Red Sea Max Nano G2 XL build

[C12]

10/3/24 This is going to be my very first reef tank build. I've pulled the trigger on currently popular; Red Sea Max Nano G2 XL. The tank volume is approximately 33 gallons. The tank should arrive in about a week.

Here's what I currently have:
Heater: Innovative Marine Helio PTC Smart Heater (100-watt, single element)
Salt: Fritz RPM Reef Pro
Rock: 24 lbs of dry rock handpicked from my lfs
Sand: Caribsea Special Grade (20 lb bag)
Powerhead: Sicce voyager nano (2000 L/hour)
ATC Refractometer
RO-DI: Aquatic Life 100 GPD 4 stage unit
Custom lid from Kraken Reef
*have not yet purchased testing or cycling supplies*

I've been scaping out the rock for about a week to get exactly what I want, and I'm pretty happy with what I have so far.

This is the corner of my bedroom that the tank will be in, I plan on moving out the freshwater tank on the right when I can.

Here's what I've scaped out so far, I would say I'm probably 75% done. I've been taking my time with this scape for sure. I usually add about 1-2 pieces every day, and let it dry overnight. I plan on adding a drop down on that left hangover or some sort of island in the front left for corals. I'm trying to scape it out in a way that I can have a wide range of lighting and flow levels for different corals.

For now, I plan on doing a gsp back wall, a pair of clowns and a range of other corals like euphylias, leather, etc. Not really sure if I'm going to do zoas, but we'll see. I'll try to post the RO/DI installation, the finished scape, and when I get the tank and the set up.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along! I love seeing Max Nano builds (we have one as well haha)

 

[C12]

8/16 I filled up the tank last night and started the cycle. The owner of my lfs was nice enough to bag up some waste water from a filter. I'm using the waste water a seachem stability for 8 days. Today, I put the 2nd dose of Seachem stability in, and i'm going to mess the ReefLED 50 light a little. I won't be using it during the cycle, but I want to become familiar with the interface. I'll post a longer update and some more photos when I get a chance.

 

[DareDevilHDF]

To follow because I have the same tank. I just upgraded it with the RedSea ATO+

I hesitate to add a Reefwave 25 (Or two AI Nero 3)

 

[C12]

So... I ran into a slight problem during setup. The circulation pump that came with the tank didn't come with a hose barb connection to the pump or rubber feet. I was able to thread the hose into the pump temporarily while I'm waiting for the parts to get here. Currently, it's very loud as the pump is vibrating against the glass in the rear compartment. The owner of my lfs said this is the first time something like this has ever happened to them.

 

[C12]

Decided to do a bunch of updates today!

8/16/24 I'm going to test in 8 days to see if the cycle is complete, and if it is, I'll add a pair of clowns. When I add them, I was planning on dosing some fritz turbo start as precaution. My lfs raves about Seachem Stability, but it's my first time using it, so I don't have full trust in it yet.

Below is the scape I ended up with. I'm pretty happy with it, but slightly concerned that it's too low in the tank. For corals, I would love to do torches, frogspawn, and hammers, along with a green toadstool leather, gsp on the back wall, and possibly a zoa garden. I'm trying to figure out where I want to place things, but I still have a few months till I really need to worry about that.

The Kraken Reef lid also came in today; it looks good and fits well and The IM Helio heater has been working great too; it's been holding 77 degrees with ease.

The cabinet is a bit of a mess currently, I'm working on cable management, and I will be adding lights inside shortly. The only filtration currently in the tank is the sponges, I have taken out the filter sock and the protein skimmer for the cycle.

Thanks for following me along the journey!

 

[kevgib67]

Love the scape!

 

[C12]

10/22/24 Update:
2 days ago, I switched up the flow in the tank, to get a little more surface agitation and aeration, and then next morning, there was a very strong "body odor" smell coming from the tank. I'm pretty sure this was caused by not having enough surface agitation in the days prior, which led to a stinky biofilm on the surface, and increasing the flow aerated it. Today, the smell has pretty much dissipated.

