Looking To Strat A Nano Reef

[peter212693]

Hello everyone,



After the success of my tropical tank over the last 8 months (200L Fluval Roma) I want to start up a nano reef. I have been looking at a lot of different tanks but undecided on which to buy. Im looking for a nice small one to keep some corals and a couple of clown fish (with a CuC). What can you recommend? Im looking for ease and tidyness (heater, etc hidden in the rear).



Budget isnt massive so cheaper the better

I have learnt a lot with my tropical tank and been lucky enough to only loose 1 neon terta from day one (now have 50 fish in there) and would love to keep a little bit of the ocean!



What can you recommend guys, any other advice would be great

 

[Questions?]

"Budget isnt massive so cheaper the better "
same thing with me, so i gave up on the dream. you owuld need a lot of money since ive seen clownfish for $50 and mushroom coral for $28 for a single one. lights are xpensive, you need a protein skiimer, live rock, live sand, etc. so even for a nano it would probaly cost a least $300 i think.
my plan had al the stuff and i had planned on a 10 gallon till i added up the prices and got about $315 or something
Us money

 

[DrRob]

Depends a lot on what you mean by cheap really. Plus it's worth considering the on costs of the electricity, test kits, salt, RO water and addiction to tinkering that you get.
 
Generally speaking the answer is to read, read, read. Nano's are far harder than big tanks, which is true of all aspects of the hobby in general terms, so aren't the best reefs to start with. Doesn't stop them being tempting though. Our saltie brethren also tend to use a slightly different definition of nano to what you see in freshwater. There's a nice thread on a jewel lido 120 lying around somewhere that it's owner regards as a nano reef, as do most of the river reef 94 keepers.

 

[techen]

I agree with Rob etc, Nanos are insanely hard to keep. I had a nano marine for a month and dropped it due to having troubles keeping levels stable. It takes a lot of time and a lot of money so please be prepared with what your about to get yourself into

 

[peter212693]

Is it really that hard to keep? I would have thought that with only have a small bio load (2 clowns and a CuC) it would be easier to balance? I know that with a 200l stuff happens slower but once its stable it should be ok, right?
 
Yes, there is more to monitor and keep stable in a marine tank but it would be really nice to keep 

 

[DrRob]

I think the basic principle is how long it takes to go out of range and it's relationship to water change routines. A nano will wander out of range fairly fast so needs more intense or regular maintenance. Some of them run daily water change routines. Again, depends on a lot of factors and I'm no marine expert so I'm not the best person to help you on the bioload you're talking about.

 

[peter212693]

It does make sense, with the very small amount of water compared to my 200l.
 
I am very frequent with my changes, I have change 30% of my tank without fail every week since ive owned it and that it water being warmed up ready for the change to. So the extra 5-10L of water I would need to prepare wouldn't be a problem.

 

[Chad]

Ah nanos! I love them and have had them as small as 2.5 gallons.
Below is a picture of my 5.5 gallon nano. As you can see it's only soft corals, a hermit, a snail, and a couple of peppermint shrimp.
 
I added an overflow (the black box) that I put in some filter media and a nice return. It also had an auto top off unit which is vital for a nano tank as evaporation can alter the salinity in just one day and kill off the livestock.
 
The tank also was only soft corals (zoos, paly, mushrooms, and xenia). I great the halimeda macro algae as a place for the goby to hide (they normally live in branching SPS) and as a way to reduce the nutrient levels in the tank.
 
It's deceptively costly to create one and run it but if you are limited on space, careful about what you include, and have an ATO it can be done.
 
If you are new to marine tanks then 55 gallons is the place to start.
 

 

[peter212693]

Looks really nice that mate! 
 
55 gallons! Thats bigger than my tropical tank! I was thinking nano to save of stuff like livestock, corals, live rock, etc.

 

[Chad]

There is some cost savings but due to survivability concerns it sort of evens out. That said it can be done cheap. I think I had just over $100 USD in the one pictured.
 
Even affordable corals are still $20 each. Even 10 pounds of live rock is going to be $30-40. The light is going to be $50. The little tank was $20, the black overflow I converted as a sort of in-tank sump was $24, the power head inside it was $25, then the sand has it's own cost. ATO's can be $100 by themselves or you can be a risk taker and make one like I did for this one.
 
I used all the livestock, rock, and sand from an existing larger tank so for me that part was free.