Why'd you choose nano? [Archive] - Reef Central Online Community

raybyrne67

07/01/2013, 12:31 AM

I thought it would be more of a challenge to keep tank parameters stable enough to grow a mixed reef for a extended period of time, 2+ years. The jury is still out. It has been a challenge but all my tank inhabitants are thriving. Yes I would do it again. This nano has given me the confidence to run a larger reef system.

Kentech5

07/01/2013, 02:43 AM

Space limitations mostly but when I decided to get a 2nd tank I decided on a PICO instead of a larger tank. So yes I would and have done it again.

Hentz

07/01/2013, 03:54 AM

I love larger tanks. But I feel as if nano tanks are a lot easier to maintain. Especially with my busy work life. I have a nuvo 38 and a custom Leemar 26 gallon. They're awesome and I love them! Simple. Easy to maintain. And just modern. No need for a massive tank in a condo. A nano or 2 would be perfect.

terrypercula

07/01/2013, 05:33 AM

Two reasons. 1. I live in an apartment and having some big 180 isn't practical right now. 2. It's cheaper to run a nano than a big tank and coral wise you can fill them up quicker than a huge tank. I think I'll always run some kind of nano but when I own my own house I'll definitely have a big tank too.

wnppmy

07/01/2013, 12:37 PM

Ditto, also live in an upstairs apartment so smaller near mandatory.

Years back tho was more vertical, had a 75 Gallon, very limited success.

But the 15Gallon thrived in comparison. Lasted 8 years and sold, hearty clowns still doing well.

Enjoying my nano 14G over a year, amazing fun todate.

Luv Nanos, larger tank still would have a nano!

Clown, Dotty, Cherub
Sad the Pygmy Octopus recently passed, they age just a year, but now able to keep Hermits, his staple diet!

IloveGreatDanes

07/01/2013, 12:43 PM

Space limitations and money. If I could start again I would definitely go bigger. I feel there is a bigger variety of fish that would be fun to have.

chad p

07/01/2013, 01:59 PM

After all these years I'm still not in a house that I'd call permanent. Years ago I moved my 60 gallon mixed reef more times than I care to recall. I believe it was like 4 moves in 6 or 7 years. Before I made my next move I sold it and got out of the hobby.

This time around I wanted to "ease" my way back into reefing so a nano seemed like the perfect way to go. Plus I had just finished college (as a 35 year old). Starting over in a new career with 2 small kids meant making sacrifices financially too so a nano fit the bill there.

Everyone is different. But for me the limitations in livestock don't outweigh the lower cost in startup and maintenance that nano-heads enjoy. Although I do dream of having a huge reef with some big angels and a powder blue tang roaming around.

brandon429

07/01/2013, 04:58 PM

I chose pico because the smaller a tank is the easier it is to run if you follow set rules. if you go by old reef practices then the rule is true that the smaller they get the harder they are to run. it is so very easy to break the old standards with just a few tricks. pico reefs are even easier to run than nano reefs, and if you set them up to not need ATO and to have evaporation control, you get better salinity stability than a 100g tank :). I did it for the ease above all.

Bman562

07/01/2013, 05:19 PM

Limited space and funds

91Atrac

07/01/2013, 05:42 PM

Agreed! Limited space and funds/upkeep cost for a large reef and such all the goodies.

Schmidty76

07/02/2013, 06:50 PM

Simple matter of economics for me. I wasn't willing to drop 400 or 500 dollars on a lighting system for my 55 gallon tank, plus a skimmer and sump and necessary equipment. I have too many hobbies and I can't afford to do everything I want all at once, lol. Not to mention I have to explain to the the wife I need to spend more money on the aquariums and try to convince her that the bathroom really does look good in it's current colors and is not in need of paint and new tiles.

I have less then 200 dollars in my reef tank. 20 gallon tank, small heater, small powerhead, a hang on the back skimmer... Less then 100 bucks in that part of it, the most sizable chunk of cash as far as equipment was for my lights. 80 dollars for the Marineland double bright LEDs. The tank has been up exactly one year this week and it's been doing great. Water quality has been fairly easy to maintain and my zoas and frogspawn grow like weeds. The acans are a bit slower but have sprouted two new polyps since I got them 6 months ago.

