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Lighting As far as lighting is concerned,
there are equally as many options for nano reef aquariums as there are for
larger aquariums. Metal halide (MH), very-high output fluorescent (VHO), and
power compact (PC) lighting are the three most commonly used methods of lighting
a reef tank. For a nano reef aquarium however, VHO lighting is probably the
least appropriate simply because the smallest available bulb length, 18",
is too long for most nano reef aquariums. Also, the ballasts are expensive and
only truly economical if you are using many bulbs over a large tank. Metal halide is probably the best
source of light for any reef aquarium because it delivers a large amount of PAR
(Photosynthetically Available Radiation) while being a point source of light.
This is ideal for lighting a small nano reef aquarium. The biggest problem with
MH is the amount of heat that the bulb puts off because the light is so
concentrated. On a nano reef aquarium, this issue can become a very big problem
if not addressed properly. Heat build up can be avoided by using MH lighting
within a well-ventilated canopy or by raising a pendant type fixture
sufficiently above the aquarium to avoid heat. HQI, or double ended metal halide
bulbs, are becoming more and more popular lately and I believe these bulbs to be
the future for nano reef aquariums. The 150 and 70 watt bulbs in particular are
very well suited to nano reefs because they produce very little heat compared to
mogul based (screw in) metal halide bulbs.
Additionally, HQI bulbs can be incorporated into smaller hoods that are
good for lighting nano reefs. Finally, PC lighting is the most
economical and convenient form of lighting for a nano tank. It is both cheap and
the bulbs and ballasts are small and easy to accommodate over practically any
nano reef aquarium. Bulbs are as small as 6" in length and PC lighting
produces equally as much light per watt as VHO lighting. The choice between PC
and MH light comes down to how much room you have to accommodate the lighting in
your current hood. If you are retrofitting a strip light (commonly done on the
AGA 7 gallon bow front nano) then PC lighting is the best solution. If you have
room to hang a pendant, then metal halide might be a great choice especially if
you are planning on keeping SPS corals or clams or can afford to purchase one of
the newer "micro chillers" that have come onto the market lately to
control the temperature. Cooling As more and more people become interested in keeping light loving species
of coral in nano tanks, the topic of cooling as become a very big issue. There
are two basic methods of cooling a nano reef aquarium: a mini chiller and fans.
As of a few months ago, products have entered the market which use the principle
of heat exchange to cool small bodies of water. These products are reportedly
effective for chilling a tank as much as 5 to 10 degrees. These heat exchangers
cost a little above $100 and can be mounted to a small power filter and operated
outside of the tank itself. Fans are a cheap and efficient way of dealing with
heat in small aquariums. By positioning fans to blow cool air above the surface
of the tank and incorporating a power filter of some sort to turn the surface of
the water over, fans can be used very effectively in reducing tank temperatures
to a maximum of about 5 degrees. The one downfall to fans is that they also
increase the evaporation rate of the tank. If you are using an automatic top off
system, this is not a big deal. If you top off by hand, you will have to add
more water to the tank to account for the increase in evaporation rate due to
the fan(s). Nutrient
Export There are three basic ways of exporting nutrients from a nano tank:
protein skimmers, pruning macro algae growth and water changes. All of these
have their merits and whichever method you chose is more of a personal
preference than anything else. Protein skimmers can sometimes be difficult to
use on smaller tanks because of the issues with space. One common solution to
this problem is using a small air driven counter or co-current protein skimmer
such as the Sanders Picollo in a power filter that is hung from the back of the
tank. The Bak Pak skimmer can be used on smaller tanks if there is room behind
the tank for the extra height to hang below the tank. This is possible if you
have a stand for the tank but if it is a desktop aquarium, the Bak Pak may
simply not fit. Pruning the growth of macro algae cultivated within the aquarium is a very
good option if you don’t want to bother with the purchase of a protein
skimmer. This method of nutrient export is entirely dependant on how much algae
you have growing in the tank to begin with. If your macro algae aren’t growing
well, micro algae can grow in its place and pose a very disturbing situation for
a nano reefer. One way of avoiding this is to let the macro algae that will
develop from your original live rock (assuming you are using premium grade rock
with some macro algae on it to begin with) grow undisturbed for several months
after setting up the tank. After the macro algae growth has begun to slow down
(two to three months), you can begin adding livestock slowly and perform water
changes more often. Water changes are the best method of nutrient export in nano
reefs. Because of the small volume of water that is in a nano reef, water changes
are significantly less stressful to perform than it would be on a bigger tank.
People report doing water changes as frequently as every week to as infrequently
as every few months for nano tanks. I suggest doing water changes every week if
you aren’t adding any supplemental calcium or alkalinity, using a protein
skimmer or exporting macro algae. If you are using kalkwasser to maintain
calcium and alkalinity then you might be able to get away with performing
changes less often, such as every month or even less. Finally, if you are
keeping a fish in your nano reef, then I strongly advocate performing water
changes every week. The bio-load of a single fish in a small tank (under 10
gallons) is significant. Top
Off
Maintaining a stable salinity
level in a nano reef is one of the most crucial prerequisites to having a
successful nano aquarium. There are a few ways of accomplishing this task. By
far the simplest is to keep fresh water in a jug and simply add the required
amount of water to the tank every day. Another method, if you have room above
the tank, is to draw a siphon from a gallon water jug and adjust the drip rate
with a micro ball valve. Over the next day or two, adjust the drip rate so that
it matches the evaporation rate. Kalkwasser can be dosed using this method too.
Another method is to purchase a dosing pump and pump water from a remote
reservoir to the tank. The advantage to this is that you don’t need to have
room above the tank for a siphon to operate. The downfall however is that if
this tank is in your office, you probably won’t have room for the freshwater
reservoir. Lastly, you can purchase a Nurce top off that will automatically
maintain the water level of the aquarium through a siphon. Like the earlier
method that uses a siphon, a Nurce must be kept above the tank so the same
issues arise as for that method concerning space, etc. The advantage however, is
that it is simpler to maintain than a drip siphon because the design of the
product will automatically add water only as it evaporates. Live
Sand
Live sand or an activated deep
sand bed (DSB) is one of the newest trends of reef aquarium keeping. The
understanding of how a deep sand bed works to store and process nutrient build
up has begun to change the way we look at setting up reef aquariums. For a
non-mobile nano reef aquarium, meaning the tank will stay in its current
position for years instead of months, a sand bed about three inches thick would
be an excellent start. Use fine oolitic sand like ESV’s (http://www.esvco.com)
oolitic or Southdown brand sand that can be purchased from certain Home Depots
mainly on the east coast. Activate the sand bed with detritivore kits from as
many different sources as possible. Also, see if you can get a cup or so of sand
from any reefer buddies you might have. All this will help add diversity to your
sand bed. The diversity of species living within the bed is what allows the DSB
to function properly. Live
Rock With a proper DSB in your tank, the amount of live rock that you buy is relatively unimportant. I suggest you handpick the rock you buy. If you order just a few pounds, unless the person shipping the rock is aware of the fact that this is a very small tank, you might end up with one big, five-pound rock instead of two or three little ones that total five pounds. The key here is to keep the tank looking attractive. Try to avoid the urge to buy a lot of rock and clutter the tank. One interesting and attractive piece is all you really need in some nanos. Having only one piece of live rock also makes it easy to move the tank if that is something that has to happen occasionally. For reference purposes, I am using a single five pound piece of Fiji live rock in my seven-gallon bow front nano. Work in progress
by Tim Marks |
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