i don't know mik thos things look pretty useless, i meen a skimmer for $30?:wink: you can see why i'd be skeptical about it. totally missed the 18'' model on oa.com thanks again

anyways all equipment aside anyone have any experience with that Caribsea Arag-Alive Special Grade Reef Sand, does it actually promote rapid cycling or just a bluff, should i just stick with regular dry substrate..

i recommend against the 9" fixture from my own experience with one. The bulbs don't last long and they're expensive and hard to find. A cheap little T5 fixture or even a home depot T5 light would be fine (fixture from home depot, bulb from LFS).

i had a nano-skimmer. it went in the garbage cuz that's what it is lol.

As for the HOB filter you could get a rather large one and fill it with liverock. You throttle it way back in speed and you've just increased your tank's water volume by 25% ;)

ya maybe i'll just go with that home depot T5 fixture probably the cheapest.
lol i thought so, the nano skimmers are the next thing to skimmerless, really thats too bad the 9'' looks so compact and looks good, i'd think that pc's would last relatively long, o well t5 it is

not all nano skimmers suck. If you're willing to dish out the dough, the nano tunze is a pretty kick a$$ skimmer. and the deltec line is never a bad choice either. you get what you pay for.

thats the two i considered, the tunze nano, and aqua c nano, other than that all this other nano crap doesn't impress, i remember hearing specifically at one lfs that the aqua c nano has more power than the tunze models, hard to say which one i'll go for.

on to paint, which paint do you guys recommend for the backside, and spray or roller, i've heard that roller is the better way to go about it, true?

On Ocean Aquatics website they say that they have them. Give Wendell a shout maybe.

I personally ordered the 18" Nova Xtreme today...it said "available in 1 day" so I'm hoping thats true.

what are you gonna be running the fixture over? it's 2x20 watt if i remember correctly

well ive got a nano going to a 20g and let me just say
1. get a light that is 20" why so that you can actually have it held up on the tank. if its a FOWLR then not really much light is needed but garenteed your a going to put softies in at least. so get a fixture with at least 2 lightbulbs in it, one for actinic and one for 10k
2. yes skimmerless is fine, in fact i think better, why because you replace all your needed nutrients with the water change. ONCE A WEEK, must stay on top of that.
3. get a HOB that is way over rated for it like a 70 or even 100 Aquaclear, lots of room for a conversion into a fuge, the 70 you can get a slower impeller for it the 100 you have to cut some off.
4. get sand dont get CC.
5. make sure you have enough rock for it a ratio of 1.5 at least. i have 35 pounds in my 20. i would add more if i had space. i cant think of anything else. dont go cheap with the light you will want to upgrade it after even if you have a reef already.
oh yeah and dont run an undergravel filter if you do, im not sure if you do, and get the kor nano. definatly the best. and cheap online too.

thanks alot, that pretty much sums it all up for me, all but question...what exterior paint is recommended for backgrounds? i'm trying to find a thread about that on RC, but can't seem to find it. on my reef i let the coralline dominate the back and sides but for a nano i'm thinking a deeper blue would be nice;