Must-have nano tank gadgets for $300 and under?

[NoAhoysLeft]

A generous relative said they would buy me anything $300 and under for x-mas.

Caveat is that I already have most of my basic equipment (please check my build thread's latest update, linked in the main post) and I can't order anything alive as it has to be opened near the 25th!

What's a must-have piece of equipment for nano tanks? Either for quality of life, convenience, or essentials.

 

[ryanjohn1]

Nero 3 would be my suggestion.

 

[NoAhoysLeft]

Nero 3 would be my suggestion.

I've got a wavemaker, although that one looks nice..

 

[aSaltyKlown]

ATO or an RODI unit, don't see them listed.

 

[Rubymoon286]

Honestly, I recently got this guy for my nano freshwater tank, but it would be excellent for nano reef.

AutoAqua AWC lite

I have the fancier version on my big reef system

AutoAqua Smart AWC Duo

Both are under 300 and honestly been one of the best choices I've made for quality of life. My parameters stay very very stable. The lite is slower and I recommend getting an additional check valve for the wast line unless your waste container is above the tank because it *will* continue to siphon. The Duo is a little harder to program, but works like a dream, while the lite is much more limited in intervals you can set. I have both set up for 24 hr water changes. The Lite is also much quieter pump wise, but the Duo isn't very loud in the cabinet. If you have any distance between reservoirs and your tank, go ahead and grab the pump extension cords of coralviews website if you go with the Duo

 

[NoAhoysLeft]

Honestly, I recently got this guy for my nano freshwater tank, but it would be excellent for nano reef.

AutoAqua AWC lite

I have the fancier version on my big reef system

AutoAqua Smart AWC Duo

Both are under 300 and honestly been one of the best choices I've made for quality of life. My parameters stay very very stable. The lite is slower and I recommend getting an additional check valve for the wast line unless your waste container is above the tank because it *will* continue to siphon. The Duo is a little harder to program, but works like a dream, while the lite is much more limited in intervals you can set. I have both set up for 24 hr water changes. The Lite is also much quieter pump wise, but the Duo isn't very loud in the cabinet. If you have any distance between reservoirs and your tank, go ahead and grab the pump extension cords of coralviews website if you go with the Duo

How did you set up your reservoirs? As in, what containers do you use for dirty water as well as fresh salt water?

Anything I do would be for my 15 gallon and would have to be in my room. I would love something like this, so that I could take a lot of the manual effort and back-and-forth out of my water change schedule, however, I'm stumped as to where I'd place the containers.

 

[aSaltyKlown]

For my 20 gal, I used a old pretzel container. Worked like a charm. Sturdy and a good size, hope you like pretzels!

Could even use this 2 gal container. I would assume you would be changing about 1.5gal per week. Get a small $20 2x2 table from Walmart and place them under it if you have room. They do not need to be together/next to the tank either, the hoses can go a decent distance.

 

[ninjamyst]

Another tank

 

[PizzaIan339]

Gift card!

 

[NoAhoysLeft]

For my 20 gal, I used a old pretzel container. Worked like a charm. Sturdy and a good size, hope you like pretzels!

Could even use this 2 gal container. I would assume you would be changing about 1.5gal per week. Get a small $20 2x2 table from Walmart and place them under it if you have room. They do not need to be together/next to the tank either, the hoses can go a decent distance.

I appreciate the suggestions. I'll definitely try to figure out some way to make this work, because AWC would be such a life changer.

 

[Rubymoon286]

How did you set up your reservoirs? As in, what containers do you use for dirty water as well as fresh salt water?

Anything I do would be for my 15 gallon and would have to be in my room. I would love something like this, so that I could take a lot of the manual effort and back-and-forth out of my water change schedule, however, I'm stumped as to where I'd place the containers.

I use a 5 gallon ato reservoir on the blackwater tank which is both topping off and waterchange water, and a home depot special 5 gallon bucket for waste which both fit in the cabinet. If this were a salt water, I'd probably do two 5 gallon acrylic reservoirs and a bucket for waste, or just straight out the window if you have a drain nearby.

on my 100g reef, I have a 30 gallon roughneck trashcan for new salt water, a 10 gallon acrylic ato reservoir, and the waste is plumbed out my window to another 30 gallon trash can on a dolly for easy dumping into my french drain, but one of these days I plan to hard plumb the second trash can to the drain (the dogs will chew up the soft hose that comes off the pump)

The lite uses dosing tubes and is pretty easy to hide in an aio if you use your hardscape better than I did (though give it a week or two for the plants to fill in and you'll see less of the tech, also got a control board for this tank too since I am going all in on the tech - this was supposed to be a low tech tank, but reefing has spoiled me) I'm also enclosing the shelves with cedar planks to hide them a bit better.


Here's the saltwater set up minus the trash can outside, it's right up against the window, and what's harder to see is that I have a thin piece of plywood holding the window open, and weather stripping in between the ply and the window frame. This let me avoid drilling a hole in my house, or hooking it up to internal plumbing (which is waaaay above my paygrade) The desk on top of it has a set of shelves above it for all of my reef storage (I've got photos on my build thread if you want to see the chaos. But it's all tucked into the foot print of my work from home corner.