Last night (10/21) The missing parts from Red Sea came in, and after installation, the return pump was much quieter. For some context; while setting up the tank, I discovered that the return pump was missing rubber feet and the hose barb connector. For those who are curious, the part #'s are R40625 and R40620.

Today will be the 8th and final dose of Seachem Stability, and this weekend I plan on going to my lfs and picking up a pair of clowns. I'll do another update and more photos when those are in the tank. Super stoked!

 

[Drdrew99]

Following along as I have the same tank and I’m starting my cycle.
I think your Aquascape looks great.

 

[C12]

UPDATE!
On Saturday (8/26), I got two ocellaris clownfish of different variants. One is a chocolate wide bar, and the other is a classic orange ocellaris. The orange ocellaris immediately caught my eye because of the mocha-like pattern and the nice and defined dark bars. The chocolate clown is slightly smaller, so I'm guessing that one will become male, but who knows? I also added in fritz turbo start 900.

I've been trying to get these guys to eat, but most of the food just gets spit out. They ate a little bit of frozen brine shrimp last night, but the majority, I had to pull out of the tank to avoid an ammonia spike. Hopefully, they'll be more comfortable today.

I also did a bunch of testing yesterday (8/27)
Ammonia was 0
Nitrites were about 0.05 (keeping an eye on these levels and getting ready for a water change if levels get higher)
Nitrates were 0 (or low enough to not get picked up by the test)
pH was 7.6 (makes sense because my first batch of salt water was not mixed enough and stable. The levels should get to about 8 with water changes and time)
The salinity is around 1.024 (should be about 1.025/1.026, but water was taken out when acclimating the fish and the ATO replaced it with RO-DI water)

I have the reef led on acclimation mode for 30 days and 35%. Eventually, I plan to run the tank at 35 blue and 10 white. I plan to put in some hardy corals once this cycle is fully complete and levels are stable and where I want them to be.

Going to keep a close eye on things and update when it feels right. Thanks for following along!

 

[ISFNick]

Liking the aquascape!

 

[C12]

Following along as I have the same tank and I’m starting my cycle.
I think your Aquascape looks great.

Awesome! Thanks.

 

[MantisShrimpMan]

Have you had any issue with this tank overheating? https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/redsea-max-nano-g2-xl-running-hot.1058005/page-2#post-12881770

 

[C12]

Have you had any issue with this tank overheating? https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/redsea-max-nano-g2-xl-running-hot.1058005/page-2#post-12881770

Sorry, just barely saw this!
I haven’t had any issues with this tank overheating, that’s slightly concerning.

Overall, I absolutely love this tank, but I do have a few complaints.

First, I’ll address the skimmer. In my experience so far, it either runs too wet or too dry, its very difficult to find a sweet spot, and If you’ve had a skimmer in the past, you’re probably used to a dark brown foam in the collection cup, I have yet to see any shade remotely close to brown in this collection cup and it’s pretty much just slightly cloudy water in there. Could be because I only have two clowns in there, but I’m assuming thats not the case, because Ive heard similar complaints from other owners of this same tank.
Second, The ATO. It does it’s job just fine, but It took a bit of adjusting. The big problem for me is how quickly it runs out. I will say, I do live in quite a dry state, which means a lot of evaporation, but that reservoir is empty by the end of the day. Red Sea says it needs refilling every 2-3 days, which I don’t know If I entirely believe, unless you live somewhere extremely humid. I quickly became apparent that I wont be able to go on vacation with an ATO that small. So, I upgraded to the ATO+ and the 10 gallon reef can reservoir. It costed about $300 though which definitely stings.
My only other complaints are that the pumps are a little bit noisy, and the reefbeat app to control the led50 is very poorly designed and maintained.

Sorry for going on a bit of a rant there, but if you have any more questions, feel free to let me know.

*edited to fix grammar*

 

[C12]

11/14 Took some cool photos with the Orphek iPhone lenses today, I’ll post an update in a few days, but I got a mushroom coral and some gsp on Saturday (11/9).

Here are the photos: