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

[mimaone]

I Love my 10 gal Nuvo.
But it’s so difficult to keep parameters stable. I have corals and I dose Kalk, Kh and calcium. The swings in a 10 are pretty severe. I’m gonna move up to 60 gal because of this.

The easy thing is if something goes wrong an 80% water change is really easy. Also cleaning is a breeze.

The poll should have an option that some things are much harder and some much easier...

Beautiful!

 

[Mickeyt1reef]

I think we need to define nano vs pico. I would say 40 or less nano 20 or less pico?

 

[SMSREEF]

I am currently in week 6 of cycling my 7.5gal Nano. I am diligent in keeping stuff clean, water changes, but for some reason, without the use of Phosguard I can't keep my PH level down? I am not even feeding anything yet too.

What kind of rocks did you use? Do you mean phosphate (po4) or pH? I had trouble with phosphate in the beginning too and switched out my rock with live rock. Sometimes the rock from other tanks has a tone of po4 and leaches it into the water.

I don’t worry too much about pH other than making sure the water I use for large water change is same pH as tank.

 

[Bryce M.]

Never did a nano reef but based of keeping my reef and taking care of my nano freshwater I don't think I'd enjoy it.

 

[mimaone]

What kind of rocks did you use? Do you mean phosphate (po4) or pH? I had trouble with phosphate in the beginning too and switched out my rock with live rock. Sometimes the rock from other tanks has a tone of po4 and leaches it into the water.

I don’t worry too much about pH other than making sure the water I use for large water change is same pH as tank.

Sorry, I shoulda said PH. I'm not sure of the rocks origin (what country, I know there's different regions) but it is live and had a few hitchhikers on it and a nice piece of Kenya tree coral and it's showing lots of red feather dusters, which I like!
Maybe I just need to do a large water change? It's only a 7.5gal so maybe a 3-4gal water change might help. Thanks so much for the info, everyone on this site have been a great help.

 

[mimaone]

Btw, the rock came from my LFS

Sorry, I shoulda said PH. I'm not sure of the rocks origin (what country, I know there's different regions) but it is live and had a few hitchhikers on it and a nice piece of Kenya tree coral and it's showing lots of red feather dusters, which I like!
Maybe I just need to do a large water change? It's only a 7.5gal so maybe a 3-4gal water change might help. Thanks so much for the info, everyone on this site have been a great help.

 

[SMSREEF]

Be

Sorry, I shoulda said PH. I'm not sure of the rocks origin (what country, I know there's different regions) but it is live and had a few hitchhikers on it and a nice piece of Kenya tree coral and it's showing lots of red feather dusters, which I like!
Maybe I just need to do a large water change? It's only a 7.5gal so maybe a 3-4gal water change might help. Thanks so much for the info, everyone on this site have been a great help.

Be careful with water change because my new saltwater when just mixed has really high pH.
I use a little bit of soda water (100% purified carbonated water) to bring the new water pH down to match.
How high is your pH?

 

[mimaone]

Ph has been a consistent 7.8 since I started the tank on 9/13/19...
I know you can use baking soda to soften the water, like you can in swimming pools. But I didn't know you could use it to lower PH? Thanks for that tip!
I use Instant Ocean Salt. How about you?

 

[mimaone]

I'm sorry, I went back and reread and didn't realize you said carbonated water...lol
I've used baking soda to adjust the alkaline of the water.

 

[SMSREEF]

I'm sorry, I went back and reread and didn't realize you said carbonated water...lol
I've used baking soda to adjust the alkaline of the water.

7.8 pH is a little on the lower side of ok. I wouldn’t bring it down from that. Mine runs about 8 to 8.4 depending on time of day. Higher when lights are on, lower first thing in the morning. Like I said, I don’t pay too much attention to pH.
Other parameters, KH, calcium and magnesium are what I track. KH pretty much daily, Calcium 1-2 times week, Magnesium when I do a water change.
Good luck and happy reefing!

