Hello, I'm new to Nano - advice sought please.

[Techno Freak]

Hello, newbie here.

I am very interested in starting a small marine tank, or nano reef if you will.

In the past I have kept lots of different fish, coldwater, tropical and a couple of beauty Tiger Oscars. I have been away from the hobby for several years and would now like to try my hand at saltwater.

I don't want to start a huge tank as we will be moving abroad in about 18 months, so a nano would be ideal.

However, most of the off the shelf nano's I have seen have been a bit too small. The 10 & 12 gallon are too small for what I want, there is a 24 gallon model which is not quite the right shape for what I want.

What I would like to know firstly is, is what is the difference between a purpose built nano tank and one you would do yourself? If I bought a regular rectangular glass aquarium - what would I need to do in order for it to sustain marine life?

I like the idea of doing it this way as I would like to construct a nice wooden hood to match the sideboard I am thinking of mounting it on.

I would be looking at a tank in the region of about 100cm x 50cm x 60 - 80cm high. I would like to make a wooden hood, but one that is suspended above the water so you can see the water surface.

Could anyone tell me if this is feasible, and what equipment I would need - or does anyone know of a link to a similar project someone on the forums may have built?

Thanks a lot - I look forward to learning more about this hobby.

 

[phenom5]

What I would like to know firstly is, is what is the difference between a purpose built nano tank and one you would do yourself?

IMO $$$. or at least the way you use the money. i've never been a fan of the all-in-ones. they've gotten better, but i'd rather buy a simple glass tank for cheap, then dump the money into lights and equipment. rather then buying an all-in-one and then still having to upgrade some of the equipment...JMO though.

f I bought a regular rectangular glass aquarium - what would I need to do in order for it to sustain marine life?

what do you need? live rock, saltwater, a heater, and some powerheads.
skimmer is optional on a nano b/c you can do regular water changes to supplement the skimmer.
lights depend on what you want to keep.
live rock i would go with about 1lb/ gal. some say more, but it really depends on the density of the LR.

HTH

 

[Techno Freak]

It sounds so simple.

So, in the all-in-one systems, what is in the box housed at the back of the tank? Just some filter media and a power head to pull the water through the media?

Is it preferable to have some sort of powered filter within the tank as well as a skimmer?

Thanks.

 

[phenom5]

So, in the all-in-one systems, what is in the box housed at the back of the tank? Just some filter media and a power head to pull the water through the media?

basically, water flows in through an overflow in one end, and get pulled through by a PH at the other end, with a camber w/ some sort of filter material in-between. a lot of people take out the filter stuff (technical term) and convert the middle camber into a refugium.

Is it preferable to have some sort of powered filter within the tank as well as a skimmer?

i would actually avoid a power filter, unless you want to convert it into a refuge. there's a link in the DIY nano thread on how to convert an AC70 into a fuge. a refugium, or refuge, or fuge is a seperate tank, or a seperated area of the tank that is used to grow macro algea. the macro pulls nutrients out of the water, improving water quality, and reducing nussiance algea. the problem with filter media & power filters in reefs is they tend to build up detritus and cause excess nutrients unless you clean/ replace the media on a regular basis.

i would go with some sort of fuge or a skimmer or both.

 

[CiroFuentes22]

look this is my 15g long wit about 3lbs of lr and some corals. i have about 30 watts of florecents and a marienland 100 filter on it. its been running for about 6 months now and no problem. Nothing has ever died on me except for my anemony cause before i didnt have enogh light. (only 15w at the time). i just advise you not to put a blue tang in the tank cuz alot of ppl will get mad at you. But i have mine in my tank cuz he is less than 1" long and will go into my 55 in a while.

 

[Techno Freak]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8267999#post8267999 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by CiroFuentes22
look this is my 15g long wit about 3lbs of lr and some corals. i have about 30 watts of florecents and a marienland 100 filter on it. its been running for about 6 months now and no problem. Nothing has ever died on me except for my anemony cause before i didnt have enogh light. (only 15w at the time). i just advise you not to put a blue tang in the tank cuz alot of ppl will get mad at you. But i have mine in my tank cuz he is less than 1" long and will go into my 55 in a while.

Looks great.....

From reading the forums, it seems that a lot of what I thought was required for a marine set-up is non-essential. I ws thinking I would need to spend thousands of punds to set up a fairly small tank.

I think I am going to go for a tank of about 24" long, x 18" wide and 15 - 18" high.

I need to price up what sort of filter I need for this - I am in the UK so model names you mention on here may not be th same.

These 'refugiums' make sense now. I thought it was somewhere you put your little fish so they didn't get eaten?????

 

[Swamp Donkey]

I have a 20 gallon I did myself, but am actually changing to a bio cube because I like the overall look. It will fit better with the furniture in my room and give the room a overall better look. I went into it knowing I'd have to upgrade a few things.

 

[CiroFuentes22]

well i have that 15g and then i have a 12g nanocube just finished cycling so not to much to see thier. but i will update by the end of the weak. gettin the good stuff on friday. YEA. but hey u can get everything you need at dr.fosters and smith. they also have some good prices to. in my opinion.

 

[Techno Freak]

OK, thanks folks.

I think I have decided on an Aquadpod 24 gallon. I just need to find a UK stockist, or a US one that will ship to the UK.

They are very expensive here, if you can even find one that is! They are in pounds what you pay in dollars. I have seen 24g AP's on US stores for $189.99 here in the UK they are £189.99, ( $360 ).

 

[Swamp Donkey]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8272506#post8272506 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Techno Freak
OK, thanks folks.

I think I have decided on an Aquadpod 24 gallon. I just need to find a UK stockist, or a US one that will ship to the UK.

They are very expensive here, if you can even find one that is! They are in pounds what you pay in dollars. I have seen 24g AP's on US stores for $189.99 here in the UK they are £189.99, ( $360 ).

Try ebay. lots of new nano tanks that people sell reasonable or try craigslist.

 

[Techno Freak]

Thanks, tried e-bay. Not much on at the moment - apart from one guy selling 12g @ £250 and 24g's @ £300!!!!

Just been to my LFS who poo poo'd nano reefs and said i should be looking at a minimum tank of 55gal. The tried to sell me a Red Sea Max Nano that are coming in stock. Nice, but £799 !!!!! - and only 34g. Work that one out.