2to

07/03/2013, 02:45 AM

I've got to move fairly soon and simply can't go the next few months without a tank. Moving a 10g ought to be a lot simpler than moving anything much larger, or so I hope.

Blitzburggirl

07/03/2013, 10:41 AM

I started and stayed big for a long time (220, 240) and enjoyed them. Then, I had a move coming up, so I set up a 12 gallon cube to store frags of my precious favorites. The 12 gallon was my second favorite tank :)

Then I set up the 180. Favorite tank, ever.

Broke it down (again planning to move) but happened upon a healthy, beautiful gigantea anemone, and wanted to keep it, so I went with a 60 cube, rather than a nano. That tank did great, but was never... one I really liked, if that makes sense. Then, while I was out of town, the sump cracked, the heater blew up, return siezed and everything in the display died. It was heartbreaking, and I wasn't sure I was going to rebuild. I let it run for 6 months, with simply rock and sand. Eventually, I never had the stomach to rebuild, so I traded it for a RSM 130d.

I decided to go with the nano, because the horror of the sump crack (which is what got the ball rolling I think with my 60 crash) soured me on a sump with the heater etc returning the water to the display. This just seems safer to me right now. I'm still building slow, but, I am enjoying it.

DragKnee

07/03/2013, 11:20 AM

Because I can't afford a big tank, though, I want one.

behlke

07/03/2013, 12:28 PM

Financial and space limitations brought me into the Nano world for my first tank, but the dream is to build a larger tank.

AJ69

07/04/2013, 06:46 AM

These were my previous tanks:
75,34 (solana),90,120
Now I have 5gl rimless in my office and starting a 24 rimless at home so jury still out as preference....

tommer725

07/04/2013, 12:51 PM

i wanted to save space, and did not want a big tank to take care of, too much water.

reefer91

07/04/2013, 01:13 PM

I've had the full range of setups over the years. Due to my current situation, style, and preferences, it just makes sense to create a small, high end system that has more immediate satisfaction with significantly less work.

It's easy to justify "the best" for a small tank.

Stepho725

07/04/2013, 03:30 PM

On the second floor of an OLD house so the floors are scary just with my 29g biocube. Gonna setup another regular 29g FOWLR so i can get a couple bad reef choices out of my current tank.
Would love to set up something larger. But im going to have to wait!

squishifishi

07/04/2013, 04:27 PM

Pico pico pico and I love it! It's cheaper and takes less space. I also prefer a smaller tank because you can always see all the livestock and small inverts and everything seems more colorful. I wouldn't change a thing! Take a look...I think you'll see what I mean.http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2276431&page=5
Oh yeah, it's also way easier to clean

miniwhinny

07/04/2013, 04:32 PM

Reason 1. Because of the ease and quickness, time wise, of maintenance. I have other ways to spend my time :)

Reason 2. Because I've never seen a large tank I've liked more than a small one!

Big ISN'T always better :)

HUNTER1

07/04/2013, 07:46 PM

Its easy to maintain and I can reach everything in the tank. I have 40g but I pay more attention and looking at my 17g.

Mark426

07/06/2013, 06:01 AM

Actually I prefer a nano to large tanks. I think my nano adds to the décor of the house while large tanks seem to dominate the landscape and just dont look nice in most houses. Of course money always is a factor, don't feel like spending 10's of thousands of dollars to have a 100+ gallon tank that would be of the same quality and stocked like my nano.

Mussin

07/06/2013, 11:37 AM

I started off with a 28 jbj nano and loved it! Then I caught the bug and upgraded to a 90g tank (I still have it up and running). A guy who works with my wife was getting out of the game and basically gave me an old 29G Oceanic biocube so I guess ive came full circle.. My 90 is my baby but I love nanocubes.

