How hard are they really???

[Harry_Fish]

I'vebeen tempted a few times to do a nano

But...

The question is how hard are they really?


Thank you

PS: The smallest I've ever done on salt has been a 52 gal

[CSUPUEBLOTIM]

As long as you keep up on water changes and don't over stock you will be fine. What size tank were you planning on going with?

[Harry_Fish]

Not sure on the size

Just in the thinking phase

[melanotaenia]

small tanks need more tweaking as there is less water volume, hence less room for error....but if kept up with on a constant basis, they thrive the same way the larger systems do

[Psychojam]

My first SW tank was (is) a BC 14. Not hard, but you have to be attentive and consistent.

If you take your time, research, and take the project seriously...you should do fine.

[Agu]

Nanos are easy if you're the type of person willing to do small daily tasks, don't overstock, and have experience with a larger tank.

Unlike larger tanks you need to devote a few minutes every day to a nano.

It's easy to overstock and the end result will probably be failure. Nanos are a lesson in restraint.

Prior experience is most important imo. If something goes wrong in a nano it's a potential disaster that happens fast. You have to be able to know by just looking at the tank something isn't right.

[Mark426]

OK..here is the truth as I see it.

I have had a 280G and a 90G before. Both were quite high tech and both worked well for me.

When we moved into our new house a few years ago, I decided not to have the aquarium as the main focus. The new house is only 1800 sq ft and the old one was over 4000. So...it seemed small at the time.

Two years ago I got a modded 12G nanocube from nanocustoms.com. I read everything I could before I started the tank.

Enough with the background..now to answer your question. NOTHING is as easy as a nano tank. I suggest no skimmer, reactor, doser, etc. These are for larger tanks and dont translate to nanos well. All this talk of unstable params and rapid changes is nothing but bull IMO. I have never in 2 years lost one fish or one coral. I experience better and faster coral growth in my tiny nano than I ever did in my $10K big tank.

Here is the ENTIRE trick to nanos... very light fish load, feed very very lightly, 25% weekly water changes and NO DOSING...thats it...how simple can it be? NEVER EVER EVER forget the water change and you will have the most fantastic, super easy, no brainer, tank you ever had. You have to think of nanos as a coral tank...not a fish tank. Also, avoid SPS in nanos, they will require dosing and that defeats the whole nano philosophy.

Here is my 2 year old 12G nanocube, its not the best I have seen but it gives you the idea what you can do with a super simple tank. I clean the glass ever few days and do a weekly water change. Every so often the normal equipment maintenance, I estimate I spend less than 1 -1.5 hours a week on taking care of it. Thats my whole maintenance schedule.
http://www.myfishingpictures.com/data/500/medium/9890Nano_9_07.jpg
no dosing, no reactor,no skimmer, no chemicals, no stupid bio-balls or nitrate producing sponge, no nuthin...just water changes

[Nano Chris]

Nice setup, cant wait to get mine like that.

[laserjim]

I agree with Mark426, well said.

[El Camaron]

nice tank Mark426.

I am new to the nano as well as saltwater tanks, i did read a small book before i started and kept reading during the cycling process and asked questions here if i got stuck. I dont know how much easier they are than a big tank but i beleive Mark426, i do weekly water changes and i am already having plenty of coraline algae growing all over the tank, i was told that that is a sighn of a healthy tank. I did buy B-Ionic but have not used it, my parameters are good.

[Lockhartia]

My 20ga is the first saltwater tank I started with. Well, it was my boyfriends, I told him I wanted NOTHING to do with it. I heard all the horror stories from the LFS store about saltwater. At the time my friends had a 65ga FOWLR and it was nothing but disaster after disaster.

He said one day he NEEDED a saltwater tank, so I told him you pay for it, you can keep it in my apartment.

We bought the tank, a hang-on filter, LR and LS, set up it and waited. We let the live rock cycle it right before christmas break, so we were gone for a few weeks so it took our minds off looking at an empty tank. At the four week mark we added one green clown goby...

Six years later the tank is the easiest thing I've ever done. A little diligence, patience and understanding of what it can and can't handle and you'll be just fine. I have a 55ga and 75ga and I spend more time infront of my 20ga than the others combined. Everyone who comes over looks at the big tanks, comments on the fish, then look at the 20, sit down at the chair infront of it and just say "wow." It's fun trying to find the tiny green clown goby, or when my antenna goby and pistol shrimp pop out from under their rock. Kind of like a "where's Waldo?"

Definately give it a try, you won't regret it!

[melanotaenia]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12582020#post12582020 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mark426

Enough with the background..now to answer your question. NOTHING is as easy as a nano tank. I suggest no skimmer, reactor, doser, etc. These are for larger tanks and dont translate to nanos well. All this talk of unstable params and rapid changes is nothing but bull IMO. I have never in 2 years lost one fish or one coral. I experience better and faster coral growth in my tiny nano than I ever did in my $10K big tank.

Here is the ENTIRE trick to nanos... very light fish load, feed very very lightly, 25% weekly water changes and NO DOSING...thats it...how simple can it be? NEVER EVER EVER forget the water change and you will have the most fantastic, super easy, no brainer, tank you ever had. You have to think of nanos as a coral tank...not a fish tank. Also, avoid SPS in nanos, they will require dosing and that defeats the whole nano philosophy.


no dosing, no reactor,no skimmer, no chemicals, no stupid bio-balls or nitrate producing sponge, no nuthin...just water changes

I agree only to a point. You can easily keep nano SPS tanks, skimmers are still a much needed piece of equipment in any nano, and dosing is still helpful to keep the coral happy.

And it is also a fact that since a nano tank has a smaller water volume, the conditions in it are more easily changed dramatically when compared to a larger tank with a much greater water voume.

[ezcompany]

a nano tank is by choice, as some people simply don't have the space and physical means to care for a larger system. keeping sps in nanos is a good challenge but dosing will be required as it becomes more and more stocked. my current 34 gallon system requires half a cup of each of randy's 2 part solution every day. kalk and water changes simply aren't enough to keep up with the bicarbonate and calcium demands.

[Harry_Fish]

Thank you everyone!