Is a nano reef really this easy?

[Drayven]

I stumbled across a series of videos on youtube talking about setting up a nano lagoon on the cheap. Basically they are just using a 10 gallon aquarium, HOB filter, 5 pounds of aragonite and some larger aragonite rocks to form the reef. It looks like the entire thing could be setup for under 100 bucks. What I'm wondering is, would this actually work? Is it something that would likely only support snails or could it actually hold some corals and a couple small fish? I've wanted to start a SW tank for a while but have always been scared away by the cost and hardware needed but this seems pretty straight forward. Below is the first video in the series.

Nano Lagoon (1): Tank and Filter - YouTube

 

[xxlbreed]

I tried just that. But unless you wanna dull scape and no colors, yea. O got most my stuff for 250 all in all. However upgraded stuff and now I'm 500 deep. It just doesn't work on the cheap if you want to sustain organisms for along time...

 

[carey]

Theres a cheap way to do things and the right way and they usually don't match up that well. LOL

Setting up a nano and maintaining it are actually quite expensive and tedious. They require more work in my experience than a full size tank. Not that I didn't love my 4g pico to death, it was just alot more work.

 

[KGotschall]

Yes, but you have to be methodical, patient, and do your research.

Decide what you want to keep first. If you want corals and inverts, fine, but your most expensive acquisition will be lighting. Much less than a large tank, because the light won't have to penetrate. If you just want a couple of fish, filtration will be important.

Filtration on a 10g would be like an Aqualclear 50 or 70. you may also need an additional powerhead. For smaller reef tanks, a lot of people don't even use filters, they just have powerheads coursing water through liverock. But remember in these tanks there is usually nothing that needs to eat food that doesn't exist or grown int he tank's ecosystem.

There are lots of different ways to do it, but I have a 2.5 gallon pico and I am in it about $150 including livestock and my fluval PCL 13, which is working well on the soft corals I have stocked (thanks to my LFS's $5 frag section). I have an Aquaclear 50 lighted refugium and I do 100% water changes every week, and I COMPLETELY rinse the filter and media at this time too. The evaporation is a *****, and I have to TO every day. It has been super stable and doing great. And didn't break the bank.

 

[joy13]

You can do it under 100 but I would start with used things to get started by doing that you can have better quality things than what he is showing. A 10 gallon with a 70 aqua clear filter is better than the filter that he is showing. For the light get a good used one a compact fluorescent is better than the one that he has. You can get a used one cheap but the bulbs run about 40. Craigslist and forums is where I get most all of my aquarium stuff used so when I up grade I will know what I am looking for to improve my tank

Remember it is better do a bigger tank there is more room for error. Errors in saltwater is much more hard to deal with than fresh water. Go slow in what ever tank set up you are wanting.

 

[Drayven]

I would love to do a larger tank but as things sit now I've pretty much taken over any flat surface that's sturdy enough to hold a tank However I couldn't help but notice the the top of our dressers are clear and I happen to have a 10 and a 20 gallon tank down in the basement waiting to be used. I was hoping to setup a simplish 20 gallon build that might hold just a couple things like some corals, maybe a couple clown fish and this really cool red shrimp thing I always see at the LFS, I think it's a blood shrimp maybe? Not really looking to do anything crazy. I think I might even have a spare Aquaclear 70 laying around that I could useo but even if I needed to buy that it wouldn't be all that expensive to get one or two of those. It's just that whenever I see talk of SW tanks there's talks of like sumps and skimmers and refugiums and all that stuff. What I'm really trying to figure out is what the bare bones I need is to start a healthy tank. It sounds like the substrate and rocks are what are used for the filtration so the Aquaclear is mostly just for water circulation?

 

[User]

I have started a 10 gal build but I want to do it right with potential to upgrade in the future. It has cost me over 600. But I made a few mistakes and the knowledge I have now will be useful for my next sw tank.

 

[KGotschall]

I think I might even have a spare Aquaclear 70 laying around that I could useo but even if I needed to buy that it wouldn't be all that expensive to get one or two of those. It's just that whenever I see talk of SW tanks there's talks of like sumps and skimmers and refugiums and all that stuff. What I'm really trying to figure out is what the bare bones I need is to start a healthy tank. It sounds like the substrate and rocks are what are used for the filtration so the Aquaclear is mostly just for water circulation?

The AQ 70 would be for removing floating debris, circulation, housing whatever other media you want to use (carbon, phosban) and/or modding it a little to house some chaeto, but you will need to put a light on it. The chaeto refugium acts to help control nitrate--in such a small environemnt the bioload can catch up to you quickly. I don't have that problem, I do 100% water changes every week. With a 20g, though, this will be more of an issue, with lower percentage water changes. And you will have to really maintain that filter, as debris in there can really affect your nitrate and phosphate levels.

You are right that the rock is the key to your biological filtration, so an extra PH behind your aquascape to run water through is something to think about.

I have heard that the key to Nanos is consitent water changes, and close observation. Also not going crazy with fish--as this will increase your bio load. And staying away from some big tank stand bys- like anenomes, that can crash your small tank in a day if they get pissed off. And not listening to your LFS guy. Most of the time they don;t understand that creating a small reef ecosystem is very different from what they are used to.

I have a 2.5 gallon and it has like 7-8 corals in it. But the only other inhabitants are a couple hermits, cleaner snails, and a pom pom crab. With the water params almost every coral I have bought has been immediately happier than at the various LFSs where I bought them.