Nano Nano: NaNO? NaYes? Why or Why Not?

[revhtree]

Let's get a NANO! It'll be fun they said! Easy water changes! It's CUTE!!! Ummmm No.......Ummm YES?

For all of you that currently have a Nano aquarium or have kept a Nano in the past please answer the following questions:


1. What are the biggest challenges you faced when maintaining a nano aquarium?

2. Would you say a nano reef is harder or easier to maintain than a larger tank of say, 25g or more?


Today's graphic comes to us inspired by Mork of Planet Ork. (extra cred for all you who get it)

 

[X-37B]

Ran a nano for 2 years. Was going to make it the frag tank when I set up my 120. It is now a planted freshwater.
You need to be on to be on top of your parameters for stability.

My 120 runs its self compared to the nano which was 18" cubed with corner overflow and sump skimmer and filter sock.
Funny though thinking of setting up a countertop aio 10 gallon.
All in all my nano got me back in the hobby after a 20 year gap! Here are a few old pics and just before I took it down.
Ran black box and mh over the course of 2 years. Both worked well.
It went through a move at the 1 year mark.

Yea Mork nano nano. I think it was more nanu nanu

 

[Ann Enomy]

Had a 10gal coral killer several years back. The parameters change too quickly and I just couldn’t keep things stable enough to keep anything long term. I would say smallest tank I would get now is 55gal.

 

[hllb]

What do you define as nano? I have a 32g biocube. Some would call that a nano, but I haven't really had stability issues so far (2.5 months in)

 

[RMS18]

My 8 gallon nano is 7 months old and thriving with corals.. no skimmer, no ato, no dosers, no power head. Just a tank, heater, prime HD and a return pump. Unlike my 120 with all the tech and top of the line crap you could buy it's 11 months old and nothing thrives but Dino's.

 

[RJ F.]

I'm so interested in this thread. I'm getting rdy to start a nano. This will be so informative

 

[Taxus812]

I have a 7g, 10g and 45g- enjoy the nanos it is super easy to maintain. I do t have a lot of corals yet however. I expect when I have more it will be harder to keep up on parameters. My 45g is just starting to get populated so I expect I should be able to see a comparison.

 

[RevMH]

10 years ago, I ran a 2.5 specifies nano. I enjoyed it, but everything had to be so specific - "too much" isn't very much the smaller the tank it. I enjoyed it, but probably wouldn't do that small again.

 

[RJ F.]

I have a 40b with a 29 sump about 60galloms water volume. I have had great success with it. Cant wait to try my luck at a 10 waterbox aio

 

[Evan1901]

Nano got me back into reefing after 6 to 7 years break. All in all, the parameters was stable once you have everything dialed in.

 

[don_chuwish]

Setting one up now! 25G Cube Reboot
Like anything in this hobby it has turned into a lot more $$$ than I'd originally envisioned. But with a full sump system I'm hoping to keep it reasonably stable.

 

[PupChow]

I have done a few < 20g tanks and the biggest challenge has always been stability. ATO is almost a must unless really diligent with the top-off. (I’m not!)

I would say between 25g - 65g would be the sweet spot for me... where there is enough water volume to be stable and a large water change could be done easily to correct things on the fly!

 

[X-37B]

My 8 gallon nano is 7 months old and thriving with corals.. no skimmer, no ato, no dosers, no power head. Just a tank, heater, prime HD and a return pump. Unlike my 120 with all the tech and top of the line crap you could buy it's 11 months old and nothing thrives but Dino's.

Yea everyone is different.
My 120 is simple. Sump, sock, skimmer, return, ati 6 bulb and powerheads.
Ran the nano the same way.
Dosed 2 part 3 gallon water change every week.
120 is a no waterchange system and even simpler.

 

[Travisz]

11 months old and golden. Change 2 gallon of 13.5 every 3 days. I haven't done any testing because I don't feed much it's still young but I think it's going fine haven't had any major problems yet.

 

[Berlibee]

I love it. And it's super easy in my opinion. I have this one now.

Reef Hacks Nano Reef Tank Guide – Our Recipe for Success.

Interested in nano reef tanks? But not sure where to start? Our guide walks you through every step of starting and maintaining a healthy nano tank. Size really doesn’t matter when it comes to reefing.

reefhacks.com

 

[Kittenslim]

I love my 4 gallon nano. I’ve had it for about a year and any problem can easily be fixed with a 75% water change. Haven’t had luck with acros, but montis, cyphastrea, and soft corals have all thrived.

Let's get a NANO! It'll be fun they said! Easy water changes! It's CUTE!!! Ummmm No.......Ummm YES?

For all of you that currently have a Nano aquarium or have kept a Nano in the past please answer the following questions:


1. What are the biggest challenges you faced when maintaining a nano aquarium?

2. Would you say a nano reef is harder or easier to maintain than a larger tank of say, 25g or more?


Today's graphic comes to us inspired by Mork of Planet Ork. (extra cred for all you who get it)

 

[X-37B]

Setting one up now! 25G Cube Reboot
Like anything in this hobby it has turned into a lot more $$$ than I'd originally envisioned. But with a full sump system I'm hoping to keep it reasonably stable.

Thats like mine was. Get an additional cabinet for electrical and ato and you will have stability.
All my acros went into the 120.

 

[Tamberav]

I love nano tanks and have been running nanos for 10 years or so!

I think they are fairly simple to keep as long as you don't slack too much with weekly maintenance. As they mature....they are more hands off.

I am setting up my first larger tank of 80g so we will see how that compares.

I think the best advantage of a nano is a person can do a 100 percent water change quickly if needed.

 

[SkiCatTX]

I like the idea of nano tanks, and if you keep just softies or fish they can be great. However, trying to keep more sensitive corals, and hard corals that require monitoring calcium, Alk, and other chemicals can be a real pain. The values can fluctuate so much from day to day, you can loose things overnight if you are not extremely diligent and careful. That is the real pain for me, just running tests all the time and adjusting things. If I did another nano tank, I would only put things in that didn't care about the details...

 

[Justin Swinney]

Had a 10g mixed reef that was mostly sps with some zoas and acans. Never had issues with salinity but I had to test alk daily because it would swing in a heartbeat. It’s difficult but rewarding. I upgraded for two reasons; 1.) more room for coral. Mine was packed. 2.) less time testing and adjusting levels to keep everything stable.