Newbies guide to the nano reef

[4251cpd]

For giggles and as a relative newbie to sw/reef in general I thought since I seem to be one of the few on here to admit my tank would not be big enough to be a qt for most on this sight, I would hijack a thread and give my experience of nano reefing to you all. Please excuse any and all spelling and grammatical errors in this and future posts.
"nano"= extremely small.
Yes, I've said the evil word in the sw community. A pratical definition would be any tank setup that is 30 gallons or less. Yes, it is possible to have a little slice of Neptunes pie in any room of the house.
Pros:
1. Space considerations, not all of us have the space budget to set up a nice 50-100 gallon reef tank. Leases on apartments, condo contracts, dorms etc., may prohibit a thousand pound footprint in your residence. Your office may agree to add beauty to your work space but a 4"x2" box may interfere w/paperwork. What to do, what to do? Downsize is the catch phrase thats been bandied about in the last 15 years so why not reefing? Blasophemy you say. Not anymore.
2. Cost, monetary budget is extremely important to most. Before I bought my nano tank, a guy at work offered to sell his 90 gallon acryllic tank, along w/a 50 gallon sump and the plumbing, stand and cover for 400. Good deal, possibly but w/the 400 I was able to buy a 12 gallon set-up, live rock, substrate, salt mix, 10 gallons of R/O water and other essential hardware. Ready to reef for lack of a better phrase.
Cons:
1. Water quality. Yes it's a bigger pain in the dupa to maintain perfect parameters w/a nano tank. One slip and you might be in deep doo doo. Less water= less stability. Yet if you can give the tank 10 minutes a day then this can be overcome easily. I'm not an advocate of daily testing after cycling, I test when something is amiss. Water changes are not a luxuary but is a fact of life. Weekly, bi-weekly, or daily it is the cost of doing buisness in the nano world. Temperature issues are maddening if you let them be. Ambient temps have more effect. When I get to the chapter on set-up I'll go into how a longer cycle helps work out any issues.
2. Lighting. Your light scheme along w/ space will effect the amount and types of corals/inverts you can keep. I don't have MH and I've given up on having certain sps and clams. Fact of life, yet a little creativity and I've seen nano sps set-ups w/kick butt MH lighting. That will be in the future.
3. Protein skimming, I will go into depth in a future date about this but I do not skim. Have a fuge and doing well enough to get a dead goni corallite skeleton back to life. Size and where to keep the sucker are major considerations.
4. Amount of livestock, when looked at carefully, could be good or bad. Less cost and smaller bioload. Yet, Who wants only 2-4 fish. Wanna tang, sorry, no can do. Angel, ha ha ha. How bout the manadarin....give 'em 6 months at most. You get the point.
Thanks for sharing your time, just giving a small primer on things to come and a chance for one of the moderators to tell me to stop. Next week: Chapter 1
Planning and buying your tank.

 

[wrightme43]

I think this is a good idea. I doubt anyone will tell you to stop. It should be helpful, and is one more thing for google to send folks here. LOL That makes happy sponsors.

 

[4251cpd]

I think this is a good idea. I doubt anyone will tell you to stop. It should be helpful, and is one more thing for google to send folks here. LOL That makes happy sponsors.

Well, since you put it that way :badgrin: I just would like to show, it is possible. My way of giving back to Gaia if you will, and I'm the last person to be called a tree hugger. Thanks for the feedback and I will not disappoint. Mike.

 

[Zen Reeferer]

Fantastic. Can't wait. Being a newbie to saltwater tanks, I'm curious to see what mistakes I've already made with my 26 gal. flat back hex Uniquarium, lol.
Perhaps get some insight on what to expect with my 'nano' and it's inhabitants in the future.

 

[4251cpd]

Fantastic. Can't wait. Being a newbie to saltwater tanks, I'm curious to see what mistakes I've already made with my 26 gal. flat back hex Uniquarium, lol.
Perhaps get some insight on what to expect with my 'nano' and it's inhabitants in the future.

Z-R, just checked your tank, you sir are modest. You may be bored w/this thread because a lot of it will be BTDT. Yet, you'll be blown away w/my sardonic wit. Anyways, if I have a chance, I'll do the 1st post tonight, It will be somewhat light since it's the most general part of the equation. Anyone who has questions feel free to post and I'll try to get back as soon as I can.
Thanks, Mike...... oh yeah, Z-R since you raised expectations, I'm gonna go to my Santeria for dummies book and look up the bristleworm curse.

