Are bigger tanks that much easier than nanos?

[ReefKing101]

I’ve had my 20g nano for nearly a year now. For the most part it’s been great but I have really struggled keeping motivated to keep on top of it. It swings like crazy and I find it hard to maintain at a stable level. Not to mention corals have barely grown in the year I’ve had them. Just lately they are starting to take off. I feel like I’m constantly behind on my tank and I’m wondering is a bigger tank a lot easier to maintain?

 

[jorwill]

Yes vastly easier. Consider what one drop of copper would do in a 5G nano compared to say a 75g. Now take that into account with all the swings you have. To much or to little of a water change may swing high or low on many different things within your tank.
The one pitfall is when things go south in a large tank you’ve got “more” of that to fix.

 

[Spare time]

In most ways yes. It is far easier to keep a big tank stable as well as keeping different different types of coral and fish. The only thing that is more difficult is water changes (though you may not need to do them frequently if at all)

 

[Ta2oodfreak]

My 180G I barely tend to, my nanos are like really needy and clingy girlfriends.

 

[cloak]

It's all the same IMO. It depends on YOU to make it work though. GL.

 

[reefinatl]

I've done everything from a 20 to a 90 and the 90 is the easiest. The one advantage of a nano though is when pests get in they are easy to rain in. In larger tanks it's easy to dismiss that one little harmless aiptasia or those two valonia bubbles, then you wake up to a hellscape one morning. In my 13.5 fluval it's a minute to yank the top off and rip a tuft of GHA out, in the 90 it's a step ladder and fighting off ***** damsels.

 

[Sarcazian]

I always found nano's (30G total water or less) easier since I can do 30-50% WC a week - and not deal with a skimmer.

Any more than that and personally my husbandry starts slipping. That said, I have never had a 90/120/200+ to compare those larger sizes for the first 1-3 years.

 

[PanchoG]

Let’s be careful when define “easier”, for small tanks water chemistry is far more complicated you have to be very careful. But your equipment is smaller, easier to fix and cheaper. For a large tank the first thing we think about is money not complexity, large tank have far more equipment and that adds a lot of complexity too. It is a matter of trade off and sometimes about how much money you are willing to put in the hobby.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I would say they are easier but big tanks more forgiving with the added volume.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

I would say 10 or even 5yrs ago yes. However. The tech and equipment and knowledge has cone far in that time and the equipment is now mostly dc and adaptable to smaller tanks. Allowing control of the water.
D

 

[Stefpicarda]

20 years ago it was. Now, with the new technology it doesn't really matter as long as you're willing to spend some money.

 

[Uncle99]

I’ve had my 20g nano for nearly a year now. For the most part it’s been great but I have really struggled keeping motivated to keep on top of it. It swings like crazy and I find it hard to maintain at a stable level. Not to mention corals have barely grown in the year I’ve had them. Just lately they are starting to take off. I feel like I’m constantly behind on my tank and I’m wondering is a bigger tank a lot easier to maintain?

You can automate a ton of routines.
AWC, ATO, Dosing.
In the end, bigger is just more forgiving.
It comes with its own maintenance issues.

 

[Trever]

My only experience is with my 38 gallon total actual water system.

I find water parameters are flat line stable while at the same time, it is relatively easy to move a parameter.

Seems like the best of both worlds as far as water chemistry goes?

Not being able to house significant herbivores is a big disadvantage that I experience. Never had a tang or what not, but from what I understand, they help significantly with algae.

 

[Chelymay]

My only experience is with my 38 gallon total actual water system.

I find water parameters are flat line stable while at the same time, it is relatively easy to move a parameter.

Seems like the best of both worlds as far as water chemistry goes?

Not being able to house significant herbivores is a big disadvantage that I experience. Never had a tang or what not, but from what I understand, they help significantly with algae.

I would say they are easier but big tanks more forgiving with the added volume.

I started with a 13.5 and a month later I upgraded to a JBJ 45 gaAIO and today I just got the Prostar 200 gallon.
I must be crazy.
Ask me this question in another 3 months. I am not sure what I will say.
I do feel like I have little control since I don’t have a sump. I have no room for anything and everything is in the back of the tank and not in “an easy to open cabinet”. Just changing the filter socks I end up getting water everywhere.
Like I said, ask my again in a couple of months, I am interested in my own answer lol

 

[Reef.]

I’ve had my 20g nano for nearly a year now. For the most part it’s been great but I have really struggled keeping motivated to keep on top of it. It swings like crazy and I find it hard to maintain at a stable level. Not to mention corals have barely grown in the year I’ve had them. Just lately they are starting to take off. I feel like I’m constantly behind on my tank and I’m wondering is a bigger tank a lot easier to maintain?

what are you having trouble keeping stable?

Sounds it could be just because it's a new tank, after a year you should start seeing it settle down I would think.

