Nano Reef setup.. First time going salty!

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Basefrog

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Apr 26, 2011
Messages
361
Location
Rutland, England
Hey guys.. After coming back from Thailand scuba diving for 3 Months, I am now tempted to set up a nano reef to bring a piece of the wonders of the underwater world to life in my room!

I am 99% of a newbie to salt water aquariums and have only kept tropical/cold water tanks for about 10 years (This is part of my reason to try something new).

What is the perfect size tank for a nano? 5 gal? 10 gal?

What kind of filter do I need?

Do I need any powerheads?

What are easy corals to keep? Soft? Hard?

What kind of life can I keep in it? I understand for most fish it will be too small, so are Shrimps ok? I love the look and behavior of Boxer Shrimp! Which I saw in the wild so would be extra cool to keep one!

Any other help would be very much welcomed! Plus pictures of your nano reefs if you have any?

Many thanks,
Nathan =)
 
Welcome to the addiction!

I'd say go at least 20 gal if you can. The smaller the tank the more difficult to maintain. The cost difference between a 10 and 20 is pretty minimal. The 20 will also open quite a few more fish.

For filter your rock will do most of the work. You can also add a HOB of some kind for mechanical(filter floss) and chemical(chemipure elite) through.

You will need a powerhead of some kind. I like the hydor koralia nanos. 1 425 should be fine.

This will depend on your lighting. I would stick with soft and maybe some lps. But again it depends on lighting.

Here is a nice list of good nano fish:

Nano Fish
 
Back
Top Bottom