hats off to all those who keep a nano tank!

[bergzy]

whooowhee!

though my first reef tank was a 10g nano 15 years ago, it has been a while since i have kept one.

i have been having a heck of a time keeping my 29g up to snuff like my 180g. my main problem is algae, what's new? ;)

maintenance on a 180g with a large sump with all the bells and whistle is a breeze when compared to trying to keep a 29g at display quality level.

because a large tank almost takes cares take of itself, i tend to forget the amount of work it takes to keep a nano up to snuff.

things like evaporation have a pretty minimal impact on a large tank. 3 gallon evap from my 300g total vol system is about what i lose a day to evap.

my 29g nano loses about 1 gallon a day. that has a lot more impact to the total overall volume

so, i just wanted to give my hats off to all those who keep a nano. those mini displays of nature require a lot more skill and work than a lot of people realize!

[mightymouse]

thanx for the kind words im getting ready to setup a 2.5 gallon i cant wait!!!

[jg013c]

my 12 gallon nanocube looses about 16 ounces a day to evaporation. I think a full hood is key to any nano.

[Paladin]

I had a 125g tank, but water changes for it was an "effort "compared to that for my nano.

[filishy]

Thank you. I keep two but, I enjoy them very much. I rather take care of little tanks than small tanks... go figure. :rolleyes:

[bergzy]

Originally posted by Paladin
I had a 125g tank, but water changes for it was an "effort "compared to that for my nano.

the way my large tank is set up in a way that makes maintenance very easy.

all the equipment is located in the garage. this allows me to make as big of a mess as i want. i am not obssesive complusive enough to have a neat and tidy equipment room. i love to spill, have water accidents and all the fun stuff that comes with keeping aquariums.

to change water...it is pretty simple...

i make ro/di water into a garbage can, mix the salt in and buffer it. i then heat and aerate it. no different than anyone else making salt water.

what i do then is use a powerhead with tubing attached to it and put it in my sump to pump out the amount of water needed and then pump in the freshly made water. i dont even have to get my hands wet!

to maintain my 29g...

i make the water in the garage as usual but i pump the water into a 5g water jug. i then have to drag it into where the 29g is. i then pump water out into a bucket because it is no where near a drain. next, i have to haul the 5g bucket into the bathroom and dump it down the toilet. next is pumping the water back into the 29g. not too bad but it is a lot more work than my 180g with total volume of about 300g.

everyday, i also have to fill a one gallon water bottle with ro/di to put into the 29g to make up the evap.

i am not complaing at all. i am just explaining why the 29g is more work than the big tank.

i think what makes a nano harder to keep than a large tank is the large parameter fluctuations from small changes such as evap.

whoo! i am just tired writing about it! :)

[phenom5]

thanks for the salute to the little guys of the reefing world bergzy.:D

since i've got you hear, let me ask you this. i've got a larger tank in the early planning stages. tank is going to be SPS dominated, prolly BB...whatever...i'm looking for tips on making the maintance as little as possible. any suggestions/ tips? i figure i'll do something similiar to sort of automate the water change process, looking into auto topoff/ dosers...anything else you can suggest?

[Paladin]

Hey bergzy, the way you did the water changes for your 29 is how I did for my 125. I used a 5 gallon bucket to siphon out old water from the tank, which was in my kitchen, and then I had to haul it to the bathroom to dump down the toilet. After several of these trips, I then siphoned good water from the garage into the bucket and haul that to the kitchen several times. I actually thought of pumping the water from the garage container straight to the tank, like you do with the 180, but the kitchen was too far to do it.
Anyways, that's all history...now I just make a 2 gallon batch once a week in my garage, which I take to work for my 12g on my desk. Despite my co-workers thinking it's too much work maintaining the tank, I think it's a breeze compared to what I had to do with the 125.

