use to be big, now want to go small

[sven]

Hi everyone, I used to be active here, over a decade ago, when I kept a huge reef tank. I have not had a tank since then and now want to get back into it again, but I want to go small. I would love to get a ready made complete system, if there is such a thing that actually works. I don't want to kill fish and coral. Looking to create a nano with a few corals, invertebrates and small fish like gobies. Is this possible with todays technology?

 

[rockhead51]

Very possible. I have a 32 gal cube and it is big for today's nanos!
I'd recommend you browse around the nano forum and then just go online and do some searching.
Good luck.

Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk

 

[ReefWreak]

It's absolutely doable as long as you don't go too crazy. Keep the fishload low, corals you'll run out of space if you keep things stable, and ideally keep it simple. The only thing that has changed in 10 years is the realization that carbon dosing (vodka/Nopox) or a refugium are much more important than we used to think. It used to be about MORE SKIMMER, but now it's about a balance.

 

[sven]

thank you, any recommendations?

thank you, any recommendations?

Any recommended systems?

 

[scattered]

Any recommended systems?

I am in mostly the same boat as you. I am starting over after almost a decade. I've gone with the Fluval EVO XII, added an Aquatic Life 115 skimmer. I'll be moving the skimmer to chamber 2 and turning chamber 1 into a 'fuge with a pre-filter floss chamber. I am adding a Jebao wavemaker for flow also. A tunze auto top off is on order as well.

I am planning on a pretty heavy vert bio load for such a small tank (11-15" full grown) so frequent water changes will be a must for me.

 

[scattered]

To be a bit more specific, I am considering:

2X ocellaris
1X jester goby
1X clown goby

I considered a Ring Eyed Dottyback and a tail spot Blenny also but that is an extra ~5" of bioload. If params are still good this time 2020 I'll think about pushing the envelope.

 

[murphreef]

I used to have a 180G reef tank with tons of sps etc. had like $25K bucks into it lol.

Now I have an Innovative Marine 25G Lagoon All In One set up with all the bells and whistles runs great and I can keep anything I want healthy and happy

Its great you can be in the hobby and not be so stressed and the maintenance is really easy especially if you get most things automated like auto top off and dosing....

any questions let me know.

 

[lifeoffaith]

I'm very happy with my 45 gallon all in one JBJ rimless. I am pretty sure they make a smaller version too. I have two other all in one tanks as well and this one by far looks the nicest and has nice sized filtration chambers. On thing you'll find different is that more and more people are going with LED lighting as opposed to other options. I run LED on two tanks and T5 on one. Personally I prefer the LED, but I've also run both T5 and LED in tandem before as it is supposed to help with coral growth. I'd say I'd probably agree with this in my experience.

 

[murphreef]

I'm very happy with my 45 gallon all in one JBJ rimless. I am pretty sure they make a smaller version too. I have two other all in one tanks as well and this one by far looks the nicest and has nice sized filtration chambers. On thing you'll find different is that more and more people are going with LED lighting as opposed to other options. I run LED on two tanks and T5 on one. Personally I prefer the LED, but I've also run both T5 and LED in tandem before as it is supposed to help with coral growth. I'd say I'd probably agree with this in my experience.

Agreed LED by itself is awesome. But to get that serious coral growth especially with SPS you need some T5's thrown in there.

That is why I am mainly sticking to LPS, Softies and some of the easier SPS like montis, stylos and birdsnest. Any pics of you AIO's?

 

[lifeoffaith]

Agreed LED by itself is awesome. But to get that serious coral growth especially with SPS you need some T5's thrown in there.

That is why I am mainly sticking to LPS, Softies and some of the easier SPS like montis, stylos and birdsnest. Any pics of you AIO's?

The only decent pictures I have are of my 45 gallon. My other two I'm nursing back to health so they don't look great right now. The 45 I just got started so my pictures are from after I put the first few macroalgaes in the tank as it will be a Caribbean Seaweed Bed Biotope.

View attachment 399206

 

[scattered]

I used to have a 180G reef tank with tons of sps etc. had like $25K bucks into it lol.

Now I have an Innovative Marine 25G Lagoon All In One set up with all the bells and whistles runs great and I can keep anything I want healthy and happy

Its great you can be in the hobby and not be so stressed and the maintenance is really easy especially if you get most things automated like auto top off and dosing....

any questions let me know.

You are so right about how much easier the hobby is now in that respect. There are multiple vendors to choose from for everything (ATO, dosing), and things I dreamed about (Apex controllers) are now common place. Ten years ago I could not go on vacation without constantly being concerned about my tank, now I can get the parameters on my phone.


Questions? When I'm ready will you ship frags to Carson City or do I have to drive to Simi and pick them up?

 

[murphreef]

You are so right about how much easier the hobby is now in that respect. There are multiple vendors to choose from for everything (ATO, dosing), and things I dreamed about (Apex controllers) are now common place. Ten years ago I could not go on vacation without constantly being concerned about my tank, now I can get the parameters on my phone.


Questions? When I'm ready will you ship frags to Carson City or do I have to drive to Simi and pick them up?

Yea technology has made reef keeping a lot easier that is for sure!!!

I remember the tough days of canister filteres and power compacts lol.

If you are ever in Simi are feel free to let me know you are welcome to swing on by. My corals are kinda small still but growing nicely.

:beer: