Longtime reefer....noob to nano's

[Bushman]

Long story short guys, I've been reef keeping since the early 90's. Within the last 2 years I broke all my large tanks down, sold what I could stored the rest. Fact of the matter is that I just can't do it....can't do without a tank I mean! So, I decided to look at the nano thing and after looking at some of your all's tank, WOW!

 

So, if you were gonna restart, after all you've learned, gimme your setup. I really like the all in one setups., and this new basket thing has me intrigued. Where'd that come from? Maybe I've been away too long but at any rate, school me if you don't mind. I'm goin back reading threads while you do.

 

Thanks much! Bushman

[seabass]

Welcome to N-R.com! I'm not an AIO kind of reefer, but can still appreciate them. InTank has media baskets for most of the popular models. StevieT's DIY media baskets became so popular that he started to manufacture them for the public (improving quality and function as time went on).

[louy99]

I just started a nano...link in my signature

[Exodus]

I keep an AIO and have been for over 4 years now prior to that it was much larger reefs, Good to see you have experience in keeping a Salt tank before moving to a tank with a much smaller water volume and little to no buffer for mistakes. Though I will be honest I don't remember having corals available for purchase in the early 90's, but I remember all the fish! When was the last time you saw a paddlefin wrasse for sale?

 

So here are my recommendations from lessons learned, hence I will tell you my new upgrades and "Why" I'm upgrading

I have learned with a 12g AIO there is not a single skimmer thats worth it's cost that will fit in the back chamber, a Sump? That just defeats the entire purpose of an AIO does it not? There are many brand whores that will try and solicit their favorite companies "idea" of a nano skimmer, though will all the different nano skimmers that small, I have seen in action I have yet to be impressed with the results. It is true you can get by with weekly water changes, I have done so religiously every Monday for more than 4 years! Though here is something that is never mentioned, you accidentally overfeed, or you don't get enough detritus off the sandbed when vacuuming, or you forget to blow all the crap off your rock; regardless sooner or later and more than just once you "are" going to encounter excess nutrients in the system and no amount of little bags of chemi pure elite, purigen etc. is going to save you!

 

So what was the point of that? Well I found in my next tank I'm having built, I will now have a chamber large enough for a decent Nano Skimmer worth it's cost, This was a huge deciding factor on the tank I chose. I also wanted enough room to a Small reactor back there for instances when fighting excess nutrients along with the skimmer I could run GFO. You ever fought Dinos before? Don't even start me on how much a nightmare it is to try and eradicate those bastards in an AIO! You might also want real-estate for Media baskets which are great for holding chmi-pure/Activated Carbon/Macro algae or the likes. You also need to consider other equipment as well.

 

Because of my small water volume and the small amount of changes that can wreak havoc quickly I have an apex with Conductivity, Temperature, and pH probe for monitoring. I have to account for the space my probe holder takes, also my ATO Switch, and heater. Lastly I have been through several light fixtures and currently using the AI Prime, I really haven't been satisfied with multi channel lighting schemes that require a lot of screwing around to figure out just what exactly makes the corals happy, I like the simplicity of a light that has very few controls and works so with that said that is why this is my next upgrade within a few months that will include everything I want.

 

New Tank: picO 20G AIO, made by chris and known to be some of the best custom tanks around. The filtration chamber has plenty of room for a good skimmer, built in media baskets, and well thought out water movement/placement. As well it is a cube, almost All nano light fixtures on the market have a square footprint of coverage making cubes Ideal fits rather than having to get multiple lights for coverage.

 

New Skimmer: Cad Lights pls-50 pipeless elite Nano Skimmer. Not only does it have that standard look of the skimmers your used too, it has great reviews everywhere, I have personally seen the skimmate this thing can pull and its not massively huge eyesore on the back of a nano like the AquaC Remora (Great skimmer just way to bulky). It fits in the back, sleek looking and easy to adjust.

 

Dosing Pumps: BRS 1.1 Dosing pumps. Water changes weekly used to be enough to replenish everything in my tank but with everything caked in Coraline, a large open brain coral and a few SPS my alkalinity has been dropping by nearly .5 dkH daily! I have started simple top off dosing but why not have the luxury of hooking a pump to my apex to sort it out automatically?

 

Lighting: Kessil A360W, seen them in action have always been impressed, though a 360 over a 20g is overkill I also like the fact if I upgrade to a 30 or 45 no need for a new light. The blue look it gives and the shimmer is like none other. I know NanoBox grows corals by the ft rather than inches and cures cancer, but I personally love everything about the Kessil; most importantly its simplicity of control with only 2 knobs for color and intensity, set once and forget it.

