# nano reef tank help



## BCAquaria (Apr 24, 2010)

hey guys,

I'm thinking if starting a <5gallon nano tank. Probably with soft corals, live rock and a percula clown. 

I've never kept a marine tank before. What do i need to know? Any specific chemicals?

any tips or suggestions are welcomed

Thanksssss


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

I wouldn't start with a nano tank personally.

No others suggestions though if you've got your mind set on it 

Cheers,
Chris


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## CisBackA (Sep 4, 2011)

i started with a nano with only FOWLR experince


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## Ebonbolt (Aug 12, 2011)

5g might be a bit small for a clown... In either case, you'll need crushed coral, a good hunk or two of cured live rock, lots of salt, and probably various chemicals to add calcium, etc. Oh and of course RO water; can't do salt water without RO water. Nano reefs are tough to do though. Way too easy to cause a fluctuation. PLus you won't have a UV sterilizer or skimmer on it, and you'll pretty much be relying on the live rock for filtration. I'd say with a 5g, do an invert nano reef (cleaner shrimp, peppermint shrimp, hermit crabs, etc).


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Come on over sometime and I'll set you up with salt and cured live rock. I can also talk to you about reefing and what you need to do to keep a nano healthy & beautiful. The main thing is regular water changes. With a 5g, this is very easy. You'll only have about 3 g of water after everything else is in. Change out 1g every week or two (just keep a bucket with a small heater and powerhead going and you can do the change in minutes).

Minimum fish, minimum feeding helps with nanos.


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## PaulCheung (Apr 18, 2011)

I am also interested in learning about nano reef tank. Where are you, Seahorse?


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

PM sent PC with my contact info.


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## fraggalrock (Apr 21, 2010)

Seahorse Fanatic = the God of Saltwater


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## BCAquaria (Apr 24, 2010)

Thanks for offering help Anthony!

I'll give ya a shout once I figure what size I think I want. Don't even know where I'm gonna put it yet.

Decisions decisions

THanks guys for the input......keep it coming. I know NOTHING about it.


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## BCAquaria (Apr 24, 2010)

BelieveInBlue said:


> 5g might be a bit small for a clown... In either case, you'll need crushed coral, a good hunk or two of cured live rock, lots of salt, and probably various chemicals to add calcium, etc. Oh and of course RO water; can't do salt water without RO water. Nano reefs are tough to do though. Way too easy to cause a fluctuation. PLus you won't have a UV sterilizer or skimmer on it, and you'll pretty much be relying on the live rock for filtration. I'd say with a 5g, do an invert nano reef (cleaner shrimp, peppermint shrimp, hermit crabs, etc).


Oooh I never knew about the RO water. That might put a halt to my Marine Nano.

Could you elaborate on it more pls?

THanks!


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

You can get a 5g jug of RO water from your local Superstore. One jug would be enough to get you started and with a couple gallons left over for the first two water changes. With a nano, water and water changes not a major effort. 

My big tanks on the other hand require major, multi-day operations to do a water change. Doing a 100g water change on my 165g with 90g sump. Its been a LLLLLLLOOOOOOONNNNNNNGGGGG time since either of my big tanks had a water change so I'm doing major 100g changes this week on both. 

Did a 30g water change on my 60g cube last week, probably going to do another smaller one after my big tanks are taken care of.


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## Ebonbolt (Aug 12, 2011)

In my opinion, since a nano reef is usually under 20g, and you can't really have a skimmer + sterilizer, any small fluctuation would be greatly amplified. That plus the fact that corals tend to be sensitive means that you want to control EVERYTHING you add into the tank if possible. It's possible to do nano reefs without RO water I suppose, but I've never tried it and I don't think i've heard of it done all that often. Thing with tap water is that it could contains random chemicals you can't test for, some of which can be quite toxic to inverts. RO units will remove most, if not all, of that stuff, so essentially you're left with pure H2O, which you can then adjust to your liking, and it won't harm the animals so much. Feel free to correct me someone, but I'm almost certain that RO water is required for marine tanks, especially those that contain corals and other inverts.


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## CisBackA (Sep 4, 2011)

i do my reefs without RO and they're going just fine.. little bit of algae growth but just enough to keep the snails fed but i doubt RO would change that.
i know lots of people who have done it forever without a drop of RO.


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## PaulCheung (Apr 18, 2011)

I suppose the RO in superstore is not labelled as "RO" water. Did you mean distilled water? That seems quite expensive if you are running a bigger tank.

5 g is definitely too small for me. For all the work to be put in, I want to see more fish or more actions in the tank. I have been thinking 30g. What will be difference in equipments and other stuff for a 30g tank?


