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Nano Tanks Are Smaller But Do They Need Less Work?

August 22, 2008

A nano marine aquarium is one which at the smallest end is around 10 gallons capacity and at the largest around 30. They can be fish only or reef, but of course the capacity for fish and corals is restricted.

Most aquarists dream of an aquarium which is large – 6 ft by 2 by 2 is a fairly common size. These allow a larger number of fish to be kept and many more corals. The impact of a successful large aquarium is simply stunning; I cannot imagine anyone who breathes not being taken by the overall beauty.

The advantage of the large aquarium is that the aquarist has a lot to play with and, within guidelines, could create nearly anything. The disadvantage is the cost. The aquarium itself is not going to be cheap. Then equipment to service the gallonage is required = a larger protein skimmer, several and in the case of a reef more powerful lighting, more live rock, larger heaters, larger chiller etc. Stocking the aquarium will be more costly – more fish, more rockwork, more corals in more seawater. The cost goes on – dry salt for routine seawater changes, electricity costs (electricity becoming more expensive in particular). So buying a large aquarium needs some careful forethought. Going over-budget and cutting back on routine maintenance is not going to enhance the likelihood of success.

For many a large aquarium is simply just a non-starter. This is usually because of cost but can also be because there isn’t a location to keep one. In these cases all is not lost; a smaller aquarium can be just as interesting and far less costly to obtain and keep.

The apparent downside is that there will be less fish or other livestock. Clearly fish need to be suitable to the captive environment and corals need space to grow. If fish only are to be kept then rockwork is needed to provide homes. Live rock will not be so expensive. The fish kept will be small types. A shrimp could be added. Lighting is not a problem. This environment for fish will be interesting and could be beautiful, the rocks aquascaped to make the most of the space available. Watching the fish settle in and become accustomed to their home is very satisfying. There aren’t any aggressive large fish to cause the small ones to be timid so they’ll be seen often.

If the aquarist wants a reef then it is obvious that it is going to be small. A reef of live rock can be constructed in a small aquarium, though the smaller ones look better with just three or four larger rocks carefully arranged. Fish choice is limited to one or maybe two small ones as seawater quality must be high and fish place the greatest pressure on this. The choice of corals must be completed cautiously, as large corals are not best placed in small aquariums. However, soft or hard varieties could be kept with their number restricted and positioned with care. Suitable lighting is required of course, and in a small aquarium it is more likely that fluorescent T5 tubes could be adequate. If metal halide is used, then bulb wattage will be minimal thus reducing running costs.

That is the biggest advantage, running costs. With smaller heaters and lighting system etc electricity will not be the potential monster it could be with a large aquarium. Routine seawater changes will not be many gallons so dry salt will last a long time, and supplements likewise if used.

A nano aquarium could be constructed piece by piece by the aquarist, or alternatively there are now a good few companies marketing ‘plug in’ versions. With these the aquarist will have less time to wait for the aquarium to be ready for livestock, though that prerequisite for marine aquarists – patience – remains important.

So the nano aquarium is less costly to run and stock, but what about ongoing maintenance? All the jobs of the equivalent large tank, fish only or reef, have to be completed. The routine seawater change needs to be done (but being less gallons a smaller and more manageable container is suitable). The lights need to be changed at recommended intervals (the cost will be less). Seawater parameters require routine testing as on a large system (no difference). The aquarium glass needs to be cleaned regularly (being smaller the job will take less time). Livestock needs to be observed for health (there are less so this also takes less time). All the jobs of the large aquarium are needed, there will not be a saving in this (except in cost), but the time the jobs take could be less overall.

There are some really lovely nano aquariums about. They admittedly do not have the impact of a large display, but get down in front of them and they suggest a small part of a reef. The beauty is not in any ‘ooh’ and ‘ah’ but in the detail that develops.

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Is A Nano Tank Suitable For Beginners?

March 19, 2008

A beginner is more likely to make mistakes than when some experience has been gained. That is true for most things including keeping a marine aquarium.

A larger aquarium, as large as can be fitted and afforded, has always been the normal advice to a beginner. This is because if the aquarist makes an error with, say, an additive there is more seawater to absorb the error. Also, if the fish are overfed, which is a common ands understandable mistake, the effect on the seawater will not be so severe so quickly. Routine water changes should be being done, but nevertheless water quality would suffer. In addition, a larger volume of water is less subject to variations in outside temperatures. If warm weather arrives then a small amount of water will heat up more quickly than a larger amount.

As Peter once put it, a spoonful of sugar in a cup has more effect than a spoonful in a bucket.

