Thanks for all the memories ...

[JohnBFisher]

No, really! Thank you!

I really enjoy reading through the various posts. It's a great way to learn from the experiences of others. So, while you might have had some frustrations along the way, it really helps the rest of us.

So, why am I looking at a nano reef tank? Well, over the years I enjoyed having various aquarium systems. In fact, my parents had several aquariums when I was a child ... many, many, many moons ago. Then as an adult (perhaps 30 to 25 years ago), I setup and ran a 15g freshwater tank. I enjoyed it so much that about 5 years later I ran a 125g saltwater reef tank.

Unfortunately, my job interfered with the normal maintenance that a reef tank required. We later moved to our newer home and setup a 33g freshwater tank.

So, why get back into a reef tank? Well, the technology has improved (can you say LED??!!). Plus, my wife ... YES! My Wife!! (Can you believe how much I love that gal?!!?) ... bought me a nano reef tank book for this past Christmas! And she wants to put it into our living room area for everyone to enjoy! Swoon!!

Fortunately, I no longer work. I am happily retired. My schedule now allows me the time to spend with the reef system. While reef systems can be tricky, the advances in technology and my time availability will allow far better control of the nano reef.

Additionally, with resources like this forum and various websites it's possible to do a better job of researching various options. While working various projects, I prefer to spend the time to find those options which don't cost as much, but yield excellent results.

This time around, I hope to put together a system that will more than meet my needs ... and will provide the most stable possible setup.

Here's what I'm thinking of at the moment:

• Use my current 33g tank (29"x12"x22")
• Use a aquarium stand
• Use a canister filter for mechanical and biotic filtration
• Use a water chiller and heater to maintain temperature
• Use a UV filter to zap the water from the filter
• Use a protein skimmer to clean the organics
• Use an Ozone generator to the protein skimmer intake
• Use a wavemaker kit
• Use a LED Lighting Controller
• Use a LED Lighting Panel
• Use 2 LED UV lights & Reflectors

Plus, of course there are the various test kits and salinity refractometer. It'll cost quite a bit, but I'll pick up the pieces during this upcoming year. A little bit at a time will make it possible without breaking the bank.

Anyway, thanks again for all the wonderful experiences that you folks share.

 

[reefwiser]

You don't need the canister filter in a reef tank.
You might not need the water chiller if your home is air conditioned. An your wife is like mine and keeps the temp at 70 year around.
UV filter is really not needed.
Ozone on a small system is just to costly. Better to use an Oxydator.
sochting-oxydator
You could use one Tunze 6040 on that size of tank to create a wave action.

There are hundreds of thousand LED lights Many bad one's and jsut a few good ones.

 

[NanoReefWanabe]

I agree with the above. ..no need for the,canister or uv filters. ..ozone is not really nneeed either, especially if you have the time to clean and maintain your water. ..

I would look at drilling your 30 g tank and plumbing it for a bean system, though a siphon system is not needed on a small tank like this it gives added pace of mind. ..but certainly build an overflow box and usea sump. ..you will want a nice enclosed stand to hide all the sump and equipment. ..

If you have time and a bit of knowhow you can build your own led fixture for half or less of what a built one would cost. .rapidled.com makes this very easy.

There are tons of advances in reef keeping, just ask before pulling the trigger ona piece of equipment you may not need. ..and remember the fish stores job first and foremost is to sell you stuff you don't need, to over complicate things.

All you need to runa tank of this size is:
a tank
a stand
A heater
A sump
A return pump(look at getting a variable speed DC pump, rlss or speed wave or jebao all make them)
A flow pump (if you buya nice pump, like a vortech or a newer jebao, it will make waves for you just fine)
A Rodi unit
A lighting system

Toys you may want:
An ATO (auto top off)
a system controller (system and lighting)
A skimmer

things you should consider if you have room:
RDSB (remote deep sand bed)

 

[JohnBFisher]

You don't need the canister filter in a reef tank.

