I decided that I don’t have enough tanks. But there was no way I was going to sneak in a 6 footer without anyone noticing. So with the house full of junk already, a nano seemed appealing. A score on an Aqueon Evolve 8 sealed the deal. Compiling the other stuff took some time though. Here is what came together so far…
Tank I’m starting with
The return (filter) pump seemed too small since it will double as a circulation pump for the display. So I removed the stock one and installed this little guy. Slight modification was necessary to relocate the pump.
Heater space will be at a premium, so I went with the thinnest adjustable (but reliable) one I could find.
This will have fish and corals so water needs to be clean and aerated. Finding a skimmer to fit this was a PITA!! I was disappointed when it arrived and the web description said needle wheel impeller, IT IS NOT! No big deal though. I just like to complain.
Lighting had to be moderately intense, hope to keep a few stonies. LED seemed the way to go. Man you would think a light this small wouldn’t cost much. :: Matt recommended this brand, its been keeping sps alive in his office. Looks bright so far…
A Biocube 14 stand was purchased to put it near the bed. Some assembly required.
Fill with live sand and a couple pieces of rock that was curing over the last month.
Then I filled it up with freshly made saltwater and live bacteria. It ran a couple days with an almost imperceptible cycle and I dropped in 3 hermits to pick at the rocks. The setup is silent. I still want to play with the aquascape so the final pic will come later. I hope to let everyone see the progress, good or bad. Enjoy! ::
It has a pretty good cover on it which really helps with cutting down on the evaporation. My first salt tank was 10 gallons with no top. It was so unstable and I was really frustrated. Bigger tanks are way easier. Time will tell if this will do well or just be an expensive failure. I have faith though, as long as livestock is limited. I’m thinking a Yasha hase goby and maybe a a platinum clownfish.
I haven’t decided if I want to make it a pair of platinums or not. A pistol shrimp would be cool too. I am a little concerned of overloading it since it has such a small volume of water. If anyone has experience in keeping a tiny tank similar to this wants to weigh in on livestock capacity feel free, I would appreciate it.
I have a mr. aqua 12" cube thats been running for almost a year and the capacity is around 6 gallons. I had a snowflake clown and royal gramma for a few months and struggled maintaining control of my nutrients. I recently removed the snowflake in the hopes of controlling this. That being said, I have no skimmer on it which may help you with yours. It’s definitely a fun challenge keeping a reef that small, I find myself doing more maintenance on the nano than on my larger 40 breeder. HTH
[quote=“ericdaman, post:7, topic:6837”]
I have a mr. aqua 12" cube thats been running for almost a year and the capacity is around 6 gallons. I had a snowflake clown and royal gramma for a few months and struggled maintaining control of my nutrients. I recently removed the snowflake in the hopes of controlling this. That being said, I have no skimmer on it which may help you with yours. It’s definitely a fun challenge keeping a reef that small, I find myself doing more maintenance on the nano than on my larger 40 breeder. HTH[/quote]
Only personnel experience and a few related articles, but, I find it easier to maintain smaller dimension/nano cubes running bare bottom. Depending on what you have it setting on (or painting the bottom) it can be appealing to the eye. Easier to maintain because you can target siphon your dead spots and make it easier to pull out as much waste as possible.
Definitely agree Casey. I went barebottom on the cube 2 months ago and have not looked back. I would recommend that to anyone running a nano tank. It makes cleanup a lot easier thus increasing nutrient control.
: Matt recommended this brand, its been keeping sps alive in his office. Looks bright so far…
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