After one year of enjoying my Bluemarine 120, I had a problem with the silicone of the back chambers and I had to quickly replace my tank. I decided to get the new MAX NANO G2 XXL from Red Sea with it's white stand.
Small disclaimer: I am very aware of the failures of the Red Sea tanks but this new product seems much more resistant, protected, thick and with a really well built stand.
So I got everything delivered to my house, took a day off and had to organize the tank transfer while trying not to cause a new cycle. Cheers to @brandon429 for helping me having a CLOUDLESS transfer.
Starting point: 25 Gal AIO
The new tank: Red Sea MAX NANO G2 XXL - 53 gallon AIO / 200 liters (90x55x50 back chambers included) (90x43x50 without back chambers) - Glasses 12cm tickness!
The only change I made, was to swapped the filter sock with the Red Sea NanoMat.
I used strictly new sand, 9kg of Caribsea special grade, ABSOLUTELY rinsed for hours until the water in the bucket was crystal clear. You can see in fact from the pic above that when I filled the tub, the water was already crystal clear. The sand does not release dirt and when is lifted, it falls back to the bottom in a fraction of a second. @brandon429
I matched temperature and salinity and I was ready for a quick, cloudless, cycless transfer. No losses. Fish, corals, sponges, invertebrates and worms all survived. The corals were already fully inflated that evening.
I used all the rock I had in the other tank + a new piece of ceramic treated days before with citric acid and hydrogen peroxide to ensure no heavy metals, residues and chemical components were left inside.
The tank has been ON for 10 days. no issues, no losses, no cyano/diatoms, algae. I kept the light at half intensity for 1 week and now I'm slowly increasing it.
PRO'S and CON'S of the tank
PROS
- Aesthetically, the tank and the stand are sensational; look like a piece of art in your house.
- You can feel a higher quality of the product compared to previous red sea tanks; same for the stand.
- Stand is big inside.
- Surface skimmer is very long and removes everything from the surface.
- The rear chambers is spacious .
- Double return system.
- Very powerful filtering
CONS
- Skimmer is quite noisy (thinking to replace with a Tunze9004 DC)
- The two return pumps are not adjustable and very powerful. Maybe too much powerfull. A total of 820gph for 53gal liters.
- No lid /jump net included.
- The tank comes with 2x Reef Led 50 but obviously they are not ideal for complex SPS systems.
- The rear chambers are 5 inches thick which takes a lot from the display.
Remarks:
- In a few days I'll get a new GNC Blueray X which will cover the whole tank.
- I am not using my x2 Nero3 since the flow in the display is very strong.
- At the moment only dosing 10ml ALK daily + 1 drops Iodine daily. When the tank will be stable I'll use again AFR.
Current Values vs OLD Values
S: 1.025 : 1.025
T: 25,5 degrees : 26,0
Alk 8.0-8.5 : 8.5
CA: 420: 420
MG: 1400 : 1450
No3: 3.5ppm : 8ppm
Po4: 0.06 : 0.09
I will update my post very soon and stay tuned !
Thank you for reading!
Small disclaimer: I am very aware of the failures of the Red Sea tanks but this new product seems much more resistant, protected, thick and with a really well built stand.
So I got everything delivered to my house, took a day off and had to organize the tank transfer while trying not to cause a new cycle. Cheers to @brandon429 for helping me having a CLOUDLESS transfer.
Starting point: 25 Gal AIO
The new tank: Red Sea MAX NANO G2 XXL - 53 gallon AIO / 200 liters (90x55x50 back chambers included) (90x43x50 without back chambers) - Glasses 12cm tickness!
The only change I made, was to swapped the filter sock with the Red Sea NanoMat.
I used strictly new sand, 9kg of Caribsea special grade, ABSOLUTELY rinsed for hours until the water in the bucket was crystal clear. You can see in fact from the pic above that when I filled the tub, the water was already crystal clear. The sand does not release dirt and when is lifted, it falls back to the bottom in a fraction of a second. @brandon429
I matched temperature and salinity and I was ready for a quick, cloudless, cycless transfer. No losses. Fish, corals, sponges, invertebrates and worms all survived. The corals were already fully inflated that evening.
I used all the rock I had in the other tank + a new piece of ceramic treated days before with citric acid and hydrogen peroxide to ensure no heavy metals, residues and chemical components were left inside.
The tank has been ON for 10 days. no issues, no losses, no cyano/diatoms, algae. I kept the light at half intensity for 1 week and now I'm slowly increasing it.
PRO'S and CON'S of the tank
PROS
- Aesthetically, the tank and the stand are sensational; look like a piece of art in your house.
- You can feel a higher quality of the product compared to previous red sea tanks; same for the stand.
- Stand is big inside.
- Surface skimmer is very long and removes everything from the surface.
- The rear chambers is spacious .
- Double return system.
- Very powerful filtering
CONS
- Skimmer is quite noisy (thinking to replace with a Tunze9004 DC)
- The two return pumps are not adjustable and very powerful. Maybe too much powerfull. A total of 820gph for 53gal liters.
- No lid /jump net included.
- The tank comes with 2x Reef Led 50 but obviously they are not ideal for complex SPS systems.
- The rear chambers are 5 inches thick which takes a lot from the display.
Remarks:
- In a few days I'll get a new GNC Blueray X which will cover the whole tank.
- I am not using my x2 Nero3 since the flow in the display is very strong.
- At the moment only dosing 10ml ALK daily + 1 drops Iodine daily. When the tank will be stable I'll use again AFR.
Current Values vs OLD Values
S: 1.025 : 1.025
T: 25,5 degrees : 26,0
Alk 8.0-8.5 : 8.5
CA: 420: 420
MG: 1400 : 1450
No3: 3.5ppm : 8ppm
Po4: 0.06 : 0.09
I will update my post very soon and stay tuned !
Thank you for reading!