SPS that I am trying to grow out
- few nice LPS pieces strategically placed
- tons of zoas and palys that have been in the system forever

Of my four systems, it's really the only one that I feel like is doing well. I keep my KH in the 7-7.5 range and my nutrients hang around 1-2 NO and 0.03-0.06 PO. I do weekly 10% water changes and feed the heck out of my corals. Growth and encrusting is going alright, now I am trying to hone in on ideal coloration while still seeing some growth. Got a few big name frags (WD, HW, PF, etc) where they are encrusting nice, but not the crazy colors you see people selling (probably just need a ton of actinics and photoshop) .

I'll try to post a few pics from my phone.

 

[Elgringodiablo]

Here’s a few bad iPhone pictures I just took.

 

[SDReefer]

I like the look of the external fuge! Awesome coral growth and coloration! I would watch whatever's encrusting on the front glass because it may be really hard to remove it in the future.

 

[Elgringodiablo]

I like the look of the external fuge! Awesome coral growth and coloration! I would watch whatever's encrusting on the front glass because it may be really hard to remove it in the future.

Awesome! Thank you!!

The glass encrustation is a chunk of green monti cap. It’s doing that in a couple places. Fortunately it’s pretty sub-prime real estate. Pretty sure 5-10 minutes with a mag-float and it’s toast. Not nearly the headache to remove that the Xenia and mushrooms have been. I have to take kalk paste to those at least once a month.

Thanks again!

 

[NY_Caveman]

Here’s a few bad iPhone pictures I just took.

+1 in the display fuge. And nice tank!