10 to15g nano aquarium setup

[Grandpa mike]

Hi, first time poster. I've owned and maintained various size saltwater tanks over the years ranging from 40 to 120 gallon. I've been out of it for a few years and for my grandkids, I'd like to setup something small and with less hassle. Someone recommended a nano tank, something around 10 to 15 gallons. Call me an old timer, but I can't understand how that would work. Anyone willing to help me figure this out or direct me to some good resources for this. Im thinking something like an anemone (bubble tip maybe?) clownfish setup with maybe another friendly and some inverts. Just need to understand what the setup would look like and how maintenance is different then a regular tank.

 

Thanks for your help

[Tired]

You may want to try a post in another thread, this one talks about filtration. Try here https://www.nano-reef.com/forums/forum/17-beginners-discussion/ since you're new to small tanks. 

 

10-15gal is about minimum tank size for a pair of clownfish. A bubble tip anemone should really be in more like 30 gallons, though, at a minimum, because it will get quite large and fill things up. In a 30gal, expect to mostly just have a bubble tip anemone and not really any corals or anything else. Unless you're very set on specifically an anemone, it's better to find something else the clownfish will host (some soft corals will work fine), as captive-bred ones don't really care if something is an anemone. They just want roughly the right texture. 

 

Maintenance isn't really different on a small tank. The only real difference is that topping up evap daily becomes pretty much a necessity unless you have a tight lid. Bigger tanks can afford to lose more water to evap. You also have to be sure you pick suitable livestock, of course. It can arguably be a bit harder to keep things stable, since there's less water volume to absorb problems, but that only tends to show up if something comparatively large dies. A turbo snail dying in a small tank, for example, is more of a problem than one dying in a larger tank. Which is a reason why small snails (dwarf ceriths are great) are ideal for small tanks.

[Afropenguin]

The first tank that I had was a 5 gallon JBJ that housed 2 clowns and an anemone, some gsp and mushrooms. I had that system up for 2 years before I moved and bought a bigger tank. The clowns seemed fine and stayed pretty small. 

 

For maintenance, I did bi-weekly water changes and topped of the tank every few days (I kept the tank on my desk so it was easy to top off with a water bottle).

 

I fed the fish manually every couple of days with frozen mysis shrimp

 

I had the stock equipment but upgraded the light to an ai prime

 

[Tired]

Properly-fed ocellaris clownfish females should reach at least 3 inches, if not more. If you didn't have at least one 3" clownfish, something was wrong with that environment. It's a beautiful tank, but clownfish aren't good for picos, and neither are bubble tip anemones. Both should outgrow a 5gal, and I would expect the anemone to get big enough to literally fill the entire tank. 

[debbeach13]

Lots of people have done 10 or 15 gallon bubble tip anemone with 2 clowns. It can be done and there are many U tube videos and threads on nano reef you can research for how to maintain such a tank. The threads will also let you read some of the problems that may arise. If you can a 20 gallon would be a much better choice.