Why you love nanos ...

[Len]

I've decided to restart a nano in the coming months, and got around to thinking why nanos have such a magnetic draw over me. Practical reasons for keeping a nano is space or affordability. But neither of these are true for me.

I think what it comes down to is that I enjoy the challenge of maintaining a tiny ecosystem. All captive reef tanks - whether it be 10 gallons or 1000 gallons - are essentially nothing more then miniaturely boxed biomes anyhow; nanos are simply a highly exaggerated example of this. It's probably this extreme and the new sets of challenges it brings that attracts me. Plus, I think the fact that every nuiance can be scrutinized in these tiny systems brings out the best DIYer in me. I'm admittedly not a very skilled person with my hands; nanos are on a scale small enough that I'm not intimidated by DIY projects for it.

I love big tanks, but nanos have a strange, lasting appeal for me.

To borrow Sprite's tagline: "What's your thirst?"

 

[wombat1]

Exactly what you said: practicality, affordability, and the challenge of keeping corals in such a small space. I don't think I would keep SPS corals at all if it wasn't for the challenge involved. I think that's why a lot of folks are so addicted to reefkeeping; the challenge of keeping ever more difficult specimens. Nanos are an easy way of making familiar corals more difficult to keep.

 

[brandon4291]

Agreed completely, and I must state that I was hooked when it became evident that hundreds of pods and corals and filter-feeders could exist in a totable ecosystem; to relocate a nano for any reason is easy and lessens the commitment found in the contemporary practice.

It is also neat to watch niche occupancy in the nano aquarium> to see burrowing worms under the sand and copepods above it with corals swaying in a small water column is a first for many people. Watching it go on permanently is yet another testament to marine aquariums of the new millenium-the nanos.

Its the new territory, and the question of what can it hold that drives me.

 

[investigator1]

I like my nano because I cannot f**** it up like a newbie and lose $1,000 in corals.

 

[reefrancher]

I dig my nano because: it's very cool looking, it's a huge challenge, and it's a nice place to inherit frags from my larger tank.

I'm hoping that by conducting my own tiny science project using super LED's to verify whether corals will grow or not will help push the nano envelope even further.

Steve

 

[wetworx101]

I like nanos, because in larger tanks, you forget/cant see the little things like you can in a nano. I love to watch my little critters run around more than in a big tank. They are cute. For me, it isnt even about the cost diff, it is the ability to see little things. In fact, I have disbanded my plans for larger tanks than my 60cube, 20H and 10... will not set up my big 360 again, and would rather have a bunch of liittle tanks run off a single sump so I can see all the little things going on, yet benefit from a larger overall volume....thinking a few 10s and 20s with a 100g sump/fuge. Then I can have arrow crabs in one, dusters in another, a mandarin in the fuge (not!), cowrie in another, stsarfish, urchins, all safe from each other.

 

[zizmans]

For me initially it was really wanting a tank in my kitchen. All the other pros mentioned above came after. Sure glad I did it though. I was going to do a 150-200 downstairs but after having a nano I'm down to 75. I like having a world I can put my arms around. Hey, rancher How many LED's are you running?

 

[reefrancher]

http://www.reefrancher.com/steve/nano/

5 x 1watt

Steve