Best start for a nano tank?

[slythy]

I am in the very beginning stages and looking at getting a IM 25 lagoon AIO tank. I truely dont know where to begin on setting up a fairly maintenance free/simple nano reef tank. Smallest I have ever had was a 55g. I love the kessil lights on my other tanks so I wouldnt mind doing that but if there is something better/cheaper I would be interested. I would like help figuring out the following

Filtration:
Lights:
Skimmer:
Live Sand or Barebottom:
Live rock or Dry rock:
ATO:
Stand:
Fish:
Cleanup crew:

I think what I really would like is to keep some easier SPS corals and a nice clam as I have always found those interesting. I think for fish a pair of clowns and a wrasse of some sort would be great. I like the Idea of the 25g aquarium because weekly 10-20% waterchanges are so little. I plan on doing a 2 part doser if the water changes dont offer the alk/calc needs. I also am intrigued by the BB tanks since it would make cleaning up so much easier and then dont have to worry about water flow blowing around sand. But a goby/pistol shrimp combo sounds awesome too..... so many way to go.

If you had to start a nano tank from scratch what would you do?

 

[blaxsun]

My advice is spend a bit more money and get a larger tank - one with an external sump. Something like a Red Sea 170. The accessories for nano tanks are all insanely overpriced, and you’re very limited. For instance, there’s no ATO so you’ll have to set that up separately, and cleaning and maintenance is a major hassle.

 

[afrokobe]

I started a 25 gallon cube a little over a month ago with hob and cannister equipment. I like the AIO ability to hide equipment, but I did not like losing display space. Here is the step up I went with to maybe give you some ideas:
- Mr. Aqua 25 Gallon Cube
- Kessil A360x
- Tunze Nano ATO
- 2x eheim jagger heaters with inkbird controller
- Sicce Whale Cannister Filter (Running Carbon + GFO in media bag, ceramic media, and polishing filter pad)
- Aquatop surface skimmer (You wont need this on your aio, since it will surface skim)
- CPR Aquatics Aquafuge 2 Small (Running wonder mud from IPSF with a mixture of chaeto and ulva) with Tunze ecochic
- Marco dry rock with 1 piece of live rock from LFS
- Built my own stand from plywood sheets and furniture legs from amazon (I would just get the IM alps stand in your shoes)

The aquafuge is my primary means of nutrient export and seems to be doing well so far. I had thoughts about adding a skimmer to the system, but I wanted to see how long I could get away with it.

I have a 1-2 inch sand bed.

 

[Blumy]

If you want SPS and a clam, live rock is a must unless you want to wait a year.

 

[slythy]

If you want SPS and a clam, live rock is a must unless you want to wait a year.

i think thats fine, i dont need to start with sps, i can and should work my way up a bit. Im fine with starting with softies and lps, just an end goal. Trying to not introduce pests or anything or spend $1000 on rock

 

[Blumy]

i think thats fine, i dont need to start with sps, i can and should work my way up a bit. Im fine with starting with softies and lps, just an end goal. Trying to not introduce pests or anything or spend $1000 on rock

Careful with softies. They can and will take over a tank. Don’t worry about pests. They come on the frags you will be getting too. My live rock was in someone’s sump for 7 years. Wound up scoring some high end mushrooms he didn’t know were there and tons of sponges that are still alive and kicking in the dark corners. Sure, a couple aptasia showed up but I killed them with aptasia-x and the huge amount of vermitid snails was reduced to no big deal status with bumblebee snails. I got SPS in about a month and a half and they are now large colonies. That said, it’s not true live rock, it’s aquacultured but I didn’t have to wait for it to cycle and mature.

 

[davidcalgary29]

I truely dont know where to begin on setting up a fairly maintenance free/simple nano reef tank.

Ah, the Holy Grail of reefing.

Seriously, though, the best thing you could do is pick up a Fluval Evo XII, get yourself some live rock, a replacement return pump (the stock pump really is not up to snuff), and then stock it with some easy-to-keep corals after about month three. The canopy reduces evaporation to nearly nothing, and the stock lighting is good enough for the easier SPS. Sure, I can't seem to keep leptoseris and chalice alive in my tank, but I'm pretty happy with the mix of acro, goronians, and softies that it currently supports.

It's also big enough for a couple of fish or three. I don't care what anyone thinks -- my orchid dottybacks are the perfect nano tankmates.

The Evo is also incredibly cheap for what you get. My Evos (and I have two) have been, by far, my best aquarium purchases.

