moving and need nano advice

[dab1]

Hello,

I am moving in the near future, and since I will be somwhere temporary for probably at least a month, I do not want to have to set up my 90 on the other end initially (in fact I want to reengineer it before I set it up anyway...). To that end, I would like to set up a nano that would hold two clams (say 5 inches long each, a maxima and derasa) and a couple of colonies of acropora only (no fish, I have another tank that will be fine for fish only). My LFS has a 12 gallon with a 70 w MH, and has said there is a 24 gallon with 150 out there that he can not get in stock right now. One guy at the LFS said the 12/70 setup should be fine to keep the clams/acropora for a couple of months. The owner said it was borderline, and I was thinking 70 is borderline at best. So the question for those who keep nanos is would the 12/70 be sufficient to keep acropora and clams in good order for an indifinite period (six months with good water changes, say)?

One thing also is I have a drop in chiller that is a little oversized for the 90, so would be total overkill and may even wear out on a 12 or 24, but could be used in a pinch if I ran into heat problems...

 

[brandon4291]

I bet you could keep both of those specimens long term in a MH system, as long as you controlled temp and calcium/alk levels carefully as well. I think it would be a cool venture. If you can match water quality, dosing habits and light intensity (which this system appears to do), how will a clam or the acro know they are in a nano? If I'm not mistaken the only thing we lack in the nano world in terms of long-term clam success is the lighting intensity... that should be easily matched now with all the new retrofits like the viper light and so on.