who's first tank was a nano?

[The Reefer91]

i'm going to be starting a 20g nano in April, so i'm wondering what i'm getting myself into :p if i could see some pics for inspiration, it would help get my courage up.

thanks everyone :)

[BMcCoy]

Mine is actually a 2.5g. According to everyone, I started the difficult way. I knew that going in though.

Ben

[Fishfreak218]

oh! i did i did... well kinda..i set-up a 30g. cube as my first REEF tank..i had Freshwater tanks and FOWLR tanks before... about 4 months into my 30g. cube i set-up a 2.5g Pico reef.. which then about 2 weeks ago.. maybe 3 weeks ago.. i transfered everything into a 1.8g Hex...... srry..i dont have any pics... the 30g. reef had been up for about 8 months.... then i broke it down... for a few reasons....(im re-setting it up though :) ).... and now im getting a 90g. :) :P

[Aquariumist]

me too. I started with a 16 gallon cue 4 years ago, and i havent swithcd to a larger tank yet.

[The Reefer91]

yeah, mine is gonna be a FOWLR for the first year. everything in it is gonan be reef safe, just want to get my feet wet first. :)

i may try and setup a 3g rubbermaid sump that drains into the tank.

[banditfl]

My first saltwater expirence was a 6 gallon ViaAqua setup as a reef tank. This is also been the tank with the least of amount of problems. Now setup for 2y 3mos. and still growing strong.

Here is an older photo:

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y92/banditfl/6gfull.jpg

I will post an update photo soon

[The Reefer91]

cool tank :)

[bendavis]

the 29g was our first salt tank, i really wouldnt call it a reef tank until the 4th or 5th month we had it going though. we slowly added xenia, a kenya tree, polyps and such. now it is a thriving reef, complete with marble GBTA and clones. but i still dont, and probably never will, consider it a nano.

[Brian5280]

My first aquarium was a 12g nano cube DX. I didn't change anything and here it is at over a year old. I spend about 15 minutes a week cleaning it. I feed the fish and the sun coral 2 or 3 times a week and that's about it.


http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/778881-yr-4-mo.jpg

[louist]

My first is my current 34 litre (~10g) nano.

http://www.zengalleria.com/images/aquarium/CRW_5850.jpg

[The Reefer91]

i love the tank brian :) i'm considering articficial coral, but i'm not sure i should spend the money on fakes when i can wait till i get a better light. now i have a question. should i buy seperate pieces and get a PC light the next month, and let the tank cycle with room lights? or should i spend extra on a fluerescent hood?

[The Reefer91]

louist, awesome nano. god i love how they look. there is something really interesting about small tanks.

[OrangeKoi]

I'm in my second tank by 3 days. My first was 2.5. Now I keep the mighty hermit "Dinosaur" in that one.

I figure it's a good place to learn. Small tanks don't cost as much as big tanks, so if I make a mistake maybe it won't hurt so much, and maybe, just maybe I'll be able to learn faster too.http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f95/Red_Rage789/toadstoolsmall.jpg

[The Reefer91]

orange koi, what type of filtration do you use? i was thinking about getting a Hagen aquaclear 20, a 3g refugium that drains to the tank, and possibly the aquamedic minifloater skimmer.

i know it's a small skimmer(and it's airstone driven) but it's all my budget will allow, as i am 14 and this is my first tank.

[coyoteseven]

My first SW tank would be considered a nano and was back in 1971 when I saw an ad in some magazine for a pair of mated dwarf seahorses for $3.

On recommedation of a neighborhood LFS a woman ran out of her renovated garage, my mother bought me a 10g aquarium with an incandescent hood, some salt (IO if I remember right), a floating hydrometer, air pump, corner box filter and a couple of plastic plants (for hitching posts).

Of course, since I knew absolutely nothing about SW aquariums and info was even harder to find for an 11 year old kid in those dark, pre internet days... the tank only lasted about 6 months. It was over 10 years later before I got back into the hobby with FW tanks again, then SW about 3 years ago.

[deacon hemp]

My first tank was an 18 gal cube in 2001,the guy at the lfs looked at me with a crazy look on his face when i told him a 175 mh pendant was going over top of it!He said it couldnt be done,and that my tanks water would most likely boil! LOL

I told him about nano-reef.com and then he fired up a nano.

[The Reefer91]

i'd love a MH light over my 20g, but alas, you need money for things like that :p guess i'm stuck with PC

[impur]

My first tank was a 10gal

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/PB190003.jpg

That lasted about a year, then i upgraded to my current 29gal

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1090147.jpg

[ACBlinky]

You can absolutely start with a nano, many of us did. My first SW tank was a 14g reef. After four months we had a problem with the stand, and I took the opportunity to upgrade to a 30g. The 30g is about ten months old now, and I've since started a 5.5g pico and a 65g, both reefs - this hobby is addicting :)

[Bobalouy]

Heres my first tank after a year, 12g Nano cube DX
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/bobalouy/12g%20Nano%20Cube/One%20Year/ftsa.jpg

[vest0830]

my first was a 5g. i screwed that up a couple of times before I finally got it right. Then I got a 38g. now im moving BOTH into one 20g tall tank this weekend. rather than having 2 tanks moderatly full...I will have one tank thats really really full.

[hooterhead]

my first tank was a 5 gal. housed only my gold stripe maroon whom i still have today (5 years later). Who knows what he was subjected to in those first few months. and my first reef was 2 gal.

[OrangeKoi]

Hello Reefer91. I'm going on the advise of my LFS and from what I've read.

I'm really new at SW too.

I have a DIY modified ac70 refugium loaded with filtration dirt and crushed coral. I had bought some plant but it didn't do well in the cloud of daebree.(hmmm, how do you spell that)I will be replacing that soon(grape a-something). I have a new plant that will go in there after it gets bigger or I buy more.

That has also got an activated carbon filter,(I do think the whisper 40 will fit better than the one I'm currently using and I will switch soon.) and a particular kind of filter that prevents lots of things from going through including protien and any heavy minerals. Here is a picture of the package:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f95/Red_Rage789/PolyFilter.jpg

That takes care of any need for removing protein. You can cut them as you like. And it seems to work well. I will just have to run the filter without the poly pad in the future when I need to add calcium for a short period of time. Oh, and I can get two pads that fit perfectly out of the Poly Filter. I prefer to have fewer pieces of equipment, ie. lower power bills so I can buy those cool MH one of these days:rollface:

Yes, you can use those poly Filters on the nano filter too. I guess you can get about five or six out of it for those. That is what I have on my 2.5 gallon that holds Dino the hermit crab and a starthingy :rolleyes: thst someone gave to me. The hermit is a pacer and tromps all over my 5.5 gallon so I keep him in time out. I let him filter/tromp the sand in the 5.5 (after I acclimate him thoroughly of course) on occaision. He has a little live sand in the 2.5 so I add a little food for him. (two or three sinking balls a day; Minute,tiny, tiny food drops.)

I don't know how large a tank you can use the polyfilter pads before you start to need a protien skimmer. I guess if you get a very bad algea bloom that would be a sign? Am I right there people?

[The Reefer91]

ok, yeah. i'll be using a HOB skimmer of some kind(maybe coralife or CPR) and a powerfilter my friend is giving to me. plus, i'll have a drain into tank refugium that will be about 3g