[bergzy]

phenom,

planning the set up is really important and probbaly the most important in setting up a large tank.

probably most of the work comes from setting the whole thing up to make it less work later. sorta like life isnt it? ;)

what i did first was plan where i wanted the display. then i looked where it was feasible and practicle to have the equipment in a remote location. i didnt want the equipment under the stand because this crease a lot of stooping, spills and cussing. plus, it always created a nightmare for planning and putting equipment in to fit. chiller, ca reactor, kalk reactor, light ballasts, sump, skimmer and whatever else a reefer can think of. i chose a remote location in the garage because it is easily accesible and living here in southern california, it doesnt get cold in the winter but does get hot in the summer.

plus, the garage allows me to make as a big of a mess as i want to. i do not have to worry at all about how things 'look' in the equipment room. it doesnt mean it is messy but it also means that i dont have to eat off the floor. i spill water on the floor, throw algae pluckings on there, glue frags on there, spill kalk powder on it, drip big mac sauce on there...whatever. no cares or worries. the remote equip room has simplified maintenance tenfold.

the garage had a the biggest plus: a sink. i plumbed a water line from my under the sink ro filter that ran to my frig into the garage. i then attached a di cartridge. tadah! rodi water into the garage!

next, i remodeled the area that i wanted the tank. i removed two closets and made another one into the garage. i then had the floors redone in marble or whatever that is more resistant to spills that doesnt require immediate attention to wipe up. i would not recommend placing a large tank on carpet or hardwood for the long run. when i moved my 125g off my carpet, there was a lot of black mold underneath it. thank goodness steam cleaning got rid of it. there was a thread on real hardwood (and hardwood laminates) saying that quite a few people experienced quite a bit of damage from constant drips and spills.

here is a pic of my equip room
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/1/33280New_Reef__146__ee.JPG

on the left is my sump, which the skimmer sits on top of. beside the sink is my remote fuge. it looks complicated but it really isnt.

top off:

though there are not a whole lot of stories of tanks getting wiped out by there constantly running auto top off that is hardlined to the house water system, they are out there and do exist. a local reefer here just lost his entire collection of 500+ rare sps' because of this. he 'was' as active and respected guy who fragged a lot of stuff...now, it is all gone.

my top off consists of a 5g jug with kalk in there. i shake it up a little every night and then fill it with rodi water to the full level. next i have rigid tubing set to pull out 3 gallon. i attach an airline to it and the water is pumped out via an $12 aqualifter pump attached to a timer that comes on during the non-photo period of the tank. i thought of making a float switch to automatically pump water in but my water level fluctuates too much because i take a lot of rock in and out for various reasons.

a big water container like a food safe garbage can or water holder. it allows me to mix large quantities of water and balance it like i am supposed to.

there are many ways of setting your water changer if you have the room. like, setting up two garbage cans side by side. pump dirty tank water into one garbage can to get the amount pumped out and then in the second one full of clean freash sw, you can pump in the same amount taken out.

etc, etc...

if you go to the large tank forum, the equipment forum, the sps forum and you can get a lot of questions asked which is imossible in one general reply.

i am more than happy to lend a helping hand!

have fun...after all, thats why we do it, right! :)

[phenom5]

thanks for the advice bergzy. i will no doubt be picking the collective brain of R/C during the build of my new tank.

right now, i am in the early planning stages...really early planning stages. the tank is going to be a graduation present from my wife...and from myself as well, so the biggest question mark is if we're going to be able to stay where we're at or have to relocate for a new job. we both would rather not have to relocate, but i'd also like to get some benefit from the degree i've been busting my butt to get.

if i'm going to build the tank in our current house the remote sump/ fuge/ equipment idea becomes a little more challenging. we have no garage, not yet anyway, we'd like to convert the carport but we'll see.

the biggest thing i can see to help keep the work down is automating the water change process, as this is the largest time requirement as far as regularly scheduled maintence.

anyway, thanks for the words of wisdom, i'll keep you and everybody else here informed of my progress, design, plan, problems and solutions.:D