Nano Tank Advice

[Shallowwaters]

Hey Folks,
Hope all's well back in Boston. I miss you crazy reefers. (said with respect)

I haven't unpacked my reef gear since the move to Seattle, but I did set up my kid's goldfish tank over the weekend. Woo-hoo! Inevitably, of course, that started me thinking about starting a new reef tank...you know, on the drive to work...in between various meetings...during dull work conversations...and during dinner...and....

So, then I thought about a nano tank to hold me over and I have a few questions for you'all.

Does anybody have experence with the JBJ 24g or the Aquapod 24 tanks? Which is better? I wouldn't do the halide models because I think softies are the way to go in a small tank.

Has anybody seen a nano tank older than one year? Can these systems really survive the long-term or are they disposable/temporary reefs?

And any advice on combining a 24g tank with my Vortec and Tunze Stream pumps would be helpful!

Thanks!

 

[maxfischer]

Why spend $500-$700 on a Nano? When you can spend $5000-$7000 on a reef????? Jump into it, you know your gonna anyways!

 

[revkev6]

I'm not familiar with the aquapod nano's but I had a 24g JBJ for two years. Nanos can be very succesfully kept for long amounts of time but you have to be patient and diligent with them. most people only keep them for <1 because they get the desire to upgrade to a larger better system. there are some better systems out not than the jbj and the AP. go to www.nanoreef.com forum to look around some of their nano setups those guys know nanos.

BTW here's how mine ended up last month:

 

[starrfish]

Hey Mark! Great to hear from you! Hope all is going well with the new job. We miss you! Just go for the "big one" - you know you won't be able to stick with softies.

 

[jc9394]

I have a Nanocube 12DX that last me over a year, but will upgrade to bigger tank. I recommend to take a look at the new Redsea Max.

 

[chrisc]

I've had a 12 gallon tank up for 2 years (JBJ Nanocube).

It ran skimmerless, did not have as many water changes as it should have, and the salinity tended to swing a bit with evaporation. But it was a great tank for growing Zoas, mushrooms, even a Frogspawn. Crabs, Snails, and Shrimp did well in it.

I did not have any fish in it though. The water parameters (mostly because of my lax maintenance) were too volatile for fish I would think. (my 22gallon and 30 gallon do great with fish).

Last night I noticed the corners had very slight silvery lines in them (prelude to cracking), so I took it apart and moved the contents into a new 5 gallon tank and my 22 gallon tank. But it was a great tank for 2 years.

 

[DavidGallant]

i've only got a 10 gal nano running... dorm policies wont let me go any larger. i still love it. the only problem is that is something bad happens to the tank, there goes everything. the big power outage in january killed my whole system, so I had to start from scratch. i've had it up for a month and a week now, and have had 3 hermits living in it since day one

 

[ewing676]

I did a lot of research on Nano's before getting my Aquapod 12. I had read that they were less likely to crack over time, so I went with that. However, since then I've heard a lot of great things about the Redsea Max. It has a built in light timer, skimmer, and all kinds of other extras right out of the box. The lighting is a little weak though

 

[Shallowwaters]

Hey, Daire, thanks for the Hello!

Appreciate the other nano comments too. As a group you pretty well summarize why nanos don't "grow long in the tooth." They are susceptible to crashes and potentially made of lower quality materials. Worse, the biomass limits (esp. fish limits) leave many unfilfilled desires leading to frequent upgrades.

And surely I could fill a tank with just one visit to a reef store. That would be frustrating indeed.

The Redsea Nano is in the price point that would push me to repurpose my 40 gal frag tank with my existing halides, but then....

Other ideas?

 

[~Flighty~]

Long time no see. Did you read that Eliot and I took the plunge and did that Fiji trip? It isn't as funny of a name as Phuket, but we had an awesome time. If you haven't gone yet and are still thinking about it, GO!

http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=33013&page=3&highlight=fiji


For a nano we have an 8g biocube from oceanic. The temp swings a bit with the lights, but otherwise I like it a lot as a desk tank. I am using it now as a live QT tank so I can observe the new little guys and give them more frequent feedings.

 

[Mr. Krabs]

Hey Mark!

I had a JBL 24DX, it's in my shed now. Looking back on it, it cost a bunch of cash; I added 2-mj1200's for more flow, beefed up the lighting with a 150W, 20K DE Halide, added a JBL Autotoff off because of too much evaporation, and started adding 2 part for my sps....It looked it was on lifesupport with all the tubes and wires sticking out it! When I needed a chiller to keep the temps down, I threw in the towel.

Probably the toughest part was accessing the filter compartments and keeping them clean. It's almost impossible to prevent crap back there from entering the tank when cleaning. Picture a compartmented sump glued to the back of your old 120, backed up to a wall and only wide enough to get your hand in it. IMO, stick with the 40breeder, lights, and go HOB....That way you'll have it all set up for a frag tank again when you upgrade!

Good Luck! -Jack

 

[Greg Hiller]

Mark,

Glad to hear from you. Tell Bill G. you need a raise so you can get a big tank again.

 

[Moe_K]

Hey Mark,
Good to hear from you.
Hope things are great out there in Seattle.

 

[Shallowwaters]

Long time no see. Did you read that Eliot and I took the plunge and did that Fiji trip?

Wow, Cindy, that's awesome! It must have been an incredible trip and your pics are great. I didn't get wet on my last trip but head back in a couple months to Australia and I'm trying to figure out how to extend the trip for fun.

Hey Daire, Jack, Greg & Moe! Hope all's well with your and your reefs. And thanks Greg for cranking out all the new reading material on reef topics. Great stuff.

Well, it seems a nano tank will frustrate me to the point of no return to this hobby. So I will buy a couple ryukins for the kids this weekend, relax, and then revisit plans to cut through the family room wall!! The wall is shared with my garage and maybe Yaktop can share his new project so I can learn how it's done.

I'll try to post some picks of my construction options as I get closer this Spring.

 

[~Flighty~]

Perfect, Fiji is on the way to Aus