I had been thinking of the canister filter more to replace a sump than to use it for chemical filtration.

But perhaps another option would be something like a small refugium.

I am really enjoying learning about all the options.

You might not need the water chiller if your home is air conditioned. An your wife is like mine and keeps the temp at 70 year around.

We do have central air conditioning. Better yet, the unit will be near the main air return in the downstairs part of the house, so it will have plenty of air flow near it. Long term, I think I would like a chiller, but that might be an option down the line.

UV filter is really not needed.

Good to know.

Ozone on a small system is just to costly. Better to use an Oxydator.
sochting-oxydator

Research time! Interesting and pretty darned obvious in hind sight!
Hmm.. I found a DIY oxgenator instruction set. I'll need to explore this one a little bit more.

But it does have the advantage of not introducing too much oxygen / ozone to the tank.

You could use one Tunze 6040 on that size of tank to create a wave action.

How about something like a Hydor SmartWave Pump Controller Kit (two pumps and a kit)?

Though I must say, something like the Tunze allows it to be hidden away much better. And on a smaller tank like this, I suspect that's a big plus. But ouch on that price.

There are hundreds of thousand LED lights Many bad one's and jsut a few good ones.

I'm looking at the Current USA Orbit Marine LED lighting system. It seems to get pretty good reviews. Though I might wait to see that the Orbit Marine Pro LED light system will be like. From at least one review I saw, it should better handle both lps and sps corals.

Thanks for the suggestions. More research needed.

The good news is that I'm not in any hurry to do this. We need to have some things done first. But I can start by replacing the current fluorescent lighting with LED lighting. Further, I think I can build things like the refugium using a small tank (15 to 20 gallon) and some plexiglass for the dividers.

It's fun to see how much has changed over the past 20 or 30 years!!

 

[JohnBFisher]

I agree with the above. ..no need for the,canister or uv filters. ..ozone is not really nneeed either, especially if you have the time to clean and maintain your water. ..

Time isn't an issue. Laziness might be! .. .. But if I turn it into a ritual, it can be a time for meditation / enjoyment. That will just turn it into something I enjoy and it will get done. Not that done right it's not all that hard to do a water change:

Keep a 5 to 10 gallon container of prepared sea water (and small pump to keep it moving). Then with my 30 g tank and a 15 g sump (plus plumbing), I would only need to change 5 g of water at a time.

Shoot, if I want to get REALLY lazy, I could run some lines from the sump to outside to pump out some water. And I can pump fresh water from the holding barrel to the sump. In fact, I could use an Auto Top Off to automatically refill the sump.

I need to give that some serious thought. That could make water changes much, much easier.

I would look at drilling your 30 g tank and plumbing it for a bean system, though a siphon system is not needed on a small tank like this it gives added pace of mind. ..but certainly build an overflow box and usea sump. ..you will want a nice enclosed stand to hide all the sump and equipment. ..

I was thinking that adding a continuous siphon / overflow box would be easier / safer than drilling the tank. Plus it helps change the surface water in the tank.

If you have time and a bit of knowhow you can build your own led fixture for half or less of what a built one would cost. .rapidled.com makes this very easy.

I will have to give this a "look see". I'm interested in the Current USA Marine Orbit lighting system, which appears to be at a lower price point than the Rapid LED lights.

There are tons of advances in reef keeping, just ask before pulling the trigger ona piece of equipment you may not need. ..and remember the fish stores job first and foremost is to sell you stuff you don't need, to over complicate things.

Yup. That's exactly what I'm doing. I want this really well planned out. I don't want to spend any more than is needed. But I do want to get the most bang for my buck.

