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Beginning Your Nano Tank

Okay, now that we've gone over the pros and cons of keeping a nano, we're ready to dive into the how of nano keeping. The secret to being a successful reef keeper is reading all you can about the subject and making your own educated conclusions. The Internet and Google are perhaps the best tools for reef keeping, as new technologies and schools of thought are discovered and shared all over the world at an incredibly rapid pace. A good book will also help you, but it's certainly not needed if you have regular Internet access. And I've yet to read a good publication on setting up and caring for nano reefs.

We'll start with the basics: your tank, equipment, and substrate.

Your nano can be as small as 1 gallon or as large as 40. Anything larger than a ten gallon is best placed on a stand designed to hold the tank's weight. Often small tanks come as part of a kit which includes the stand.

We'll be describing a walkthrough for a ten gallon, which is a relatively small but respectable size. Don't worry if your nano is larger or smaller, the same principles still apply unless otherwise noted.

Next you'll need a heater, rated approximately 50-100 watts for our ten gallon (if you're starting a twenty, try to find a 150-200 watt heater, a 50 watt for a five gallon, etc. -- also, for any system below 3 gallons, the powerhead will generally keep the tank in acceptable temperature ranges). The best heaters are Ebo-Jagers, but I've also had good experiences with Marineland's Visitherm heaters. These heaters are submersible, meaning they are placed entirely under water.

Water movement is crucial and usually the stronger the better. For our ten gallon we will be using two powerheads, placed at opposite ends of the tank and blowing to a central point. Any powerhead rated 70-150 gallons per hour is good. Try to find a 120 of 150 gph powerhead for one end of the tank and 120 or something slightly less powerful for the other.

You can also use a hang-on-the-back power filter for additional current. These are good because they offer a venue to run carbon, which pulls chemicals out of the water. I run a Penguin mini with a biowheel on my ten gallon along with two powerheads.

Note: you do not want to use any filter cartridge. For saltwater, these are nitrate factories.

Strong currents keep live rock free of detritus and eliminate dead spots, which are breeding grounds for slime algae, the dreaded cyanobacteria.

Now for substrate, or what will cover the bottom of the tank. Bare bottom tanks have their benefits but they are unsightly and a lot of good dentrivores (tiny scavengers) live in the sand at the bottom of your tank.

Here are 3 options for substrate:

1. Aragonite sand
2. Crushed coral
3. Play sand

Aragonite is the most expensive of the three, used by the majority of marine hobbyists. It is often a fine sand which will help keep your tank buffered at the correct pH, which is important for keeping a successful reef tank.

Crushed coral also buffers the water, but it doesn't go as high as aragonite. Crushed coral is more affordable, but the price difference really isn't that much. Crushed coral is more coarse than aragonite or other sands, resembling white gravel. I currently use crushed coral in a 7.6 pH freshwater tank.

Play sand is by far the cheapest option. You can find this at large home improvement stores. While there are aragonite based play sands, they are not always available. Most play sand is silica based, which many reefers believe cause algae outbreaks. I personally use silica based play sand and I am quite satisfied with it.

You'll also see something called live sand. This is sand that's enriched with good living bacteria. It's certainly not harmful, but it's not necessary because your live rock will make your dead sand living sand in short order.

Approximately 1 pound per gallon is good. Deep sand beds have their pros and cons, but a lot of sand takes up a lot of real estate in a small tank!

All substrate needs to be thoroughly rinsed. A paintbag or a pillowcase works well, although using a bucket and a hose will also work. Let the water run clear before adding to your tank. (Note: If you add your substrate first, be sure to clear the area where you place your live rock if you stand it vertically, to create a more secure foundation for the rock to stand on--the important thing is to make sure your rock can't fall into the glass, and you definitely do not want it leaning against the glass at all.)

Don't worry about lighting for now. If you're not planning on keeping corals or photosynthesizing invertebrates, standard fluorescent lighting will do fine. However, it's best to run an open tank to keep the water cool as well as prevent a lot of salt creep (dried salt that collects on top of your tank). Salt creep is annoying and requires routine maintenance to clean it from the edges of a hood.

Your First Trip to the LFS

Now that your tank and stand are set up, and your equipment is ready to get wet, it's time to visit the LFS (live or local fish store).

Heed this quick warning before we proceed:

Unfortunately, many LFS' are unscrupulous in selling you a lot of stuff you don't need, fish and inverts that won't live in your system, and unnecessary additives that may even harm your tank. This is why it's so important to know exactly what you need before you go into the store.

Here is a list of what you'll absolutely need to get started:

1. Salt mix. Instant Ocean is a good brand, and cheap. Do not let the LFS try to upsell you on a more expensive brand.
2. A hydrometer. Hydrometers are instruments that read the specific gravity of sea water, letting you know the water's salinity level. A more expensive instrument called a refractometer is much, much more accurate and ultimately a very wise investment.
3. A pH test kit. Be sure the test kit reads the high end of the pH spectrum, above or to 8.6.
4. Live rock. Here's the fun part. Try to shoot for a pound of live rock per gallon. Live rock comes in all shapes, sizes, and colors. We'll discuss this in detail later.

Saltwater test kits for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are also very important, especially during the first weeks and months. I highly recommend all three test kits, with ammonia being the most important. Be sure you pick up tube-and-dropper test kits that are rated for saltwater.

Do not, I repeat, do not let the LFS worker try to weigh you down with additives, supplements, or whatever gimmick of the week they've bottled up. Most of these things are overpriced junk. Marine fish stores make most of their money through additives, if that tells you anything.

Also let me further emphasize how bad LFS's can be and tell you right out that the product Cycle does nothing. I've heard LFS workers baldly lie to customers, telling them they've used it on their livestock tanks and display tanks to get them "cycled" and ready for aquatic life. I've personally seen a doomed 20 gallon nano go down in flames with Cycle being the arsonist.

A "cycling" product is not needed, anyway. Your live rock will cycle your tank in a period of 1-2 weeks.

Here's a blacklist of things to avoid that your nice LFS may try to get you to purchase:

1. Reef supplements. While corals may be in your future, right now they are a good distance away -- and often a thriving nano reef doesn't need special "reef" additives or supplements and thrives just fine on its own. Some of these reef additives include supplements for alkalinity, calcium, pH, strontium, iodide, etc. I personally don't use any additive whatsoever for my nano reef. Regardless, you're just starting out and you simply do not need any of these things.
2. Reef or marine tonics. These are "fair weather" medications that have names like "Healthy Reef drops" and "Ocean Boost." Don't listen to the LFS if they say you need these things, or if they say a) they use them in their shop tanks or b) use them in their own personal tanks at home. If they're not downright lying to you, they probably don't know what they're talking about. While it's true that a product occasionally comes along that may be helpful, most of these things are gimmicks and do very little good.
3. Fish or livestock of any kind. Often following their attempt to sell you Cycle, some LFS's will try to get you to come home with a fish on your first day. Do not do this. Don't even buy a reef hermit crab. Your tank is brand new and it takes time for the live rock to establish itself. Some stores still sell damselfish to cycle new tanks. This is absolutely not necessary and can be very detrimental to your tank... damsels are aggressive and a bad choice for nanos, unless you're doing a damsel-only tank.

There are some wonderful and honest LFS's out there, but I'm sad to say that most are not straight shooters. When you find a good LFS, stick with them and give them your business, buying salt and equipment from them as opposed to large franchise stores that often put good LFS's out of business.

Next we will discuss live rock, and yes, we will be getting wet!

Copyright 2006 by Josh Day. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted or distributed to other websites without the author's written permission.