Nano vs. Red Sea Max vs. ?

[eraven]

Hi everyone,
I am new to the saltwater world. I have a freshwater tank that I love and want to try saltwater. I only have room for a small tank that is why I am looking at nano and red sea max. This will be a fish only tank with artificial coral. Do I have to worry about the lighting? Not sure which way to go and any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks, Ed

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by eraven http:///t/392846/nano-vs-red-sea-max-vs#post_3490993
Hi everyone,
I am new to the saltwater world. I have a freshwater tank that I love and want to try saltwater. I only have room for a small tank that is why I am looking at nano and red sea max. This will be a fish only tank with artificial coral. Do I have to worry about the lighting? Not sure which way to go and any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks, Ed
Hi, and welcome to the site...you won't need special lighting for fish only, but A T5HO will make the fish look lots better than the standard fish light. SW fish have awesome bright colors. Also keep the tank top open, SW has less oxygen than fresh, so you will also need a power head to mimic the ocean wave.

 

[saxman]

Go with the RSM...they're made better, and since they aren't bowfronts, they won't distort your view. If you do go for the NC, stay with the 24 gal model as the NC 28's are REALLY bad about the distortion.
As for lighting, if you go FO, lighting isn't important for the inhabitants as long as you like what you see. Most of the plug-n-play setups come with PC lighting, which is sometimes sold as T-5 since the tubes are indeed 5mm in diameter, but they aren't true T-5's. PC lighting is fine...even normal output fluorescents are fine for FO setups.
HTH

 

[eraven]

Thanks everyone for your input. I did notice the distortion when I was the Nano. I like the look of the RSM better too. Just wasn't sure about lighting since I never had saltwater before. I was looking at these systems because I only have a small corner to put a SW tank. Do you think I would be better off going with a slightly larger tank that may be taller and purchasing a filter separately? If so, what type of filter, a sump or a canister? Thanks again for your input.

 

[saxman]

I can tell you that the plug-n-play systems go up easily, and make nice-looking tanks. They make it easy to be a "first-timer", they really do. The thing that's nice about them is that they have sumps...small sumps, but sumps just the same. You can set them up easily, and with a FO system, you likely won't even need supplemental flow (e.g., powerheads).
We have 6 PnP systems that we use for QT/growout tanks and they work really well for us.
If you go the "traditional" route, and you're going to go FO, I'd trade footprint for height, unless you know you want to keep fish that do best in taller tanks, altho most do best with larger footprints (L x W).
You could look into "reef-ready" cubes which often come as a package with stand and sumps, even lighting sometimes. For a corner, you could also get a pentagon or quarter cylinder, altho the 1/4 cylinders have the distortion thing.
I highly recommend going with a sump-based system.

 

[eraven]

Thank you very much for your input. You have given me a lot of valuable information. If I can fit it I am going to go with a 56 gallon tank that measures 30" across x 18" deep by 30" high. If not, I am probably going to go with a 60 gallon 24x24x24 cube. Enough for about 6-8 fish if I stay away from long ones? Thinking of clowns, yellow tangs, etc. I think I can fit one of these. If not the RSM will be it. I just wanted to go with something a little larger. Do you have any preferences when it come to sumps as to brand or type? There are so many out there and they confuse me.