setting up a nano but lots of ?

[dudeman]

so i was thinking about getting a 29g biocube but i cant afford one right now. i was reading a thread by gotfish about his 5.5 gal and im thinking bout building one the same way but with a 10 or 15 gal. ive been doing alot of research on nanos, but i havent found to much info. what problems should i be aware of with doing a tank this small. im planning on having a few corals and some zoos, maybe a crab or some shrimp and maybe a small fish or 2. i cant remember what there called but its a little yellow fish that attaches to stuff with a little sucker thing on the bottom. im a newb so any help would be appreciated

thandan

 

[ajnweb]

The biggest problem with a small tank will be water quality and evaporation, and trying to fit all the equipment into such a small space. Having a skimmer and a refugium would be a plus, but tough to fit into a small space, meaning that you will probably have to do a weekly water change. I would say having an auto top off of some sort would be almost required, unless you will be able to tend to the tank on a daily basis.

I currently run a ten gallon frag tank with a HOB refugium and skimmer. It has an auto top off float switch in the main tank to counter evaporation. So it is possible to have a small tank that is pretty much self sufficient.

Hope that helps a little, I am sure others will be able to give you a full rundown.

 

[dudeman]

yea it helps. so will i need to have some type of hob filter like in a freshwater? ive heard you dont because live rock is your main filtration but im not sure.

 

[ajnweb]

Live rock and sand both act as a biological filter, but do not remove large amounts of nutrients. They also take up water volume, meaning the more rock, the less water, and the more unstable the system. The theory with refugiums is (Somebody correct me if I am wrong) that as the algae grows in the refugium it takes up various nutrients, such as nitrate, phosphate and ammonia, out of the water. When you harvest excess growth, then these nutrients are removed from the system. Protein skimmers remove excess protein. So without either of these two elements, the only wat to remove excess nutrients from the tank is with frequent water changes. I have seen larger HOB filters turned into refugiums with macro algae and its own light source before. Neither of these two elements are required, they will just make for a more stable setup in the long run, with less weekly maintenance and water changes. Like I said before, the biggest worry is evaporation in such a small tank, any loss of water will cause large swings in salinity.

 

[young_skywalker]

Yeah the evap can be a real pain...I was topping off two to three times a day on my 5 gallon. However, the air where I'm at is kind of dry and hot.

 

[dudeman]

if im going to do a nano i was planning on building some kind of ATO. how much cheto would benifit a tank of this size

 

[ajnweb]

Chaeto won't hurt, but you could probably get away with frequent water changes instead!

 

[OCDreefer]

Here is a good deal

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43686

or you could start piecing it together: starting with this

Stand
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43693
Lighting
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43535

Right now I have a 20 gallon SPS tank and have had many different nano's... wouldn't mind fielding any questions you might have. No matter how big or small.

 

[ajnweb]

Thinking back to my younger days, I ran a 10 gallon nano with a HOB filter that just had Chemi Pure in it, nothing else. I did a 5 gallon water change every week. It was mainly zoas with some mushrooms, even a few low light SPS, and about 3 small fish. I did have a 80 watt Current dual satelite fixture on it though. Everything in the tank thrived! It can be done, just more maintenance! Having done both styles of tank though I do like the tanks that have protein skimmers, refugiums, and auto top offs, I guess just a busier life now.

 

[dudeman]

thanks all. youve been alot of help. when i get back to spokane im going to start making an AIO out of a 10 gal my friend has sitting in his garage and i already have the acrylic to do it, so ill just have to buy some glue. what would be a good power head for a 10 gal AIO? im thinkng about trying to build my own skimmer. anybody have any info about the little yellow fish i was alking about in the first post?

 

[ajnweb]

Little yellow fish might be a yellow clown goby, doesn't have a sucker on the bottom, but gobies tend to have two fins on their underside that form what looks to be a "sucker", but they use it like a perch. Yellow clown gobies tend to get ich and stressed rather easy, there are plenty of other nano type fish that are much hardier. For a 10 gallon I would consider a hydor koralia nano, or a maxi jet modded to power a dual loc-line return.

thanks all. youve been alot of help. when i get back to spokane im going to start making an AIO out of a 10 gal my friend has sitting in his garage and i already have the acrylic to do it, so ill just have to buy some glue. what would be a good power head for a 10 gal AIO? im thinkng about trying to build my own skimmer. anybody have any info about the little yellow fish i was alking about in the first post?

 

[dudeman]

i looked up a picture and that is the fish i was thinking of. thanks.

 

[gotfish]

Buy yourself a maxi jet 900. That's what most people that do the style of setup I have, use on 10g tanks. As far as having an auto top off, I don't. I top off the tank in the morning when I wake up and again at about 6-7pm. For the whole day, it usually is about a half a cup of water.

Make sure you section off a part to make the fuge. Using a 10g, if you section off 6" for the fuge/return area, you'll still have 14" of viewing area. Then section the fuge/return area to be 2/3 fuge and 1/3 return. You'll be able to have a nice ball of chaeto and maybe some mexicana caulerpa or just stick with the chaeto. Throw some LR rubble in the bottom of the return area. Don't have any in the fuge area or detritus will probably settle on it. With it in the return, the suction from the pump should be able to stir it around enough.

 

[dudeman]

thanks. im going to start working on it as soon as i get back to spokane. i might go with a 15 gallon jus to have a little more room

 

[ajnweb]

Figure out what length of light you want to use, then set your partition so that the legs of the light can rest on the edge of the tank and the top of the partition, which you would need to bring up to the level of the tank so the lights are level. That way you can also run a seperate light on the refugium at night.

 

[dudeman]

so is the fuge sposed to be lit for 24 hours a day for the cheato?

 

[ajnweb]

No, generally you light the fuge opposite of what the main tank is lit. So the fuge might be lit from 9 at night until 9 in the morning.

so is the fuge sposed to be lit for 24 hours a day for the cheato?

 

[dudeman]

ok got it. do you know why the fuge is normally lit opposite of the DT?

 

[gotfish]

dudeman, that is to keep the ph steady throughout the day. In reality, unless you are keeping sps, and even then, I wouldn't worry about it. For zoas, shrooms and lps as well as fish, it isn't that big of a deal. It's not like the ph crashes right when you turn the lights off. It's a gradual decline and then a gradual increase throught the day and night. The animals in your tank can take this change. If you were gonna be keeping grape caulerpa in the fuge, then I'd keep it lit 24/7 like I do in my 75. If you're gonna be like me and keep chaeto in the fuge, it's not necessary.

 

[dudeman]

id never heard anything about light changing ph... ill have to do some research on that. i really appreciate all the help youve all given me. id be lost without it!