Noah's Reefer Nano Build

[nagreen]

Well I bought a used Red Sea Reefer Nano.. It's an 18"x18"x18" cube and holds 21gal in the display and 7 in the sump! The tank is a year old and in great condition, other than needing a good scrubbing.

I won't have it running for another month as I'll be traveling to Europe for 3 weeks at the beginning of August. I am currently at work with nothing to do so I decided it's the perfect time to start a build thread!

I've cleaned out the tank as it had been sitting, full of water, with all the pumps off for almost a month.. It was gross. Probably 15 dead hermit crabs/snails all throughout the rockwork. The skimmer collection cup was full and had been sitting for 3 weeks. It was a mess.. but I got it cheap, one reason being the seller didn't want to clean it out himself!

It will get another good scrub down before I set it up for good.

 

[nagreen]

I have an IM Nuvo Fusion 10g right now that has a good piece of live rock and a basket full of matrix that I will be using to start off the tank and cycle eventually.

I took that rock that was in the Reefer Nano originally, washed it off well with the hose, and let it soak in a 5gal bucket with a gallon of vinegar and the rest water.. It soaked in the vinegar for a couple of days and I poured it out, rinsed it with water again, and let it soak in water for a few days, dumping out the water daily. Finally, I laid it all out in the sun for a day to dry out.
Now the rock is in another 10g tank i had laying around with a powerhead and heater in it, curing.. The phosphates are extremely high, as I figured, so I'm going to do a couple 100% water changes before I leave for Europe to hopefully get all of that out before I let them cycle.

Then, for the 3 weeks that I'm gone, I'll put some of the matrix in with the rock, and let the rock finish curing/start to cycle.

 

[nagreen]

I have a handful of equipment already from other setups that I've bought over the summer and parted out. So I have 2 lists! An equipment list to begin with, and a list of upgrades I hope to make within the next 6 months.

Equipment list:
Kessil a160we w/ spectral controller
Eheim 100w Heater
Bubble Magus Curve 5 Skimmer (picked up for $105!!)

---- *eventually replacing* ----
Jebao Return Pump
Aquatic Life RODI Unit
Koralia Nano Powerhead
Red Sea's Integrated ATO


Equipment Upgrades:
mp10wqd
Vortech Battery Backup
Varios 2 Return Pump
Tunze Osmolator
BRS RODI w/ Water Saver

and, eventually, hopefully, maybe
Apex Controller

 

[nagreen]

My tentative stock-list is:

Yellow Clown Goby
Midas Blenny
Pair of Extreme Misbar Clownfish
Orchid Dottyback

If anyone sees any issues here let me know.. a little worried the dottyback could get aggressive in this small tank. I haven't had an orchid but I had a yellow dottyback who was extremely aggressive.

I plan on using my aquascape to maximize swimming area for the fish.. It won't be a pile of rocks and it'll be off of the back wall to give the most swimming area and hiding places

 

[nagreen]

I will most likely stick with mushrooms, zoas, palys, a couple leathers, and some LPS, although the one rock that I have in my IM 10g has several encrusting SPS already on it - Cyphastrea and psammocora I believe. So I guess you could call it a full on mixed reef

The IM 10g is already lit by a Kessil a80 and the corals are doing great, so hopefully the transition to the new tank will be easy for them.

 

[nagreen]

Update! The Reefer Nano is now up and running as of September 8th. I moved the rock, corals, and around 5gallons of water over from the IM 10G. I added new sand (Special Grade Aragonite Reef Sand) as well as dry rock that I'd been cycling in another tank for the past month.

For now the equipment list is:
Kessil a80
Hydor Koralia
Jebao Return Pump
Bubble Magus Curve 5

Over the following 7 days the tank did nicely. All of the corals opened up extremely well and the water parameters were on point. *don't pay attention to the bottom left of the aquarium, i'll give that update next!!*

 

[fishnchip]

looking good!! loving the scape

 

[Preme]

Looking good! I’m also using the a80 on my 7 gallon!

 

[nagreen]

I originally planned to upgrade to an a160 but the corals are all looking good under the a80 so I think I’ll keep this for awhile and save the money

Plus, the only corals I plan on adding in the next while are softies that’ll do fine under the a80

 

[nagreen]

Here are my boys!! (Atleast until one decides she’ll be a girl, of course)
The larger of the two is an extreme misbar and the smaller is a gladiator. They seem to have paired up extremely well. They eat like dogs and they come straight to the glass as soon as I walk near the tank. Maybe one day they will lay eggs and I can try to raise the fry.. they would have some very interesting offspring!

