Red Sea Max Nano 20g tank suggestions.

[Sandalio]

Hi there all! So I’m new to the forums and currently getting ready to purchase my first Nano tank. I plan on getting the Red Sea Max Nano 20 gal. This will be my first saltwater aquarium. I’ve been doing research for a little bit now. I plan on staying more on a simpler aquarium and not getting too many high difficulty corals and fish. So any suggestions on how to go forward would be great.

I live in a basement apartment in a large city where I get around by bike/scooter/walking. The closest LFS (that I like) is outside of the city I’ll have to take a cab to. So for setting up I plan on getting live rock from the LFS store and ordering my initial salt water of the tank online. I don’t really have the space to store a 20+ gallon of saltwater to do the intial set up. After that I plan on getting a smaller RO/DI system I can use with a 5 gallon bucket to do water changes.

So the back filtration system. I’m still trying to figure out. I’m seeing a lot of people mentioning setting up a refugium. Which I’m still learning about. The different ways everyone sets up their filtration. I’m still learning about. I know it comes with a protein skimmer and an automatic water top up. I will be getting a Colbalt heater as well.So any suggestions on filtration setups for the back would be great!

As for the tank, I’m going for more a darker look, I want to incorporate a lot of Black, purples, and greens colors in things. I plan on going with Cycled Live rock from the LFS and Black Hawaiian sand. I plan on getting a Koralia Nano 240 powerhead.
As for the fish my goal is:
1. Longfin Phantom Clownfish
2. Black Cap Basslet
3. Black Combtooth Blenny
4. Green Clown Goby (though I’d love a Mandarin Dragonet - a tank bred)
Possible 5. Pink Streak Wrasse
Suggestions on buying order would be great.

I’m still figuring out clean up crew, so any good suggestions would be great.
I know I’d like Electric Blue Hermit Crabs, an Emerald Crab, Nassarius Snails, Trochus Snails, and possible a Pincushion Urchin. (Also Copepods)

As for corals I’m still learning a lot but I definitely want to keep them on the simpler side of things. I want to set my back wall full of Neon Green Star Polyps. I want to have some Pulsing Xenia, on a rock by itself or in the sand. Any suggestions on corals would be great.

I really look forward into getting into the fish hobby again!

 

[Ron Reefman]

Welcome to R2R!

You end your post with," I really look forward into getting into the fish hobby again!" That implies you have had a saltwater tank before?

You appear to be doing a lot of research, and that's GREAT! I wish more new reefers would follow your lead.

You also appear to be in a bit of a tougher situation in terms of location. So dealing with emergencies might be more difficult. So I suggest you take this old saying to heart:

"Nothing good happens quickly in a reef tank!"

As you get started, take your time. There is no rush. And ask questions.

BTW, you want to use black sand and that's OK. But be careful. Some black sand comes with metal particles in it. And those get attracked to the magnet of scraper/cleaner and can scratch the tank inside. I used a synthetic black sand in one of my tanks and it has no metal in it (tested seriously with a powerful magnet) and it comes perfectly clean when fist used. No silt that gets stirred up when you start adding water. If you need help, let me know and I'll figure out which brand it was (I can't recall the name right now). But I'll follow your thread in case you ask.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[Sandalio]

Yea I by no means I have no issues going slow. I’m looking around and now found the Waterbox Peninsula Mini 25 gal and curious if I should go with that (I could possibly customize my Filteration a bit more with that) the issue is finding a black stand with closed cabinets that fit its size

 

[Ron Reefman]

Take a look at my build thread. I have a 90g tank sitting on a reinforced cabinet that goes under a kitchen sink. I wanted more room, so I used 2 cabinets and now I have a 16g anemone breeding tank on the 2nd cabinet. If you want help or advise, I'm happy to help.

 

[Sandalio]

I just bought the waterbox Mini Peninsula! I’m excited for it to come! I found a really nice table on Amazon I’m going to use as the stand, which also matches the decor of my Bedroom. I decided against buying water. I found a nice RODI system that is still small enough to store places. I bought a 17 gallon storage container that I’m going to use to store my water. It has tight seal I’ll able to store it under my bed. I’ll use a 5 gallon bucket to transfer water to the storage tub/tank. I decided against the black sand. I decided to do more research on it, it seems people are 50/50 on it and I’d really like to not scratch my tank up. I decided to go with special grade instead as it seems to be the standard. Also I’m still trying to figure out the best way to set up my back of the system. I think I’m going to have a refugium in one of my chambers in the back, I’d eventually like to get a Dragonet, I want to make sure there is a good supply of copepods throughout the tank, not sure when to start it though. Also suggestions on filter media would be great. Also should I go with a protein skimmer or not.

 

[Ron Reefman]

You can start without a skimmer.

I use a Tunze skimmer that sits in my 16g anemone breeding tank. It works great for my needs, but then anemones don't need much food and they don't create a lot of detritus!