Nano reef tank

Anyone have a nano reef tank? Have some questions for you if you do. Thanks.

 

hmmmmmmmm...off to google I go...


Never heard of that before.

 

They are pretty cool. I'm trying to decide if I want to set one up for my son's birthday coming up. I want to know if they are a ton of maintenance.

 

Pm me anything you need to know I own www.ocaquatic.com

 

Like this one...

 

Not quite a nano!

 

For some reason when I look at that picture I hear the Jaws theme song in my head.

 

I took that pic at the Golden Nugget Casino in Vegas... The tube in the middle is a waterslide!

 

My buddy did small salt tank. Be aware that the smaller the salt tank, the more unstable the water will be. He was always fussin with water settings & killin fish. IMO, salt is only worth doing if 150 gal or so......unless there's some new magic for keeping the water balanced out.

 

wow!! Nice site

 

I'm planning a reef tank, with coral and live rock. I've heard and read that a reef tank is different than a saltwater only tank, because the tank is a little ecosystem. But, yes I agree, the larger the better. Cost is larger and not so better. Plus, I can't see putting a 150 gal tank in my 5yo son's room. My son wants a pet, I think fish are the least amount of maintenance generally speaking. Check out nano-reef.com.

 

He had some live rock in his too but nothing really worked out for him. He gave up. I always just did fresh. Agree about that size tank in kid's room. Have you thought about a cheap computer with an aquarium program instead of an actual tank since it's a kids room? He won't be able to hold or pet them anyway.....I know, I know, not the same. I just know crazy things can happen with kids tho. lol.

 

As for newbie nano is the best way to start out before you decide to burn off some money into a larger reef tank. for a right set up nano can start some where between $500-$1500 for just a nano. then move on to the larger tank which can run up from $5000 for a basic reef tank to $20,000... was into reef for a while then gave up because it was burning up too much of my money

reef tank is shit load of trouble you have to go through.

1. lots of live rocks
2. make sure the water is cycle right (atleast 30days)
3. enough lighting for the corals
4. skimmer has to be x2 of work load for your size tank
5. refugium
6. too many stuff to be listing, but u get the idea

 

He wants a pet, I know, fish are not like real pets, but he likes fish. I don't really want/like dogs, my wife hates cats, hamsters/gerbils and such, stink. So fish is it. I was considering freshwater, but talked to my friend at work and said that FW fish are alot of work. He suggested a reef tank because once they are setup and established he said they kind of take care of themselves for the most part. Just have to make sure the Ammonia, Ph, salinity, etc are in the acceptable range. My friend has a 55 gal and said he hasn't cleaned it or done a whole lot of maintenance in 2 years. I'm sketptical, but read that freshwater and saltwater have very similar maintanence schedules. Am I off in my thinking?

 

The setup I'm looking at is going to be $350-400.
Biocube 14 gal $179
Live Rock $50
Live Sand $30
Coral Frags $20
Salt $20
Test kit $15
2 Clown Fish $35
1 Green Clown Goby $15
Shrimp, snails, crab $20
Misc things $20
Add a skimmer at a later time $30

From what I have read monthly maintenance cost are ~$20. That's probably about the same cost as a dog or cat.

 

Our biocube 14 package which is all inclusive down to the fish, fish food, live rock, sand, water ect. is $310. Sure you can spend $5,000 on a bio cube but what I tell all of my customers is that it’s as expensive as you make it. Excluding electricity is shouldn’t cost you more then $10 to maintain ($5-$8 for water + $1-2 fish food). Also don’t bother with the BioCube skimmer its only good at adding O2 to the tank. Currently I don’t know of any skimmer that will fit the 14 biocube that is worth buying.

 

Whoever told you it wasn't going to be much maintenance obviously doesn't take care of his tank. Water changes alone are a lot of work(need to be done about every other week). YOu have to mix the water and salt, make sure its the right salinity, make sure it the right temperature and so on. THats just the water change. There are many other water parameters to measure and supplements to add if you're going to have coral. Then there are protein skimmers to empty. And many other odds and ends.
I'm not trying to descourage you from setting up a tank, I'm in the process now of setting up a 29g nano. I'm just trying to prepare you for what you're getting into. They can be awesome tanks but easy to maintain they are not. <-Haha, sounded like yoda. ANyway, just get him a 29g standard tank, some gravel, a filter, maybe a sunken pirate ship decoration, and a big goldfish. He's 5, he'll really like it.

 

But aren't freshwater tanks just as much maintenance? I have been told if you set it up right, it can be equal work as a freshwater. I am looking for something with low maintenance. I know in the beginning SW tanks are lot of work, but as for water changes they are equal to FW tanks. If bi weekly water changes are required that is ok, that I understand is the same FW tanks. Would you compare them equal work to FW tanks?

 

no, not really. With saltwater creating the actual "saltwater" is a process. You have to get RO(reverse osmosis) water, add the salt, measure the salinity (which by the way you didn't figure in the cost of refractometer to measure the salt), then match the temperature to your tank temp.
With freshwater all you have to do is add a good de-chlorinator to tap water and match the temp as best you can. Other than that, just "vacuum" the gravel and service the filter and your good to go.
Again, if you're willing to put in the work then go for the nano reef. After thinking about it, Fancy gold fish are actually one of the messiest fish you can get. IF you really want a low maintenance tank that has a lot of color you could go for a simple 10 or so gallon tank with some guppies or neons. Guppies come in a lot of different colors, are active, and don't require a large aquarium.
I myself have a 50gal tank of African cichlids. I think they're the most colorful you can get in freshwater. The way I have mine setup people often assume its a saltwater tank.

Oh, another thing about starting out with a nano-reef tank. Most types of coral are very fragile and require lots of attention and near perfect water parameters to thrive. If this is your first endeavor into aquariums I highly suggest you start with a simple tank like guppies or something comparable, the fish are much cheaper to replace. Take it from me, you will have losses until you figure it all out.
Good luck with whatever you choose to do, and post some pics.

 

Reef tanks are beautiful but a pain in the ass to maintain. I have been there before and that's why I stick to my fish only tank. I kept these fishes alive for years.