Lucas Posted July 11, 2008 Report Share Posted July 11, 2008 Can anyone give me an idea of what would be needed and how expensive it would be to set up a reletively small cube nano with little more than xenia and perhaps a crab? Can it be done cheaply and how difficult would it be to maintain? I know how expensive setting up a freshwater tank is... now... hehe :-) , so this is a cost exercise at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted July 11, 2008 Report Share Posted July 11, 2008 http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/beginn ... 30220.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucas Posted July 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2008 Hmmm... Ok, thats still bigger than what I was thinking. :oops: Humor me, but would a one foot cube tank, a HOB filter, 50w heater, some sort of bright lighting and religious water changes be enough to support just pulsing xenia alone. Would parameters swing too much in such a small system for it to work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tHEcONCH Posted July 11, 2008 Report Share Posted July 11, 2008 That will work, but it will also lose its novelty value pretty quickly. I've had an 8 litre nano (20cm cube) with zoos, xenia, etc., but when all was said and done it was a lot of work for not a lot of reward. Unless you really want to do it, I'd recommend a Red Sea Max as the smallest, cheapest PRACTICAL solution - but it is by no means without limitations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucas Posted July 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2008 Just out of interest, how often were you changing water and feeding your 8 litre nano? That is so tiny! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tHEcONCH Posted July 11, 2008 Report Share Posted July 11, 2008 Daily. Like I said, the novelty soon wore off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dubbo Posted July 11, 2008 Report Share Posted July 11, 2008 Werent there some bad reviews about parts in those redsea max not working properly ? Ie: the protein skimmer and such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelifaxNZ Posted July 12, 2008 Report Share Posted July 12, 2008 I'm setting up a new Nano Tank. Approx. 27 litre. So far for the tank, 55w heater and a Rio Nano Skimmer it has cost me $199.00. Tank is curve front, 60cm (l) x 20cm (h) x 23cm (w). Will put up a new thread when I start setting it up which hopefully be soon. You can get a smaller version of this tank at Pupuke Aquariums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucas Posted July 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2008 What would the water changes and maintenance be like with a tank with skimmer like above? Could you get it down to once a week? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted July 13, 2008 Report Share Posted July 13, 2008 It really depends on what you have in the tank. I looked after a micro tank (4-5 liters from memory) for a guy for a few months, because it had no fish, shrimp etc just corals, it only needed smallish weekly water changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelifaxNZ Posted July 13, 2008 Report Share Posted July 13, 2008 You would only do a cup at a time. I will see how things go. Maybe every 2nd day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucas Posted July 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2008 Haaahaha... yeah, I bet they were suphew. 25% of 4 liters... hehe. Seriously, that sounds more like the effort I would be prepared to go to once established! I don't suppose it had a skimmer? conch suggests no less than daily water changes though??? -I confused- How much is the Rio nano skimmer alone halifaxnzdude? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilson Posted July 13, 2008 Report Share Posted July 13, 2008 i know someone who has a nano and dosnt do many water changes *they should post pics!!!* (i know they will read this ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucas Posted July 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2008 Sounds like someone I know who never ever ever did oil changes on his little nissan sentra and it still managed 360,000 Kms before blasting gunk onto the hood lining and rattling to a halt on the Auckland motorway. Bless. I own a nissan sentra now :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelifaxNZ Posted July 13, 2008 Report Share Posted July 13, 2008 Cost me $75NZ (shipped to door) from USA. So you also need a transformer which will covert 240v to 110v. Made by TAAM has had good reviews for such a small skimmer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tHEcONCH Posted July 13, 2008 Report Share Posted July 13, 2008 Werent there some bad reviews about parts in those redsea max not working properly ? Ie: the protein skimmer and such. I'm not talking about the Max (but yes, they aren't as reliable as you'd hope), I'm refering to my 20cm cube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tHEcONCH Posted July 13, 2008 Report Share Posted July 13, 2008 i know someone who has a nano and dosnt do many water changes *they should post pics!!!* (i know they will read this ) I hear it isn't looking so flash now. I wonder why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted July 13, 2008 Report Share Posted July 13, 2008 Haaahaha... yeah, I bet they were suphew. 