 

Reactor: I haven't fully decided on this one as I don't intend to run it full time but rather when needed for gfo purposes. I am considering either the BRS mini reactor or the IM Desktop reactor. The only issue is I heard the IM pump is too strong to get a smooth tumble on GFO, So I still have to spend more time investigating this.

 

Last upgrade, Quite Drive upgrade chip for my MP10. I really like the MP10 for its control, profile, and power. There are a couple other products that have shown to be just as nice if not better so it's all personal preference, but I am happy with my purchase and after seeing I can upgrade the chip to quite the powerhead a tad I'm considering the option.

 

So you asked what we would do on a restart and why, I know it's a bit long but there you have it.

[HarryPotter]

I keep an AIO and have been for over 4 years now prior to that it was much larger reefs, Good to see you have experience in keeping a Salt tank before moving to a tank with a much smaller water volume and little to no buffer for mistakes. Though I will be honest I don't remember having corals available for purchase in the early 90's, but I remember all the fish! When was the last time you saw a paddlefin wrasse for sale?

 

So here are my recommendations from lessons learned, hence I will tell you my new upgrades and "Why" I'm upgrading

I have learned with a 12g AIO there is not a single skimmer thats worth it's cost that will fit in the back chamber, a Sump? That just defeats the entire purpose of an AIO does it not? There are many brand whores that will try and solicit their favorite companies "idea" of a nano skimmer, though will all the different nano skimmers that small, I have seen in action I have yet to be impressed with the results. It is true you can get by with weekly water changes, I have done so religiously every Monday for more than 4 years! Though here is something that is never mentioned, you accidentally overfeed, or you don't get enough detritus off the sandbed when vacuuming, or you forget to blow all the crap off your rock; regardless sooner or later and more than just once you "are" going to encounter excess nutrients in the system and no amount of little bags of chemi pure elite, purigen etc. is going to save you!

 

So what was the point of that? Well I found in my next tank I'm having built, I will now have a chamber large enough for a decent Nano Skimmer worth it's cost, This was a huge deciding factor on the tank I chose. I also wanted enough room to a Small reactor back there for instances when fighting excess nutrients along with the skimmer I could run GFO. You ever fought Dinos before? Don't even start me on how much a nightmare it is to try and eradicate those bastards in an AIO! You might also want real-estate for Media baskets which are great for holding chmi-pure/Activated Carbon/Macro algae or the likes. You also need to consider other equipment as well.

 

Because of my small water volume and the small amount of changes that can wreak havoc quickly I have an apex with Conductivity, Temperature, and pH probe for monitoring. I have to account for the space my probe holder takes, also my ATO Switch, and heater. Lastly I have been through several light fixtures and currently using the AI Prime, I really haven't been satisfied with multi channel lighting schemes that require a lot of screwing around to figure out just what exactly makes the corals happy, I like the simplicity of a light that has very few controls and works so with that said that is why this is my next upgrade within a few months that will include everything I want.

 

New Tank: picO 20G AIO, made by chris and known to be some of the best custom tanks around. The filtration chamber has plenty of room for a good skimmer, built in media baskets, and well thought out water movement/placement. As well it is a cube, almost All nano light fixtures on the market have a square footprint of coverage making cubes Ideal fits rather than having to get multiple lights for coverage.

 

New Skimmer: Cad Lights pls-50 pipeless elite Nano Skimmer. Not only does it have that standard look of the skimmers your used too, it has great reviews everywhere, I have personally seen the skimmate this thing can pull and its not massively huge eyesore on the back of a nano like the AquaC Remora (Great skimmer just way to bulky). It fits in the back, sleek looking and easy to adjust.

 

Dosing Pumps: BRS 1.1 Dosing pumps. Water changes weekly used to be enough to replenish everything in my tank but with everything caked in Coraline, a large open brain coral and a few SPS my alkalinity has been dropping by nearly .5 dkH daily! I have started simple top off dosing but why not have the luxury of hooking a pump to my apex to sort it out automatically?

 

Lighting: Kessil A360W, seen them in action have always been impressed, though a 360 over a 20g is overkill I also like the fact if I upgrade to a 30 or 45 no need for a new light. The blue look it gives and the shimmer is like none other. I know NanoBox grows corals by the ft rather than inches and cures cancer, but I personally love everything about the Kessil; most importantly its simplicity of control with only 2 knobs for color and intensity, set once and forget it.

 

Reactor: I haven't fully decided on this one as I don't intend to run it full time but rather when needed for gfo purposes. I am considering either the BRS mini reactor or the IM Desktop reactor. The only issue is I heard the IM pump is too strong to get a smooth tumble on GFO, So I still have to spend more time investigating this.

