Nano Set-up

[bcarl77]

Hi all,

I am wanting to start up a large reef aquarium (Red Sea 425XL) in a few months after spending about 5 years in high tech planted tanks. I am thinking of using all of the extra equipment from the planted tanks to set up a small nano tank in order to start learning about reefing by having a clown pair with softies. I would like to spend as little as possible and get some thoughts on if this is possible. Here is the list of equipment I have laying around that I can use:

-Aquamaxx 17 gallon rimless aquarium
-2 Hydor Korlia Nano 240
-AquaClear HOB 30
-BML Dutch Planted (6300K) (Very strong light, wrong spectrum) or Current Sat Plus
-BRS Dosing Pumps
-Heaters
-Canister Filter (probably use the HOB)
-RO/DI Unit

Things I would buy (excluding livestock)
-Salt Mix
-Live Rock
-Sand

 

[twitchy]

Equipment looks good, other than the light spectrum which you stated... I'd add a spectrometer/test kits to your list and see if you could make a diy auto top off down the road.
Welcome to the hobby

 

[bcarl77]

You think I could get away with the Current Sat Plus by itself? Distance from light to substrate is only 15 inches MAX.

 

[twitchy]

You think I could get away with the Current Sat Plus by itself? Distance from light to substrate is only 15 inches MAX.

I am not familiar with that light, what color temp can it be set to? If you could get it away from the reds/ cover some of the red leds I'd say go for it. If you start having bad algae growth cover more reds.

When I started my first tank It was a fish only freshwater and it just had the basic single lamp florescent (~4500K). I was able to add mushrooms and low light softies, later on down the road when I wanted different corals I upgraded the light

 

[ReefWreak]

There are many transplants (pun intended) from high-end freshwater to reef. Particularly coming to mind is Soulpatch, whose original nano thread is here and new build is here. I'm sure you'd learn a lot from reading through his nano thread.

As for the equipment, see my notes below:

Hi all,
-Aquamaxx 17 gallon rimless aquarium - Fine
-2 Hydor Korlia Nano 240 - Fine
-AquaClear HOB 30 - Probably won't use, unless you want to just use it to hide heater or other equipment
-BML Dutch Planted (6300K) (Very strong light, wrong spectrum) or Current Sat Plus - Current will be crap, only suitable for very low light corals like mushrooms, and definitely set it to the least red/white you can so you don't get too much algae growth
-BRS Dosing Pumps - fine, but probably won't need it for a beginning tank
-Heaters - good
-Canister Filter (probably use the HOB) - wouldn't use it
-RO/DI Unit - perfect

Things I would buy (excluding livestock)
-Salt Mix - yep, you can go a long way on just Instant Ocean, or Reef Crystals if you want to be fancy, but they're both widely available and inexpensive
-Live Rock - yes
-Sand - yes, make sure to get aragonite

You'd probably want an auto-topoff at some point with the nano, and I'd recommend picking up an inexpensive kit of API tests, probably the saltwater starter kit is a good, relatively inexpensive, place to start.

Steer clear of using those FW lights, as they'll promote algae growth, which you'll have a hard enough time with as it is.

Not mentioned are water changing supplies. With a new nano, water changes are your friend. All that is needed for water changes are 2 5g buckets, a powerhead (I use an MJ900), small heater, and hose that fits the powerhead so you can pump new clean water back up to the tank, after you've drained 5g from it into the empty bucket.

Remember to top off with fresh water even though it's a salt tank, as the salt doesn't evaporate (you may already know if you have advanced water chemistry skills in freshwater).

Good luck, and welcome!

 

[bcarl77]

Thanks for the help!

-I was thinking about doing a DIY top-off using an aqualifter for the moment. This should do the trick if I spend the time to dial it in.

-I've read very mixed things on the lights too. Might not be a bad idea to just get one AI Hydra 26 since I will use 2 on my larger tank.

-I have tons of WC supplies.

-I don't mind getting the test kits and other misc. supplies since I will need all of these eventually anyways.

Can I ask why you don't think I need the aquaclear? I was going to run some media in there.

 

[ReefWreak]

You could do the AI Prime, which is cheaper than the Hydra 26 and should hold you over, as well as being more reasonably priced.

I hate media. I don't run media at all. Just high flow and a skimmer. Media gets dirty, causes nutrient issues, and ends up leading to algea growth. If you're not constantly on top of it. I'm not constantly on top of my tank. I'm also going through a rough patch due to that philosophy, however, on the whole, I think I've had success through a hands-off policy.

 

[twitchy]

I ran an aquaclear on my 20 long tank, but only ran carbon and gfo in it, until I got a reactor

 

[bcarl77]

I ran an aquaclear on my 20 long tank, but only ran carbon and gfo in it, until I got a reactor

Yes this is exactly what I was going to do.

 

[bcarl77]

I am still hung up on the light. I could get about 50 PAR (at the substrate) out of the current sat plus and just change the spectrum to lower the greens. The only reason I would get the Hydras is because thats what I would use on my eventual upgrade.