Smallest size for a reef

[nah2o]

Since I will be moving in about a year, I have decided against turning my 75g FO tank into a FOWLR. I think I will just re-stock with fish. I still have the itch for a mini-reef. What would you guys suggest the smallest size I could get away with, and about how many lbs. of LR? I knew if I did a FOWLR in my 75g, it would be a pain when I got ready to move. Any comments on the mini-reef? Also what experience have you had (if any) with the Eclipse systems and SW?

 

[aggie05]

You can have a reef as small as 2.5 gallons. I am wanting to set up a 10 gallon myself. The best thing about them is that you really don't have to have any outside source of filtration if you do your weekly 10% water changes. THe eclipse sytems are really popular and so is the 7 gallon minibow. The mods might get mad at me for this but check out * edited * and you will find out all you need.

 

[overanalyzer]

I am setting up a 5 gallon nano reef as we speak. here is what I have in it so far:
2 pounds sand (1# live 1#play sand)
4 Pounds Rock (3 pounds LR 1 Pound Hawiian Island base rock)
2 Whisper In-tank filters (one with floss and one empty - will put some LR rubble in it shortly though)
13 Watt PC (10K and Act. Combo)
1 mini-heater
Customer Built Canopy (kinda crappy)
I used 3 Gallons of SW from an established tank and 2 Gallons freshly mixed water. I need to run tests tonight but early last week the amonia spike had settled but Nitrites were still high.
Do a search for my name and look for a post where I reference pics for Broncofish
The only thing I am unhappy with is the fact I am having issues getting the temp just right.
I have several bristle worms already and some hitchhiker snails and I love the look of the nano plus it is very time intesive - have to check the levels almost daily in terms of salinity, amm, trites and trates ....
Oh - I do a 2 cup water change each week - so far so good - I will let you know after I add a fish and some 'shrooms and polyps

 

[josh]

Hi,
Yes as you have seen you can keep just about any size nano. But more to your point, I think a 7 gallon AGA bow front would be nice. They are pretty much the standard when it comes to anything under 20 gallons. Nice little tanks that you can do a lot with.
HTH

 

[ophiura]

The smallest functional tank I have seen is called a picotank, and it was a dual betta hex tank. This has a divider in the middle, and one side was the refugium. I have also seen a bettavase tank. Obviously, it is highly specialized and requires a lot of attention. No doubt, however, that with smaller and smaller PCs becoming available, that people will go crazy. But I am assuming you are actually looking for practical advice
So:
I have an 8g and a 15 g. Both are nice sizes to work with. The minibow7 is a popular tank, as are many of the eclipse systems although most will need lighting retrofits. I don't do much more than a few polyps in mine because I am more interested in my brittlestars. Getting down below, hmmm, maybe the eclipse 6 really starts to get, IMO, into an even more specialized area than just nano tanks...the 2s and 3s, IMO, are getting tricky.
The general problem with the eclipse tops, apart from lighting, is trying to modify them for something like a small skimmer, if you choose to go for one and have the top for the 10g and up. Water changes each week, however, may make this uneccessary. The other factor is the lighting retrofits. Once you get further into it, you may check out in DIY and see if they have done any modifications or anything.
I generally encourage you not to do more than 1 fish in the nano/10g size range, although a pair of small clowns is doable. Obviously, the more LR, the better, but there is some evidence that you may not wish to waste the space on something like a DSB. There just may not be enough surface area for it to be extremely functional. I learned this late, but then, I like little wormy things anyway.
You can probably do some searches for these different size tanks...or perhaps even find some mantis keepers since they tend to keep these guys in smaller eclipse style tanks.
In short, there are a lot of options in the smaller tank range. I wouldn't always recommend this, if you were just starting out in the hobby...they do require a lot of attention, and fluctuations can be pretty dramatic sometimes.
If you have any other questions, you can write me at ophiuroid@att.net

 

[cc0905]

I set up a 10g for my daughter, ~3lbs of sand from my reef tank, half water from my tank-half fresh mix, 10lbs live rock, no outside filtration, just 10% water changes weekly, this tank flourished, as far as coralline and the mushroom I put into it--I wish my reef tank did this well

 

[debbers]

If you'd like some information *specifically* on nano-reefs, there is some specialized info. out there... if you're interested, let me know and I'll e-mail you the link.
BTW, one of my LFS's here has an eclipse 6 with some LS, LR, a pair of clowns, an urchin, a CBS, and some 'shrooms. Neat little set up; they run the system as-is with no retrofitted lighting or suplemental filtration.
~D~

 

[beefcake]

Nice tank jamesurq! How many tangs can you fit in there ?