Are nano tanks beneficial to the hobby?
- Thread starter laddy
- Start date
jacksdad
Member
For myself it's more of a time issue. I would love nothing more than to have a 100+ reef, but I just don't have the time to maintain something that big. As of now I just have a NC24 and I have just enough time do the necessary maintenance to that.
I know there are alot of people start with a nano thinking it's a cheaper way to begin, but it's really not that much cheaper. I have a little over $1400.00 into my tank right now at 5 months.
One of the benefits, I think, to nano tanks is the diversity. Meaning you can have several tanks with a different variety of livestock. One SPS tank, one softie tank, etc.
Overall I think nanos help the hobby because more often then not it is a entry point for people who eventually upgrade to a bigger tank.
I hope more people post their thoughts. It's avery good question Laddy.
Bob
I know there are alot of people start with a nano thinking it's a cheaper way to begin, but it's really not that much cheaper. I have a little over $1400.00 into my tank right now at 5 months.
One of the benefits, I think, to nano tanks is the diversity. Meaning you can have several tanks with a different variety of livestock. One SPS tank, one softie tank, etc.
Overall I think nanos help the hobby because more often then not it is a entry point for people who eventually upgrade to a bigger tank.
I hope more people post their thoughts. It's avery good question Laddy.
Bob
T
tuningvis
Guest
is this a real topic??? 
in my opinon anyone who takes this hobby seriously and provides an enviroment for reef animals to grow and multiply is A-OKAY in my book. Small or large tank, this hobby is not only giving us a something we love to do but also to provide an in-home sanctuary to the dying reef animals in the ocean.
this hobby will thrive when our world reefs take a dive.
holding on to a peice of history we are. (my yoda)
this is a great topic and i hope i landed on it. i had a late night last night and my head is POUNDING
in my opinon anyone who takes this hobby seriously and provides an enviroment for reef animals to grow and multiply is A-OKAY in my book. Small or large tank, this hobby is not only giving us a something we love to do but also to provide an in-home sanctuary to the dying reef animals in the ocean.
this hobby will thrive when our world reefs take a dive.
holding on to a peice of history we are. (my yoda)
this is a great topic and i hope i landed on it. i had a late night last night and my head is POUNDING
T
tuningvis
Guest
Originally Posted by kaotik
huh??? :notsure:
Is what beneficial??? Beneficial to what??
Are nano tanks beneficial to the hobby??
laddy
Active Member
Hey thanks for the feedback. I appreciate your opinions. I hope that if people can't post a feedback, they'll at least voice their opinion in the poll. You know, I don't really know how I'll vote with this topic, to be honest with you. I'm not going to be a hypocrite, I have two small tanks going at the moment, so you'd think my choice would be easy, but it's not.
I believe small tanks, if maintained properly, could be extremely beneficial and further the knowledge of some species; by allowing more concentrated attention. My fear however is that these tanks, in the short run, will only further create demand for already hard to find/hard to propogate corals. Corals which will be added to too small a tank, too young a tank, and too forgotten a tank, and will die. You see it all the time on the boards: I've started my tank with borrowed salt water from my cousin's, friend's, brothers', next door neighbor's 40 gallon tank, so I don't need to cycle it--I'm buying an acropora tomorrow. What color should I get? When a generic "how to start a saltwater tank" on google will provide you with all the information you need. But I guess everyone has to start somewhere, and I hope they stick with the hobby and become lifetime supporters......a life time of propagation and breeding. But I hope they learn as quickly as they spend money. Maybe one day we won't have to pay for common discosoma which are priced to send the owners daughter to Harvard.
Can nanos provide the same reef saving break throughs that larger systems can provide?
and more importantly
Can we, as nano keepers, contribute and impact this hobby in a positive way with such small tanks?