 

[steve-s]

"nano"= extremely small.
Yes, I've said the evil word in the sw community.

You'd might be surprised to find out it's not so evil.... :lol:

Definately a little more care/work and not something I would suggest your first time out though.

I've had the ¾ gallon till I got tired of it. Still have a 5.5 gal I use as a monospecies frag tank and my 27.

Cheers
Steve

 

[4251cpd]

S-S, yes, it's not the greatest way to start out, but, some of us had no other choice. Just have to be vigilant.

 

[4251cpd]

Chapter 1, planning and buying the tank.

Part 1: Planning:
Rotten Richard Marcinko said many times in his Rogue Warrior books "previous planning prevents p:ss poor performance". Couldn't have said it any better. The more you are informed and prepared, the more likely you are to succeed in whatever endeavor you choose. Okay Mike, how do you go about this? Well you are using the internet and it's a great place to start. Buy, beg or borrow books by Borneman, Calfo, Delbeek, Fenner, Sprung and Tullock. Excellent sources of information ,yet getting a bit dated. Scratch out your goals for your mini reef. Tank size, shape, acryllic or glass is what we will touch upon in the second part. Disclaimer to a newbie in regards to the nano-reef: You must be ever vigillant, dilligent, and just plain ig-nant to want to start out with a nano as your first set-up. I qualify as all the above so that is why I did it and my tank has been "successful" so far.
Do you want sps (small polyp stoney) corals, mixed reef, softies or lps (the polar opposite of the sps) as your sessile inverts that will have your friends and family gawking for hours at a time. Fish are a deciding factor for tank size. Smaller tank= less and smaller species. Lighting is factored into tank size and corals kept. Some have stronger lighting needs that could only be satisfied by metal halide lighting. Others need to be fed. Research, research and research before you spend a dime.
Do you want a plumbed-in sump (an additional container or tank that holds an additional volume of water that is constantly being circulated in and out of your display tank, sump=more total tank volume=greater stability), or as 2 of the three prefabbed nano systems have an integrated sump?
While this is going on, you'll need to think about circulation, filtration, barebottom v. substrate, how much live rock you need, whether you'll buy your fresh water from a fish store or buy a R/O unit to make it yourself. The type of salt mix you want to use. I could go on for hours, but the hunt and peck method of typing will have my fingers numb before the list ran out.
Commit your plans to paper w/pencil (easy to edit) and have it around if you go anyplace or see something on a site that would work for you.
The KISS (keep it simple stupid) method of planning is the easiest way to go and if you keep that in mind you will not be overwhelmed. Use this time to start comparing prices of the equipment you want/need and get your budget in order. The big 4 internet stores: BigAls, DrFoster&Smith, PremiumAquatics and MarineDepot are great places to start. Word of caution when buying a tank, I would buy it at a local fish store (lfs) just in case there is a crack, scratch, or defective seal. It is much easier to replace with them then an on-line store. Plus you get better sense of size, and if it will work in the location where you want the tank. Also consumer beware, ask the lfs their policy on returns before you show them the money.
Part 2: The tank.
Sounds simple but its not. There are so many choices out there including nanos. Glass, been the workhorse of the aquarium hobby for eons(ok not that long) but is established. Easy to clean, scratch resistent, retains its shape when filled. The bad, needs to be on a completely level surface or the joints might get stressed, leading to cracks or leaking. Heavier, and when scratched cannot be buffed out. Not as insulated and is not as clear. Acryllic, lighter, more tank designs, clearer more insulated and easily drilled. Scratches easily and slightly warps when filled. With that being said, I chose glass (I'm clumsey).
Tank shape. Muy importante in regards to the overall health to your livestock. A shallow/long tank offers more surface area for gas exchange w/the water. O2 in CO2 out. Salt water has lesser concentrations of oxygen to begin w/in the ocean as compared to fresh water. Couple that w/in a small tank, your livestock needs all the help it can get.
Volume is personal preference. Smaller volume/tank size = less inhabitants, more vigillance, less room for error and smaller costs overall. Do not let me attempt to dissuade you from a nano, I'm just giving you the facts, so you know what is required of you as a responsible reefist.
The three big nano aquarium systems are the JBJ Nano Cube, Current USA Aquapod and Finnex M-tank. The 1st two come in both the 12 and 24 gallon models and have integrated sumps. JBJ has been doing it for 5-6 years the AP is an improved version of the NC but has had some freshman issues. Both are glass and use PC 50/50 lighting schemes. The M was at last look was acryllic, contained a protein skimmer and uses a wet/dry filtration system. It comes in 20 or 30 gallon models, open topped and can be upgraded to MH lighting. I myself have the 12 gallon NC, thats been modified w/DIY projects, which include a better pump, fuged one of the chambers added a hydor flo and surface skimmer. Any questions and or issues hit me up on the thread and I promise I will address as soon as I can. Thanks for your time, Mike. Chapter 2 will deal w/equipment for the nano reef.

