Mini Nano

[Sani Boyan]

Hey fellow reefers,

Just would like to share with my newly setup mini nano (approx. 13"x8"x8"). Its about 2 months old with 1 Lawnmower Blenny, 1 Doctor Shrimp, a couple of mushrooms and polyps. Hopefully it will evolve to a great mini reef. It is the first time that I set up this small, a real challenge for myself being a novice in this arena. Any great ideas/advice from you guys is greatly appreciated. What to put? What has better chance of survival? etc...

Will try my very best to update this thread.

[Admiraltian]

Looks clean enough, good job.

[Sani Boyan]

Looks clean enough, good job.

Thanks. I do a water change twice weekly plus daily top up of DI water. Is that enough for a tank this small? All water parameters are fine with Nitrate at 10ppm.

[mafacifa]

nice clean setup. r u using external sump?

[rudy17]

Thanks. I do a water change twice weekly plus daily top up of DI water. Is that enough for a tank this small? All water parameters are fine with Nitrate at 10ppm.

nice setup bro! with the low bioload i think its more than enough

[Evolutionz]

i find nitrates hard to maintain low with nano reef. nice set up anyway!

[Sani Boyan]

nice clean setup. r u using external sump?

no sump. just a hang on filter with media and coral chip and such... hopefully it stays that clean..

[Sani Boyan]

i find nitrates hard to maintain low with nano reef. nice set up anyway!

Agreed plus guarantee and warranty..

[Evolutionz]

remember to take out and wash your HOB once every 1 - 2 weeks... i once forgot to wash and my nitrate went up to 10+.. after washing it gradually dropped to 5~ and the HOB was really dirty! the biohome and other media inside was trapping alot of detritus.

[Sani Boyan]

remember to take out and wash your HOB once every 1 - 2 weeks... i once forgot to wash and my nitrate went up to 10+.. after washing it gradually dropped to 5~ and the HOB was really dirty! the biohome and other media inside was trapping alot of detritus.

Oooo... thanks for reminding me on this man... overlook on this part. Have not washed it since I set it up. Maybe that is the cause of the high nitrate at times. Will wash it on the next water change in 3 days time. Thank you again!!

[FLAME_hawk]

nice and simple tank

[azlindaza]

Nicely done..

[lazydevil]

nice deep sand bed there!

[Admiraltian]

Thanks. I do a water change twice weekly plus daily top up of DI water. Is that enough for a tank this small? All water parameters are fine with Nitrate at 10ppm.

Think it still can be better.

[reef garden]

Your nitrates do seem kind of high. Do watch out for algae, diatoms etc. Do you have a lid to reduce evaporation? Do you have any clean up crew? Are you planning on adding any fishes or invertebrates? What lights are you using? I personally recommend green star polyps and mushrooms because they are one of the easiest and one of my favourites. Possibly some shrimps later on.

[Patrick]

Besides GSP and mushrooms what other corals are easy to keep in nano tank? Buttons? Xenia?

[Evolutionz]

IMO, Zoanthids, Hammer, elegance, frogspawn and bubble corals are pretty easy coral. but probably only zoanthids can fit TS's tank well..

[Sani Boyan]

Your nitrates do seem kind of high. Do watch out for algae, diatoms etc. Do you have a lid to reduce evaporation? Do you have any clean up crew? Are you planning on adding any fishes or invertebrates? What lights are you using? I personally recommend green star polyps and mushrooms because they are one of the easiest and one of my favourites. Possibly some shrimps later on.

No lid. Don't mind the daily topup. Not much though. Currently thinking of putting hermit crab and snails to partner with an existing doctor shrimp. For lighting, am using just a simple led.

IMO, Zoanthids, Hammer, elegance, frogspawn and bubble corals are pretty easy coral. but probably only zoanthids can fit TS's tank well..

Thinking of putting hammer, torch and frogspawn. Small frags that is.

[Evolutionz]

i kept a hermit and it kept on knocking down my coral frags! very irritating..

[reef garden]

No lid. Don't mind the daily topup. Not much though. Currently thinking of putting hermit crab and snails to partner with an existing doctor shrimp. For lighting, am using just a simple led. Thinking of putting hammer, torch and frogspawn. Small frags that is.

I hate to dampen your enthusiasm, but I don't think it's advisable to have a hammer, torch, frogspawn or bubble coral in your setup, even though they are so so pretty. These corals need more space and they also have stinging tentacles that may harm your other livestock or adjacent corals. They are quite sensitive to changes in water parameters in small setups and are also prone to brown jelly disease and if it dies suddenly, it may pollute your water quickly although I know WC is easy. These are just some of the risks that you need to consider.

[Evolutionz]

I hate to dampen your enthusiasm, but I don't think it's advisable to have a hammer, torch, frogspawn or bubble coral in your setup, even though they are so so pretty. These corals need more space and they also have stinging tentacles that may harm your other livestock or adjacent corals. They are quite sensitive to changes in water parameters in small setups and are also prone to brown jelly disease and if it dies suddenly, it may pollute your water quickly although I know WC is easy. These are just some of the risks that you need to consider.

IMO i think a single or 2 small head hammer will do just fine.. during the last 2 weeks of my 34L nano, i was so busy with setting up my big tank, i didn't do much WC nor did i clean the algae off the tank. water got pretty dirty for sure.. Hammer still continue to thrive and doing great in my big tank now..

[Sani Boyan]

no sump. just a hang on filter with media and coral chip and such... hopefully it stays that clean..

Nicely done..

nice and simple tank

Thanks all. Still need a lot to learn from fellow seniors here.

[Sani Boyan]

I hate to dampen your enthusiasm, but I don't think it's advisable to have a hammer, torch, frogspawn or bubble coral in your setup, even though they are so so pretty. These corals need more space and they also have stinging tentacles that may harm your other livestock or adjacent corals. They are quite sensitive to changes in water parameters in small setups and are also prone to brown jelly disease and if it dies suddenly, it may pollute your water quickly although I know WC is easy. These are just some of the risks that you need to consider.

No worries bro. You dont dampen anything. Thanks for the valuable advice. Will take note.

[nickykoo]

nice tank...

[Sani Boyan]

Sad to say.... tank decommed a month later. Cannot tahan the looks of my boss everytime he visits me. Well, back to only just doing work at work. No avenue for personal pleasure.