Nano Reef Plan

[Vlad12]

Hello,


A few words about me: I have always had freshwater aquariums since my childhood. Over the years, I have kept a wide variety of aquatic animals, ranging from shrimp to flowerhorns. Now, I am seriously considering starting a nano reef aquarium.

Questions​

Before I begin, I have some questions:

1. Is it possible to create a low-maintenance saltwater aquarium?
   I’ve been watching the series How to Setup a Reef Tank. My goal is to have a tank where I don’t need to change the water every week—perhaps once a month or every two weeks. I also want to avoid frequent coral feeding and water testing. Essentially, I am aiming for a very simple nano reef setup.
2. Can my desired setup work?
   I’d like to house two clownfish, a green polyp coral as a background feature, some hardy Euphyllia, Zoanthus, and a few other beginner-friendly corals. I do not plan to overfeed the fish or supplement the corals.

My Plan​

• Tank Size: I plan to use a 20-gallon tank, as it seems ideal for clownfish. A 10-gallon tank feels too small.
• Maintenance: I’m fine with waiting and properly cycling the aquarium before adding livestock.

Since I’m based in Romania, my options for equipment are somewhat limited. After researching, I’ve narrowed my choices to two setups:

Option A: Red Sea NANO MAX or Red Sea NANO G2 CUBE​

Pros:​

• Comes with almost everything needed for a reef setup.

Cons:​

• No lid included with the aquarium.
• This is the more expensive option.

Observation:​

I cannot find any significant differences between the G2 Cube and the previous generation.

Option B: Waterbox Aquarium CUBE 20​

Questions:​

• What light should I use? Is the Prime 16HD Reef necessary, or would a smaller, less powerful light suffice? Any recommendations would be helpful.

Pros:​

• More affordable.
• Allows customization of lighting.

Cons:​

• Waterbox stands are not available in Romania, so I will need to source a stand from another company.

I’m looking for advice on how to proceed with my nano reef aquarium setup, particularly regarding lighting options and whether my maintenance goals are realistic. Any suggestions or insights would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Luigi Reefs]

My personal opinion, based upon my experience, is that Nano tanks require MORE maintenance, not less. The body of water is so small that anything can change the parameters rather quickly.

 

[Dragen Fiend]

Redsea nano is okay. But you still need to buy a heater and ATO.

Your going to run into issues later down the road. Either water change or dose to keep up.

I don't think nano's require that much maintenance. Its also nice only taking like 5 minutes to do lol.

Personally I would setup an AWC for nano's if your looking for a low maintenance build.

I'm designing my 5 gallon nem tank to be zero maintenance besides feeding. Auto fleece roller with AWC using hydros. Changes 1 gallon of water out over the course of a week. Could easily implement this for more.

 

[Tahoe61]

Hello,


A few words about me: I have always had freshwater aquariums since my childhood. Over the years, I have kept a wide variety of aquatic animals, ranging from shrimp to flowerhorns. Now, I am seriously considering starting a nano reef aquarium.

Questions​

Before I begin, I have some questions:

1. Is it possible to create a low-maintenance saltwater aquarium?
   I’ve been watching the series How to Setup a Reef Tank. My goal is to have a tank where I don’t need to change the water every week—perhaps once a month or every two weeks. I also want to avoid frequent coral feeding and water testing. Essentially, I am aiming for a very simple nano reef setup.
2. Can my desired setup work?
   I’d like to house two clownfish, a green polyp coral as a background feature, some hardy Euphyllia, Zoanthus, and a few other beginner-friendly corals. I do not plan to overfeed the fish or supplement the corals.

My Plan​

• Tank Size: I plan to use a 20-gallon tank, as it seems ideal for clownfish. A 10-gallon tank feels too small.
• Maintenance: I’m fine with waiting and properly cycling the aquarium before adding livestock.

Since I’m based in Romania, my options for equipment are somewhat limited. After researching, I’ve narrowed my choices to two setups:

Option A: Red Sea NANO MAX or Red Sea NANO G2 CUBE​

Pros:​

• Comes with almost everything needed for a reef setup.

Cons:​

• No lid included with the aquarium.
• This is the more expensive option.

Observation:​

I cannot find any significant differences between the G2 Cube and the previous generation.

Option B: Waterbox Aquarium CUBE 20​

Questions:​

• What light should I use? Is the Prime 16HD Reef necessary, or would a smaller, less powerful light suffice? Any recommendations would be helpful.

Pros:​

• More affordable.
• Allows customization of lighting.

Cons:​

• Waterbox stands are not available in Romania, so I will need to source a stand from another company.

I’m looking for advice on how to proceed with my nano reef aquarium setup, particularly regarding lighting options and whether my maintenance goals are realistic. Any suggestions or insights would be greatly appreciated!

Hello and Welcome to R2R.

I would enthusiastically state your goals are reasonable.
Waterbox gets my vote hands down. You can always modify a dresser or cabinet for a stand just make sure it's strongly built.
Lighting is really important. I have no idea what type of lighting is available to you. T5 lighting works as well.
A 20 gallon would be fine. You really only need to do water changes once a month if you don't over stock the tank.
By feeding the fish you are there by feeding the corals.
You will want an ATO system.

 

[Vlad12]

My personal opinion, based upon my experience, is that Nano tanks require MORE maintenance, not less. The body of water is so small that anything can change the parameters rather quick

I agree with you. But 20G is the max I can do.

 

[Vlad12]

Redsea nano is okay. But you still need to buy a heater and ATO.

Your going to run into issues later down the road. Either water change or dose to keep up.

I don't think nano's require that much maintenance. Its also nice only taking like 5 minutes to do lol.

Personally I would setup an AWC for nano's if your looking for a low maintenance build.

I'm designing my 5 gallon nem tank to be zero maintenance besides feeding. Auto fleece roller with AWC using hydros. Changes 1 gallon of water out over the course of a week. Could easily implement this for more.

I had AWC on my fresh water tank, not sure on how it will work on marine aquarium. I will look into it. Auto fleece roller are quite nice.

 

[Vlad12]

Hello and Welcome to R2R.

I would enthusiastically state your goals are reasonable.
Waterbox gets my vote hands down. You can always modify a dresser or cabinet for a stand just make sure it's strongly built.
Lighting is really important. I have no idea what type of lighting is available to you. T5 lighting works as well.
A 20 gallon would be fine. You really only need to do water changes once a month if you don't over stock the tank.
By feeding the fish you are there by feeding the corals.
You will want an ATO system.

Thanks for the warm welcome.

I will add a ATO system for sure.


Lights that are easy accessible in my region are:

Aqua Illumination Al Prime 16HD​

Fluval Sea Marine 3.0​

LED Kessil A80 Tuna Blue

I can easily order lights from UE so I have a lot of options, I just want one that I can use from my phone. Not sure how powerful it should be. But i see Waterbox +premium has AI PRIME.​

 

[Tahoe61]

Out of those 3 I would go with the Prime. I like the AI Blade Coral Grow better though.

 

[Vlad12]

Out of those 3 I would go with the Prime. I like the AI Blade Coral Grow better though.

I had a look at AI Blade Coral Grow. I see there is the 12 inch, and a 21 inch version. The 12 inch has only 20w, the the 21 version is longer then the Waterbox 20 G. No sure on how it will look over the tank. Which one do you recommend?

 

[Tamberav]

I vote against the blades, meh spectrum, high price.

I’d do the prime over those but.. I like Kessil even more but you need something bigger than the A80