Thinking About A Nano Cube

[tenohfive]

A few people on here might know me from other parts of the site. I've never really thought about setting up a SW tank before, but I saw an Aqua Qube pic and it reminded me of a nano cube setup with some live rock and a few fish in one of my LFS' (Wildwoods I think) that my other half always fancied.

I've never kept SW and none of it makes any sense to me, but as with every other flavour of fish I've kept I'm more than happy to do my research, and I don't mind a bit more effort than required for FW tanks if it'll put a smile on my other halfs face.

I was wondering how practical it would be to setup a nano cube thats about 40L, and what my stocking options would be?

Any advice appreciated.
Chris

 

[Truck]

dont do it, 40 litres for a first timer is nothing, you will want a 100l at least...

 

[BigC]

Any advice appreciated.

Hi Chris, be prepared to become a slave to the tank M8, not to mention developing the arcane ability to burn £20 notes for fun.
As Truck has already mentioned try and go a little bit larger,(70-120ltr) preferably drilled tank with sump. This will offer you better options down the road.
Believe me I started with a non drilled tank and I hit the wall with upgrade options that weren't open to me.
Read, Study and ask questions no matter how stupid they seem.
ATB

 

[tenohfive]

To be honest, I was looking to this tank as a mini project - not a start on the SW route, I don't have the money to go bigger. My thinking was to have it as a one off, a kitchen side type tank. My other half reminded me where I'd seen the tank setup as a nano marine - in Wildwoods, and its a nice little tank.

Maintenance, monitoring water quality, even daily water changes etc I can manage quite happily- but a bigger tank would a) cost more and mean b) I've got to try to find the room to put it and c) persuading my other half that its a good idea.

If a 40L nano isn't a workable idea I'll give it a miss.
Cheers
Chris

 

[BigC]

That's not a problem Chris.
You can go right ahead with that tank just that you'll have to keep an eye on things as when things go wrong they go wrong quickly in a smaller body of water.
There's nothing wrong with starting a pico tank. Your stocking will be a bit limited but nice things can be achieved. See threads by adamcrouch as examples of what can be accomplished in a smaller tank
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=211653&hl=
Regards

 

[tenohfive]

That tank looks lovely.

I'm aware that stocking is going to limited by the tank size, 2 or 3 interesting little fish would do me quite nicely. I'm quite happy to monitor things closely if it could work, and like I say I'll be doing as much research as I can before I buy the tank - much less add water. I'm new to SW but I'm not new to fishkeeping - I've learned the hard way not to rush into things, to research properly and accept that when asking for advice that no means no.

Will keep an eye on this forum for abit, I've always found listening to people posting about how well or how badly their tanks are going and the advice they receive in return is one of the best ways to get a good feel for a new type of tank or fish.

Cheers for the advice so far, any more is welcome and if I do go ahead then I'll post again to try and fill the gaps in my knowledge.

Could I ask one very naive question to save me going to my LFS though (and bear in mind this tank will be run by me but I'm doing it for abit of a challenge and to try and get my other half interested, if only so I can get a hand with water changes ) - what is the 'nemo' fish and would one or a pair (I don't know how they're best kept) be an option in that size of tank?

 

[BigC]

I would have a word with Adam and see how successful he was on the fish front,
He would be better positioned to answer that question.
I personally would be of the opinion that the tank was too small for clownfish but I've never had a tank that small (not a marine set-up anyhow)
So I think Adam has the experience to be able to give you some thoughts on stocking.
ATB

 

[Trod]

Hi the 'nemo' fish is a clownfish have a look at the links below. Hope they help you

http/www.uda.co.uk/Keeping%20Nemo.htm

http/www.fishkeeping.co.uk/modules/cares...?caresheetID=16

http/www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/...?article_id=109

 

[tenohfive]

From the links it sounds like its not a bright idea, but I'll have a word with Adam. Reason I asked is because I saw one in some of his tank pics. Hopefully he'll be able to give me some general advice as well.

Cheers.
Chris

 

[bagu]

check this out

i forgot link

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=285746&hl=

its my topic from a week back.

 

[seffieuk]

to the salty side of life Tenohfive

I will be selling my orca 550 in the next few months (don't ask me for a date - Mr Seffie has decided to decorate so am not sure when yet!). The tank, although bigger than you are after sits nicely in a corner and really is a great first marine tank.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=253399

You can read about our journey and see the tank - I think the nano that Wildwoods has on display is the smaller Orca - we were there yesterday, must admit that the Marine side is not looking so good there anymore

Seffie x

 

[Truck]

i wouldnt put clowns in a 40 litre, too small IMO, with displacement your looking at 30 litres anyway. a goby shrimp pair would be a nice addition, I personally love clown gobies, but im biased lol.

 

[tenohfive]

to the salty side of life Tenohfive

I will be selling my orca 550 in the next few months (don't ask me for a date - Mr Seffie has decided to decorate so am not sure when yet!). The tank, although bigger than you are after sits nicely in a corner and really is a great first marine tank.

[URL="http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=253399"]http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=253399[/URL]

You can read about our journey and see the tank - I think the nano that Wildwoods has on display is the smaller Orca - we were there yesterday, must admit that the Marine side is not looking so good there anymore

Seffie x

Thanks for the link...35 odd pages but at some point I'll go through it.

In all honesty I've never even glanced at the marine tanks in Wildwoods (the only reason I looked at the Orca was because I was paying for some CA cichlids) so I couldn't comment on that front. Their SA and CA cichlid stock still seems pretty good though, and the quality is superb.

If someone wouldn't mind posting up some stocking combinations for a 40L cube it'd be appreciated. Its meant to be a small but attractive tank with fish that'll keep my other half amused (which is no mean feat, although my C.Sajica manages that from time to time) so if someone could list some options (in addition to those truck has just mentioned) it'd be appreciated. Theres alot to take in when looking at SW it would seem.