The gladiators name is Russell for obvious reasons. We’re working on a name for the Misbar. If you have any recommendations shoot them my way!

 

[Blue Spot Octopus]

The AI Prime HD would work real nice on that tank as well. I have the Kessil 160 and the AI prime HD, the Kessil is easier to use but I like the Prime more.

 

[nagreen]

The AI Prime HD would work real nice on that tank as well. I have the Kessil 160 and the AI prime HD, the Kessil is easier to use but I like the Prime more.

I’ve thought about the AI Prime too. Whenever I decide to upgrade it will most likely be either the Prime or the a160.

 

[nagreen]

Picked up a handful of frags this past week from some local guys.
- Utter Chaos Zoas 1 polyp and a tiny polyp coming in
- Gatorade Zoas 5-6 polyps
- Bubble Gum Zoas 5-6 polyps
- Rastas 3 polyps
- Duncan 4 heads
- Green&purple Hairy Mushroom 2-3" when open

all of these are on a frag rack right now and have settling in nicely (except the mushroom, who is in a homeade mushroom rock box made from a gatorade bottle) I'll get a picture of the mushroom as soon as he attaches to a rock.

 

[Ruben's Reef]

Looking great @nagreen. You should be proud of reviving that little piece of the ocean.

 

[mch1984]

Tank is looking good, my utters are some of my favorite. You'll enjoy them when they start to spread out. A little elbow grease is worth it for a good deal on a tank.

 

[nagreen]

There is a new Petco 5 min from me and the closest LFS is 45min.. I hate the idea of supporting the big corporate stores over the LFS but I go by Petco frequently just to see what they have. They have a beautiful six line wrasse that has been in the store for the past two weeks. It's in a tank with bangaii cardinals, dwarf angels, and clownfish. I've watched it carefully and it is peaceful to everyone and extremely active. It eats flake and frozen and looks overall healthy. I'm greatly debating "rescuing” it. I think it’d make a colorful and active addition to the tank!
I have the equipment for QT so I may get him and just observe him for a few weeks before adding him to my tank

 

[mch1984]

There is a new Petco 5 min from me and the closest LFS is 45min.. I hate the idea of supporting the big corporate stores over the LFS but I go by Petco frequently just to see what they have. They have a beautiful six line wrasse that has been in the store for the past two weeks. It's in a tank with bangaii cardinals, dwarf angels, and clownfish. I've watched it carefully and it is peaceful to everyone and extremely active. It eats flake and frozen and looks overall healthy. I'm greatly debating "rescuing” it. I think it’d make a colorful and active addition to the tank!
I have the equipment for QT so I may get him and just observe him for a few weeks before adding him to my tank

I feel your pain on the LFS, we have one but it's pretty awful. I'll buy clean up crew there every now and then and their prices are high. A decent LFS is a 2 hour drive, it's a good excuse for us to make a short road trip. I've never owned a 6 line but know so people who have and said they never would again lol. I have no first hand experience so take that with a grain of salt.

 

[Midrats]

Welcome to the REEFER Nano club! I love mine. Consider replacing the return nozzle with a Random Flow Generator. An RFG coupled with a Tunze 1073.050 DC return pump really makes strong swirling currents in the Nano. Additional flow isn't really needed, however I run a Tunze 6040 in one of the back alcoves to rock the water in wave mode. Displacement and random flow, win win.

 

[nagreen]

Got the six line.. FOR FREE.. the guy at petco dropped him on the cement floor while taking him out of the bag. i said "yeah, i'm not paying for that now.. but if you want me to see if i can get him to live I'll take him for free".. because, at that point, it was back in the water and wasn't moving, besides a few twitches here and there..
Today he's swimming around my QT and just ate some mysis! he looks good and healthy for now, though i'm going to keep an eye on him. A friend of mine named him Swim Shady. I also bought an orchid dottyback who is in QT with the six line. they're going to add a lot of color and life to the nano someday soon, hopefully!

 

[Tahoe Reef]

Thats terrible they dropped the wrasse but great to hear it`s doing well. Free is the best!