Top 10 Nano Reef Aquarium Mistakes—And How to Avoid Them!

For those of you just starting out, a nano tank is simply a small aquarium—typically anything below 40 gallons.

At Marine Depot, we've been helping nano reef hobbyists succeed for over 20 years.

We've distilled all our years of knowledge into this episode to help you avoid many common pratfalls new hobbyists fall victim to. We've also shared some simple best practices that will set you on a course for success when you're first starting out and in the years to come!

#nanoreef #nanoreeftank #nanotank

-- TOP 10 NANO REEF AQUARIUM MISTAKES --

Mistake #1: Moving too Fast 0:51

Mistake #2: Irresponsible Stocking 2:11

Mistake #3: Overfeeding 4:09

Mistake #4: Using Tap Water 5:28

Mistake #5: Not Enough Water Changes 6:25

Mistake #6: Fussing with a Nano Skimmer 7:17

Mistake #7: Neglecting Filter Media 8:11

Mistake #8: Manually Topping Off with Freshwater 9:11

Mistake #9: Not Testing Your Aquarium Water 9:55

Mistake #10: Neglecting The Basics 10:54

-- SHOP NANO TANKS --

-- NANO FISH RECOMMENDATIONS --

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Nano Fish: Small Size, BIG Personalities

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[jackmehoff]

Sticking to the basics will take you a long way and make the hobby enjoyable.

Salinity
temp
pH
low frequency feeding schedule
good water top off
over engineered clean up crew
2 inch of fish per gallon rule
Reliable lighting
Quality water mixing
Good circulation
Long cycling
Adequate amount of live rock
Acclimate new additions slowly
Large granule sand bed
20% water charge each week

Kept a 20 gal nano without skimmer with soft/leather corals/livestock for about 6 years continuously with these basic tips. Just have to go really slow and build reef gradually. Good luck!🍀

[lukemccoy]

If you dont want your kids to do drugs just introduce them to reef keeping and they will never have the money for drugs 😂😂

[thunderfox]

A proper cycling requires ghost feeding or a source of ammonia to start the cycling, leaving the tank running for a month does nothing for the nitrogen cycle

[troutflyfish]

Great video guys. Been a reef keeper and fish only since 1994, wow has it been almost 25 years. I still have hundreds of questions. I started with and went back to the deep bed Jaubert method. Was very common in the early 90’s. Just have to constantly stir small areas of the sand so hard clumps never form. Plus keep sulfide from forming. OMG its a hideous smell and will poison the fish. Many of people I know got away from this method bc of the work involved. I still love my 4” sand bed, med sand size, no small granular sand, o2 just can’t get into the sand, and keep plenty of sand sifting animals. I have used up to a 240 gallon, and as small as 30 gallon. My favorite is 75-90 gallon, with a built in over flow. Still use my amiracle reef sump from 1996, a jbl chiller, small heater, and a dual stage temp monitor. By all means monitor ph, temp, and salinity, after a few months reg water changes, and kalkwasser drip keep my Ca around 400-420. Check ca about monthly. I still use two light forms, metal halide, and vho fluorescent lights. The metal halide was the reason I had to add a chiller. Still use my original one from 96’, it has been serviced several times by my neighbor who is a HVAC installer on homes. Two things I want to do is switch over to all fluorescent lights, or some led possibly, it’s just fluorescent is still so much cheaper for me. Second I want to get into the Neptune kits that control everything from temp, water top off, light schedules, and c02 for ca reactors. What are y’all thoughts on ca reactors if auto controlled. Please leave an answer, no experience myself with them at all, none. Oh and I do have a protein skimmer, it’s just for my old 240 gallon tank, still works, just have to turn down a little on a 75-90 gallon, lol. Have a great day, troll away

[CrowleyRises]

If you don't have access to RO/DI water and are in quick need. You can simply substitute it with distilled water from your grocery store. Walmart carries it for 80 cents a gallon. This is a good resort for nano tanks since you won't need much.

[stevejones]

This is such a good guide for nano’s . i realised that simple is best and i had neglected my testing. Im in a routine now and my nano reef never looked better. 👍🏻

[dailodai]

"when in doubt change it out" i often tell myself that about my underpants

[gm]

Apart from ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, water temperature, pH and salinity, what other water parameters do I need to regularly check for in a reef system?

[ZurycsChannel]

Thank you for the tips, it is very helpful for me as a beginer

[micro-reefsaquariums]

Your video was informative but you should have displayed nano sized aquariums in the background.

All I saw was a 100 gallon system in your background as you spoke.

If you representing nano sized systems have one or several to show in the background.

Just my 2 cents...

[atfinthehouse]

Measure early and often. Record and analyze trends. Then relax. Not much has to be done once settle in. Decide on corals for growth and crazy colors but static. Or movement and flow. Or combination. Small incremental changes with any supplements. Corals only use tiny tiny amounts at a time.

[gexystanks]

I used declorinated water for the past year and half and have substantial growth and no losses due to it

[FortheBudgies]

It's also important to say that it is possible to have a tank TOO clean with nitrate and phosphates too low. I worried to much about my nitrate and phosphate levels and almost quit after 6 months because it was not much fun. I relaxed my maintenance and testing schedule to what was more do able for me and everything was just fine. Also, my pet sitter mis-read my instructions and fed my tank 2-3x more than I wanted for 2 weeks. My nitrates went way up, but everything was just fine as I did more water changes to bring them back down. Assuming that everyone is going to over feed and ignore a tank isn't always the best approach because some people are overly attentive so a dialogue that the only way to cause problems is through neglect ignores that subset of people. Just like giving plant advice, so much of the conversation is about preventing over watering and that advice is terrible for people who either don't overwater or actually underwater.

[WRDNER]

20 gallon is as nano as I was willing to go I put a Tidal 55 hang on filter as well as an Aquaclear 30 that takes care of most of the work all I do is water change once every two weeks and I have two clowns a watchmen goby and pistol shrimp in it so it works out. But every tank comes to an ugly stage my 70 gallon went through it now my twenty is doing it so you can’t fight a tank trying to mature and that’s all it is. Do the work anyway stick to a schedule don’t fight with it! it does pay off In time.

[go]

I get confused on this. Most say to change your filter media but there is also the fact most of your beneficial bacteria live in the filter media. So…should it be changed out or not?

[atfinthehouse]

Up to what size do you consider: pico tank, nano tank?

[jreefer]

So what if I’ve took live rock fresh from another tank and set up mines and in the sump also with live sand and did the dr. Tim’s method? How will it take to cycle?

[adamosborn]

So I have been keeping fish for many years and my question is this why should I buy an aquarium controller like the Apex when just the basics is sufficient

[punkrose]

Fritz Turbo Start can cycle a tank in a week so for those who are impatient it may be worth looking at.

[shreddedvlogz]

Thanks for all the advice! Just started a nano 10 gallon reef tank a month ago, (jbj desktop tank) how do I clean the filter pad? Or should I just replace every month or so? Or should I leave the filter in there and just do water changes?