 

[4251cpd]

Chapter 2: Essentials or gimmicks

Essential start up equipment:
Or how "yes honey its not too small but just perfect size" lie. In nano's with it being small, we have to consider smaller size equipment as standard. What you need immediately after the tank are the following:
1. Pump. The standard pump for the nano is a powerhead. Powerhead is a submerged pump, circulating water measured in gallons or liters an hour (g/l ph). What is enough circulation/current a tank needs? I will go on record and state a MINIMUM of 10 times the tank volume for the pump performance. I have a maxijet 1200 which would make 23 times the tank volume. You can have more powerheads(ph) but keep in mind a few things. A. Powerheads generate heat, which might give you temperature problems. B. They produce laminar flow, a straight line flow from the ph, not natural. C. They need to be cleaned at least twice a month. Adjusting a tank heater will help the heating issue. Laminar flow issue, if using one ph then get a hydor flo to attach to it, works like a clock as water rushes over the gears it rotates causing random flow. If using more then one ph, point the flows at each other and this will cause random current. Cleaning helps prolong the life of the ph, causes it to run cooler and be more efficient.
More on the way about equipment.

 

[Maxx]

Great thread! Keep it up man! Many years of writing boring police reports has not rubbed off on you. This is fun to read, (for me anyway). I'll definately keep looking in on this thread.

Any chance we can see pics of your tank and the mods you've done to it as you explain them? I realize this is (currently) a general nano thread and what all it entails, but some specifics from you're system might be helpful to some folks who are more visually oriented.

Nick

 

[4251cpd]

Yes, I will start to post pics of everything. My xenia is starting to get out of control, I will show a b4 and after when I get back from the dells. You should read some of my reports, weird stuff definately gets more attention to detail, (if you know what I mean), had a jury break down in a giggling fit when the defense asked me to read back a portion of the report. Our sense of humour is priceless. Stay safe Nick. 3 days till hope spring eternal.

 

[4251cpd]

Chapter 2 part 2

2. Heater and temp gauge (can't spell the long T-word): You may have laughed the last time you were in your local lfs and saw a heater in the 25-50w range (oh, how cute) yet this the lifeline of heating to the nano. I decided to get a fancy dancy 75 watter not really knowing the length of it. Well, to my dismay as I pulled it out of the box, I realized this basball bat would not fit in my tank. Norm from Yankee Workshop couldn't save the day this time, my head hung in shame, I had to make my 1st return. Wouldn't be the last.... Every company offers some small sized heater usually of the submariner variety. As a human being the good book says that we're fallible and sometimes I take that to the extreme. With that out in the open I wanted the most idiot proof one on the market. After a little more, can we say it all together class, R E S E A R C H (which if I did before wouldn't have to go through the return in the 1st place), I found the holy grail of idiot proof, almost unbreakable and best yet, auto cut off when exposed to air....
drumroll please....the Hydor Theo. Let me get an AY men AH. Yes, works as advertised. My only beef is the temp control cap is hard to read and the operating light is inside the heating core and is a little hard to see in a confined "sump". Need a geisha for my neck cramps...I digress.
Thermy thing a ma jig: You need an accurate reading at any time because as I harped on before, the nano could go from Utopia to Hades very quickly. It's my opinion that you need a temp probe in the tank 24/7. Those pen like devices look nice but are somewhat impractical for the nano. I like my temp readings from 2 places. The Coralife digital probe stays near the bottom of the sump intake area. I have a "stick-on" the glass low tech strip on the opposite side near the top. A cross sample if you will. Please before you ask the "ideal" temp to keep a reef at, and I'll tell you, no such thing. It's consistency. Ambient(surrounding) temp is critical for temp stability in the nano. Well the 77F while lights out and 81F during lights on is, in a word BAD.
You'll stress your livestock and could lead to coral bleaching. 2 degree swing at most in a 24 hr period is the goal to strive for. I've reached a natural balance of 80-81F. How??? Thank the Chicago Public School system for this. I went to a techinal/college prep high school that demanded four semesters of shop class. One of them was electric shop. When the lights are on a rigged PC fan comes on to keep the temp at a steady 81F. Lights out, its off, running on a timer. I will show pics later mid way through to break things up a bit. Everybody loved show and tell back in the day. Disclaimer: for those of you on the left coast who need to watch It's a Wonderful Life to see snow, then you may not need a heater, the year round ambient temp maybe all you need, but you may have higher temp problems. Hey meathead, how bout them chillers? Too much of a hassle to hide, plumb and they go for almost twice as much as your set-up. Fans and an open top are the best options for cooling out there esp. if you decide to go w/the french fry lights (MH's).
NEXT...LIGHT BENDING SHAFTS VERSUS SWING ARM BOXES...stay tuned.

