*Need input* Nano reefs

I'm working on the site for the newest of Colorado's fish stores. I'll be writing several articles for the site and would like the input and criticism of 3reef before I'll put my word out there as viable information.

Tear it apart for me!


“Nano” aquariums:

The term “nano”, refers to any aquarium with a display tank that holds 50 gallons of water or less. During the earlier years of reef tank keeping, nano reefs were thought of as near impossible due mainly to the restrictions of early technology. Water quality is always a very big concern when it comes to keeping coral alive, happy and growing, and older aquarium filtering technology made it much harder to keep nitrates close to zero. Luckily for us, new ideas such as refugiums and chemical reactors have made keeping a small, colorful reef not only possible, but even a good starting point for anyone looking to get into reef keeping.

Down sides of the nano aquarium:

There are several down sides to nano aquariums such as:
• Smaller system volume can lead to lower water conditions.
o There are many bad chemicals and good chemicals that need to stay in balanced exact amounts in a reef system. When there’s less total system volume, the bad chemicals have less water to dilute into causing them to rise faster. Less system volume also means you have less of the good chemicals needed in your water, which can lead to these levels dropping faster than is desirable. Both of these problems can be surmounted by keeping a close watch on water parameters and doing maintenance accordingly. Another thing to consider when thinking about keeping your water quality in check, is to add a larger than normal sump. The added volume will make your reef much easier to keep happy.
• Heat issues due to lighting can also be a major concern.
o Many reef lights put out a substantial amount of heat, which is only perpetuated by the small system volume and small surface area of a nano tank. In many cases a small clip on fan can be a viable solution to this problem, but in extreme cases expensive chillers may be needed. A good way to start combating this problem before it starts, is to buy lighting powerful enough for the coral you want to keep and not more. Also keep you aquarium away from direct sunlight and place your tank in the coolest area possible.
• Many aquarists feel constrained by the selection of fish available for nano aquariums.
o Naturally due to space and filtration constraints, there are less fish available that can be successfully kept in a nano aquarium long term. Before picking the tank size that’s right for you, be sure to research the species of fish you would like to keep and plan accordingly.
• Underpowered filtration.
o Most all-inclusive nano’s come with a wet-dry filtration system which can lead to nitrates, and most also do not come with a skimmer.

Nano aquariums are not however without upsides such as:
• Ease of stocking.
o Many coral species can take a long time to grow into larger colonies, and even longer to grow to a size that fills out your aquarium. With nano aquariums, a small amount invested in coral can go much farther to giving your tank a true reef look.
• Most nano aquariums are also much easier to set up.
o Many nano aquarium sizes now come in pre-assembled tested aquariums kits. You can easily find a kit that will include: tank, filtration, lighting, flow and heat. This makes getting the proper equipment together much easier for anyone new to the process.
• Deciding to set-up a nano aquarium can also help to cut costs.
o Setting up a reef is never a cheap endeavor, but with a smaller more inclusive tank set up you can greatly reduce overall costs. The initial equipment cost will be much less and with less space you will need less fish, salt, substrate, rock and chemicals. The smaller lights of a nano aquarium will also help to cut costs on your energy bill.
• Technical accomplishment.
o Many nano reefers also enjoy the accomplishment of setting up and maintaining a small reef that just a couple of decades ago was thought of as impossible.
• Space constraints also make nano reefs a great option for some.

The nano reef set-up:

• All-inclusive kits.
o A few companies now offer all-inclusive kits for nano reefers. Many of these tanks offer attractive bent corner three sided viewing. Most of these kits include: tank, lighting, hood, filtration (usually wet dry), pump and heater.
o A few additions to consider adding when setting up your all-inclusive nano tank are: sump, skimmer, upgraded lighting and a refugium. Sumps are good additions to any tank, because they add water volume and space to hide equipment. Reefers who would like to keep higher light demanding corals will want to look into upgraded lighting while searching for their tank set-up. Most nano tanks come with minimal lighting only capable of keeping soft corals and some LPS (large polyp stony). Due to the smaller water volume and risk of nitrates building up faster, a refugium is also highly recommended for nano tanks. Some of the inclusive tanks can be modified to house a small refugium in the filtration area, or a sump refugium can be added.
• Build your own kit.
o For the more experienced reef keeper, selecting and buying the components of a system may be more appeasing. If upgraded equipment is desired, buying such from the start may save money, but a working knowledge of how the equipment is going to integrate is key to getting it all right the first time.

As always live rock or dry rock is highly recommended as filtration for a nano reef aquarium. The usual one and one-half to two pounds per gallon of rock is recommended.

A sand substrate is also recommended for a nano tank both as a buffering agent and as filtration. Anywhere between two and four inches of sand is a good starting point.


As with any reef tank, there are many things to consider before beginning to set-up, but nano reefs have several very specific variables that require close attention and thought before deciding to jump in. Always be sure to do your research first and take it slow with everything you do.

 

nice, deff a good article

 

Mike---Thanks for doing this!

My first suggestion would be to start with "Nano Aquariums" Like it is now
Then "The Nano Reef Set-up"
Then "The upsides"
and last The "Downsides"
I don't want to lose the customer before he reads the upside!

Hopefully you get a lot of responses!

Looks nice - I just glanced over it

 

looks good
i suggest you write another article on types of filtration, because if they truly are a newcomer they might not understand skimmer, wet dry, and refugium etc.

good article though

 

"but in extreme cases expensive chillers may be needed. A good way to start combating this problem before it starts, is to buy" T5's to begin with ;D

"Also keep you aquarium away from direct sunlight"
- Myth, direct sunlight does not cause algae, high phosphates, nitrates and other params do.