25% of 4 liters... hehe. Seriously, that sounds more like the effort I would be prepared to go to once established! I don't suppose it had a skimmer? conch suggests no less than daily water changes though??? -I confused- How much is the Rio nano skimmer alone halifaxnzdude? No skimmer just a HOB filter (with no filter media) that gave it water movement held carbon and PO4 remover. It was a very cool little tank had a few SPS and small LPS corals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puttputt Posted July 13, 2008 Report Share Posted July 13, 2008 Sounds like someone I know who never ever ever did oil changes on his little nissan sentra and it still managed 360,000 Kms before blasting gunk onto the hood lining and rattling to a halt on the Auckland motorway. Bless. I own a nissan sentra now :-) Not quite Lucas, the sentra didn't have corals and fish, swimming in the oil, and living for years in there own sewage. If you can't be bothered doing the maintenace, dont do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tHEcONCH Posted July 13, 2008 Report Share Posted July 13, 2008 2nded. There is almost nil margin for error with nanos, and when things go bad they do so very quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myxsptlk Posted July 14, 2008 Report Share Posted July 14, 2008 3rd-ed(?) hehe, like others have said Lucas, you may be able to get away with starting out cheap but it'll all add up. I have a little tank, the same one in the link that Dixon posted, with just two clowns and a wrasse, a built in filter and no skimmer. I do weekly water changes and you'll think at first oh once a week isn't too bad. It is. It gets annoying and I've used up probably the same amount of salt (if not more) as I would have with a proper big tank. And it's not just a matter of adding salt to water, you have to check the salinity, make sure the temperature is right, stir it, blow it around with a powerhead, aerate it, bla bla bla. Hehe scaring you yet? That's just the water side of things! I'd love to have nice corals and beautiful wavy things and fish swimming for more than 2 seconds before turning around. Temperature is another issue. I have to check the temperature in the tank when I turn my heater on because the heat from the room does heat the tank up quickly, and when it's cold it cools down just as quickly. I have to make sure my fish tank is more comfortable temperature wise than I am hehe. If you want to make the tank look really nice, you'll need good lights, and that just adds to the heat. If you have a life outside of fish (I'm sure you do ) you'll want something you can sit down and admire when you get some free time. That really doesn't happen for me, the only time I get to sit down and watch my fish is feeding time, and even then in my head it's always "how's the temperature, when was the last time I did a waterchange? crap i've gotta do it again soon, should I test the water to make sure everything's ok?" It's fun when it's a hobby, it's not fun when the hobby becomes a chore. Pretty soon you'll be wanting more, it's inevitable. Heheh no use telling yourself no that'll do for me. That's what I told myself at first. And four weeks later I ended up getting a 4 ft tank. I'm not saying it can't be done or don't do it or it's a stupid idea, far from it, you'll learn a lot from it. I did it and I'm glad I did, no regrets. Just be prepared to do the work if you really want to go ahead with it, or you'll end up with a lot of headaches and heartache that'll discourage you from going further. As with all things: cheap, easy, reliable; you can only have two outta three Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucas Posted July 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2008 Cheers guys. I guess I was hoping it would be a bit easier to be honest. I hope I don't sound like a cop out or a slack ass either! My freshwater tank is growing very nicely with plants and many healthy happy fish. Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate the amount of time involved with keeping these beauties, but at least I do my homework before jumping in and setting up blind!! This forum is the only reason I started keeping fish in the first place. BTW- My sentra gets it's 6 monthly oil changes ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucas Posted July 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2008 Damn doubled up message :oops: oh well edited away now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelifaxNZ Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 Don't be too put off. Check out http://www.nano-reef.com for more beginner information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockerpeller Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 Don't be too put off. Check out http://www.nano-reef.com for more beginner information. Good site. I used that for alot of my information when setting up my nano. they also have a fish tank compatibility list somewhere that'll let you know how many of each type you can have as per the literage/gallons your tank holds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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