Want To Get Back Into The Hobby - Nano Maybe?

[ShaggyRS6]

Hi guys,

VERY, long story short! A long time ago, in fact in another country I was very much into Reef Keeping. I have had a 90, a 170 and a 200 Gallon (UK Gallons) tanks. I loved every minute of it, apart from the cost. I was young and I was spending money I did not have! Fast forward about 20 years and I now live in the US, in Tennessee and have the itch! I did try and resurrect my passion a couple of years back when I lived in NJ. But my wife got sick, we then ended up moving and, you know, life got in the way.

So this bring me to the present day. Just something to note, my only concern about this is that I know me! Or at least the past me. The 90 Gallon that I had very quickly turned into the 200 because I always wanted bigger! I do this all the time, I start small and very quickly want to move, sometimes too quickly. I hope I am a bit older and wiser now and got to thinking that I should start with a cheap Nano. This way I can slowly get back into the hobby, learn all the new technology, and then when that times comes to go big, and it will come, at least I wont have wasted a large amount of cash on the initial tank. I am by no means set in stone on this idea, its just one train of thought, I may well just jump right in. What I do know, if that does happen, that I don't want to go any larger than 100G.

So onto my question (apologies for the long preface, I thought it was important) what is the go to cheaper option these days for a Nano? Ideally I would like to keep LPS corals, but I do realize the ability to do so might be difficult to accomplish with an out of the box cheaper tank, so that's a nice to have. When I search online I see a lot of folks using the Coralife 32, I see Fluval as well, but don't really no anything about them from a tank perspective. So just looking for some advice and guidance and suggestions!

Oh, one more thing. I spend most of my time in my man cave, which since moving is upstairs. So would take guidance on having a Nano upstairs. I am assuming there will be do weight issues?

Thanks!

 

[Mastiffsrule]

#WelcometoR2R . I don’t have much advise on the 32. I heard good things, i actually like the 90 you mentioned you used to have. No matter which one I am sure it will be nice. And if you’re comfortable with this,stop by meet and greet section so we can get to know you.

 

[juanrmattos]

Welcome!!!... “Once a reefer, always a reefer”, we say.

I’m in a similar position and also decided to start as small as simple as possible this time around (Building a Fluval Evo 5).

Very positive with today’s technology you would be able to successfully get back into the hobby without breaking the bank.

Best of luck.

 

[jaxredsoxfan]

Welcome! With a nano, you should be able to get by cheaper because of the ease of water-changes and therefore the lack of need for more expensive nutrient export methods. Shouldn't be a weight issue on a tank that size, especially since its likely against a wall. I have my Max e260 upstairs in my office (70g) and adding a 26g sump. No issues. Good luck and let us know what you decide on.

 

[Derek siskey]

I have a biocube 32 and quickly wanted to upgrade to a 75 gallon just because it’s difficult trying to get the correct placement of your wavemakers in there. Get you a box of matrix for your media and you can get about 17lbs of rock to give you a little more room to play with

 

[ShaggyRS6]

Thanks for the reply's so far. I think the Nano is making more sense to me. Also, if I do decide to upgrade to a large tank, I'll have some nice rock to go in it, and can use the Nano as a quarantine or a farm or something!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Come on in !!!
We're always ready to welcome a new or returning reefer !!!

 

[AiKkz]

Don’t kid yourself shaggy, go straight to the 300g
Welcome back to the hobby, like you, I myself have taken several breaks and always came back to reef keeping. I’ve heard a lot of good things about the bio cube 32. Which ever route you choose make a build thread so we can all follow along!!

 

[ShaggyRS6]

A question for anyone with a Bio Cube 32. Is it noisy? And by that I mean vibrations from the return pump. I remember my old Perc 90, I had it downstairs and could hear the vibration upstairs when I went to bed at night. Was very annoying!

 

[AiKkz]

@Bleigh i believe she has a bio cube and might have some insight on noise!

 

[Mjrenz]

A question for anyone with a Bio Cube 32. Is it noisy? And by that I mean vibrations from the return pump. I remember my old Perc 90, I had it downstairs and could hear the vibration upstairs when I went to bed at night. Was very annoying!

I have a biocube 32 that I recently took down to upgrade to a 120. I did really like the biocube, it's not very noisy if you run the water level a little high or add extra media to dampen the sound of water falling. A little vibration from the pump but not much and it grew softies and lps very well with the stock light. I tried a few wave makers and found they all produced too much flow and just the flow from the return pump was plenty by itself. I liked it so much I'm almost regretting taking it down now, I might set it back up

 

[mdcmonster]

Innovative marine. Cant beat it[emoji1360]

 

[Katrina71]

My son and I both have Biocubes. They are an excellent nano. We also live in Tennessee.

 

[Katrina71]

If you are looking to do sps, I'd suggest a lighting upgrade. I can recommend a few things if you decide to get a Biocube.

 

[Mjrenz]

If you are looking to do sps, I'd suggest a lighting upgrade. I can recommend a few things if you decide to get a Biocube.

I agree, the light is not enough to grow sps

 

[Katrina71]

I agree, the light is not enough to grow sps

Steve's LED if you want to keep your hood!!!

 

[Mjrenz]

Steve's LED if you want to keep your hood!!!

I remember reading something about that, I may check into it. I'm really wishing I hadn't taken mine down now that we're talking about it, the back panel was almost completly covered in coraline

 

[Derek siskey]

Unless the lights are on you wouldn’t even know the biocube is there with how quiet mine is...

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Hi guys,

VERY, long story short! A long time ago, in fact in another country I was very much into Reef Keeping. I have had a 90, a 170 and a 200 Gallon (UK Gallons) tanks. I loved every minute of it, apart from the cost. I was young and I was spending money I did not have! Fast forward about 20 years and I now live in the US, in Tennessee and have the itch! I did try and resurrect my passion a couple of years back when I lived in NJ. But my wife got sick, we then ended up moving and, you know, life got in the way.

So this bring me to the present day. Just something to note, my only concern about this is that I know me! Or at least the past me. The 90 Gallon that I had very quickly turned into the 200 because I always wanted bigger! I do this all the time, I start small and very quickly want to move, sometimes too quickly. I hope I am a bit older and wiser now and got to thinking that I should start with a cheap Nano. This way I can slowly get back into the hobby, learn all the new technology, and then when that times comes to go big, and it will come, at least I wont have wasted a large amount of cash on the initial tank. I am by no means set in stone on this idea, its just one train of thought, I may well just jump right in. What I do know, if that does happen, that I don't want to go any larger than 100G.

So onto my question (apologies for the long preface, I thought it was important) what is the go to cheaper option these days for a Nano? Ideally I would like to keep LPS corals, but I do realize the ability to do so might be difficult to accomplish with an out of the box cheaper tank, so that's a nice to have. When I search online I see a lot of folks using the Coralife 32, I see Fluval as well, but don't really no anything about them from a tank perspective. So just looking for some advice and guidance and suggestions!

Oh, one more thing. I spend most of my time in my man cave, which since moving is upstairs. So would take guidance on having a Nano upstairs. I am assuming there will be do weight issues?

Thanks!

Is there potable water and a drain in man cave?

 

[NY_Caveman]

Welcome to R2R! Some good advice here already. I am going to say go straight to the larger tank. You have reefing experience. You will likely be wishing you did as soon as you fill the smaller tank anyway.