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

fraggalrock said:


> Seahorse Fanatic = the God of Saltwater


Certainly an angel  But God ?? Cannot go wrong with his expertise.

I think SW is a science and an art. The beauty of SW is that you can establish an eco-system with very little maintenance.

The first time I come across a SW is 1987 in calgary while staying with my bro. He had a tank on his coffee table, may be 18"x18"x15" - guessing on size a bit but it is certainly not big. It is open top with live rock and sand - no artificial light (no light, no algae problem). It housed a coral beauty and a shrimp. For the almost two years I was there, never saw a water change. He topped up with water straight from the tap.

I now have a automated 200g system with lots of home made gadgets. At the same time, I have a 8g bio-cube with very little media with a clown in my 10 year old daughter's room to teach her responsibility. I may not even see the tank in a month - water change with water from my big tank may be once every 3 months. When I do the WC, I usually change the phosphare removal filter pad. She (or my wife) do the top off - supposedly from the water just filtered with carbon - hopefully not straight from the tap 

I successfully ran my 75g SW without a cheap resin filter cartridge for 3-5 years before I went RO with auto-top off.

The amount of maintenance is a function of how pristine you want your tank to look and your lifestyle. Dental office look? Or do you consider hair algae as part of a healthy eco-system? How much time are you willing to invest in maintaining the the tank and keeping the look you like.

Sorry about the long response. Best is to take up the offer from Anthony.


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

PaulCheung said:


> I suppose the RO in superstore is not labelled as "RO" water. Did you mean distilled water? That seems quite expensive if you are running a bigger tank.
> 
> 5 g is definitely too small for me. For all the work to be put in, I want to see more fish or more actions in the tank. I have been thinking 30g. What will be difference in equipments and other stuff for a 30g tank?


Distilled water is more expensive. RO you refill with your jug. Used to be $3 for 5g. For a 30g with 20% WC weekly, you can figure out the math  That's why I invest in a RO unit after lugging jugs for a few weeks  Price of RO units came down a lot in the last 10 years - reasonably affordable now and does not take long for pay back.

IMHO, the larger the better and easier to keep a stable environment, less frequent WC, especially if you want to keep more fish. I don't think you can ever have as many fish as in a FW without investing in some serious skimmer that costs hundreds.

For larger tank, skimmer is almost a must, after that Calcium reactor - use the same CO2 tank for your planted and the SW  I have a new calcium reactor chamber kinking around and new pump to set it up when you come to that point.


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## PaulCheung (Apr 18, 2011)

So a 30g-50g tank, the equipment list will be something like:

Protein skimmer,
CO2 tank
Calcium reactor
RO filter
powerhead

For filter:
need a sump?

For lighting:
if no coral, then T5 HO is good enough?

I just want to get educated in SW stuff before diving into the deep water.


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## BCAquaria (Apr 24, 2010)

OMG....Yeah I wouldn't go to superstore and lug one of those heavy water jugs just to do a water change.

I'd much rather just buy an RO unit. *Sigh*

Looks like this Nano reef tank idea was short lived. LOL

Thanks for the info guys and gals!


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

PaulCheung said:


> So a 30g-50g tank, the equipment list will be something like:
> 
> For filter:
> need a sump?
> ...


O forgot to mention that sump is my best things 2nd to calc reactor which keep things table. Sump will as least keep the main tank water level constant so top off less frequent. Also allow top off and skimmer and everything you can imagine to feed in and out. That's also where you plumb the auto top off. The sump can also be turned into a combo refugium 

I think T5HO are good enough for some soft coral. I do like the effect of metal halide - nothing beat that  May be high end LED - too much $ for me :lol:


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

PaulCheung said:


> So a 30g-50g tank, the equipment list will be something like:
> 
> Protein skimmer,
> CO2 tank
> ...


If its a fish only, you don't need the Calcium reactor/RO filter/CO2 tank. these are all more geared towards coral growth.

Fish are much easier when it comes to water quality and lighting. Corals like high Ca levels, clean water (min. nitrates, phosphates, etc.) and high light.

A nano with soft corals and one or two tiny fish doesn't require a lot of fancy equipment or even RO water. I have a 5-6 stage RODI system but I've been using tap for my fish only with soft coral tanks for years.


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

SeaHorse_Fanatic said:


> A nano with soft corals and one or two tiny fish doesn't require a lot of fancy equipment or even RO water. I have a 5-6 stage RODI system but I've been using tap for my fish only with soft coral tanks for years.


 Agree. I may carbon filter the tap water just in case there is a chlorine spike.


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

I try not to do any water changes after we've had a big downpour, because that's when the water might get turbid and the city may dump in extra chlorine.


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

so you dont water change for half a year?


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