Considering A Nano

[rustyfunk]

Hi everyone, noob here aso be gentle

Of late ive been thinking of setting myself up with a nano reef, and have spent the last couple of weeks scouring the net for advice (the first piece of advice seems to be research, followed by more research), so here i am! But dont worry im not about to jump in with no thought for my own financial safety, or the safety of any livestock

This is more a theoretical question, and relates to the thorny subject of dragonettes in nanos, or more specifically, keeping them fed if they wont take preped food. It seems that Mandarins will decimate a copepod colony in a nano pretty quickly - ergo, a renewable supply of them would be needed.

ive seen a few nanos knocking about on the net where a refugium has been made from one of the chambers in the back, so my question to those in the know is 'would a refugium made from one of the chambers in, say a 24g nanocube, be a sufficent way to cultivate a renewable supply of copepods, provided sufficient light was provided?'.

Ive also read that it is theoretically possible that an area in the main tank can be used as a copepod breeding ground provided it is inaccessible to any would be predators, but im not sure about this for the following reason - i would suspect that this would cause dead spots in the live rock (which would be my prefered method of 'filtration'), as water flow may have to be low in that area to prevent them all being blown around the tank. I dunno, and as im sure you have noticed im on the green side of novice, so any advice on this would be more than welcome!

Also, does anyone know if the cracking problem of the nanocubes has been cleared up by the manufacturers? they look amazing, but i dont want something that may go kaput, and leave me with dead fish/critters, and a wet carpet!

Thanks in advance, Rusty...

 

[parker313]

AFAIK, the cracking problem has been fixed. Steelhlr had one of the old style and did develop a crack, but I believe he has said that the problem has been fixed. It would take a LARGE 'fuge to provide a consistent supply of pods. I'd advise getting a fish that will take prepped foods OR skipping it.

 

[rhysiboy]

personally i think that too keep a mandarin completely longterm in a 24 g youd need like a 5 gallon set up full to the brim with macro algae and no predaators. Youd then have to link this to the 24 g in a way that would allow the natural food to travel to the tank. The most comon way of making a refugium is by using a sump but i personally think (no expiereince to go from with sumps) that the more effective way is having an over head refugium so the food can travel down into the main tank wihtout being chopped up by powerheads or pumps. Seriously though if you want a mandarin youll need quite a large area for culturing pods.

 

[rustyfunk]

Thanks peeps, both questions answered! I appreciate it.

That has made my mind up on the mandarin, if i go nano. i'll have to just keep admiring them in the shop.

 

[steelhealr]

It's a sad tradeoff...keeping a small nano reef in the house preserves space, perhaps makes it easier to and in a sense less complicated to do maintenance and is a beautiful addition to the home.

On the flip side the small space limits us to what we can put in, provides very little volume to cushion against tank insults and doesn't really reduce the cost of what we are creating.

Mandarins are one of the most beautiful fish that I have seen. Although many nano'ers have attempted to keep them in nanos, the MAJORITY of them end up starving the fish. They wither and die. They need a 100G tank, or, a very successful method of feeding them: either a successful copepod factory or other direct method of feeding them. Whereas in a 100G tank, they will take care of themselves for the most part, in a nano, you will have to attend to them daily. As the owner of a 24G JBJ NC, the back chambers are inadequate for a pod chamber IMO.

SH