My nano build!

codytbuckner

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Today I received my new tank. Let me give you a little background on why I chose this tank. My very first reef tank was a 65b that I spent a fortune on. I did a ton of research. I constantly added equipment. I eventually ended up adding a home built sump. It worked great for about a month and then I just couldn't get the the water levels to even out and stay consistent. I battled cyano, Dino, green hair algae to the point where I just didn't want to be in this hobby anymore. I realized that that massive amounts of research I had done just wasn't enough. I got rid of a lot of it. Fast forward to now. I decided that through all my struggles, I had made all the right mistakes. Not everything worked out, but my fish and coral were happy and healthy. I had never lost anything. So I chose this AIO to get back into it. This tank will do everything I was trying to do myself while I learn the hobby. So here I go. The Red Sea Max Nano was my choice.
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The stand is great quality. A little IKEA, but that is okay. It took an hour to build but it is solid! The tank is amazing looking. Stylish and all the equipment is well hidden. I love that it comes with quality lighting too. Con: You can only adjust blue, white and moonlight for this light. what the heck? No other spectrums? I might upgrade to an AI Prime. Got the bad boy all filled up with CaribSea Fiji Pink sand, rock that I've been curing for 2 weeks (that came from my old tank), and fresh water with Red Sea salt. Oh, I also got a new RO unit.

Side note: After all this time and after getting a RO/DI unit with DI resigns and a meter, I've found that the water from my old RO unit was coming out around 15 TDS. New water is 0TDS. I wonder if this is why I had nuisance algae problems......

Light is on. Tank is running.
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Water Cleared up after about an hour.

I have a Red Sea Reef Mature Starter Kit, but the cured rock has been cycling ammonia in its tub and with the addition of the live sand, I'm not sure that kit will be necessary. I'll be testing the next few days and go from there!
 
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codytbuckner

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One day after setup! The tank has cleared up nicely. Even though I cured my rock for a few weeks and added live sand, I am using Red Sea’s Reef Mature Starter Kit to cycle my tank. I figure the things this 21 day kit does can only help and rushing it never does. According to the chart, today is day two of 21. CUC will be added around day 10. Just a few snails. Are there any other cool CUC inverts that would be good for this size tank? Unfortunately sea slugs get too big.

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codytbuckner

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After a few days running, here are my thoughts on this system.
The tank looks great. It's stylish and I love rimless tanks. Red Sea did a great job hiding the equipment in the back.
This is an AIO, but Red Sea has to know people are going to add things. I had trouble finding room for my heater. It barely fits in a cramped space and is almost too tall with the amount of water in the rear. There is absolutely no room for anything else.
The ATO is simple. Just a little area for water and a float valve. But it works. The problem is, it doesn't work well enough. Float valves just aren't as pinpoint accurate in my opinion as digital sensors and there is plenty of room in the stand to add a ATO Reservoir. I will be upgrading soon. This also solves my problem of having no space in the rear of the tank, as I'll be taking the current ATO out.
I haven't really seen the skimmer in action. It's been running, but there is no livestock in the tank yet, so I don't know how well it works yet. It IS kind of noisy though. It's not an obnoxious noisy.....more of a "has it's own ocean sound" noisy. So I can deal with that.
The water circulates pretty well. It seems to create enough current for the soft corals and few SPS that I want.
The light is still up for debate. I can only adjust three basic colors: Blue, white, and moonlight. The last one doesn't even count for colors and coral growth.

Unfortunately this is the boring part. Just a few more days and I will be adding my CUC!
 
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codytbuckner

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UPDATE: It looks like the clowns might have flukes. I did a fresh water dip and they are looking better. I will be treating with PraziPro when it comes in Saturday!
 
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codytbuckner

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Unfortunately, neither clown made it. Brook got the best of them. LA was very helpful in getting me a refund and I ordered a bonded pair of black snowflake clowns from Divers Den. While I know it’s not a guarantee for them to be disease free, I trust they will be in much better shape. Plus these particular pair have been on the website for quite awhile. So I’m hopeful there will be no problems!
 

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