Are nanos still more difficult

[The Opinionated Reefer]

You find me an ATO that is guaranteed NOT TO FAIL EVER and I'll gladly buy it.

A simple TMC V2 single float switch ATO worked perfectly fine for me when i had a nano. It's not about never failing ever

 

[slayerhellfire]

I have had big small middle size tank, nanos are by far the easiest tanks to maintain imo and the nanos I have had have been the best tanks I ever ran.

 

[j.falk]

It's not about never failing ever

Uh...yes it is...failing = livestock deaths or tank crashes. No thanks.

Me topping off the water daily is not going to fail.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I've only ever kept nano tanks, 5 gallons up to 40 gallons, usually have 2 or 3 tanks going at a time. I've never understood the myth that "nano's are harder", why are they harder?

Good husbandry and due diligence is the key to success. Tank size is a personal preference.

 

[GARRIGA]

My 20g test tank is stable because I’m not performing any WC but if I were needing to do that than simple enough to adjust new water to match parameters for salinity, ph, temp and dkh.

The benefit with bigger volumes of water being our mistakes have time to be diluted yet less I fiddle with my tank the less chance I create a mistake. We are why we require larger volumes of water.

 

[kbnh]

In regards to the water chemistry, would a softies only with a few fish (3-4 small fish) nano set up be incredibly hard or that would minimize the chemistry issue? I’d be starting with live rock, I have a 120 up and running already for 18 months and I’d be using some of the live rock from the sump.

 

[j.falk]

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?

Biggest tank you can afford = more money for the LFS upfront and a greater chance that you will keep coming back to fill said biggest tank which equals more profit for them in the long run. From my experience of managing a LFS, new tank sales were never that great. People rarely ever bought brand new tanks. Most of the customers I dealt with either inherited a tank or bought one used from someone else. Selling livestock is where the profit was made.

Nanos in my opinion are easier and more cost effective than a large tank IF you know what you are doing. If you don't, prepare to make a lot of costly mistakes until you get the hang of things.

 

[NkSde]

It’s not bad, it’s cheaper, fish are limited but you learn a lot of cool stuff.

 

[tinyfellows]

Biggest tank you can afford = more money for the LFS upfront and a greater chance that you will keep coming back to fill said biggest tank which equals more profit for them in the long run. From my experience of managing a LFS, new tank sales were never that great. People rarely ever bought brand new tanks. Most of the customers I dealt with either inherited a tank or bought one used from someone else. Selling livestock is where the profit was made.

Nanos in my opinion are easier and more cost effective than a large tank IF you know what you are doing. If you don't, prepare to make a lot of costly mistakes until you get the hang of things.

I think you nailed it with the if you know what you are doing statement. My first 8 months were difficult but I sure learned a lot and the last 4 months have been a lot easier ie having less issues caused by myself lol

 

[brandon429]

what if I told you it was easier to grow sps in a fishbowl than in a normal square reef tank, would that sound crazy

what if it came with a big thread of more than one person doing so/still crazy?

(we have evaporation control tricks, that lends stability)

it is truly easier, cheaper, and more stable to grow sps and lps corals in a fishbowl than a common square reef tank/hidden factoid of the day. mine turns 18 yrs old in december

 

[Mmbra]

I love nano reefing. I went from a 120g to a 3g cookie jar reef. Now i am up to a 15g Nuvo Cube. This is the sweet spot for me. The 120g was constant stress and everything was so expensive due to size. Now i can actually enjoy my tank. Maintenance takes 30-60 minutes of my time per week. On the 120g i would have to schedule a whole day.

 

[Alexraptor]

I've never kept anything but Nano's. The only time I've run into trouble is when I slack off on normal routines, usually because of some extraordinary life-event.

The only tank size I've really struggled with is 5 gallons and below.

 

[X-37B]

If you know how to maintain a reef then its really simple. I would say my old 20g and curren
t 20g are the easiest tank to maintain between the 4 tanks I have.
I just purchased a IM 15g cube. Should be here in a week.

Keeping them stable is no different than a larger system.
I run a Tunze ato out of a 5g bucket. I run rox carbon. I use po4 reducing media when needed.
Good lighting and flow just like a larger system.

 

[liutao188]

I've maintained everything from 0.5 gallon to 4 gallon tanks, the painful part was actually the weekly water changes, although it was easy enough to dispense seawater for 15 minutes and change the water for 15 minutes, but it was still tougher for me to keep it up for 3 years. Looking back, I have kept quite a few corals, so I know what corals are best for me to keep or what I like best. The reason why small tanks are hard to keep is actually persistence, sticking to a fixed time for water changes, trust me, change for 3 years and you will understand what pain is. So I stopped keeping it for a while and felt a sense of relief that I didn't have to worry about how the tank would be maintained in my long absence. Now I've started keeping it again because I picked up a small anemone on the beach, and yes, for the same reason I started keeping it back then. Since I picked it up on the beach, I tried to turn my tank into a seaweed tank and keep the anemone alive and happy. The good thing about a seaweed tank is that you don't have to change the water very often as I don't intend to keep a lot of corals. A small tank and a big tank look different, but really they are both just a ladle of water compared to the ocean. So looking at the tank correctly, putting the right amount of live rock, sand and corals to keep them happy is the most important thing, giving them enough space to stretch out rather than crammed together like a vase, of course I admit the right mix would look great, but personally I am happy to keep my seawater tank like an aquarium at the moment, even to see the little bugs crawling back and forth on the rocks, because I want to keep it longer and more relaxed. I really don't need a lot of corals, just a few of my favourites, but how many people can control their own fancy?

 

[twelvefive]

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!

Space is my biggest complaint as well. Both in the tank and underneath.

 

[Catnip885]

I would say Nanos are fine especially with the aios that are out now and all the upgrades you can do and different chemical filtration. I find with my Evo as long as I am staying on top of my routines and maintaining it it really isn't too bad especially after it matured. The only part that sucks is if power goes out that baby can swing way faster and go down burning as opposed to a large tank. I find the smaller tanks more enjoyable for maintenance and playing with. I do love the large tanks too I just prefer to not be the one doing the work(thats what the husband's for! He likes the giant tanks and keeps a bunch of those lol). Ultimately I think if you enjoy the smaller sized tanks it isn't a huge hassle because you enjoy taking care of it. It really is all about enjoying something to really be successful.

 

[Hooz]

It was one of the gravity fed bottle ones. It worked fine for 4 days and on day number 5 I found the bottle half empty (after I filled it the night before) and my anemones were all closed up during the middle of the day (which never happens).

When I saw that, I knew there was a problem.

I've had that happen once. An anemone blocked the slots on my AiO's overflow. Water level dropped in the back, bottle emptied.

 

[ARGYGANG]

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?

I’d say yes and no. If you are provided with the know how of reefing from the get go it’s not hard at all, what I mean by that is for example if you are running a nano tank with softies water changes are enough and you shouldn’t dose 2 step at any point…lighting and water parameter knowledge etc. if you are learning from a newbie stand point I’d say it’s much harder than a large tank because the room for error is almost non existent. This is an opinion from a new reefer with his own personal experiences so please no attacks.

 

[j.falk]

I've had that happen once. An anemone blocked the slots on my AiO's overflow. Water level dropped in the back, bottle emptied.

The only thing I found weird that day was there was a cerith snail stuck inside of my return nozzle. I'm not sure if that had anything to do with what happened...but that is the only thing I could find out of the ordinary when looking everything over.

 

[AydenLincoln]

Simple answer! YES!