I currently have a 40 gallon reef tank, so I am not new to the hobby, but I realize the world of nanos presents its own unique challenges. I would like to get a desktop setup like a nano cube, and I would try to keep it simple, mostly a nice LR structure with some mushrooms, ricordea, maybe some other easy corals, and one or two fish, maybe a small ocellaris and a clown goby or something. Anyway I want to know how much more labor intensive taking care of a basic nano would be than a larger reef tank. I get the impression that weekly water changes are important, rather than biweeky or monthly like with a larger system. Would I need to be checking parameters and doing all the maintenance stuff every week or even more frequently than that? And is there anything specific to nanos I need to worry about that I might not know about from dealing with my larger tank? Thanks for the advice
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Thinking of starting a nano, a few ?'s
- Thread starter Meloco14
- Start date
Im certainly no pro at all but I had some experience with a tiny reef.
So maybe what I learned from my tank might help a little. Sorry it's long but I want to tell the whole story.
I had kept guppies, gold fish and a beautiful black ghost knife fish for a year. One 5 gallon tank turned into 3 10s and a 29. My girlfriend said hey... make one a salt water tank.
Some net surfing, a trip to a LFS (not a good one, btw) and I was off. a 10G nano reef was my first saltwater endeavor. By some crazy twist of fate it was a success. I put in a layer of crushed Coral, and covered it with a sand bed. Between GARF, Ron Shimek things I had read, and some consideration I was convinced it was the right thing to do.
I cycled the tank with a run of the mill Atlantic hermit Crab a friend found on the beach here in Maine. (not a reef safe guy) but very entertaining and fine for cycling. I kept him for a few months with LR only and a yellow tailed damsel. I put in small mussels and barnacles for him to pick apart. He grew quite fast and when I was ready to make this tank "nice" he was carefully acclimated back to his home waters with a brand new shiny shell and a sad goodbye from us.
I used the standard hang on the back type filter from Walmart and a small rio to circulate. The only problem with a hang on filter was the shrimp and wee snails got stuck in the filter cartidges. I had to regularly rinse them in tank water and pick out as many shrimp as I could before changing them. I used a NO 50/50 Flourescent bulb. and it was... ok.. prone to grow algae, and I replaced it alot. to do it over I would go with a PC 65W 10K bulb.
My water was touchy, but I probably only had 7 gallons after rock and sand displacement. I would keep a gallon of water mixed and once a week I would swap out a quart or so. Top off can be done with Purified distilled water from the grocery store. So little water... we drank it anyway. The expense was low.
I didn't keep anything tough or anything outstanding. But we would sit in front of it for HOURS on end watching all the amphipods, the damsel, discovering the rock. IMHO If you can keep a 40 gallon healthy you should be able to do a Nano. I did it. my losses were minimal.
I started letting it slip a little as I became a bit lax, but the water quality would stay good. The rock / sand filtered a lot and the hang on became a ditritus catcher essentially. I moved and the 10G got moved into a 29. I didn't find a 10 G to be much more work than my 29, then 55, now 75. I almost daily pay some consideration to my aquaria not by necessity but out of love and fascination anyway.
My 29 did much better and turned into a Sarcophytons and Live rock factory.
both of my little tanks got cluttered with heaters, filters, and different hang on filtration lighting rigs, powerheads.
Now that I have a sump... I don't know how I ever had any size tank without one!!
I am still considering restarting another 10 Gallon project (if the lady of the house would allow it)
The way I see it is... if something goes wrong I have 95 gallons of nice healthy tank ready to save whatever occupants I can put into a 10 gallon tank.
It would seem to me that you have this same safety net if something starts to go astray.
I would be very interested in seeing how you setup your nano after your research and planning is finished.
So maybe what I learned from my tank might help a little. Sorry it's long but I want to tell the whole story.
I had kept guppies, gold fish and a beautiful black ghost knife fish for a year. One 5 gallon tank turned into 3 10s and a 29. My girlfriend said hey... make one a salt water tank.
Some net surfing, a trip to a LFS (not a good one, btw) and I was off. a 10G nano reef was my first saltwater endeavor. By some crazy twist of fate it was a success. I put in a layer of crushed Coral, and covered it with a sand bed. Between GARF, Ron Shimek things I had read, and some consideration I was convinced it was the right thing to do.
I cycled the tank with a run of the mill Atlantic hermit Crab a friend found on the beach here in Maine. (not a reef safe guy) but very entertaining and fine for cycling. I kept him for a few months with LR only and a yellow tailed damsel. I put in small mussels and barnacles for him to pick apart. He grew quite fast and when I was ready to make this tank "nice" he was carefully acclimated back to his home waters with a brand new shiny shell and a sad goodbye from us.
I used the standard hang on the back type filter from Walmart and a small rio to circulate. The only problem with a hang on filter was the shrimp and wee snails got stuck in the filter cartidges. I had to regularly rinse them in tank water and pick out as many shrimp as I could before changing them. I used a NO 50/50 Flourescent bulb. and it was... ok.. prone to grow algae, and I replaced it alot. to do it over I would go with a PC 65W 10K bulb.
My water was touchy, but I probably only had 7 gallons after rock and sand displacement. I would keep a gallon of water mixed and once a week I would swap out a quart or so. Top off can be done with Purified distilled water from the grocery store. So little water... we drank it anyway. The expense was low.
I didn't keep anything tough or anything outstanding. But we would sit in front of it for HOURS on end watching all the amphipods, the damsel, discovering the rock. IMHO If you can keep a 40 gallon healthy you should be able to do a Nano. I did it. my losses were minimal.
I started letting it slip a little as I became a bit lax, but the water quality would stay good. The rock / sand filtered a lot and the hang on became a ditritus catcher essentially. I moved and the 10G got moved into a 29. I didn't find a 10 G to be much more work than my 29, then 55, now 75. I almost daily pay some consideration to my aquaria not by necessity but out of love and fascination anyway.
My 29 did much better and turned into a Sarcophytons and Live rock factory.
both of my little tanks got cluttered with heaters, filters, and different hang on filtration lighting rigs, powerheads.
Now that I have a sump... I don't know how I ever had any size tank without one!!
I am still considering restarting another 10 Gallon project (if the lady of the house would allow it)
The way I see it is... if something goes wrong I have 95 gallons of nice healthy tank ready to save whatever occupants I can put into a 10 gallon tank.
It would seem to me that you have this same safety net if something starts to go astray.
I would be very interested in seeing how you setup your nano after your research and planning is finished.
thanks for the story, and tips. It seems your 10 gallon wasn't any more work than your bigger tanks. And like you, I don't plan on trying anything too difficult in the little tank, and if things do go bad I can put them in my 40 as a safety. I don't know when I'll be able to afford the undertaking but I will definitely post info when I start and periodic updates, as well as the questions that I'm sure will arise
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