"Many nano aquarium sizes now come in pre-assembled tested aquariums kits. You can easily find a kit that will include: tank, filtration, lighting, flow and heat. This makes getting the proper equipment together much easier for anyone new to the process."
- While this is true, many of them are not set-up for a reef IMO, you will need to upgrade some of the equipment and almost always the lights.

"A sand substrate is also recommended for a nano tank both as a buffering agent and as filtration. Anywhere between two and four inches of sand is a good starting point."
- Depends on the tank size. I don't think you would want a 4 inch sandbend in a real small nano, like a 2.5 gallon, lol.

That is about all I could find right now

 

this is some good info as i am a newbie starting with a ten gallon nano. patience is key with these smaller tanks

 

We had a cooling problem with our 9 gallon Aquamedic that houses our smaller mantis. It was pushing 82 degrees, so I slapped some cooling fans under the hood and now it stays at a nice 78 degrees. “All in one” nano aquariums are notorious for having cooling problems. It’s just because they are so enclosed, there’s not a lot of wiggle room for heat to escape and for air to circulate. This problem would be solved if manufacturers would simply install fans from the get-go. Our 14 biocube 9 (houses another mantis) has fans in it already, and we’ve never had a problem with it. When it comes to nanos, I would say that Biocubes are your best bet, even though they are more expensive. We’ve never had algae or filtration problems in the biocube, even without a skimmer. And yet the other tank is FINALLY rid of that algae scum in it. Mostly.

Arrrrr ye be right about the sand beds, missy. But if you had a spearing mantis, you’d need a sand bed deeper than 4 inches But, I’ve seen that 2 inches is a good all around depth. Basically the magic forumula for a solid 2+ sand bed is pounds:gallons. Our 46 bowfront has 50lbs of sand. Our Nano Wave 9 has 10 lbs.

 

I think you covered everything nicely and have written a thorough article. The only beef I have is your intro. To my knowledge, nano has always indicated 20 gal. and under. As far as I know, when Nano cubes were first introduced they were 12 gal. My Biocube is 14 gal. When people come to my house and see my 55 gal. the say; "wow, you have a big tank". I would hardly consider 50-55 gal. a nano.

 

Thank you for the input every one. We decided to go a slightly different direction to make information easier and more specific for the beginner. This is the nano overview article as I have it now.


“Nano” aquariums:

The term “nano”, refers to any aquarium with a display tank that holds 50 gallons of water or less. During the earlier years of reef tank keeping, nano reefs were thought of as near impossible due mainly to the restrictions of early technology. Water quality is always a very big concern when it comes to keeping coral alive, happy and growing, and older aquarium filtering technology made it much harder to keep nitrates close to zero. Luckily for us, new ideas such as refugiums and chemical reactors have made keeping a small, colorful reef not only possible, but even a good starting point for anyone looking to get into reef keeping.

Benefits of a nano aquarium:
• Ease of stocking.
o Many coral species can take a long time to grow into larger colonies, and even longer to grow to a size that fills out your aquarium. With nano aquariums, a small amount invested in coral can go much farther to giving your tank a true reef look.
• Most nano aquariums are also much easier to set up.
o Many nano aquarium sizes now come in pre-assembled tested aquariums kits. You can easily find a kit that will include: tank, filtration, lighting, flow and heat. This makes getting the proper equipment together much easier for anyone new to the process.
• Deciding to set-up a nano aquarium can also help to cut costs.
o Setting up a reef is never a cheap endeavor, but with a smaller more inclusive tank set up you can greatly reduce overall costs. The initial equipment cost will be much less and with less space you will need less fish, salt, substrate, rock and chemicals. The smaller lights of a nano aquarium will also help to cut costs on your energy bill.
• Technical accomplishment.
o Many nano reefers also enjoy the accomplishment of setting up and maintaining a small reef that just a couple of decades ago was thought of as impossible.
• Space constraints also make nano reefs a great option for some.

Down sides of the nano aquarium:
• Smaller system volume can lead to lower water conditions.
o There are many bad chemicals and good chemicals that need to stay in balanced exact amounts in a reef system. When there’s less total system volume, the bad chemicals have less water to dilute into causing them to rise faster. Less system volume also means you have less of the good chemicals needed in your water, which can lead to these levels dropping faster than is desirable. Both of these problems can be surmounted by keeping a close watch on water parameters and doing maintenance accordingly. Another thing to consider when thinking about keeping your water quality in check, is to add a larger than normal sump. The added volume will make your reef much easier to keep happy.
• Heat issues due to lighting can also be a major concern.
o Many reef lights put out a substantial amount of heat, which is only perpetuated by the small system volume and small surface area of a nano tank. In many cases a small clip on fan can be a viable solution to this problem, but in extreme cases expensive chillers may be needed. A good way to start combating this problem before it starts, is to buy lighting powerful enough for the coral you want to keep and not more. Also keep you aquarium away from direct sunlight and place your tank in the coolest area possible.
• Many aquarists feel constrained by the selection of fish available for nano aquariums.
o Naturally due to space and filtration constraints, there are less fish available that can be successfully kept in a nano aquarium long term. Before picking the tank size that’s right for you, be sure to research the species of fish you would like to keep and plan accordingly.
• Underpowered filtration.
o Most all-inclusive nano’s come with a wet-dry filtration system which can lead to nitrates, and most also do not come with a skimmer.

A few more considerations:

As always live rock or dry rock is highly recommended as filtration for a nano reef aquarium. The usual one and one-half to two pounds per gallon of rock is recommended.

A sand substrate is also recommended for a nano tank both as a buffering agent and as filtration. Anywhere between two and four inches of sand is a good starting point.


As with any reef tank, there are many things to consider before beginning to set-up, but nano reefs have several very specific variables that require close attention and thought before deciding to jump in. Always be sure to do your research first and take it slow with everything you do.

 

Research the term nano as reguarding aquariums.