Saltwater

Now I know I could be opening a very controversial post here, and realise I may get kicked off this forum, but.....

What do people think about saltwater nano or pico tanks?

I recently managed to get a small fluval tank (10 litres) and wondered if I could have a small coral tank, no fish.
I can do 50% water changes every week, and this would keep water conditions good.
I really fancy the idea of doing this, and think it would be a nice small project.

There are some sites dedicated to this type of saltwater tank, but what do people think who are not supporting such sites think about it?
Should I do it or not?
If I do, what are the dangers to look out for? What are the good points?

No turning back now, here goes the submit button.....

hi jonlate , a interesting topic, I was thinking of doing exactly the same thing a short while back using the larger fluval edge 21 litre I think . I had a discussion with one of our sponcers who didn't think it a good idea ,firstly while the edge tanks are quirkie their design makes them hard to keep clean and secondly the tank is just to small to maintain a stable marine environment in . I set up a fresh water shrimp tank instead , which in now on my desk doing well and I find it fascinating watching them going about their lives . now this is only my opinion and I have zero marine experience ,maybe an experienced marine keeper could do it .

That's what I thought until I came across this website dedicated to nano tanks.
And it's why I was looking at only doing a "easy coral" tank with no fish, so the bio load would be that high, and changing so much water per week would keep parameters stable-ish.
I would really love to give it a go, and post photos, but don't want to make enemies of the salties.

The tank has a heater and it would be in a room that stays at a very constant temperature.

I am sure that some of the experienced marine guys on here would be of assistance to you

It's possible
You might want to have a few inverts in there to take care of some of the cleaning for you! What I would say tho is be careful! The smaller the tank the more likely you are to have spikes of ammonia and so on! I would be of the opinion in such a small tank you'd want to be doing water changes every 2 or 3 days instead of weekly!
Another issue would be picking lighting that's not too intense but will be good enough to grow corals for you!
You will need good flow so I'd over spec your filter meaning your filter will probably hold equal or more water than your tank!

I've a 12 x 9 x 9inch tank here that that I'd love to try something similar with! But there's no rush till I am happy with my other marine and can frag my own corals to save money

Well in that case I might just go for it, do 3 times week water changes and get a better return pump.
I will just look out for a nice peice of Rock for it, with some button polyps, pulsing Xenia, anthelia, maybe a green star polyps.
But need to get the pump first, then maybe look for a few frags of the above.

Will let you know what happens when I start.

Quite a few marine fluval edges on youtube...have a look..you would need to adapt the lighting for sure but it has been done.Personally having owned a fluval edge even the freshwater options are limited.

Gavin

Even TMC do a nano-marine tank set-up that includes tank (under 20 litres), air-powered skimmer, heater, filter comparter and pump and a fairly OK LED lighting.

With care and planning, it can be done (I know that for a fact and not just a guess) but don't expect an batfish to fit nicely !!

Maybe this could have been a topic in the marine section of the forum.

ian

Maybe that would be better, and I just put its under nano tanks as that whatever it was is.
If JohnH thinks it ok to move it please do!

everything is possile, I'm not in to ref aquariums but I know that there are nano sets avaliable on the market, like that one:

www.aquael.com.pl/en/products/akwarystyk...we-szafki/6-nanoreef

If your looking for some small frags of pom pom zenia and green star polyps I could help you out if you are ever in Galway.

I have quite a good bit growing of the zenia in one tank and a large growth of green star in my other, well they both have overgrown lol.

That would be so kind, thanks very much. I will definitely contact you when I am up and running and mt cycle has taken place.

Without starting another post, can I use media out of my freshwater tank to start the cycle or are they different bacteria?

From looking online, its kinda hit and miss. Get a small piece of live rock and put it in with your other rock and it will seed the tank, but it will seed itself if left.

I personally wouldn't use the filter media you currently have in case you have ever used any medication.

I could give you a little bit of live rock from my tank if you needed something to seed, but ive got pests lol but i am sorting them out hehe, bobbit worm is not co-operating lol.

Im going to be running a softie tank anyways once i get my new tank up and running so i should ahve frags all the time of star polyps and zenia so just let me know, i currently have tons of the stuff lol and they are not even dedicated softie tanks yet hehe.

If you in galway anytime soon have a look at the nano tank beside SH's till, its about the size your thinking of doing. and its been running for about 6 months now without crashing.

I did see that little one in SH Galway and that is about the size I have. As they were showing it to me they dropped all the business cards into it!!
I think I don't need bobbit in my small tank, so I hope they don't travel on frags, that I will definitely come down and beg some off you.
Hope to see you soon, thanks for the advice so far.