 

[Azedenkae]

I’ve had my 20g nano for nearly a year now. For the most part it’s been great but I have really struggled keeping motivated to keep on top of it. It swings like crazy and I find it hard to maintain at a stable level. Not to mention corals have barely grown in the year I’ve had them. Just lately they are starting to take off. I feel like I’m constantly behind on my tank and I’m wondering is a bigger tank a lot easier to maintain?

Imo yes, to a certain extent. There is a sweet spot imo where you may find it be the best time, but then after it slightly dips, because no matter what, a larger aquarium means more water, and eventually it can be time-consuming working with big volumes of water. However, everything else does become easier and easier, such as adding equipment. I want to do a lot with my 20 gallons, but I simply don't have the space. For a larger tank, adding skimmers and so on may be vastly easier.

 

[LegendaryCG]

I don’t think they are fundamentally much harder. Certainly easier to do water changes on a 20G vs a 200G. I guess you could screw one up easier but if your careful I don’t seem them as harder. What is harder is finding decent nano sized equipment.. awful lot of it is junk.

 

[OlderManSea]

I had a 2 gallon fish bowl that I did for a contest, and currently a 5 gallon tank and a 10 gallon tank for 5 and 4 years, respectively, in the nano range and 50 and 75 gallon in the medium range. In the past I have had a 150 gallon tank and a 350 gallon tank. The 2, 5 and 10 gallon tanks are a joy to take care of in that I can wipe the walls, baster the medium to stir it up and do 80-90% water changes in the 2 and 5 gallon tanks in 5 minutes (once a week) and they look brand new, but chock full of corals. The 10 gallon I do about an 80% change every week in 10 minutes and again, it looks brand new. For these no dosing, no skimmers, no anything else other than lights (AI Primes) heaters and powerheads. The 50 and 75 gallon tanks are very manageable but take an hour each week and a couple of hours each once every month to maintain in top shape. There are many more choices for livestock. The 150 and 350 were both far too much work for my tastes and time. The water changes were less extensive, about 10% per week but the equipment far more elaborate and all of the equipment required regular care and maintenance. They were both much more work per gallon than the nano's and a good bit more than the 50/75s. Of course livestock choices are even wider in the larger tanks.

If you are in for a lot of thought and maintenance the larger the tank the more spectacular the possiblities (I used to enjoy the mechanical side of things so they were even fun for several years). But if time or interest in maintence is lacking the small tanks spend an enormously larger fraction of their time being enjoyed than maintained. And there are lots of corals and fish that look great in them that would be lost in a large tank. In my 5 gallon I have a small colony of green banded gobies (they started out in the 2 gallon bowl and were transferred to the 5 when I tore down the bowl. ) They are front and center in this small tank but in even a 50 gallon tank they would be lost. But then, if you want some tangs or angels or triggers, then you are definitely talking 150 and above for the more docile species and larger yet for many species.

Many years ago (more than 40) I cared for an 800 gallon tank that included an imperator angel and a clown trigger, as well as several large tangs. If you are into fish, the imperator and clown are truly the most spectacular two aquarium fishes I have ever cared for and to this day the most beautiful I have ever seen. I feel nothing but great enjoyment looking at those two species (and all other larger angels and triggers). I constantly think I should set up a 10 foot tank before I die to have one of each of these two. Then I think of the work and decide, nah, I'll ogle the imperator at the LFS and call it a day.

I have 3 neighbors with large tanks, one has a 250 gallon, one has a 400+ gallon and one has twin 800 gallon tanks. The guy with the 250 cared for it himself for two years and decided to leave it empty for a while to deal with burnout - it is still empty in his living room 10 years later (a popular topic with his wife). The guy with the 400 started out caring for it but now the LFS (which specializes in caring for larger tanks) spends an hour or two on it each week. The husband/wife with the twin 800 gallon tanks have never touched them. They were set up by the LFS and maintained by the LFS - they are the most content large tank owners I have ever met, they have had the tanks up around 15 years now.

All sizes of tanks can be, and I have found are, very enjoyable. For me, my commitment to time for maintaining the tanks has dictated 75 gallon as the absolute largest I will do now and going forward - but I do miss the imperator and clown.....

 

[Reef.]

I don’t think they are fundamentally much harder. Certainly easier to do water changes on a 20G vs a 200G. I guess you could screw one up easier but if your careful I don’t seem them as harder. What is harder is finding decent nano sized equipment.. awful lot of it is junk.

just watched the lasted vid from BRS and Ryan's tank, his tank is huge yet he has not had a smooth first year, so yeah I think they both have their good points, a problem with a nano can probably be fixed a lot easier than a 200g but the issue in the 200g probably took longer to show up, so gave you more time to catch it.

 

[linkedsilas]

Upgraded to a 90 and kicking myself. I can’t produce enough water for changes. Going back to a 30 2 years later