 

[brandon429]

Nano Build - Pico Jar

Hi Everyone, I am excited to start a thread here for my coral only 2 Gallon Anchor Hocking Jar that has been setup for almost 6 weeks. This is my first ever salt water tank, I have kept fresh water in the past. Equipment: 2 Gallon Anchor Hocking Jar Reef Smart Pico Pro Led Light Reef Brite Led...

www.reef2reef.com

1st time reef keeper. This is why the salinity control of sps jar systems cannot be beat, they're more stable than any size reef on this board due to evaporation control. It's not in the topoff, ato isn't used

The reason to keep a pico is because you can build a skip cycle acropora reef on day one as a new reefkeeper. Who doesn't want to break reef laws en masse it's great for science. To summarize, a cookie jar has more inherently salinity stability than the best 500 gallon reef you could link right now.

 

[mimaone]

7.8 pH is a little on the lower side of ok. I wouldn’t bring it down from that. Mine runs about 8 to 8.4 depending on time of day. Higher when lights are on, lower first thing in the morning. Like I said, I don’t pay too much attention to pH.
Other parameters, KH, calcium and magnesium are what I track. KH pretty much daily, Calcium 1-2 times week, Magnesium when I do a water change.
Good luck and happy reefing!

Thanks so much & happy reefing to you as well.

 

[mimaone]

Do you have a picture of your anchor hocking reef?
I never have a problem with salinity, I've always used instant ocean salt too.

 

[Andrew Kueng]

I think with a nano tank it is harder to keep things stable but you can fix a lot of problems with a big water change

 

[inktomi]

My very first tank as a college student was a 7 gallon minibow nano reef. It was so much fun, and a great introduction to the hobby. I really don't think nano tanks are harder than large tanks. Sure, stuff can change faster, but you can also a 100% water change to fix things.

Try doing THAT on my 280g

 

[Brian W]

My biggest challenges/Cons have been:
Not enough room to put all the corals I want.
Not enough space in the sump
Higher nitrate
Harder to conceal cords
Stability
Cant have as many fish
Water temp changes quicker

Pros/ Things that are easier
Cheaper tank
Water changes
Cleaning
Scaping
Feeding all of the corals
Less intrusive
Better for apartment living
I can afford starphire glass in a nano
I can reach my hand to the bottom
Less power consumption
Easier to fix when parameters are out of whack


I love my 40 gallon cube.

 

[NanoDJS]

Whats a Nano ? Actually what is one these days? , is their an official size , I orig called the ol 8 gal Via Aqua a nano because everybody with a "reef" had a 120 -800 gallon tank back then. now a days we have 13.5 , 20, 30,40, and 80 DT setup. Still under the 120 "reef" bar set a million years ago

 

[SMSREEF]

Whats a Nano ? Actually what is one these days? , is their an official size , I orig called the ol 8 gal Via Aqua a nano because everybody with a "reef" had a 120 -800 gallon tank back then. now a days we have 13.5 , 20, 30,40, and 80 DT setup. Still under the 120 "reef" bar set a million years ago

You mean my 60 gallon that I’m setting up is still a nano? It feels like a mansion after having a 10 gallon

 

[minus9]

Here’s my 22g I set up for my son and ran for almost 3 years until I upgraded to a 90g.
2 part and weekly water changes with no skimmer for the first two years. I have a nuvo black 25 lagoon that I want to set up soon, but I might do a mangrove anemone tank instead of SPS, but we’ll see?

 

[mimaone]

My biggest challenges/Cons have been:
Not enough room to put all the corals I want.
Not enough space in the sump
Higher nitrate
Harder to conceal cords
Stability
Cant have as many fish
Water temp changes quicker

Pros/ Things that are easier
Cheaper tank
Water changes
Cleaning
Scaping
Feeding all of the corals
Less intrusive
Better for apartment living
I can afford starphire glass in a nano
I can reach my hand to the bottom
Less power consumption
Easier to fix when parameters are out of whack


I love my 40 gallon cube.

I'm also having Nitrate issues. Any suggestions? Thanks