Keith’s Red Sea Max Nano Build

[kad1979]

From my intro post.

Hey all - my name is Keith and I have had a reef tank off and on since I was 14 y/o (I’ll be 43 in April).

I took down my last nano probably 5-6 years ago.

Well, I’m getting back into the game and have a Ref Sea Max Nano being delivered on Tuesday.

Getting back into it I’m amazed how fast this hobby evolves.

Anyway, been busy with a hammer, chisel and drill today. Here is what I’m thinking about for the scape (Life rock).

Looking to isolate GSP on the left circle and mostly LPS on the right structure with zoas and ricorida near / on the substrate.

As far as fish are concerned probably just a couple of clowns and a goby and pistol shrimp.

Cheers!

____________

Tank has been wet for 24 hours.

20 lbs of Arag Alive and Carib Sea Life Rock. Went with Nutri - Seawater for startup water and Fritz 900 turbo start. Lights have been out and will remain out besides snapping these pics.

I’m used to cycling the old fashion way by throwing in a dead shrimp and waiting and waiting and waiting for nature to take its course. The bottle of Fritz has me a little on edge but I’ve done a bunch of research and it seems to really speed things up.

I had been building out my scape and of course, it just did not look good. Actually looked horrible in the tank.

So on day #2, I redid the scape , hence the coudy water.

Really liking this and feel it should give me enough surface area for what I am looking to accomplish.

Will post updates as they are warranted.

The angled view from the photo is sitting at my desk. This is going to make long conference calls soooo much better. Not sure what took me so long to get back in the game.

 

[Idoc]

Looks nice!

 

[lelolai15]

Awesome job!

I have mine running for the past three months. I need to take time and do a build thread. I also have it right next to my desk . I find myself doing water testing, cleaning or just getting a close up look at the tank during calls.

Enjoy!

 

[Reeferjunkie]

Nice setup

 

[i cant think]

Cant wait to watch this tank mature! I have a Red Sea Max Nano aswell and it’s coming up to a year old. Got any plans for something like a coral wall?

Also by goby what do you mean? A cryptocentrus or a stonobobiops? I’d personally avoid a small goby if you have clowns in the tank. The clowns will be rather aggressive.

 

[kad1979]

Cant wait to watch this tank mature! I have a Red Sea Max Nano aswell and it’s coming up to a year old. Got any plans for something like a coral wall?

Also by goby what do you mean? A cryptocentrus or a stonobobiops? I’d personally avoid a small goby if you have clowns in the tank. The clowns will be rather aggressive.

Leaning toward a watchman goby.

 

[i cant think]

Leaning toward a watchman goby.

That’s a good choice - The cryptocentrus genus are known as Watchman’s. My personal favourite is C. albidorsus, the white-backed watchman goby

 

[kad1979]

2.5 weeks in. Added some stuff (zoas and GSP) a week ago.

Everything is super happy.

Still kind of weirded out / impressed / nervous cycling a tank this way.

Algae starting to pop up. Will probably add the first couple / few members of the CUC this weekend.

 

[kad1979]

First bonehead move, I think. So everything is still very happy but I had a wee bit of nitrites left and they were stubborn to move.

Someone at the LFS suggested Smartstart to push it over. So I did. Next day I see what looks like a bacteria bloom. Now I have zero doubt it is. Not horrible, not even that bad.

Ugh - I should have done my research. Again, this bottled stuff is new to me.

Now, based on research, "think" I dumped in a bottle of heterotrophic bacteria....essentially, bloom in a bottle.

Fritz says it can be used anytime. Can these bottle of heterotrophic bacteria cause a bloom in a tank?

I am planning on just letting it ride. My guess is a week?

 

[Titleist1964]

Nice looking set up.

 

[kad1979]

Tank is back to squeaky clean.
Minor self induced bloom (see above) only lasted 4 days.

Threw in a few snails and a few hermits. They are staying busy with a good amount of algae growth.

3 weeks in.

One group of zoas already produced a baby.

Meet Toby.

First man in.

Will be getting him a Randall’s pistol buddy. Waiting for it to arrive at the LFS.

 

[kad1979]

Checked out a new LFS (should say LCS as they had next to no fish).

Amazing shop with great guys.

Brought a little water just because. Ran the Salifert whole gamut. Params are spot on. Nitrates a little too low for my liking but understandable this early.

Decided to buy another starter to serve as a barometer, 5 head duncan. Duncan just a couple hours after being introduced. Still has some plumping to do but amazed she opened so quick this nicely. I’m sure she will be in full bloom tomorrow.

Sorry on the super glue OD. She didn’t want to stick for some reason.

 

[kad1979]

Oh. Also the GSP is growing like they do.

Moved the rock it is on to the front right corner of the tank. You can see the new mat already layed down in the bottom right corner.

I don’t like landscaping. I’ll keep it safe super isolated.

 

[I WANT CLOWN GOBIES]

Cant wait to watch this tank mature! I have a Red Sea Max Nano aswell and it’s coming up to a year old. Got any plans for something like a coral wall?

Also by goby what do you mean? A cryptocentrus or a stonobobiops? I’d personally avoid a small goby if you have clowns in the tank. The clowns will be rather aggressive.

Clowns won’t be aggressive to a shrimp goby at all.

 

[kad1979]

Clowns won’t be aggressive to a shrimp goby at all.

Its funny. I’ve never really done clowns before.

Have a pair of clowns on order. We will see when they show up.

Make sense too as different parts of the water column.

 

[kad1979]

Happy, happy, happy.

We’ll see how she does.

 

[i cant think]

Clowns won’t be aggressive to a shrimp goby at all.

I’ve seen it 50/50 before, I would personally stay on edge anyway.

 

[kad1979]

End of week 5.

Added an acan a week ago. Added the torch yesterday (taking a deep breath).

Haven’t done a water change yet.

Running heater less and have never checked the temp. Guessing it’s swinging between 72-78 based on the room temp.

 

[trsmith18]

looking good. So your not running a heater consistently to stabilize temperature? Any pics of your coral under daylight?

 

[kad1979]

looking good. So your not running a heater consistently to stabilize temperature? Any pics of your coral under daylight?

Nope. It’s kind of an experiment now that I live in SW FL. Only catastrophic events I’ve had in this hobby have been heater related.

Haven’t taken a temp besides dipping a finger in. Lol.

I have weather station that is the room where the tank is that gives me indoor temp. Swings from 70-78…it’s a warmer room in our house.

That last pic was under 100% blues. I’ll take a pic during daylight for you.