 

[slythy]

Seriously, though, the best thing you could do is pick up a Fluval Evo XII

I think 13G is just too small. I think 20Gal is the smallest I am willing to go. it looks nice though!

 

[elorablue]

If you want SPS and a clam, live rock is a must unless you want to wait a year.

Not true at all. I started my 20g cube just over 6 months ago with dry rock dry sand and no skimmer. Introduced my first sps (monti verrucosa) at 3 months and now have over 20 pieces of Acropora all growing well.
AIOs are great and so are small tanks.

 

[elorablue]

My advice is spend a bit more money and get a larger tank - one with an external sump. Something like a Red Sea 170. The accessories for nano tanks are all insanely overpriced, and you’re very limited. For instance, there’s no ATO so you’ll have to set that up separately, and cleaning and maintenance is a major hassle.

Can I ask what part of cleaning and maintenance is a major hassle in an AIO ? Just curious what you found to be difficult.

 

[blaxsun]

Can I ask what part of cleaning and maintenance is a major hassle in an AIO ? Just curious what you found to be difficult.

I had a pair of Innovative Marine Fusion Pro Lagoon 25-gallon tanks. Out of the 5 chambers in the back, I could only fit my hands in 3 for thoroughly cleaning (I needed to use a combination of scrub brushes instead on the outermost chambers).

They also have an incredibly stupid design, where the pump chamber extends under the adjacent 2 chambers to the right and left at a height of about 1/2”-3/4”. I assume this is to increase the water volume in the pump chamber, but it’s next to impossible to clean (and this is with removing the pump entirely).

I found it just ended up being a detritus trap, and when a fish invariable ended up in the sump - good luck trying to get them out of this “crawl space”.

The other thing with AIO tanks is that you’re limited by space to what kind of accessories you can add (and these are usually at a premium), and there’s no ATO - so the IM will run dry every single day unless you top it up.

 

[elorablue]

Interesting. Thanks for responding.
I agree that “hand space “ is certainly at a premium and it does make it awkward to get in there. I use a long handle razor blade scraper and a scrubber for cleaning and I don’t find it much of a hassle. I siphon while I scrape and scrub. This is generally an every 1 - 2 month job and takes probably 15 minutes or so.
I haven’t had any fish get into the back chambers, not sure how that would happen. Although I did have my 2 sexy shrimp take up residence in my filter sock for a couple weeks but that’s a story for a different time lol.

 

[elorablue]

The other thing with AIO tanks is that you’re limited by space to what kind of accessories you can add (and these are usually at a premium), and there’s no ATO - so the IM will run dry every single day unless you top it up.

Just saw your edit,
That’s part of the beauty of a nano AIO. No need for a lot of accessories. Weekly water change takes care of a lot.
I don’t run a skimmer so the only things I’ve added are a heater and a tunze ato which is fed by a 10L cambro container. It gets topped up every 4 days.

 

[blaxsun]

Just saw your edit,
That’s part of the beauty of a nano AIO. No need for a lot of accessories. Weekly water change takes care of a lot.
I don’t run a skimmer so the only things I’ve added are a heater and a tunze ato which is fed by a 10L cambro container. It gets topped up every 4 days.

There are some nano tanks with a far superior design. The Fluval EVO (for example) actually had some thought go into it, it’s reasonably priced and the add-on accessories aren’t these insanely priced pieces of garbage (I’m looking at you IM Nuvo skimmer).

 

[slythy]

I absolutely love sumps, makes life easy.. but space is very limited and not sure a 10G sump makes any sense to a 25 gallon aquarium. I was hoping Just an ATO and heater would be ready to party. I dont think I'm going to use a skimmer or anything just a weekly waterchange. The evo looks good but unsure if its the direction I want to take. I want 20-40gallons but unsure if even 40 will fit.

 

[Bayfront_reefer]

It depends how small you want to go. I would first suggest the Fluval Flex saltwater tank, Its just under 35 gallons. Its an AIO tank with connectivity, and space for a skimmer. Second down would be the Biocubes, Great all in one systems at a good price point. Then you have the Innovative marine line, including the peninsula, drop off, and lagoon style tanks. These allow you to build your set up as its just the tank itself. You'd need lighting and additional filtration on your own, a lid, etc. Then in terms of desktops there is the Evo 13.5. These are great all in one tanks, but very small at only about 12 gallons of display volume. Below I've attached a picture of my three year old evo. I have had all of the aforementioned tanks.