What makes a great nano/pico tank? What are some of your favorites?

[X-37B]

My 20g aio nano cube. It will be 3 months tomorrow.
This is becomming a favorite tank of mine after taking down the 120.
I do 2g wc once a month.
Currently dosing 12ml of esv 1&2.
1ml of ez trace and thats it.
Change out the small floss square every few days.
Tunze nano ato keeps sg stable.
32 corals currently with 95% sps.
The 16hds have given great color and growth in a short period of time.
3 fish 25 snails.

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[Karen00]

The best thing about my 3.8 gallon Pico reef is that I can have it at my office and look at it at work. Also really shows off certain things like rock flower anemones, sexy shrimp, and clown gobies

Beautiful tank! Is that a complete setup? If not where did you get that lid? Also, how do you keep it so clean?

 

[steveschuerger]

Well I like nano tanks partly cause they’re a bit more intimate and you don’t have to go hunting for your Mandarins in a huge tank and wonder if they’re even alive. I have to admit I’d love to have room for more corals, Gonis in particular and probably euphyllia, but for now I’m enjoying what I’ve got.

 

[chipchipbro]

Everything started from small frags. Things were literally growing out of the water (or trying to).

sounds so nice man! I hope mine does the same one day

 

[kiswanson]

Beautiful tank! Is that a complete setup? If not where did you get that lid? Also, how do you keep it so clean?

Thanks! It’s the Lifegard 3.8. It is an all in one, but did not include the lid, which came from Kraken. I also replaced the included media basket with one from InTank and the included pump with one by Sicce.

I do an 80% water change every week, change filter floss 3x a week, and change the Chemipure blue nano about every 2 weeks. I also have a small blue tuxedo urchin who keeps algae under control and some nassarius snails to turn over the sand bed.

 

[chipchipbro]

My 20g aio nano cube. It will be 3 months tomorrow.
This is becomming a favorite tank of mine after taking down the 120.
I do 2g wc once a month.
Currently dosing 12ml of esv 1&2.
1ml of ez trace and thats it.
Change out the small floss square every few days.
Tunze nano ato keeps sg stable.
32 corals currently with 95% sps.
The 16hds have given great color and growth in a short period of time.
3 fish 25 snails.

Member Tanks

Show off your tank and document your progress.

www.reef2reef.com

still inspiring me every day man!
U got the moves!

Ridiculously fast maturing and growth.. insane!

 

[happyhourhero]

I like that it can compliment a room and be a part of it rather than dominating it. I love the faster maintenance and the ease of viewing top down. I do not like how quickly I used up my real estate. Hoping I can create and maintain a dense splash of sticks.

 

[X-37B]

still inspiring me every day man!
U got the moves!

Ridiculously fast maturing and growth.. insane!

Thanks! Yours is on its way too!

 

[Karen00]

Thanks! It’s the Lifegard 3.8. It is an all in one, but did not include the lid, which came from Kraken. I also replaced the included media basket with one from InTank and the included pump with one by Sicce.

I do an 80% water change every week, change filter floss 3x a week, and change the Chemipure blue nano about every 2 weeks. I also have a small blue tuxedo urchin who keeps algae under control and some nassarius snails to turn over the sand bed.

Aaah, that's the super secret sauce... An urchin. LOL I need one of those. I hear they are the destroyer of algae. Do those guys get big? I've seen babies and they would be great in my tank but I'm assuming I would have to rehome him at some point in my 5g.

 

[Jonny Walker]

I like nanos and picos for the compact factor I currently live in a smaller space so they work perfectly for anyone in an apartment or even a small office desk tank.
I currently have a 4 month old 25g nano and I just started a 1g pico on Friday.

 

[kiswanson]

Aaah, that's the super secret sauce... An urchin. LOL I need one of those. I hear they are the destroyer of algae. Do those guys get big? I've seen babies and they would be great in my tank but I'm assuming I would have to rehome him at some point in my 5g.

Yes, they are amazing at cleaning algae. The aquacultured ones from ORA come in small enough for a 5g tank but will eventually outgrow it. I plan on moving this one to my 45 gallon at that point, but you could also give it to your LFS if you don’t have a bigger tank.

 

[kiswanson]

I like nanos and picos for the compact factor I currently live in a smaller space so they work perfectly for anyone in an apartment or even a small office desk tank.
I currently have a 4 month old 25g nano and I just started a 1g pico on Friday.

It’s like a tank and it’s little baby

 

[JoJosReef]

I like that I can do a 5 min water change (and rinse or change floss pad) and be done with maintenance for the day. Then once or twice a month swap out the filter media. I don't have a large tank to compare with.