 

[Skimmy]

cool thread,
as many of you know, i love nano tanks!!!! very curious about your set up, so i will be watching close
and of coarse i wouldnt be living up to my namesake if i didnt scold you for not adding a skimmer to your nano
now dont get me wrong, i've had plenty of nano's with just softies and nothing but live rock, sand, high flow, p.c. lights, and a cpr hang on fuge, and yes, it can be cool for years, for many types of corals and fish, so i dont want to knock it!
my feeling is that that alot of us kinda naturallly progress to keeping rarer, hard to keep creatures as the years go by in the hobby, which is what has happened to me, forceing me to step up my game a bit, for the benifit of the creatures in my care and for ease of use. so now my nano tanks have sumps, m.h. lighting, skimmers, media reactors, automatic top off, and filter socks for occasional use.i also like to employ the use of refugiums still, as i think they are an integral part of nano reef filtration. of coarse i will be the first to admit that sometimes the cost behind such a set up almost warrants setting up a larger system, and foregoeing the idea of a nano all together, but i do it anyway having propagated thousands of corals, and hundreds of anemones in systems much smaller than recommended for over fifteen years has afforded me a small amount of accumulated common sense and experience i can share with my fellow hobbyists
so my advice to anyone starting out in the hobby with a nano tank is to;
a. do your homework and buy a few books first.
b. dont skimp on filtration, you'll just have to replace it in a few months to a year anyway, when your abilities increase. that cheap, crappy looking thing at pet** is just that, cheap crap, find out what other people who have enjoyed long term success use for filtration, and emulate thier systems.
c. dont fear the skimmer, it's not your enemy, it's your friend, one of your best friends in fact!! ask why hundreds of thousands of hobbyists use them! and find the answers.
d. always, always use purified r.o. water, you have no good reason not to in a nano tank!

anyway, so thats my little noob nano spew, sorry to hijack, i'll be quiet now

 

[4251cpd]

Thanks Skim. I appreciate your time to chime in. I'm taking this as a step by step approach. Basics 1st and then we can get to the good stuff. I'm not gonna debate you to the end of days about skimming v. fuge, but when I get to that subject I have pic evidence that may open your mind a little.

 

[Zen Reeferer]

Lot's of great info so far.

 

[4251cpd]