Jeremy

Mikeyj82

07/06/2013, 01:04 PM

I was told it can't be done and that it was the hardest tank to do. So naturally I did it. My first attempt was a fail. But then I did some research and now it's been going smooth.

Stepho725

07/06/2013, 02:05 PM

I was told it can't be done and that it was the hardest tank to do. So naturally I did it. My first attempt was a fail. But then I did some research and now it's been going smooth.

What size? And good for u for keeping up after your first fail. Most ppl have more of "that was fun" attitude about fishkeeping and move on maybe to try again 20yrs later ..lol similar what i myself did with my community FW tropical tanks...had kept them on a number of different occasions until the last time i actually really got into it, joined a forum and learned a bunch! So naturally FW became sooo boring and it was time to begin researching SW.

Aside from space/floor problems, i also didnt have thousands to drop on a brand new hobby that i could end up getting bored with

MidMichiganReef

07/06/2013, 08:44 PM

After having run tanks of various sizes for a few years and learning lots of lessons along the way I knew I could keep tight parameters in a nano. I love only changing a 5g bucket of water once per week which takes about 5-10 minutes.

Plus my wife was 5 months pregnant when I set it up so I needed something that didn't require large amounts of labor (pun intended).

Mikeyj82

07/06/2013, 11:28 PM

10g, the fist attempt I went on the forums and listened to everyone and did what everyone said to do. 10lbs rock, 2 inch sand bed ect ect. But I learned what works for other ppl doesn't work for everyone. So I looked into what a tank needs instead. Forums can be useful but at the end of the day it's all trial and error. Got to dive in and experiment till you find something that works.

AusBloke

07/07/2013, 04:34 AM

I started with a nano, and it was great, then upgraded to a 45g with sump, skimmer etc etc, and had nothing but dramas. Plus the costs to setup, plumb it all etc were excessive.
So now I am starting again from scratch with another nano. So excited!

DGM1

07/09/2013, 10:09 AM

Because frags look like colonies.

Nanz

07/12/2013, 11:09 AM

Mostly because of cost and space as most have said. I used to have a 75 and it was costly to replace pumps and other equipment when they fail. It still happens with Nanos but instead of spending $100 to replace a worn out pump it costs $20 instead.

mr.bill

07/14/2013, 11:12 AM

Cost and being able to maintain a reef correctly. I have had reef in the past with great success. BUT I set up a 75 in my home now, (well water) and did not want to set up a RODI system as I could not waste all of the bypass water. SO thought I would be able to cheat the system (yep thought) well the 75 turned into a nighmare quickly.

Long story short, the 75 will be a nice fresh planted tank (well water nutrients all good fot that)

And setting up a 10 gallon nano to house my remaining kenya trees, and want to make a mixed reef from this SPS and zoas. And want to try mimicking a great tank I saw on RC that was made using stone tiles, can place the SPS and zoas on those and let them grow out. and have a corner of live sand for the kenyas, and all.

10 gallon would be easier to maintain, store bought seawater and distilled topoffs.

r

tallball158

07/14/2013, 06:39 PM

Only because of the money! I would love to have a 500g setup, but I'm not rich, so it was a nano for me.

deleau

07/19/2013, 09:00 PM

When my tank crashed in '09, I gave away the few survivors of the crash, disposed of all the consumables and boxed up all the hardware.

I've always enjoyed tanks and this spring when I cleaned/rearranged by home office, I decided to get back in with a nano (JBJ 28g LED). I think/hope that it will not affect any of the 6 computers in the office, and it looks wonderful.

I'm still trying to figure out how to fit a 300g in my house, but I just cannot make it work.

thereefcanada

07/19/2013, 10:02 PM

I love my 20 gallon long, I used to have a 125 gallon built into my wall but the amount of space, time and money it took up was crazy. I would love to have another large tank after I get buy a bigger house, but I think I would also keep my 20 long since I like to see the tiny gobies and clownfish in their small environment. Another thing about larger tanks that I didn't like is the moisture and humidity that was in my basement.