Help Plan: College Nano Reef

[reeflover]

I am looking for help setting up a nano tank while I'm at college! I had to take down my 75 gallon back home because it was just too much work for my parents and I wasn't able to come home and take care of it. I miss the hobby so much now that I am not a part of it anymore and I'm a nursing student so I could use some relaxation. I also don't have a TON of time during the week to be doing maintenance so I'm trying to put together a set up that's relatively simple. Trying to fallow the KISS method![emoji6] here is what I have in my plan so far:

-10 gallon or less AIO tank
-inverts (shrimp, snails, ect.)
-MAYBE a small fish
-soft corals
-a few LPS
-weekly water changes
-NO skimmer
-Auto feeder if I decide on shrimp/ fish
-small power head??
-ATO

Questions:
-I would be leaving the tank at school if I went home for the weekend or over thanksgiving. Would I have to worry about anything? Given there is an auto feeder and an ATO?

- I would have to take it home over Christmas break though, any ideas on how to simplify that process? I understand I will have to take it down and remove the fish and corals. Could I just put most of the water, corals and fish/shrimp into a bucket together for the drive home and leave the sand in the tank?

- I will also be going skimmer less to cut down on noise and extra things I have to clean. Would weekly water changes be enough to keep up with the low nutrient load?

Thanks for reading!

 

[Ahruk]

I'm currently skimmerless on my 14gallon biocube. I do weekly waterchanges of ~3g or every other week ~5g (try to avoid that but sometimes life gets in the way). I've left mine for long weekends before (4-5days) with no problems with just an ato and auto-feeder.

Personally I would look at the Nuvo line, I really like how their return pumps are angled near the waters surface to agitate the water. This helps avoid the buildup of an ugly biofilm without the necessity for a powerhead which I personally found upset my coral-particularly my ricordeas. (I actually had my boyfriend install a new return pump near the surface for my biocube)

http://premiumaquatics.com/products...NeOsE-gLN08DW1nGrmTUh9uVayguP39CHsaAqpN8P8HAQ

 

[reeflover]

Thanks for the response! I'm sort of leaning towards an IM Nuvo Pico 4 gallon! That way, when I need to move it, I can put everything into a 5 gallon bucket and move it all together! My only worry is, can I upgrade the return? If so what should I go to? I'm worried the stock return isn't going to be strong enough for the entire tank. Since its such a small tank I don't want to take up space with a power head!

 

[Ahruk]

I'd try it out first and see how strong the return pump is then see if you need to upgrade. If it's not enough flow (again get the tank first and start cycling before deciding) look at the pump to see the gph and then go up by a ~100 I'd guess (I'm really not the person to ask on flow, personally I like my low flow tank). Definitely will need a fan for the tank in the summer (and maybe even winter if you live someplace with a temperate/warm climate). Also when you move I'd definitely have some extra fresh saltwater to do a water change when you get home because the move is definitely going to stir stuff up.

 

[Ahruk]

Also you may want to look at the cobalt heaters. They look to be the most reliable at keeping temperature stable (although the larger ones have a major problem of exploding....) Was looking at them and I think if I was doing a pico and I didn't see anything better I would get them.