What do you need for a nano?

[BC_Grl]

I know what I need for the 90g and lighting was easy with the 2 Radiums, so I didn't have to be limited of livestock... I am thinking of getting either a 20 or 30 g tank.

What kind of lighting do you use? Do I have to get Power Compacts? I will keep my Frogspawn, Kenya tree (and hopefully my brain can go in there, but have to check out its lighting needs) in there.
What do you use for filtration? Obviously a sump is out of question... But can I use an Aquaclear for S/W?

Please don't laugh at me. I am finding it hard to small-scale things once you've been used to a larger scale (well, not as large of Jon's new tank ). I would imagine I could keep a blenny and maybe a couple of small fish?

[Stirfry]

hey keeping a small tank is easy u can use vho lighting or tubes or somthin like that and its really easy get a 15 gal sump for a 30 gal tank use 2 or 3 pwr heads and go frome there and u can have alot of fih in there. Why dont u put some clowns in with an anonomy or somthin like that. Dont listen to me find out what u like and double check on what i say to make sure its right iv been volonteering at a pet store for a couple of weeks i've seen a hole bunch of ppl with reef tanks that r under 30 and i know a place that has a 2.5 gal reef tank with some polups and mushrooms and some culerpa and it is doin great!! let me know how it goes

Stirfry

[Bob I]

I concur with the previous poster in that it is not at all difficult to run smaller tanks. I have a 20 running successfully. My tank is a 20 high. The lighting is 2x32W CSL Smartlamps+2x13W Brightlights from ahsupply.com in a DYI hood. I use a DSB composed mainly of #7 Glass Beads. There is a Hagen 301 powerhead and a 320 maxijet. The 301 runs at reduced speed. And yes an Aquaclear 200. In the AC I like to run Chemipure. At this time I have soft corals and polyps, and some Montipora digitata. The livestock consists of a Royal Grama, Six Line Wrasse, and a Yellowtail Damsel. If you want you can have a look at my site for pictures.

[CHEAPREEF]

I agree as well, small tanks are very easy to keep. I use 2 overdriven tubes and an aquaclear500 on my 7gal. The aquaclear in my mind is one of the best things you can hang on your small tank. Gives you more water volume (don't laugh it's another gallon ) and a place to put your heater and more rock ect.. And it also takes care of your water movement.

Clinton

[Beverly]

Originally Posted by BC_Grl

I know what I need for the 90g and lighting was easy with the 2 Radiums, so I didn't have to be limited of livestock... I am thinking of getting either a 20 or 30 g tank.

What do you use for filtration? But can I use an Aquaclear for S/W?

AquaClears are great on small reefs. We had an AC 300 on a 33 gal we had awhile back. Also have AC Minis on our 7 gal and 2.5 gal. Media chambers are filled with foams which get thoroughly cleaned in outgoing changewater once a week. Lots of crud comes out of the foams, so weekly maintenance on our nanos is a must. Heck, weekly maintenance on all our reefs is a must.

Prior to moving into our new condo, we had a 180 with softies, lps and sps coral under halide and actinic lighting. Our new place couldn't hold the 180 so we found a new home for the tank and stock :-(

But I couldn't stay away from reefkeeping, so we set up the 7 gal bowfront. It's now seven months old and doing great with the AC Mini.

Then came the 2.5 gal just for the sheer challenge of keeping a teeny tiny nano. The rock's not yet cured and the tank's been experiencing a grey mold on the sandbed over the past week or so. Drat that damn stuff. Have plenty of water movement in that tank, so that's not the problem. Did an 80% water change the other day, but the stuff's still there. Lightly stirring up the sandbed didn't help, nor did turkey basting it. So I sucked out as much of the mold as I could this morning with a 50% w/c. Removing the top layer of some of the sandbed seemed to be my last line of defense against this stuff and I hope I don't have to do that again :-( Hope these tactics help keep the mold at bay.

Good luck with your 30 gal. Going even smaller might even be better, though :-)

[BC_Grl]

Thank you so much for your help! And not laughing at my question! I will be in Vancouver this weekend and will hopefully check out a nano reef to find out what I can do. Who knows, I may just have a fowlr (though I love corals!) tank instead.

Again, thanks.

[BCOrchidGuy]

As per our discussions, I think you could do nicely with a 20 gallon tank, I'm sure some people could find it in their hearts as well to maybe donate a frag or two to you when you have it all set up.... I myself will offer up one of my Xenia frags Canadian man sold me, they are doing well and I may be able to bring myself to sacrifice one of those montipora digitata frags.
PC lighting on a 20 can do wonders, also overdriving some NO with a work horse.... Someone here did that with a 7 bow front and his tank is doing amazing.

[deacon hemp]

Originally Posted by rcipema

I use a DSB composed mainly of #7 Glass Beads.

Your seriously using a glass bead dsb? Thats crazy man,i've never heard of that before!

and to b.c girl i'd go with a 20 long with a csl 2 x 65!

[Bob I]

Originally Posted by deacon hemp

Your seriously using a glass bead dsb? Thats crazy man,i've never heard of that before!

and to b.c girl i'd go with a 20 long with a csl 2 x 65!

I have since given up on the beads. The problem was that they grew a lot of a brown algae. Although I grew a conch from one inch to four inches very quickly on that stuff, I found it unsightly.