9 Gallon Nano - In Wall / Staircase - 2 Sides Visible - Modualar LED

[Ross]

Originally Posted by HaZRaTTy

Thinking about setting up a small nano as well, just wondering without any type of HOB, or Sump. How much maintenance do you find yourself doing on a weekly basis.

I find myself doing less maintence than one really should.

Ive been pretty lax lately. I'm lucky to get a water change in every 2 weeks. Typically they are about 3 gallons in volume.
Other than scraping the glass not much else that I do.
No dosing or testing.

I think the only saving grace is the fact that there is so much rock in such a small space that it keeps some form of ballance.


The biggest annoyance with this tank is the clearance between the rock and glass. It doesn't give much flexability to do anything at the bottom of the tank.
Vacuuming detritus and rock crud off the bottom are a real pain.
As such, it builds up under rocks and encourages algae growth.

I feel the only saving grace is the fact that there is so much rock in such a small space that it keeps some form of ballance.

Some people have asked about top up water.
There is a glass cover that I have covering most of the top.
One end has gutter mesh covering it and the other side slides up close to flush with the front of the tank.
Surprizingly the evaporation is very minimal, despite the fact that our house has been sitting at 26° for the last few weeks.
I add about a liter a week.

The LEDs put out such a small amount of heat that they dont cause evaporation like the 6 9W compact florescents i had running previously did.

I tend to keep water change salinity at 1.024. With evaporation, it swings upwards of 1.026 and back down as I top up a cup at a time.

My Yellow Clown Goby has caused more damages to the Pink Pocci in there than the salinity.


I've been placing new zoas and a few lps corals a bit lately and will get pictures of the tank up this weekend.