Picos/nanos In Converted Freshwater Tanks

[catxx]

i'm intrigued to see what you have managed to do, how extensive the DIY was and what your stocking choices are, plus problems. i have several spare very small (5-7 US gallons) freshwater tanks and even though i can't afford salty anything at the moment, maybe one day i can attempt something! even if its just some live rock and a couple of snails.

i'm aware pico/nano weeny saltwater tanks are an immense amount of work, which is why i haven't done it yet! i wouldn't dream of keeping any saltwater fish in a tank that small, i wouldn't try keep fish in any less than 30 gallons.

 

[ox5477]

Well for your first tank, I would advise atleast a water volume of 30G, whether that be a 20G display with a 10G sump/fuge, or just a 30G display or whatever. This gives room for lee-way if a certain parameters gets out of whack and is sufficiently large enough to house many of the smaller reef inhabitants. In something like a 5 or 7G, your looking at corals only (with inverts) or maybe a clown goby. Also, with such a small volume, you would have to make sure the water changes are kept up and prob want to test every day to every other day to make sure if one little thing dies, it doesn't nuke the entire tank.

So in short, the smaller you go, the harder it is considered because of the time and effort and the skill needed to keep it healthy. Just food for thought

Ox

 

[andywg]

I think the smaller tank thign is a bit overblown. Provided you research well then it isn't really that hard to keep a 5 gallon tank with just some LR and a snail in it and see what comes out. The bioload will be very low so many crashing problems are non starters.

You justs have to be a bit more aware about topping up.

 

[dilbert]

I'll just add something to the former posting.

I also think that overstocking is the most dangerous thing in every tank independent from the size.

See the signature below.

The nano is already overstocked and would need a skimmer or more than weekly 20% water changes.

The pico runs like a charm. I do 20% weekly water changes, too, but the extra small algae scraper I bought hasn't been used only a few times and even the magnetic algae scraper is used only once a week to clear the glass from an almost invisble slimy patches. The pico doesn't make any work at all apart from daily top-ups (could be every second day, too), weekly water changes, and feeding the corals every second night and the hermit once a week (he grazes on the rocks but I don't see what it could be so I feed him just in case).

Both tanks simple open-top tanks with a heater and one or more powerheads and simple PC lighting. 11 W on the pico, 36 W on the nano. No skimmers or any filters or reactors or sumps, refugia or whatsoever.

The nano was my first marine tank after starting with a 60L brackish tank a few months before. Before that brackish, I didn't know what a nitrogen cycle is and my guess was that would need to take out rocks and substrate every few months and clean or replace it.


So, pico and nano can't be too difficult for someone who is halfway disciplined with maintenance and has at least some basic knowledge and confidence what he's doing.

Here a few photos (in bad quality) to click on them.

 

[ox5477]

Never said he couldnt do it. Just saying that you can't go by the addage, that smaller the tank, the easier it is to keep. It is of course possible with the correct know how and methods. Just advising not to jump into something without being prepared...

Ox

 

[catxx]

it's SHE not HE! i know it's rare for girlies to be into this...
and i'm not jumping into anything because i can barely afford bread and milk at the moment, let alone expensive tank equipment hehe. i was just curious to see what other people had managed to do!

more pictures please!

 

[ox5477]

Excuse me Miss. No disrespect meant . There's plenty of woman on TFF though, just sometimes their varieties of fish will suprise you.

And I'll reiterate, didnt say you couldn't do it, just saying you should read anything you can get your hands on

Ox

 

[catxx]

i'm trying to, but you're getting in the way of the piccatures that should be here. (yes read=look at pictures and wistfully dream of one day being able to afford such a thing, i'm a picture book person, hence not reading on the tube on the way to work for fear of looking like a moron hehe).