 

[Starganderfish]

Nanos and Pico's are great. Compact, intimate and fun. Maintenance isn't that bad if you invest in the right equipment. Auto Top off and Auto Water Change make a huge difference, ditch the skimmer and get an algae scrubber or fuge (even when running pretty dry, skimmers pull a lot of water out of the tank and make the ATO process a lot harder when maintaining salinity.) An auto-doser with something like all-for-reef can keep parameters up and good flow, lighting and backups are important.
The two biggest dislikes with small tanks are how limited your stocking has to be. There's a bunch of fish you just can;t have in one, and of the ones you can have, you need to keep a close eye on your population and parameters. With a big tank you can see something once at the LFS and pick it up on a whim. With a Nano, and especially a Pico, every new inhabitant has to be carefully considered.

For me, I think the most frustrating part of these small tanks is the space management! The tank itself may be small but with ATO and Saltwater reservoirs you still need space to store water. And then you have the cabling. Light, pump, ATO/AWC, heater, doser, maybe additional wavemakers, fuge lighting or battery backups. Even with a small tank, you still need to battle the cable spaghetti monster.

 

[fish farmer]

1. I like well done nanos/picos that are running as well as large tanks.
2. A great small tank is one that focuses on color and micro details.
3. I really like anything grown out in a jar or vase.

My tank squeezes into the nano category at standard 29 gallon DT, it does have a sump with all the big tank toys, skimmer, chaeto, ATO, kalk doser.

My tank was overgrowing with hair algae about 6 years ago when I started to bring the tank back on track. I usually have some fist sized nepthia swaying over everything, but have done a recent cut.

I like being a weekly reefer. I check things like water levels and feed daily, but fill ATO/dosers/WC and test on weekends if needed.

 

[fish farmer]

Nanos and Pico's are great. Compact, intimate and fun. Maintenance isn't that bad if you invest in the right equipment. Auto Top off and Auto Water Change make a huge difference, ditch the skimmer and get an algae scrubber or fuge (even when running pretty dry, skimmers pull a lot of water out of the tank and make the ATO process a lot harder when maintaining salinity.) An auto-doser with something like all-for-reef can keep parameters up and good flow, lighting and backups are important.
The two biggest dislikes with small tanks are how limited your stocking has to be. There's a bunch of fish you just can;t have in one, and of the ones you can have, you need to keep a close eye on your population and parameters. With a big tank you can see something once at the LFS and pick it up on a whim. With a Nano, and especially a Pico, every new inhabitant has to be carefully considered.

For me, I think the most frustrating part of these small tanks is the space management! The tank itself may be small but with ATO and Saltwater reservoirs you still need space to store water. And then you have the cabling. Light, pump, ATO/AWC, heater, doser, maybe additional wavemakers, fuge lighting or battery backups. Even with a small tank, you still need to battle the cable spaghetti monster.

For my 29 gallon, I drilled a hole in my floor next to the sump for the ATO and kalk doser which sit in the basement. I got my salt mixing station down there as well, just need to add a few fitting to the ATO and I could pump WC water to the sump.

 

[Scrappy RN]

The best thing about my 3.8 gallon Pico reef is that I can have it at my office and look at it at work. Also really shows off certain things like rock flower anemones, sexy shrimp, and clown gobies

Beautiful tank!! I just set up my first nano tank recently and I hope it's even half as beautiful!

 

[Reef Jockey]

I did have a 120G a while back and it was always a lot of work doing WC and maintenance. I now have a 13.5 Evo and love the simplicity of both WC and maintenance. As for stability, I quite honetly find it easier to maintain now with the smaller tank. I do use AFR and that has changed the game for me in reefing.


I do sometimes wish i had more room in the tank

 

[lubeck]

Here’s my 32. Gal Barely made it. It’s 4 months old.

I like that fact That water changes don’t involve huge sums of water and so much life packed in a small space. Cleaning is simpler due to less surface area. I’m sad I’m out of room though but excited to see it grow.

 

[Starganderfish]

N

For my 29 gallon, I drilled a hole in my floor next to the sump for the ATO and kalk doser which sit in the basement. I got my salt mixing station down there as well, just need to add a few fitting to the ATO and I could pump WC water to the sump.

Nice! I have a 20 gal and a 4 gal side by side. I'm lucky in that I have a dedicated drain within 1m of the tanks so waste from the AWC goes straight down there. I have a pair of 30L Saltwater containers and a 20L freshwater for ATO. They sit underneath the tanks.
I get about 2 months out of the ATO reservoir so just randomly top it up whenever I notice its getting low. I get a week out of each Saltwater reservoir, doing daily 10-20% water changes in both tanks. When res #1 is empty I swap the hoses over to res#2 and can take my time refilling and mixing up new salt for res#1.
Using an auto WaterChage system is the best thing I've ever done for my tanks. Sand sifting snails and gobies keep the substrate clean; snails, algae-eating blennie and an abalone keep algae down, AWC takes care of water changes, ATO keeps water levels and salinity on track, auto doser keeps parameters stable, lights and pumps on automatic. Aside from piping done the glass every few days and feeding, my tanks are super hands-off. This does mean lots of cables and equipment, but totally worth it.