 

Last upgrade, Quite Drive upgrade chip for my MP10. I really like the MP10 for its control, profile, and power. There are a couple other products that have shown to be just as nice if not better so it's all personal preference, but I am happy with my purchase and after seeing I can upgrade the chip to quite the powerhead a tad I'm considering the option.

 

So you asked what we would do on a restart and why, I know it's a bit long but there you have it.

Great list & advice here! Wow!

 

My current set up was made after a years consideration and is very similar to yours.

 

Tank: RL-45

Skimmer: PLS-50 (only one worth a damn!)

Media Reactor: BRS deluxe

ATO: Tunze Osmulator

Controller: TBA

Powerhead: MP40w Quiet Drive

Lighting: Radion XR30w pro

 

I personally like the Radion more than the kessils due to the ease of programming and features (such as acclimation, etc)

[Exodus]

Yeah lighting is completely preferential at this point in the game (more so than 5 years ago). AI, Ecotech, Kessil have all proved themselves in the market and it truly comes down to the individual's taste anymore. (and in consideration to this forum Nanobox must be doing something right with the amount of followers it has). I have played around with all the settings with the AI Prime, Nano, Hydra 26, Kessil 160 w/ controller, A360we knobs, and an XR15. I admit there is some really cool things you can do with them but I procrastinate allot and don't like to mess with stuff too much hence my Apex is doing only a fraction of the things I intended to do with it (One of these days right?) I think the A360's 2 knobs suit my lazy personality.

[Bushman]

Ty

[Nano sapiens]

You'll find all kinds of different opinions as to what will work for a nano...from super high-tech to super simplistic. Most nanos have a rather short life span (largely due to 'upgradeitis'), but a well designed and cared for system has the potential to operate for a decade or more.

 

As you are contemplating, I 'downscaled' from a larger tank to my current nano which is a 12g that I started in 2008. Basically, it just has a return pump with a rotating nozzle, a heater, a thermometer, a DIY ATO and LED lighting. That's it; no skimmer, chemical media...just live rock and live sand.

 

For a variety of reasons, I actually enjoy the nano more than my old 55g that I had running for over 9 years. It's not the first nano I've had, though, as I created an 8g with a 12g sump from scratch back in the mid 80's.

[Bushman]

Well I've had a 360, 125 and lastly a 90. I won't be going big again. Been there and done that. Just miss having a tank around and wanna try the nano scene. Lots of info here and I appreciate that.

[DocReef]

I have a pretty simple setup, IM Nuvo 20. Just a heater, skimmer, powerhead, ATO, media baskets, plus lighting. Simple to care for, mainly just water changes and manual dosing when levels get low. There are some fancy setups here but I like to keep it simple. My only regret was to not have gone a little bigger. If I had to do it again I'd go with the 30 or 40 gal.

[aquageek]

I got sick of my AIO. I am not saying they are bad, but they are not for me. I am not an experienced reefer and I've only been doing this for a little over 2 years, so that may be part of my issue. Less volume, less room for mistakes. I have a Coralife 29G Biocube that is no longer an AIO. I removed the hood, the rim, completely ripped out the back compartments, built my own sump out of acrylic, drilled the glass and hard plumbed the entire thing. I now have the added the volume of the sump, and more space for equipment to keep out of the display. Best thing I have decided to do with this tank. Makes cleaning and maintenance a lot easier, and I have a lot more room for experimenting with different things. The best part is, it still kinda' has that compact all in one look. It still sits on the stock BioCube stand which matches the foot print perfectly, and all of the equipment and filtration is hidden in the cabinet. Looks great in the living room. With the hood removed I have an open top so it makes viewing the tank great! Guests love it.

 

So if I could start all over? I would do a 40G breeder with a 20G long sump hard plumbed with plenty of space in the sump for an overkill skimmer, a media reactor, and a large chamber for refugium (no sand). I would put an Aqua Illumination Hydra 52 over the top hung from the ceiling and put an EcoTech MP-10 on each end of the tank in alternation reef-crest mode. I would also go with artificial live rock (real reef rock to be specific ) to be environmentally friendly (save the reefs!) and not have to deal with curing rock, hitch hikers, or any massive phosphate leaching. Would also do dry not live sand (I don't like bare bottom tanks, but thats a personal preference) probably shallow bed and black in color. Would top it all off with the Aqua Illumination controller for the light, a descent heater, a descent ATO (thinking Tunze), and maybe a used Reef Keeper lite to watch PH and temperature. I would then garnish the setup with a beefy UPS (battery backup) to run heater, and pumps in the event of power failure.

 

The good news is I have a 40G breeder sitting empty in my basement right now for such a project