K.I.S.S., Affordable nano reef setup?

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

I just sold my 525XL and the crazy amount of equipment I had with it. Such a bummer but I'm trying to move to CA and accomplish a 5 year goal in a few months. So it had to go.

I'll likely be renting there for a while saving up for a down payment on a new home.

I'm thinking I'll likely be able to get a nano setup going under 30g. I don't want to spend a lot of money on it as I'm going all out once I buy a house and getting a custom tank built (was going to do it in this house but had an opportunity that I'm trying to pursue with my career come up).

I've been eyeing the bio cube tanks but the curved acrylic is kind of a turn off for me.

I don't think I'm going to try any SPS with this tank, likely would want a small clown harem with anemones and LPS and softies (if I can get a big enough tank for a harem). That should help keep the water change / nutrient demand / sensitivity level low enough so that I don't have to complicate things with dosers and higher-end monitoring. Definitely want to keep things as simple as possible so moving, maintenance, etc is at a minimum.

I was thinking:
Biocube (hack in better lights?)
Tunze ATO
Upgrade return pump so no power heads in the DT
No skimmer
Weekly 5-10g water changes
Higher-end heater so no need for something like an ink bird controller?
Chaeto instead of bio media in rear chamber
DSB
???

I've never had a true nano reef, any thoughts? I'd love to see some pics of your ultra simple setups!

 

[Hemmdog]

I started with a biocube 32, it started leaking from the bottom after a year and a half. The curved glass wasn’t a big deal for the longest time, but after a year it became impossible to keep clean. I’m renting in CA and I have a 90 and a 40 lol. Maybe see where your going to be living first, and see the space you have for the tank. Size wise going even down to a 40 is going to seem like a pico for you coming from a 525. If you really are limited on space I’d check out the small red seas, the biocubes need totally gutted to be good tanks and you would save money in the long run going the Red Sea route. I wish I had done that in hindsight.
Where at in CA are you moving to? I live in the bay! Welcome!

 

[Tamberav]

Why not just buy a IM tank and put a prime or nanobox on it and floss and carbon in the media basket and call it a day?

Top down of my Lagoon. I do hand dose since it has a lot of LPS.

I also have a small skimmer but I turn them off a lot...it's optional on such a small tank.

 

[Ranjib]

I have a biocube , it’s awesome, but I would recommend considering red sea reefer 170 or waterbox, since you have to modify less, and they don’t have curved front .. also rimless. Pair it’s with a kessil a360 or hydra, an mp10, an aquamaxx 1.5 , a smart ato micro and you are good to go for sps

 

[Ranjib]

My tank

Don’t do dsb. It can be pain. If you are on budget, go with blackboxes and mod them, use Koralia for power head and skip the skimmer in lieu of just chemical filtration and keep less bioload (2-3 fish at max )

 

[samnaz]

Didn't you have an IM 30L?

 

[samnaz]

If you don't want to spend a lot of money, I can relate and based on experience here's what I suggest..

A standard Petco/Petsmart 20L tank.
HOB filter (AC-80 or 120) with purigen and chemi-pure carbon, and filter floss/pads.
A Jebao PP-4/SW-2 for extra turbulant/chaotic flow. (any recent generation of Jebao powerhead will probably be fine)
Then a heater around 100-150 watts (you decide) and the lighting, and you're set!
I opted for Current Marine Orbit LEDs which are very inexpensive and completely controllable, and grow everything from beginner soft corals, to low-light SPS.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

I just sold my 525XL and the crazy amount of equipment I had with it. Such a bummer but I'm trying to move to CA and accomplish a 5 year goal in a few months. So it had to go.

I'll likely be renting there for a while saving up for a down payment on a new home.

I'm thinking I'll likely be able to get a nano setup going under 30g. I don't want to spend a lot of money on it as I'm going all out once I buy a house and getting a custom tank built (was going to do it in this house but had an opportunity that I'm trying to pursue with my career come up).

I've been eyeing the bio cube tanks but the curved acrylic is kind of a turn off for me.

I don't think I'm going to try any SPS with this tank, likely would want a small clown harem with anemones and LPS and softies (if I can get a big enough tank for a harem). That should help keep the water change / nutrient demand / sensitivity level low enough so that I don't have to complicate things with dosers and higher-end monitoring. Definitely want to keep things as simple as possible so moving, maintenance, etc is at a minimum.

I was thinking:
Biocube (hack in better lights?)
Tunze ATO
Upgrade return pump so no power heads in the DT
No skimmer
Weekly 5-10g water changes
Higher-end heater so no need for something like an ink bird controller?
Chaeto instead of bio media in rear chamber
DSB
???

I've never had a true nano reef, any thoughts? I'd love to see some pics of your ultra simple setups!

Try living close to LA port. LFS will carry hard to get creatures

 

[Ranjib]

If you don't want to spend a lot of money, I can relate and based on experience here's what I suggest..

A standard Petco/Petsmart 20L tank.
HOB filter (AC-80 or 120) with purigen and chemi-pure carbon, and filter floss/pads.
A Jebao PP-4/SW-2 for extra turbulant/chaotic flow. (any recent generation of Jebao powerhead will probably be fine)
Then a heater around 100-150 watts (you decide) and the lighting, and you're set!
I opted for Current Marine Orbit LEDs which are very inexpensive and completely controllable, and grow everything from beginner soft corals, to low-light SPS.

+1. This is a very good list . Blue acro puck , noopsyche etc are also good less expensive options.

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

I did have an IM30, sold it with the big tank. Don’t want to move all that down there and it may have too large of a footprint.

I’ll be living in laguna beach or Dana point (where I grew up, home surf break!) so getting stuff in LA shouldn’t be too bad!!

I do like the idea of having an aio style sump so I can hide equipment. However that obviously does increase prices.

Has anyone tried the aqua max 12g long with the aio sump mod?

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

(I obviously wouldn’t be able to get w bunch of clowns in there)

 

[ReeferReefer]

Im going bare bottom on new nano for easier cleaning. I like running a skimmer though.

 

[Robg139]

Yes one regret I would have went bare bottom in my nano, would have been a lot easier maintenance. I also running a fuge with cheato and nutrient levels are kept in check with water change a week about a gallon very easy, everything is stable without dosing. In the future as more Demand May thing of getting ato and dosing kalk but not there yet. I think you can do this fairly cheap as my setup was pretty cheap, bought AI prime hf about the most expensive thing on the tank but worth it, some of my corals were a little expensive but you can get cheaper ones. Really only the gold Indo torch that I just got and chalice were expensive, everything else was reasonable.

 

[Jon Fishman]

I am in the process of setting up. Red Sea Max Nano. really cool looking tank at 20g


Why not go back to red sea? It’s very convenient

 

[ReeferReefer]

I bet you could find another Innovative Marine tank second hand in your area for cheap.

 

[Tamberav]

I did have an IM30, sold it with the big tank. Don’t want to move all that down there and it may have too large of a footprint.

I’ll be living in laguna beach or Dana point (where I grew up, home surf break!) so getting stuff in LA shouldn’t be too bad!!

I do like the idea of having an aio style sump so I can hide equipment. However that obviously does increase prices.

Has anyone tried the aqua max 12g long with the aio sump mod?

I am not sure what AIO mod you are refering to but I have a 22g Aquamaxx that I turned into an peninsula AIO. If you are handy enough to make an acrylic wall, it is probably cheaper.

 

[spartanman22]

Check out Fiji Cube. They have reasonably priced AIO’s