I don't get it?

[loopy]

I seem to be reading that you have these smaller tanks, but more fish. Hmmmm. I have a 55 gallon and just about overstocked it with a tang, two damsels a clown and a blenny. So, what I am REALLY interested in is how this all works and I'm not sure what size tank you are using. I don't want to do live rock or coral at this point, but do want an additional aquarium....just not one that takes up half my living room! Very interested in learning more and hearing more about 'nano' tanks, many thanks in advance!

 

[lefty]

I'm not entirely sure what your question is here, but I'll give it a try . The reason people may be saying you "overstocked" your 55g is because the full grown size of a tang, along with the space they need, is taken into account. The fish that grow larger generally need a larger tank. In the case of a tang, they need a larger tank not only for the size they may get but also because they require a lot of swimming space. They tend to dart around quickly and would become stressed in a tank where they could not do this. Since you obviously couldn't put a 5 inch tang in a 20 gallon tank, you could, however, put five inches total of smaller fish in that tank (i.e. a clown growing to three inches in size and a goby growing to two inches in size). You always add up the inches of the size the fish may get; not the size you purchased it as.
I'm in the process of setting up my 29g, and I plan on having a couple clownfish, a goby, and a firefish. I may or may not put one other small fish in it. All of the fish I plan on adding right now are relatively small and don't require lots of space. Also, if you have live rock, you are able to add more fish because the rock acts as a biological filter to keep the levels down in your tank. A lot of times, people don't recommend putting, say, four fish in a 20g because a lot of times, people's systems can't handle the bioload. But, if you had an awesome filtration system (say, 25lbs of LR, a power filter, and a protein skimmer) it could be done with no problems. This is also assuming you maintain your tank very well.
I don't know if this answers your question or not, but I would be happy to help if you still have questions.
-lefty

 

[loopy]

Thanks lefty, I learned something...I didn't know that about live rock. Very very interesting. If I ever get this thing to the right 'place'...ie water...I will have to consider some live rock. Very cool, thank you for teaching this old dog a new trick!!!!! This is so much fun, learning all this new stuff. Really interested in the Nano tanks.....not all that sure about them. How many gallons is the 'usual' nano tank?

 

[scubanoah]

A nano tank is considered anything smaller than 30 gallons. IMO the most popular would be the 12g nano cube.

 

[rbaby]

Hey Loopy, I got the nano cube and I'm very happy with it...however I got a modified version of it:
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/show...hreadid=146871
It's 128 watts and I have a whole coral-to-buy-list...my tank has been established for 6 months though I just basically moved it over to this new tank. In a couple of weeks, I will be adding 2 barnacle blennies. I think the bacteria in my tank can handle the bioload and the chaeto I will be adding should take care of some of the nitrates/nitrites. Besides, barnacle blennies don't swim really, they just hide in their barnacle so really even though 4 fishes sounds like a lot, take into account that 2 of them will barely swim lol...
I haven't had a larger tank so this is all great fun for me, the nano cube is awesome because it sits next to my monitor where I spend about 80% of my time. I highly recommend starting up a nano, I think you will enjoy reefing so much more when it's in a position where you can just sit and gaze at it.