7 Gallon Nano Upgrade?

[Kenred47]

Hey everyone,

 

So my 7 gallon nano tank has been up for about 4 months now and everything is going fine, I’m just running into some maintenance issues. I have constant green spot algae growth and it’s daily I have to clean the glass. I have been doing a ton of research on the Aqueon 15 gallon column setup and thought this might be a nice upgrade. Currently with my 7 gallon AIO a refugium isn’t really feasible and the tank requires daily (semi difficult) care. I do have some money leftover from the holidays as well, so I thought maybe this be a nice upgrade and my clown and corals would appreciate it. The only problem is I plan on moving out of my current house within a year, so I was wondering if expanding my tank is a good idea or not. How hard is it to move a reef setup to a new location? Also would the 15 gallon column really make my life any easier? Thanks all advice is appreciated.

UPDATE: decided I’m going to stick with the 7 gallon and made some very nice improvements. I broke up the live rock and made a much nicer aquascape which really made me love the tank again. Now it’s time to throw in a CUC and add some more corals (will be a post asking about CUC and next corals to add, so if you see it please leave your opinions!). Thanks everyone for the help.

 

[M. Tournesol]

From what I have read (I must also move out of my current house this year with two nano tanks):

1. Under 40 gallon, it is doable but smaller is easier.
2. you need to make a lot of saltwater (in case something goes wrong).
3. It is better to plan a whole day.
4. Having another tank (or plastic tub) already set up at the new location make relocation a lot easier.
5. It is better to have at least someone to help.

[DevilDuck]

How far are you going to move? I would wait until you move to purchase a new aquarium. Your current 7 gallon aquarium should easily fit in a couple of buckets, so moving that should be a breeze. 

What is your current routine for daily care? Maybe changing the size of the aquarium may make some of this easier, eg: (larger AIO area, more space for automation, an ATO etc)

 

Personally, I do not like tall vertical profile AIO aquariums. The tall thin design doesn't leave a lot of space for the filter portion for things like heaters, mechanical filtration, skimmers, pumps etc.

 

 

[A.m.P]

Column aquariums tend to be challenging to stock, scape, and maintain. Additionally most livestock primarily use footprint, not vertical headroom or volume in a system so it's possible that your 7 gallon would actually feel larger. That said, they're clownfish and can be kept fairly-happily breeding in 5-10 gallon systems without issue.

 

Moving tanks is a pain, but if you can move everything in a 5 gallon bucket then it's just a matter of time, help, and logistics. It'd probably be best to wait if you know you'll be moving soon though imo.

[Kenred47]

35 minutes ago, DevilDuck said:

How far are you going to move? I would wait until you move to purchase a new aquarium. Your current 7 gallon aquarium should easily fit in a couple of buckets, so moving that should be a breeze. 

What is your current routine for daily care? Maybe changing the size of the aquarium may make some of this easier, eg: (larger AIO area, more space for automation, an ATO etc)

 

Personally, I do not like tall vertical profile AIO aquariums. The tall thin design doesn't leave a lot of space for the filter portion for things like heaters, mechanical filtration, skimmers, pumps etc.

 

 

The column aquarium wouldn’t be an AIO, I was going to use an HOB refugium and then probably just a power head for extra flow. Unfortunately, don’t have room for a sump so the heater and skimmer would have to be inside the tank. I agree though I’m probably going to wait until I move to go to a bigger size.

 

as far as my current routine, I have to scrape all the sides of the aquarium for the spot algae. Then after that I have to vacuum the sand to pick up the algae that fell off. It’s not a terrible amount of care but it still uses up about 20 min of my time everyday.

[Kenred47]

19 minutes ago, A.m.P said:

Column aquariums tend to be challenging to stock, scape, and maintain. Additionally most livestock primarily use footprint, not vertical headroom or volume in a system so it's possible that your 7 gallon would actually feel larger. That said, they're clownfish and can be kept fairly-happily breeding in 5-10 gallon systems without issue.

 

Moving tanks is a pain, but if you can move everything in a 5 gallon bucket then it's just a matter of time, help, and logistics. It'd probably be best to wait if you know you'll be moving soon though imo.

I agree. Thank you for the response. And ya my clown is happy right now. My plan after work today is actually to break up the large singular piece of live rock in the 7 gallon tank and use smaller pieces to build a cascading hill on the back of the tank. Will definitely give him more room and also allow for me to place new corals better. Here’s a picture of the old setup (which I absolutely hate now.)