Nano Tank recommendations

[omeqa]

Hello everyone!

I am looking into getting back to the salt water hobby. I had a 250G saltwater tank 10 years ago, but I could not keep up with the maintenance (mainly because I was too busy with work and school).


I was hoping to get back into the hobby but with something MUCH smaller.

Any recommendations for a nano tank? Something that won’t eat my wallet? I was looking into the re sea max nano cube… I just don’t know if I can justify the price for what I intend to put into the tank.

These are the other two options I came across: Fluval 13.5G which comes with lighting and some filtration equipment. The last option I found was the reef casa studio aquarium 15G. This one seems perfect, but this is where I need advice.

I plan on keeping it simple:
Fish: 2 clownfish. And a bubble anemone
Coral: GSP and a euphyllia coral (hammer).

Any recommendations on nano tanks (all in ones preferably) appreciated.

 

[*GAREEF*]

Hello everyone!

I am looking into getting back to the salt water hobby. I had a 250G saltwater tank 10 years ago, but I could not keep up with the maintenance (mainly because I was too busy with work and school).


I was hoping to get back into the hobby but with something MUCH smaller.

Any recommendations for a nano tank? Something that won’t eat my wallet? I was looking into the re sea max nano cube… I just don’t know if I can justify the price for what I intend to put into the tank.

These are the other two options I came across: Fluval 13.5G which comes with lighting and some filtration equipment. The last option I found was the reef casa studio aquarium 15G. This one seems perfect, but this is where I need advice.

I plan on keeping it simple:
Fish: 2 clownfish. And a bubble anemone
Coral: GSP and a euphyllia coral (hammer).

Any recommendations on nano tanks (all in ones preferably) appreciated.

This is my 7.5 gallon I just setup today.
Imaginarium curved front.
I had fresh water in it but decided to put salt in it today with some tank water and a large chunk of rock that I had to chisel down to make it fit.

 

[omeqa]

So cool !! I’m just like you but two months advanced. Let’s start a nano thread.
I’ll show you mine you show me yours

Wow. So cool. What tank//equipment did you go with.

 

[ChiCity]

you’ll likely upgrade any light that comes with those kits…

maybe look into an innovative marine 15g
and buy a quality light after a bit of research because you’ll certainly need it for a nem once you’ve ran the tank for a year or so

 

[dedragon]

i would probably go innovative marine like chicity said. I would go with the largest tank for the area its going in and within budget. Make sure whatever stand you are putting it on can support the weight

Shop | Innovative Marine Products

Shop Now | Innovative Marine's Official Store | Free Shipping on all orders* | NUVO aquariums and saltwater reef supplies.

www.innovative-marine.com

Shop | Innovative Marine Products

Shop Now | Innovative Marine's Official Store | Free Shipping on all orders* | NUVO aquariums and saltwater reef supplies.

www.innovative-marine.com

 

[JoJosReef]

Innovative Marine makes excellent AIO tanks. What kind of space are you dealing with? Like above, I would go with the max size that fits the soace. Even two clowns would appreciate a bit more swim space and you'll want aome grow-out space for your corals regardless of how few you are planning--a hammer colony can get quite large!

The 25 lagoon is an excellent size for a budget:

Shop | Innovative Marine Products

Shop Now | Innovative Marine's Official Store | Free Shipping on all orders* | NUVO aquariums and saltwater reef supplies.

www.innovative-marine.com

Above that you are getting to the larger 40gal limit on a nano.

 

[tharbin]

Welcome to R2R! I would look at Innovative Marine, Waterbox and Hello Reef tanks. Hello Reef's Clownfish & Anemone Tank may actually fit your needs very nicely but Waterbox and IM both make a good selection of quality nano tanks.

 

[Kilman805]

I have the Fluval Flex 32.5 gallon tank and I'm happy with it. Maybe that's on the upper end of the "nano" range.

The stock filter is trash, but the media baskets from InTank help a lot.

I personally like the AIO design and the covered lid minimizes evaporation while leaving space for a skimmer. I added the second optional light. I'm still getting up and running and still in fish-only mode, but from what I've read the dual stock lights should suffice for most corals.

Maintenance seems manageable at this size. I use a 15 gallon trash can on wheels for mixing and water changes.

See my build thread for some more info.

 

[mues]

+1 IM. I ordered the nuvo 15 and it is a great looking tank. I've yet to finish the build or add water but am super excited for it. Will be my mini reef as my 150 has turned into a fowlr almost

 

[Tahoe61]

I have 2 IM running. A 14 gallon peninsula and a 40 gallon. One on the aspects I really like about IM is the versatility of upgrading and adding equipment like skimmers. Tunze equipment fits well, Bubble Magnus makes a nice skimmer that fits. IM makes their own drop in UV.
My favorite IM is the 20 gallon long.

 

[omeqa]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I wouldn’t want something that would take too much space. I think the dimensions of a 20G cube would be the max size I’d go with. I keep hearing about upgrading equipment especially lighting. Something I don’t mind doing— but wouldn’t want to do.