The pumps for this are all in the sump, and the light on the window is actually coming from the back of my cabinet since my refugium light is on, but it tucks behind a curtain so it's not obvious at a glance. (but yes, I desperately need to dust) The lid was loose because I made water today, but usually it's fully sealed up. You don't have to use reef branded ato containers, they make stackable water containers that you can drill holes in the top for hose to go through, or even other food grade containers that are shaped for easy storage. I just happened to have the 5 gallon one spare, from upgrading my reef to the 10 (and it matched my sump and plumbing)



I get 10 changes out of the 30 gallon can, and I do 3 gallons daily. The 10 gallon freshwater tank, I do 1/2 a gallon dailyand it's nice because I just empty the bucket when I make new blackwater. I keep cardinia shrimp so I use RODI water that I remineralize in a very controlled way to keep my shrimp safe, as well as axelrodi rasboras which are sensitive to parameter shifts. Doing daily changes makes sure that my plants have nutrients available, ph stays stable and GH doesn't drop below KH even at a low pH, so it's been incredible.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Auto top off. I could not imagine running my tank without one.

 

[NoAhoysLeft]

Auto top off. I could not imagine running my tank without one.

Thankfully, my gravity ATO arrives today!

 

[SliceGolfer]

After scrolling through your thread, a couple items stand out to me:

1. A refractometer as a second tool of measure. Don't trust the Hanna salinity checker. Do some internet searches and here on R2R. They aren't reliable.
2. Get items you will run out of, like test kit refills, salt, alk+ca dosing, etc. Syringes, measuring cups + spoons.
3. Get items you want to experiment with, like an Apex Jr, trace elements, grow your own pods, etc.
4. I didn't see a frag rack or fragging supplies. These come in handy.
5. Get backup equipment in case of failure, like another heater.
6. While an AWC sounds cool, the containers take up a lot of space. You have a 15g tank. That's a 1.5g bucket water change.
7. Instead of equipment, maybe get some livestock with that $$.
8. Put the money away for your next tank!

 

[NoAhoysLeft]

After scrolling through your thread, a couple items stand out to me:

1. A refractometer as a second tool of measure. Don't trust the Hanna salinity checker. Do some internet searches and here on R2R. They aren't reliable.
2. Get items you will run out of, like test kit refills, salt, alk+ca dosing, etc. Syringes, measuring cups + spoons.
3. Get items you want to experiment with, like an Apex Jr, trace elements, grow your own pods, etc.
4. I didn't see a frag rack or fragging supplies. These come in handy.
5. Get backup equipment in case of failure, like another heater.
6. While an AWC sounds cool, the containers take up a lot of space. You have a 15g tank. That's a 1.5g bucket water change.
7. Instead of equipment, maybe get some livestock with that $$.
8. Put the money away for your next tank!

I do have a refractometer, which I completely forgot to add onto my updated equipment list. Thanks for reminding me of that!

I will definitely pick up some test kit stuff, fragging supplies (dunno about a saw, but I could definitely get bone cutters), backup heater.. Unfortunately I can't get livestock due to the rule being I have to open the gifts on/near Christmas, unless I can get a gift card for another shop somehow. That may work. I'd love some more hammers and zoas, macroalgae, maybe a tiger conch.

 

[jasonrusso]

I have a redsea c-130 and I have the Tunze nano ATO. I use a dog food container for the reservoir

 

[mww00ds]

I would recommend one of these.

Deepsee MAX Magnified Magnetic Viewer 5"

Get a Closer Look At Your Coral! Made with optical grade magnifying glass, the DeepSee MAX 5" viewing portal is perfect for everyday viewing or even photography. With a focal range of 8-12", the DeepSee lets you get a much closer look at your corals to observe pests or early signs of disease...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

I recently got won one myself. Before getting it I never thought about putting a magnifier on my tanks. But after putting it on my 13.5 I love it. Its really cool to see some of the smaller organisms that I couldn't before. It come with a magnet that goes inside the tank so the magnifier can hang on the outside. They even make a yellow filter that works with it for coral photography.

 

[genetao]

The number on thing is get is a rollermat fleece filter. This is an absolute game changer. It cleans crud out of the water before it has a chance to decompose/ decay and is way less work daily.

But since you have an AIO, I’d select a controller with an ATO and a water sensor kit for the floor.

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/hydros-control-xs-starter-kit-coralvue.html

Hydros ATO Kit

The HYDROS ATO Kit comes with everything you need to add and manage automatic top-off through your HYDROS Controller. Using a HYDROS aquarium controller for your auto top-off system is not only a reliable solution but it also helps clear wire clutter in and around your aquarium. While this ATO...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

Hydros Rope Leak Sensor Kit

The HYDROS Leak Detection Rope Sensor is an industry first, providing instant leak detection anywhere along the length of the rop-style water sensor. Just plug the sensor into any Sense Port on a HYDROS Control device, place the leak detector wherever you are concerned about potential leaks, and...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

So you’d get an ATO, a controller that is connected to your WiFi that you can control anywhere in the world through your phone, and peace of mind that if your tank ever floods, it’ll shut off the pump and the ATO, emit a loud siren and also notify you on your phone via text and banner notification immediately. So that even if you are not home, you’d know instantly that there was a problem so that you can rush home and address the issue before any real permanent damage occurs.

All in it would cost $320 plus tax but you could easily pay the small difference. And when you upgrade to a different tank in the future, you can transfer all of it to the new tank. You can also add more of the options as your wallet allows.

 

[Aquaddictorbj4]

I am using autoaqua AWC Lite for my nano tank as well.
Works pretty great and I love the simple setting
I have also faced the forward siphon issue, but luckily, autoaqua has an anti-siphon to solve this problem

AUTOAQUA

www.autoaqua.com.tw

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

I am surprised no one has said a Apex Jr. Or the Hanna marine monitor. The thing about Nanos is things change fast, and monitoring would be your first line of defense. Both of those could potentially save your tank.