SPS nano- help me start off right

[agiacosa]

Hi all,

I'm getting back into the hobby after a few years off. As part of the negotiation with the wife, I've committed to using a USA Current Cardiff aquarium and placing it in our living room. So, with this limitation, I'm trying to start off on the right foot. The good thing is that all I have atm is the tank, stand and light (the HQI).

I would really appreciate any knowledgeable nano SPS specialists giving me their words of wisdom when it comes to equipment I should buy. The aquariums comes with its own skimmer, auto top off and biological filter. I would like to have a minimalistic set up similar to Leonardo's Lagoon version 1. Few live rock pieces and having an SPS forest.

Appreciate it. I'll post pictures when I set the aquarium in the living room.

All the best,

Art

 

[plyle02]

I think you are off on the right track... It comes with a topoff, that is key with sps nano tanks... I ran a 28 gallon tank with a 15 gallon sump and skimmed with a Euro_reef cs6-3 recirulating out of sump skimmer. This thing was a beast for a 28 gallon tank, I think it was rated for 135 gallon heavy stock. I truly do not think you should skimp in the export department, specifically if you have less liverock to aid as a natural filter. You will want to get plenty of flow in there as well, maybe some tunze 1055's on a controller or the vortechs mp20 or mp10's. Are you running with a sandbed or barebottom? You may want to take a bacterial driven approach to limit nutrients. Keep an eye on temperature as well, I had to have a fan blowing over my sump, as my 28 gallon tank was lit with a 250 watt halide. Let us know more about the setup, good luck with the new tank.

 

[tgbaby1]

i also have a solana but the cube version. the first thing i would invest in is a good ATO setup and ditch the two bottles it comes with. the next thing would be to upgrade the skimmer. the stock skimmer is marginal at best. there are a few options out there, tunze and sapphire skimmers seem to be the most popular. i went with the sapphire skimmer after reading all the good reviews.

 

[scrapz]

IMO, build a similar sized tank /w a sump.. more water volume, more space, more equipment choices (skimmer especially) & a place to hide your equipment..

 

[agiacosa]

Hi and thanks for your time!

plyle, you touch on a couple of my largest doubts. The first is whether to go bare or not. While I prefer the look of a thin sand bottom, I can't overlook the benefits of using a bare bottom to lift detritus easily into the filter system. I haven't decided yet because of this.

tgbaby, what didn't you like about their built-in ATO system and which one did you go with? As for the skimmer, yeah, it's my first purchase. I will look into those that you stated. Do they fit nicely in the back compartment?

scrapz, while the idea of DIY is appealing, my negotiated terms strictly prohibit this as my wife has seen my DIY work before. Remember this is sitting in my living room and aesthetics are key.

For supplementation, what do you guys recommend? In such a small system, should I consider the Zeovit because it shouldn't cost so much?

Thanks again.

Art

 

[tgbaby1]

The stock ATO was messy and somewhat of a pain to refill and replace. If you have a high evaporation rate then they would only last a few days. You mentioned that you would be using metal halides so i imagine you'd have a fairly quick rate. I purchased a tuze osmolator, there are a little pricy but IMO are well worth it, but there are a lot of different options out there. Depending on you freshwater reservoir, you may only have to refill it once every week or two. I went with the sapphire skimmer. It is specifically designed to the dimensions of the first chamber where the stock skimmer goes. You cant even tell its there. I started using zeo about a month ago, the only real problem is not having room for a reactor for the stones. right now im just running them passively in the second chamber. i thought about getting this.

http://www.shop.sapphireaquatics.com/category.sc?categoryId=6

 

[agiacosa]

Well the empty aquarium is now sitting in my living room. I've purchased a Sapphire skimmer to replace the stock one and also have a Vortech MP10 coming. I'll look into the ATO later.

From my reading of the Zeovit forums, there are many nano reefers that use the zeolites passively in a sock and shake them once a day. I would hate to add another thing to keep track of.