I was told the helloreef would be one of the better options. I do want to keep the ATO in mind. So if anyone has any recommendations on one..:)

 

[slogan315]

I have 2 of the Fluval 13.5s. The tanks look nice and are fine, but if you’re serious about keeping corals, you’ll likely have to upgrade or not use a lot of what you pay for.

The redsea nanos look nice, and plug and play. (Which you pay a premium for). If you don’t intend to get the accompanying redsea equipment, might have trouble integrating or taking advantage of that plug and play you prepaid for.

If you like to piece together your systems, might be best to get a separate AIO nano, light, and skimmer like others have mentioned. May not even need a skimmer for a clown anemone tank.

If budget conscious, may check for used setups near you. Used nanos are a lot lower risk than used large tank, and lots of the equipment and freebies bundled in should save a ton of money upfront. Also more money saved on the glass box means more money on what’s in the tank.

In my experience, I had 2 young clowns in a Fluval 13.5 and they quickly felt cramped. May look for a 15-25 if space allows.

 

[omeqa]

I ended up getting the helloreef. I took everything everyone had into consideration and decided to wait on some of the extra equipment the Red Sea kit offers. I think for how serious I want to take it— for now— the helloreef offers what i need.

This is what I plan on keeping in that nano:
Two clowns
Bta
GSP
a hammer or frogspawn (or both)
CUC:
Hermits
Sexy shrimp

Do you guys think this will be an overkill?

 

[Tahoe61]

Post in thread 'HelloReef 15 - TSA Giveaway' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/helloreef-15-tsa-giveaway.1049555/post-12849815

There is some interesting information to be found.

It's a decent little starter tank. I have not seen enough about the lighting to see if it will support LPS.

You're probably eventually get an ATO. I like the Tunze 3 Nano.

Congratulations on your new tank. :)

 

[omeqa]

Thank you! I’m excited to bounce back :). Since I’ve been out for 10+ years— I’m sure there are so many cool things out there

Any testing kits you guys recommend? Are we still using strips and drops lol and test tubes

 

[dedragon]

my allardi clowns ate my sexy shrimp so just be careful there. As far as test kits salifert, red sea pro, and hannah checkers are my go tos just depends on the parameter. Just dont buy the api master kit as you will most likely throw it out in a couple of months like the rest of us do
Hello reef is an ok starter system with decent equipment, but you could still build a better system for the same price. For example, I like my sicce sdc wavemaker but honestly the jebao dmp was a much better value. The ai blade isnt my favorite choice as well as there are options with higher output and better color control. Its not a bad system but you can get a lot out of researching the equipment yourself to better understand reef tanks as well.

 

[Reef.]

Thank you! I’m excited to bounce back :). Since I’ve been out for 10+ years— I’m sure there are so many cool things out there

Any testing kits you guys recommend? Are we still using strips and drops lol and test tubes

Salifert for everything apart from po4 for that I would go Hanna checker 774 as all the tests for po4 are next to impossible to get an accurate reading imo as the colour charts are so hard to read for po4.

Some will recommend hanna for alk and nitrate, I would only go for those options if you hate reading a colour chart, the alk is very slightly easier to do with the hanna, no more accurate and the nitrate is good but the reagents are on the expensive side, definitely more accurate than salifert as the pink colour chart is not easy to read but nitrate is not too critical, so many are happy with salfert but hanna is definitely worth getting for nitrate if you have a little extra money, alk checker I have but went back to salifert, the reagents for the alk checker can give different resding depending how old the reagent is and how much is left in the bottle and also from bottle to bottle.

 

[slogan315]

I ended up getting the helloreef. I took everything everyone had into consideration and decided to wait on some of the extra equipment the Red Sea kit offers. I think for how serious I want to take it— for now— the helloreef offers what i need.

This is what I plan on keeping in that nano:
Two clowns
Bta
GSP
a hammer or frogspawn (or both)
CUC:
Hermits
Sexy shrimp

Do you guys think this will be an overkill?

Congrats! The best part about hello reef is it’s designed to be a successful gateway into the hobby. So lots of very targeted videos and info for your specific setup.

I think the stocking list is great

 

[tharbin]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I wouldn’t want something that would take too much space. I think the dimensions of a 20G cube would be the max size I’d go with. I keep hearing about upgrading equipment especially lighting. Something I don’t mind doing— but wouldn’t want to do.

I was told the helloreef would be one of the better options. I do want to keep the ATO in mind. So if anyone has any recommendations on one..:)

Excellent choice. What I like about the Hello Reef systems is that they come with premium equipment from premium manufacturers rather than a bunch of lower quality 'check the box' type gear.

 

[omeqa]

my allardi clowns ate my sexy shrimp so just be careful there. As far as test kits salifert, red sea pro, and hannah checkers are my go tos just depends on the parameter. Just dont buy the api master kit as you will most likely throw it out in a couple of months like the rest of us do
Hello reef is an ok starter system with decent equipment, but you could still build a better system for the same price. For example, I like my sicce sdc wavemaker but honestly the jebao dmp was a much better value. The ai blade isnt my favorite choice as well as there are options with higher output and better color control. Its not a bad system but you can get a lot out of researching the equipment yourself to better understand reef tanks as well.

Oh what lighting would you recommend?