- This Red Sea Max Nano
is by far my absolute favorite, hands down,
all in one, plug and play,
ready to go reef aquarium system for new reefers
or even seasoned hobbyists that just want to get
a really beautiful tank that is compact,
that already has the most important equipment
built right into it.
So you don't have to worry about whether or not
the gear you're putting on your tank
is going to be able to keep your fish
and your corals happy and healthy.
It might look simple on the outside,
but that elegant exterior is successfully hiding
a myriad of features.
There is a ton of things I want to show you,
so let's just get right into it.
Now, we could certainly go over the nitty gritty list
of specs and pick apart every last tiny detail.
And I'll definitely go over all those important details
that you're going to want to know.
But what I really want to do, is talk to you about
why I think this is such a great choice,
especially for newer reefers that want to get
into reefing with an easy to manage reef aquarium
that looks elegant and blends nicely into a room
while taking the guesswork
out of setting up a saltwater aquarium.
Whether you're just after a pair of clownfish
and some bubble-tip anemones or a small mixed reef
of all kinds of different corals and fish,
Red Sea's max nano aquarium system is a fantastic fit.
And by far one of the best looking
and most complete nano reef systems currently available.
The tank and stand take a clean,
minimalistic approach that looks phenomenal.
All of the mechanical and chemical filtration
your reef needs, including the protein skimmer
are built into the rear sump.
You'll already have a great app controlled light
that can easily grow a wide variety of corals.
And although 20 gallons is a smaller volume
of water for a reef tank,
it is a really manageable size that can make starting
and maintaining a reef aquarium really quick
and simple and also more affordable.
And I'm going to dive deeper into all of that
in just a bit, first,
let me show you everything you get
inside of the boxes, boxes.
'Cause there's actually two,
the stand is in its own box.
In the box, you'll find
the Red Sea max nano aquarium itself,
along with a protein skimmer, a circulation pump,
the ReefLED 50 lighting system
that includes a mount with an integrated
power management system for the protein skimmer
and that circulation pump, as well as filter media,
that includes a couple of coarse foam sponges,
a filter sock, and some carbon,
as well as the complete installation
and setup guide for the entire aquarium system
and the user manual for that reef LED light.
And in that second box,
you'll find the Red Sea max nano cabinet
flat packed, ready for assembly.
The only thing you need to bring is your own screwdriver.
Getting the tank and its components assembled
is easy enough, the manual lays everything out
in detail with simple diagrams to follow along with.
The cabinet is also really easy to put together,
like any other piece of flat packed furniture.
The stand is well constructed
with a very easy to clean finish.
Plus, Red Sea includes little rubber plugs that go over
on the exposed peg locks so that they're protected
from any humidity or splashing, which is excellent.
It also has a push to open door
with soft closing hinges and a nice wide opening
in the back, if you decide to hide
any external equipment underneath
and need to run tubing or power
from inside the stand up to the filter chamber.
The tank itself is beautiful.
It has thick, high clarity glass with beveled edges,
pin straight black silicone,
armored inner edges on the bottom.
It has a glass filtration panel overflow
with removable wear for maintenance,
a ball socket style return nozzle,
a glass shroud at the top to hide the filtration elements
that also drops out of the way for maintenance.
It's really nice to look at,
even empty and paired with the stand
is just a nice piece of furniture all on its own.
But it's obviously not just the outward appearance
of the tank that makes it so great.
One really big reason that I love the Red Sea max nano
is that it is a very manageable size for a new reefer.
A single five gallon bucket is all you're gonna need
for regular water changes.
And if mixing up salt with RDI water at home,
isn't really something you want to do,
most local reefing stores these days
carry five gallons of premixed salt water,
which means you don't even need
to mix salt water at home, if you prefer not to.
A 20 gallon system like this one
is also relatively inexpensive to fill up
with sand, rock, fish and corals,
and it takes much less time to grow and fill in
than a larger reef system would.
On top of that, you don't have to struggle
to figure out what gear you're going to need
for your tank, right out of the box,
save for a heater, rock, sand, fish and corals.