Overall, I suppose the larger aquarium is still the better choice? I am no longer so sure. Surely no aquarist is going to apply an additive to the aquarium without reading the instructions to obtain the application dose rate. If overfeeding occurs, then a small aquarium will have less fish than a larger one and so the danger from overfeeding would be evened out maybe. The question of water temperature increase hasn’t changed of course.

There are advantages to the smaller aquarium. A beginner may be tempted to skip routine water changes now and again, as they take preparation and need a fair bit of salt for a larger tank. A Nano is easy, as the gallonage involved is small, so there’s no problem with preparation, storage or application.

Another thing about the small aquarium is that it is cheaper to set up. If the beginning aquarist wants to see how it goes for a while then the outlay is minimised. Also there is less to look at, so attention is drawn to the fewer livestock in the tank and any problems are more likely to be seen.

So, as said, I have mixed feelings. There are many beautiful tanks, big and small. Some of the big ones are stunning in their impact. Many small ones are beautiful in their detail. Also many new aquarists do keep small aquariums and succeed.

So, if anyone asks me ‘What size aquarium should I go for?’ my response is likely to be two questions: how much room have you available, and what do you fancy?

Is the ‘largest tank’ advice out of date?

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The Nano Reef Tank – Is It Suitable For The Beginner

January 10, 2008

When a beginner starts to research this hobby cost obviously becomes a factor and for very good reason.

The larger the aquarium which is chosen the more equipment which is required, more water, more lighting, more salt etc.

The list goes on and on.

For this reason the potential saltwater aquarists heads one of normally four ways.

  1. The decision is made not to progress any further into the hobby.
  2. The decision is made to either save money for the purchases or purchase gradually over time
  3. The decision is made to cut corners
  4. The decision is made to start a [tag-tec]nano reef tank[/tag-tec]

Option 1 is a shame if this decision is chosen. Although it may appear that the aquarium is going to cost the earth it does not have to be that way – unfortunately though there are a lot of people who do choose this option.

Option 2 is normally a hard one to take but is one which is worthwhile doing. A good aspect of this option is that it tests one valuable aspect of the aquarist – patience.

Option 3 unfortunately is chosen a lot and corners are cut to save money. Corners which will over time turn around and bite you. Therefore over time the aquarium actually ends up costing you more.

Option 4 in my opinion is a great option to choose. There are a lot of aquarists choose from the outset to keep a nano reef tank rather than opt for a larger saltwater aquarium.

So I guess the burning question is how hard is it to keep a nano reef tank and can a beginner do it?

With a nano reef tank there are considerable savings to be made. With the aquarium being of a smaller size then the physical purchase price of the aquarium will be less, less aquarium filtration (live rock for example) will be required as well as salt, water, water pumps/powerheads,lighting, heating etc.

It is not just the purchase price either which is cheaper. The running costs of the aquarium are considerably lower as well.

On the other side of the coin though there are areas which the aquarists will need to concentrate on – [tag-ice]aquarium care[/tag-ice] and [tag-self]aquarium maintenance[/tag-self].

With the aquarium being of a smaller size it will hold less water. With their being less water in the aquarium there is a lower volume for pollutants etc to mix with, therefore it can be harder yet not impossible to maintain the excellent water conditions required. Another area to consider is that the water will heat up and cool down quicker, therefore the aquarist will need to keep a careful eye on the temperature to ensure that stability is maintained. Again with their being less water in the aquarium water evaporation can affect the aquarium more as the salinity can change quicker than in a larger aquarium, to combat this the aquarist will need to ensure that regular water top ups are performed.

On another note less corals and fish will be able to be kept in the nano reef tank. Some people who keep a nano reef tank do not have and fish but prefer to keep corals only. In some instances shrimps etc are added. The reason for this is the waste which is produced by the fish and the fact that we need to physically feed them. Keeping fish in an aquarium means that there will be pollutants, pollutants by physical waste from the fish as well as any uneaten food. This does not mean that you cannot keep fish in a nano reef tank – you can as long as you are careful with your selection and do not overstock.

In a way have fewer corals, fish etc in the aquarium is actually a blessing. The bigger the aquarium the more corals and fish you can keep, however it is hard to watch them all. With a nano reef tank you can carefully study each coral, watch it grow and learn more from it that you probably can with an aquarium which has 50, 100, 150 + corals in it.

In the future of course if you so desire then you can upgrade to a larger aquarium. You do not need to – you can keep the nano and watch it grow into an item of beauty – nature at it’s finest. If you do choose to upgrade at a later date then you may have then opportunity to be able to re-use some of the aquarium equipment – the heaters for example could be re-used or possibly the actual aquarium could be used as a refugium.