All you need to runa tank of this size is:
a tank
a stand
A heater
A sump
A return pump(look at getting a variable speed DC pump, rlss or speed wave or jebao all make them)
A flow pump (if you buya nice pump, like a vortech or a newer jebao, it will make waves for you just fine)
A Rodi unit
A lighting system

So, let's see:

• Tank - Check
• Stand - Need it
• Heater - If I use a sump it's cheaper
• Sump - Will make a refugium out of a smaller tank.
• Return Pump - Seems to need to be 2 to 3 times the sump size for gph.
• Flow Pumps - In the main tank (and some in the non refugium area of the sump).
• A RO DI unit - I can use this for the house (and refrigerator) water, so I can dual purpose it (and help justify the cost).
• Lighting System - As noted, I'm looking at the Current USA Orbit Marine system.

Toys you may want:
An ATO (auto top off)
a system controller (system and lighting)
A skimmer

As I see it an ATO system would help to combat evaporation. That would tap into the RO DI holding tank. But I can use a second ATO system in conjunction with the automatic water change system. As the pump pulls out some water, the second ATO system would supply fresh seawater (in another holding barrel). Hmmm... The more I think of this, the more I like it. I might even be able to set that up to occur automatically once a day (via timer). Power on .. powers on a selenoid to open the drain line to drain a set amount (for example allow the flow rate to drain one gallon in 30 minutes). Power off .. powers off a selenoid to close the drain line. At the same time an ATO would add fresh seawater to the system from a 20 or 30 gallon holding container. Yes. It could work!

That way, I would only have to maintain the holding container of seawater. That can be in our garage. The holding container would have a pump to stir the water (low gph should suffice) and a heater to keep the water temp at the appropriate temperature.

A skimmer .. I think I'll try to make the refugium work before I go for a protein skimmer. If you meant a surface water skimmer, that's how I was planning to drain the tank.

things you should consider if you have room:
RDSB (remote deep sand bed)

Planning that as part of the refugium.

Thanks for taking the time to respond. Like I said, I really enjoy getting the chance to learn from others.

 

[JohnBFisher]

Hmmm... Perhaps a dosing meter (with multiple channels) ... 1 channel removes water and sends it out a waste drain ... You can get a auto dosing pump with 4 channels for $110. That would allow 1 gallon per day (3,785 ml) taken out of the system. Use a second channel to add the same amount of water back into the system. That would still leave two other channels for other dosing needs.

Why not use an auto top off for the salt water? Well, you would have to slave that top off to the removal of the water from the tank .. and not have any RO DI water added at the same time. Otherwise the salinity will be all over the place. So, it's easier to have one channel remove water from the sump and a second channel add fresh salt water back into the tank. Have the "dosing" be the same for both channels and it should keep the salinity steady.

Add an auto top off system for RO DI water and it should be a maintenance free system for a fairly small investment.

You can get a dual purpose RO DI system to do the top off and provide the RO DI water for the fridge and a tap for drinking water. What's more, you can have a from the RO DI holding tank going to the aquarium and another going to the salt water holding tank. The aquarium would have an auto top off switch and the salt water holding tank would just need an on/off valve. Then once a week I would add water, add salt, check the salinity, check the temperature. Poof. Maintenance done.

 

[NanoReefWanabe]

drilling a tank is better and safer then a continuous siphon overflow box, as this boxes tend to break siphon from time to time, and sometimes do not start up again after power out scenario…

as for skimmer i was referring to a protein skimmer…

a refugium in your sump is a place for pods to thrive and find refuge from predation…
a fuge is place to grow cheato or some other form of macro algae…

a RDSB is a place to hold sand for purposes of filtering your tank…this should be done remotely so it can be removed and maintained should it go bad…if it is part of your fuge, then you have to shut the tank down to remove and fix it…(this does not make sense, as you would not shut your tank down to clean a carbon filter or biopellet reactor, or your skimmer, etc…)

Fuges only work if you are diligent at removing the algae as it grows, as this is a nutrient export filter….and only works if nutrients are removed…

you should not be putting sand or bio balls or live rock rubble etc, in your sump, as they will work against what you are trying to do…i.e. they will harbour nitrates rather then remove them..