26G Max Nano Reef Build

[Reefasaurus]

Hello there, this tank has been set up since Sep 2022 and is my first step back into the hobby after a long break. It was supposed to be a very low-maintenance system with a couple of clowns and maybe an anemone, but the bug bit me quickly and now it has a handful of acros (nothing fancy) and has re-sparked the passion.

My short-term aspirations for the tank are to upgrade my lighting from the RedSea LED 50 to an Ecotech xr15 Blue and swap the Hydros controller with an Apex. Automation is important to me because I travel a lot for work, and I have had a lot of issues with them staying connected to the Wi-Fi.

Images taken 12/15/24 and are from each viewing side.

Display System:

RedSea Max Nano Peninsula

• 17.7" L x 23" W x 17.7" H
• 26 Gallons
• Salt: RedSea Blue Bucket

Lighting:

• RedSea LED 50
• 2x 12” AI Blade Grows

Filtration and Flow:

• 225 Micron Thin-Mesh Filter Bag
• RedSea stock Protein Skimmer (Air intake vented outside)
• AI Axis 40 return pump
• AI Nero 3

Automation Equipment:

• RedSea ReefATO+
• 2x ReefDose 2 (currently dosing: All-for-reef, Plus NP and Acro Power)
• Ink Bird WiFi Aquarium Heater Controller - 100W Titanium Heater
• Coralvue Hydros x2 Controller with wifi Power Strip and Auto Fish Feeder
• PC battery backup set up to power only the return pump in the event of a power outage.

Fish:

• Black Snowflake Clownfish
• Orange Storm Clownfish
• Bangaii Cardinalfish
• Royal Gramma
• Algae Blenny

Parameters:

• Specific Gravity: 1.026
• Temp: 78.5
• Alk: ~8
• Phosphate: .01
• Nitrate: ~0

I am dosing Plus NP by Tropic Marin to help increase my phosphate and nitrate. I keep my Alk at 8 and adjust my all-for-reef dose to hold it within .5 dkh.

 

[Michael71]

Looking good! Nice little tank!

 

[pelicanhill]

Great information. Thank you for sharing. I have almost the exact same setup: same tank, similar fish selection (I have one more fire fish). The biggest difference is that I have all LPS and you have quite some SPS.

I am having the exact same problem now, Phosphate 0.07 and Nitrate 0. I already started manually dosing Alkalinity, I really don't want to dose Nitrate. I think six fishes should provide enough bioload to the tank. The only thing I can think about is that the tank is going through the ugly phase. Maybe the algae consumed the Nitrate. How's your tank doing now? Do you need to dose Nitrate continuously?

By the way, my tank has some Alkalinity issue. I don't have a lot of corals and they are all relatively small. Still, my tank is consuming about 0.4 to 0.5 dkh a day. My weekly 15% water change of Red Sea coral pro mixed salt water is not enough to keep the Alkalinity level. I am manually dosing 6ml Foundation B a day now. Hopefully, once the tank reach around 8.5 to 9, I can dose a smaller amount. Currently, the Alkalinity is 7.5 dkh.

I saw quite a few YouTubers claimed that they were only relying on weekly water change to provide chemicals to their nano tanks, no dosing needed. In reality, it seems impossible, at least for me.