Chapter 2 Pt 3

Whats so specific about gravity?
....or if you could do it all over again is a rod better then a box?
Natural sea water (NSW)is comprised of many elements the largest being Chloride the other Sodium. If we switch 'em around then we remember from basic chemistry class that these two together = salt. Please, do not use your synthetic salt mix as a rub the next time you cook out. (I've been tempted, oh yes). Since sticking your tongue in your mixing bucket is kinda impractical how do we measure the amount of salt mix to use when we make up our tanks salt water(sw)?
SW is measured in 2 ways, salinity or specific gravity. Most use the readings as the same but they are not. SG refers to the weight of all dissolved solids and salinity measures the total amount of dissolved solids in water. Peas in a pod, but its always better to sound like you know what you are doing then what you actually know. For the hobby purpose, they are interchangable. Only zee Frenchies who despise us USA'ers for stealing and improving their fries, would speak of salinty. I and most others refer to sg because it sounds more precise. 1.026 v. 35, 1st one sounds hellacool to me.
Hydrometer: No, this is not a scale to weigh your dime bag of chronic that you just bought. It's a tool either made of a glass tube, or a plastic box. The glass tube though a lot more reliable then the the plastic box can lead to headaches when trying pick up or fish out the broken pieces in the tank. Oh joy, yipee , yahoo.... Nice thing is there is no need for temp compensation with the reading. Storage, breakage and space to use are the reasons why I do not recommend them. Plastic, swing arm model. Dip in the tank, tap the side (to dislodge any microbubbles on the arm) and see where the arm stops on the graduated (H.S. babee!) scale located on the front. KISS simple, right? Wrong! A whole bevy of Mr. Murphy's (of the law firm Murphy's law) interns can come to play here. A. Some hydrometers are calibrated at 60F. So what, you say. Well...when sw goes up in temp, its density lowers when measured. Say you get a measure at 1400hrs when the temp is 70F of 1.025sg, at 1800hrs the temp is 80F and you now have 1.024sg. Then at 0001 hrs its 60F and you see 1.026sg. How did this happen??? What caused it to fluctuate so much Skipper? Well lil buddy, it didn't the temp differences caused different values of the same amount of dissolved salt. You subtract a thousandth of a point for every plus 10 degrees F.. Don't throw away the box. B. I've seen this many times before I found the machine god, dip a hydrometer 3 times and you won't get the same reading all three times. So what, just average the results. Large swings and averaging them are not accurate at all. As mentioned w/temp this is the second crucial variable in the nano that needs to be C O N S I S T E N T. C. Crud, bubbles and the like will affect the swing arm and give an inaccurate reading. Oh, pessimistic one, is there an undiscovered magical mystery device that can give us an accurate measure of our sw each and every time regardless of tank temp? Glad you asked.....:badgrin:
Refractometer: Has nothing to do w/ making fractions easier. Its a scope, containing a prism that uses the principle that the amount of dissolved solids in water bend light in such a way that it can be measured. Thats all we need to know really. Couple two tree (sorry my for my Chicago dialect) drops of tank water on the glass and you're good to go. Look through the eyepiece as you point it a light source and you have your measure. Most are ATC (automatic temp compensation) after you calibrate w/ pure water at room temp. You can get one for 40 bucks and I implore you to get it. I almost gave up the hobby because of the hydrometer. It drove me nuts.
I will get in 1 or 2 more parts to chapter 2 before I take a very brief sabbatical to get my zen on. Part 4 will be: Will my fish become pregnant if I stop using the sponge?

 

[4251cpd]

FTS of my nano in progress

Not much yet but here she is. It's a work in progress only 6 months old, slow and steady....you get the idea. Of course my firefish is camera, and everything else shy. The rock forefront right is only still in there as I continue to scrape the coralline off and letting it get into the water column. So excuse the valonia on it and some other spots too. The bottom left is the goni I had a thread going on the Calfo section. If you want better pics and the whole story just look for the gonipora palmensis thread.

 

[Skimmy]

I'm not gonna debate you to the end of days about skimming v. fuge, but when I get to that subject I have pic evidence that may open your mind a little.

dont worry, im not looking for a debate, i use both skimmers and refugiums together. and my mind is pretty open, it has to be in this hobby, but i've been doing this long enough that there isnt a whole lot thats new to me when it comes to equipment or methodology. also, i've learned that you cant base typical mixed reef tank methodology upon species specific tanks, i.e. gonipora or dendronepthea. i've tried most everything under the sun filtration wise, and now i simply do what works best for the corals i choose to keep, they, ultimately choose my methodology, not me which is probably the same for you.

 

[4251cpd]

and now i simply do what works best for the corals i choose to keep, they, ultimately choose my methodology, not me which is probably the same for you.

Can I get an AY men ah. Absolutely agree. Glad you are not part of the vast right wing conspiracy that has everyone having to have a skimmer which by the way has a secret small recording device that'll give the "G" enough evidence to put a case on you so bad you'll be counting trees in Siberia. Thanks for your input and open mind. Mike.

 

[Skimmy]

roflmao:lol:
i'd be one of thier main men if that were true:shock:
mabye i'll post some old pics of my fuge only nanos, that was so long ago i dont know if i can find them, i'll have to dig out the box of 90's memorabilia