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

[Blknovass]

I have had two very nano (pico) tanks, a 2.6 gallon bowl that I had for a year and a 5.6 gal Marlineland Portrait that I had for two years. Both were extremely easy to care for and I never, ever had a problem with either. I did essentially 100% water changes each week. The portrait had a glass top that kept top off as a rare event; the bowl required some water addition every couple of days. I ultimately combined the two tanks into a 10 gallon IM 10 which is also running beautifully. Like many others I find the pico's to be much less work than larger tanks (currently a Red Sea 170 liter and a Red Sea 425 liter). Here are some shots of the tanks from early 2018 right before they became the current 10 gallon:

2.6 gallon bowl: FTS from a distance and closer, and close up of the 4 green banded gobies when they were all out waiting to be fed:

Here is the 5.6 gallon. It was the first marine tank I had kept in many years (I was very active in the 60s and 70s (fish only of course). It was a fun tank. I took it down largely because it was tall and narrow so as things grew they crowded the sides. I will likely set it up again as a gorgonian tank:

That bowl is awesome!!

 

[mimaone]

I'm using a marineland 20gph filter on a 7.5 gal tank. Not sure if this matters?

Not sure which is the lesser of 2 evils to deal with in regards to your situation with lower

I’ve currently got 4 nanos and I love them all. I’ve got a 20 gallon IM Nuvo 20 (my main tank), 10 gallon standard, a 3 gallon cube AIO, and a 2 gallon. My favorite is the 3 gallon in my office. I’ve got two bubble tips and some softies in it. It is almost a zero maintenance tank. I maybe WC once a month. I love the simplicity of it. I’ve had it running for over a year, all powered by a Kessil A80.

I believe Kessil to be lighting? If so, is there filtration outside of the lighting? Congrats either way. That's very impressive.

 

[Kfactor]

I like them the only draw back is the fish I want to keep I can’t so I’m stuck with keeping the As I call run of the mill

 

[Neil S.]

My hobby started with a 10g IM Nuvo. I outgrew it in 6 months and upgraded, but turned the 10g into a zoa tank that thrived for the next two years

It was always a relatively easy proposition to keep it looking stunning. But all good things must come to and end and a few months ago I tore it down, sold off the rocks and rebooted into an lps tank. Nanos may be hard but it's a ton of fun being able to fix anything with a 5 gallon bucket and reset at the drop of a hat. Here it is on day one of corals. Fingers crossed.

Those are really nice zoas!!

 

[OlderManSea]

That bowl is awesome!!

The bowl turned out really well, it came in second place by one vote in the Nano-Reefs 3 gallon or less pico contest a couple of years ago. Ultimately the mangroves leafed out very nicely. My sister still has them in her refugium, they are getting huge. That tank really generated coralline algae, I had to scrape it off weekly.

 

[OlderManSea]

Those are really nice zoas!!

The zoa garden was very nice - good luck with the reboot.

 

[Coldcloud]

Not sure which is the lesser of 2 evils to deal with in regards to your situation with lower

I believe Kessil to be lighting? If so, is there filtration outside of the lighting? Congrats either way. That's very impressive.

Yep I am a huge Kessil believer. Just an A80 running on it, close to full power. Its just got a small AIO back compartment that is split in three tiny compartments. First is filter pad, and some of those marinepure spheres. Next compartment is actually a few clumps of xenia i stuck back there and a sponge under it. Finally last compartment is pump and heater. I have no other flow than the pump. I water change maybe once a month.

 

[Christa50]

I am running a 13 gallon nano. No skimmer no mechanical filter no sump. It all depends on the live stock and feeding. I chose lps and goniopora and alveopora. I had fish in it but when you have fish youll have to feed sparingly. The left over food combined with the inhabitants feaces rapidly will screw up your parameters. Then there is dosing. A little bit to much can really hurt things. How i do it.........inverts, maybe some small gobys . feeding sparingly and 30 to 50% waterchange weekly. I dont dose accept for iron for the gonis.

Geeee my screen is red from auto correction. Writing english on a dutch computer