When is a nano not a nano?

cinematek

New member
I would imagine there is a grey area, but in general, is there a specific tank size that no longer qualifies as nano?

Or is it more about the items in the tank than the tank size?
 
My belief is a tank that cannot house free-swimming fish such as tangs.

However most would say anything >40-50 gallons.
 
when your wife has a fit about the size of the tank... it's not a nano anymore.

also when your bank acoount is empty...
 
my bank account is always empty

i say when the average weekly/normal waterchange is more than 10 gallons

when you have to double up on $200+ skimmers

when you have to contact an architect or engineer about the load capasity of the floor

when it takes more than one person to lift and carry the talk from the car... truck...big rig

when the lfs doesnt stock enough sand in stock to cover a SSB

when you can nolonger reach the back of the tank

when you have lost something in the tank... and that something was a foot long

the door to your place is too small to move the tank inside

people can go snorkling it in
 
Because of so many wining it is acceptable in this forum to refer to a 29gal as a nano, however the phrase was coined by Julian Sprung more than a decade ago.
I follow his guidelines.

The guidelines are as follows:

Greater than 1 gallon up to 20 gallons = Nano
Half of a gallon to 1 gallon = Mini
Anything under a half gallon = Micro

A true Nano Hobbyist not only loves the livestock but the challenges associated with keeping a stable system when parameters can vary so quickly; tanks in the 40+ range are far less problematic and their owners wouldn't even be considered pseudo-nanoist.

I hope that helps,
Ed
 
Like I said the person that coined the phrase explained it to me as I have passed to you; the original stands in my book.

Everyone else is a wannabe...
 
Bottom line is, you will get different answers from different people. So it is all opinion really.

One thing they all have in common is that they are all tanks, so they all get the same care and attention. And each tank can look just as good as one size bigger than it or smaller than it.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8134932#post8134932 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cinematek
I like these answers. Well played, all.

But... who is Julian Sprung?

Julian Sprung is a well respected aquarist that has written a lot of books and articles.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8133719#post8133719 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by EdKruzel
Because of so many wining it is acceptable in this forum to refer to a 29gal as a nano, however the phrase was coined by Julian Sprung more than a decade ago.
I follow his guidelines.

The guidelines are as follows:

Greater than 1 gallon up to 20 gallons = Nano
Half of a gallon to 1 gallon = Mini
Anything under a half gallon = Micro

I hope that helps,
Ed

Bad science on those guidelines I think. Confusing since in the SI

Mili = 10^-3
Micro = 10^-6
Nano = 10^-9
Pico = 10^-12

Micro>Nano>Pico

For my $.02, metric is confusing enough to us in US w/o using these qualitive terms. But then english is my second language anyway.
 
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