Are nanos still more difficult

[Juano908]

Well, in my case my Nuvo 10 has been the easiest and more stable tank I’ve ever had even though it’s my first tank this small.
After all the issues I had with my previous setup (120 gals DT with a 40B sump, 135 gals total water volume).

After about 6 months of getting rid of the 120 gals. and since I had everything to setup the Nuvo 10 and my 9 years old daughter missing having a tank I decided to put it together back in January 29th, honestly I was hoping for the worse since I had no previous experience with nano tank and always heard and read how difficult nano tank are to keep.

I decided to go as simple as possible this time so no skimmer and no controller but just an ATO.

Tank is an AIO Nuvo 10 like I mentioned before, 6 lbs. of mixed dry rocks, 3 to 4 cups of Caribsea Special Grade sand, Nicrew 50w Reef LED light, 50w heater, piece of bio brick and bio sponge, Tunze ATO and Jebao SLW 10.
Tank is a mixed reef with a total water volume 6 gals. I try to keep up with the 3 gals water changes every week using Tropic Marine Pro salt mix.

Here is a picture.

 

[QuickrdenU]

40 gallons with a small sump or AIO seems like the sweet spot for most people IMO. You can fit all the needed gear and still have room to work inside the tank. For me, picos are the hardest because there is very little room to do ANYTHING. And getting flow right is very hard with current wave makers. But if you can match salinity, keep water topped off, and stay up on water changes, you can definitely grow corals in them. Overstocking on livestock is when it become exponentially more difficult. But I suppose that goes for ANY size tank.

 

[Debbie L]

I have the older IM Nuvo 10 and it has been a constant challenge. It is to the point of getting rid of it. The newer tanks have a different design so they may be better. I had a 100 gallon tank with sump and it flourished. Was able to grow corals to the point of taking them to my favorite lfs for trade/credit.

 

[filbie70]

My Red Sea is very stable. Mixed reef, acropora growing well. Duncan and torches have mutiplied.

 

[heathermoor]

So far my experience is that I'm glad I dont have a large tank. But it does have very severe limitations in what I can keep in there.

Certainly, as a place to learn basic things and make beginner mistakes its imo a better option. Because it seems to me after about a year in it this hobby is mostly about combatting one problem after another that arrives- hair algae, cyanos, aiptasia - I've seen and am seeing all of them and even in this tiny tank there have been times when I felt a little overwhelmed like I was just not on top of it before I thought 'ah well, lets sort it out, its not that much, its just a small thing'. Seeing it writ large in a big tank would have been perhaps too much for me and heartbreaking if I had spent a huge amount. I dont need massive stress in my life like that.

The major fail is that when I started out I wanted a fish in it. Now, I can see it was a bad idea. The fish has no where to go when invasive things are being done in the tank - it cant clear off down the other end out of the way. Its got no means of having an adequate hiding place or 'escape' and overall I think it is too stressful for it. My single fish lived only about 7 months. I'm not getting any more. I just have two blue leg hermit crabs, a small tuxedo urchin and some beginner corals now - all things where if it comes to it I can pick them up and put them in a bowl out of harms way for anything majorly hands in tank that I need to do.

I find my tank very entertaining - I like the inverts, its fun to watch them, they are fascinating and because its a small tank they and their antics are stars of the show. The crabs are a bit hard on the corals but mostly I just pick any detached bits up and glue them to a frag plug and grow them on on a small rack I have in there.

Most people reading this will be thinking 'bah- its boring' but I can honestly say it has caused me to tear my hair out at times with worry and I have been through a massive learning curve with it, so boring it is not, to me. I have not lost any more livestock at all since the fish, I understand about flow now, I understand about skimmers and have one, I can measure my water parameters with salifert kits, use a refractometer and am approaching the idea of maybe dosing - Im researching the need for that now with the Red Sea system things perhaps. There is A LOT to learn and I'm gradually building my knowledge and confidence.

So my view is that as long as you accept some pretty tight limitations and are careful a nano tank can be the way to go for a beginner to learn on and gain experience. From this site I can see there are quite a lot of degrees more difficult I can go in it with corals or maybe small seahorses etc I can go in future but thats a long way off yet. Obviously, if fish are your thing then its no good at all I'd say - you are tied to a very small selection and number of things that its reasonable to put in there and you have major headaches as a beginner if you need to be de-assembling things or sorting out messes you have made, in the clumsy error-prone way we beginners have. Leave them for later or not at all.

 

[David Groos]

Relatively speaking yes they are harder to keep stable, but compared to 30 years ago they are much easier. Back then it was an aqua clear HOB, PC lighting and maybe a seaclone skimmer. Now there is a lot better equipment available.

 

[j.falk]

Relatively speaking yes they are harder to keep stable, but compared to 30 years ago they are much easier. Back then it was an aqua clear HOB, PC lighting and maybe a seaclone skimmer. Now there is a lot better equipment available.

Aquaclear HOB? No love the the Skilter?

Seaclone skimmer...oof...I forgot all about those. Didn't they use the wooden airstones?

 

[Moronta12]

The general rule from lfs when buying your first tank is to get the biggest tank you can afford. But with advancements in reefing do people think nanos are still more difficult?

No they are not... We make it difficult trying to do a High End SPS tank on an little nano.... Nanos are fun and challenging IMO

 

[Double monti 61]

I do not know if you can consider a 15 gallon tank a nano tank but that is what I have and aside from my light,power head and protein skimmer my system does not use sophisticated equipment and I do quite well so I say no!

 

[FishTruck]

I think the nano option is an ideal starting point. Low starting costs and disaster recovery costs. Once you can manage a nano... you probably, really understand reefing.

 

[Mark Bradley]

I have a 170 and it’s very easy to maintain with everything growing well - consistent husbandry is key

 

[Polyp Punk]

In my experience, they are no harder than bigger tanks. The issue is not having a sump so it's much harder to mount ATO's and dosing pumps etc. You need all the same equipment for automation that you would have on a larger tank. If you have a heater controller, an ATO, a Doser and you just dose something like All-for-reef and you test alk every two or three days at least then they are as easy as any other tank. I was keeping Acropora in a nano!

This is exactly what I am doing. All for reef dosing in my 6.5 gallon. 0 water changes. HOB filter for mechanical filtration.