You have just about everything ready to go
for a thriving reef tank.
The included pump is going to provide
adequate flow through the filtration system,
as well as inside of the tank for a wide variety
of fish and most soft corals, and even some LPS,
the skimmer has two points of tuning like most others
and will provide a good skin that removes waste
from the water column before it breaks down.
Plus, you get a mesh filter saw to trap physical debris
that is very easy to rinse out
as well as a couple of coarse foam pads.
There's also a rack in that back filter section
for chemical media like carbon
to remove any discoloration or smell from the water.
And you can even add other chemical media
as you see fit, the biological filtration in this
and just about any reef system is largely achieved
by the rock and sand that we put
in the display to build our reef upon,
which is why you don't see any in the rear chamber.
The filtration system on the max nano
also has a simple but effective auto top off
that holds 1.5 liters of water.
And it'll make sure that the filter chamber
is always running at the optimum water level
regardless of evaporation.
And since it's right up top, it's very easy
to top up with RDI using a jug
or a glass as needed, which will be roughly around
every three days on average.
And instead of having all of that equipment,
we just talked about hanging off the back
and the sides of the tank for all to see,
it is completely hidden from sight.
The lighting system that Red Sea includes
with the max nano albeit pretty tiny,
is a very capable app controlled LED
with plenty of light for a wide variety
of corals from simple softies and LPS,
all the way up to more light demanding SPS and anemones.
It has a wonderful looking shimmer
and definitely makes coral colors pop and flores.
The app that the light runs on
makes setting it up very easy.
You choose how white or blue you'd like it to look,
what time you'd like it to start.
And it will automatically set up a light schedule
for you with a gradual sunrise and sunset.
Of course, you can also always adjust it
or even create your own custom schedule
through the app whenever you'd like,
but not having to have to do that
is really great for a first-time reefer.
Circling back to forum along with function.
The light also has a very slick mounting arm
that hides the power cord and it's designed
so that you can turn the fixture to the side
for full access to the top of the tank for maintenance
or aquascaping, which is really convenient.
The only necessary piece of equipment
that Red Sea leaves for you to choose,
is a heater, which honestly is a very easy piece
of gear to pick out.
For this tank, a small 75 watt to 100 watt heater
will do the trick.
My personal preference for this tank
would be the BRS heating system
that includes a heater controller
and a titanium heating element.
But you could even go with a 75 wide Eheim Jager,
which is super affordable and pick up a thermometer
to make sure it is heating to the correct temperature.
If, and or when you're ready to get
into other types of corals and start an LPS or mixed reef,
adding a small affordable wavemaker
is going to give you the added flow
that you need for those corals.
Something as simple as a SICCE Xtreme pump,
or even a very compact, but feature rich Nero 3
are going to be really great options.
When it comes to taking care of
and maintaining the tank, Red Sea did a great job
of keeping everything easy to access.
For example, if you want to turn off
your skimmer or your pump
while you're feeding the tank and corals,
both of those can be toggled on or off
using the switches built into the base
of the light Mount, which is right
at the top of the tank,
your filter sock, skimmer cup and ATO
are right up there for you as well.
The overflow weir is easy as pie to remove,
so you can go clean it in a sink
instead of trying to do that in the tank.
And you can also completely disassemble
the ball socket pump outlet for periodic cleaning.
All of the equipment in the back,
including the skimmer and the pump
can also be easily removed for cleaning as well.
Like I was touching on earlier
about these tanks growing with you,
they are very easily adaptable
and you can definitely add more gear
and equipment, if you want to.
You can even upgrade the flow pump
or swap out the mechanical ATO for a digital one,
if that's something you want to do,
so you aren't cornered into the gear
that the tank comes with.
Although for many reefers,
there really isn't a need to change any of it.
And you can have a stellar reef tank
without modifying a single thing.
I'm such a big fan of this particular nano reef system
that I'm going to be setting up this one here,
and I'm going to have some fun with it.
If the Red Sea Max Nano matches
your reefing mantra, like it matches mine,
you can pick one up for yourself
by clicking right here.
(soft music)