So yes a beginner can do it – they can start a nano reef tank as long as they are diligent.

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Does A Nano Reef Need A Protein Skimmer

October 25, 2007

Nano reef aquariums are now very popular, because their size means they can be fitted almost anywhere in the home, and there are ready built systems that can be matched in to the home décor. Nano reef systems are small, meaning that they can be anything up to a net 50 gallons. Some are very small, only 10 gallons or so.
[Read more]

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The Nano Reef Tank – Should You Keep Fish In Them

September 11, 2007

The answer to this question depends upon your definition of a nano reef tank?

To me a nano reef tank is an aquarium which is less than 20 gallons in size.

There are some people which define a nano reef tank as being less than 55 gallons, personally I would classify these as micro reefs.

For the purpose of this post I will base the definition of a nano tank as being less than 20 gallons in size.

I am going to throw the proverbial hat into the ring by saying that under no circumstances should a fish be introduced into this type of environment.

Let me explain my reasons…

Keeping reef fish in a small amount of water is exceptionally difficult even for advanced aquarists never mind the beginner to this hobby. The majority of reef fish by their very nature are territorial which in a smaller aquarium can become problematic if not disastrous.

Introducing fish into an aquarium of this size where it is already hard to maintain excellent water conditions make it even harder to accomplish. With a fish you have to feed it which creates waste which the filtration therefore has to deal with. Even without feeding the fish are ‘breathing’ therefore adding aspects to the water for the filtration to deal with.

All of this adds up to water which is becoming harder and harder to maintain stability.

A better alternative in my opinion is rather than adding fish to a nano reef tank is to add invertebrates for example shrimps. They add motion to the aquarium and add little bio load to the filtration.

I would have to carefully consider the addition of the larger grazing animals to an aquarium of this size. By larger grazing animals I mean the likes of starfish, cucumbers and urchins. They will quickly eat all of the food and you will have to add supplementary food in order to keep them alive. Any of this food which is uneaten will break down and cause the filtration to work harder.

The addition of hermit crabs etc should be ok as long as you do not put to many into the aquarium. Hermit crabs etc are opportunistic feeders but you will need to keep an eye on them and add small amount of additional food if required.

Even without adding a fish to a nano reef tank you can have an absolutely wonderful aquarium. In some cases it can be better than having an aquarium with fish in. Without having a fish in the aquarium there is little if no predation, therefore the various pods can multiply and grow – these are fantastic to watch in your own little ecosystem plus they can be a great food source for the corals and invertebrates in the aquarium.

There are aquarists who do successfully keep a fish (sometimes more!) in a nano reef tank and have been successful in keeping them. The question that jumps out to my mind is that is it fair to keep an animal locked up in such a small space with little room to swim.

If you cannot create and maintain the perfect environment for the animals which entrust their lives to us (and this does not just include fish) then the answer is simple.

Don’t do it.

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Nano Systems – They’ve Been Categorized – But They Still Need Looking After

August 7, 2007

We all know what is meant by a nano system, don’t we? It’s a very small marine system of, say, 10 gallons or less that is dedicated to a fish or two, and a piece or two of live rock.. That’s right, isn’t it?

Well, no, it isn’t. It may be that I’m uneducated (and I’m not saying that possibility is unlikely!). A nano system is now placed into any of three categories.

First of all, the nano is a system under 50 gallons. I’m not sure if this refers to the gross or net capacity of the aquarium. [Read more]

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Setting up a nano reef tank

June 13, 2007

Poking around on You Tube (what a great site that is) I found a video which I believe will be useful for people thinking about starting a [tag-tec]nano reef aquarium[/tag-tec] (sometimes also know as a [tag-tec]mini reef tank[/tag-tec] or a [tag-tec]micro reef aquarium[/tag-tec]).

This is a video which has been created by Practical FIshkeeping which is an aquarium magazine from the UK and actually is quite good.

It could do with a soundtrack as it is a bit quiet – or at the least someone talking through what is being performed would have been nice.

I hope that the water which they add had been heated to temperature otherwise the live rock inhabitants would not have liked that.

One thing which they did mention in the comments is that this video was created for demonstration purposes and that in the video it does not mention anything about the aquarium being cycled. The aquarium was cycled but for obvious reasons this was not captured on video – would have been a long video otherwise.

Please don’t just rush out and copy this video and think that this is all there is to it – do a lot of research first before you even get to this step – but I’m sure you know that.

Anyway enjoy.

[youtube]tmjP_td2qCE[/youtube]

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