thinking about a nano

[smnw10]

I'm seriously considering a nano setup...a 20gallon or 10 gallon. My grand idea when it's all said and done would be a reef tank with either a sea horse and or a mandarin.

Before you scream at me about pods...I understand that and would have a proven setup for cultivating pods first before adding either fish. If that fails, a couple clowns would be my choice.

What I really want to know is what are the things that have come up when you did a nano tank that you didn't plan on?

How often do you have to do a PWC?

Do you have it setup for an auto top-off or do you keep a close eye on it and add each day?

Will LR be adequate for filtration?

Has anyone tried and been successful with a mandarin or sea horse in a nano? If so can you enlighten me on what you did?

I didn't see a FAQ sticky and my searching skills aren't so great.
Thanks!
John

 

[joy13]

The smaller the nano the more work it takes.
The main thing with my nano I didn't plan on is not all fish will behave I have a blue devil that likes to throw sand all over my corals and will also harass the cerith snails just for sport. On another forum someone has a very similar set up and his fish doesn't do any of that.

My tank is 8 gallons I do about 2 gallons once a week and use RO water.

I have an ATO that needs to be finished up but in the mean time I top off twice a day.

I have plenty of live rock but still have a HOB filter rated for 50 gallons and that is where I have my heater as well to keep it out of the tank.

One thing about SW don't get in a rush bad take things slow it is hard sometimes but in the long run it will pay off.

One purchase I have gotten is a refractometer that I would say is one of the best investments.

 

[Zer0]

Just a little two cents on the top off thing... I have a 55G tank.. with screenlid tops.. and my evaporation rate is quite amazingly ridiculous. I have to top off every other day, if not every day. It only gets worse in smaller tanks.

Honestly though, a small nano SW tank can be done. And very easily at that. Tons of people do it, and you can find many on this forum that do. Is it a little more work than taking care of a larger tank? Maybe so.. But are the rewards at the end of the road any different? Certainly not.

If i could go back in time and set up a nano instead of my 55G tank.. i definitely would have. My 55G is so much work to take care of it's a little anoying. I enjoy the maintenance, but the constant build up of algae all the way in the back of the tank that i cant reach is ridiculous.

One last thing.. In the case of a nano, and in my opinion.. i say don't have any fish in there. Depending on the size of the tank ofcourse.. If it's anything under 8G i would skip the fish. But if it's around 10G up to 30G you can't go wrong with a clown or goby. Reason being.. in the nano tank you won't have a skimmer or anything like that. Maybe a HOB filter to keep the water clean, or a canister filter just so you know you at least have some means of filtration. Also live rock counts as filtration.. but still... While the clowns and firefish and gobies generally don't have high-load bioloads.. they still DO produce waste. And that waste in such little amount of water.. will only make it harder for you to keep the water clean, than if you had no fish.

In the end though.. it is just a matter of the amount of time, money, and labor, that you really want to dedicate to the tank. The more money, the more time, and the more dedication, will only mean a healthier and nicer looking tank in the end.

P.S.
I totally agree with joy13 on the take your time part. SW should not be rushed.. at all. In SW.. bad things will happen in an instant if you try and rush.. but as most of us already know.. it's the great and wonderful things that will take time to build up.

Good Luck!

 

[smnw10]

thanks for the info
Definitely won't rush it. I've had a 55 for over a year now and enjoy it. I have a 60 gallon sitting empty at home as I can't afford to do what I want with it for a while (want it to be a full reef tank and all I got is the tank).

So I thought I would occupy my time and mind making a nano tank as it will be much less costly for LR, lights, and no skimmer.

I'll keep what you've both mentioned in mind. It sounds like keeping the water clean (PWCs often) and topped off are the biggest challenges because of so little room for error.

 

[thominil]

IMO, nanos aren't that hard. If you do your research and take your time, you will be able to easily pull it off. Topping off isn't that big of a deal, at most a gallon of freshwater needs replaced on my 20g every two days. I have a mandarin in my 20g and I absolutely love watching her. I would not recommend adding one though. I knew what I was doing when I bought her. My parents were actually the ones that wanted her and I wanted my yellow watchman, but we got the mandarin instead. I am now hunting for a male mandarin. Enough of my babbling....I would not get a mandarin, many just starve no matter how many pods you try to culture, they will just eat and eat and eat those pods until there are none left....just not worth it. I would just skip the mandarin and go for the pair of clowns. A 20% pwc per week would be fine. Live rock is fine for filtration if you have enough of it. Good luck!

By the way, I'm 14, and if I can do it, you can!

 

[Barnature]

By the way, I read that seahorses are very hard to keep, they need to be fed small amounts of food throughout the day and they need a big tank.

Nature

 

[smnw10]

These people make it seem so inviting to try though
Seahorse.com - Seahorse, Sea Life, Marine Life, Aquafarm Sales, Feeds and Accessories - Home

 

[melosu58]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f11/melosu58-s-seahorse-diary-88358.html

This was my attempt.

 

[Zer0]

They do best in species only tanks. They are very slow movers and eaters.. so if kept in a community tank, they need to be target fed. They also need to be in a tank size of 30G or larger.