I hope so. I'd like to say that nano keepers, on average, are more dedicated to their hobby than those with big systems which don't need to be maintained as faithfully as small tanks do. Which is why every LFS owner I talk with says eventually I'll get tired of the regular maintenance schedule, and either move to a larger system or exit the hobby all together.......and if that happens how can I honestly say to myself that I've improved upon this hobby? Shouldn't we gauge the success of our nanos, not by what we keep, or the density of fish, but rather on the age of our systems? What is the average age of the nanos on this board? Six months? A year? I hope to celebrate the tenth anniversary of my smaller tanks, not just six months or a year. If the average age of some plate coral on some Indo-Pacific reef is 7yrs, but there are several specimens in a 180g tank in Illinois which are 12yrs old, can we at least match those numbers in a 10g? These are the types of questions I'd like to attempt to answer, because as jacksdad stated, a lot of people use smaller tanks as "gateways" and any help in sparking the interest in this hobby should be pusued (by the way jacksdad, great initiative regarding the overflow regulator for the nano cube). That's it for me, for today. Have a good night--I think I'll do a water change when I get home :joy:
I believe small tanks, if maintained properly, could be extremely beneficial and further the knowledge of some species; by allowing more concentrated attention. My fear however is that these tanks, in the short run, will only further create demand for already hard to find/hard to propogate corals. Corals which will be added to too small a tank, too young a tank, and too forgotten a tank, and will die. You see it all the time on the boards: I've started my tank with borrowed salt water from my cousin's, friend's, brothers', next door neighbor's 40 gallon tank, so I don't need to cycle it--I'm buying an acropora tomorrow. What color should I get? When a generic "how to start a saltwater tank" on google will provide you with all the information you need. But I guess everyone has to start somewhere, and I hope they stick with the hobby and become lifetime supporters......a life time of propagation and breeding. But I hope they learn as quickly as they spend money. Maybe one day we won't have to pay for common discosoma which are priced to send the owners daughter to Harvard.
Can nanos provide the same reef saving break throughs that larger systems can provide?
and more importantly
Can we, as nano keepers, contribute and impact this hobby in a positive way with such small tanks?
I hope so. I'd like to say that nano keepers, on average, are more dedicated to their hobby than those with big systems which don't need to be maintained as faithfully as small tanks do. Which is why every LFS owner I talk with says eventually I'll get tired of the regular maintenance schedule, and either move to a larger system or exit the hobby all together.......and if that happens how can I honestly say to myself that I've improved upon this hobby? Shouldn't we gauge the success of our nanos, not by what we keep, or the density of fish, but rather on the age of our systems? What is the average age of the nanos on this board? Six months? A year? I hope to celebrate the tenth anniversary of my smaller tanks, not just six months or a year. If the average age of some plate coral on some Indo-Pacific reef is 7yrs, but there are several specimens in a 180g tank in Illinois which are 12yrs old, can we at least match those numbers in a 10g? These are the types of questions I'd like to attempt to answer, because as jacksdad stated, a lot of people use smaller tanks as "gateways" and any help in sparking the interest in this hobby should be pusued (by the way jacksdad, great initiative regarding the overflow regulator for the nano cube). That's it for me, for today. Have a good night--I think I'll do a water change when I get home :joy:
reeffeer
Member
i think this is one we can sink our teeth into. laddy you covered it well!
id like to see the day where we set impulse aside.. big tank or small tank.. we must ask ourselves a question, are we impulsive shopacholics or people willing to provide husbandry to what we buy? yes i remember the day when i wanted to buy everything i saw at the lfs but the greater part of me stopped! i read my first three books on the hobby before i went out a attempted a fish only setup! after a year of fishonly!(and i encourage this step) not beacuse of anything other than whether i was going to be a good "husband" to these fish... i considered my first reef. not based on what i liked but based on what i could handle. everybody loves clams and stonies but i had yet to learn the basics through experience and not books. then i could qualify myself to take on larger and greater responsiblities.
in short one must qualify oneself before we deem ouselves beneficial to any hobby.
ultimately nano or mega reef its the person in charge that deems themselves as a qualified asset to this hobby of reefkeeping.
hope we all take our time!
id like to see the day where we set impulse aside.. big tank or small tank.. we must ask ourselves a question, are we impulsive shopacholics or people willing to provide husbandry to what we buy? yes i remember the day when i wanted to buy everything i saw at the lfs but the greater part of me stopped! i read my first three books on the hobby before i went out a attempted a fish only setup! after a year of fishonly!(and i encourage this step) not beacuse of anything other than whether i was going to be a good "husband" to these fish... i considered my first reef. not based on what i liked but based on what i could handle. everybody loves clams and stonies but i had yet to learn the basics through experience and not books. then i could qualify myself to take on larger and greater responsiblities.
in short one must qualify oneself before we deem ouselves beneficial to any hobby.
ultimately nano or mega reef its the person in charge that deems themselves as a qualified asset to this hobby of reefkeeping.
hope we all take our time!
S
skysmom
Guest
I believe they are very benificial. Even though they may seem harder with having to test all the time and such, but they let you know that you cannot be as lax with them as you can freshwater. If you are not able to keep up with the upkeep of the little one, you may not like having the larger one. Plus it gives you an idea of the money you will possibly spend. I know now since I have our little nano, I LOVE it and cannot wait to save up the money to start a larger system. :happyfish
