Should I forget the nano for BIGGY SMALLS?

[Hallaster]

Hey I've got a 75 gallon I was planning to make a freshwater. I am experienced in freshwater. Should I just forget the nano and go ahead and make my 75 a reef? Would there be a little more room for error? thank you

[Brianc_4]

Theres pros and cons to both. I have a 90gal freswater, that I've had set up for years. When I decided to do a nano-reef I debated it too. Yes, in a larger volume of water if something with water chemistry goes wrong, it takes a little longer to go really wrong. But, its really all about scaling. Things in a large tank can go just as wrong if you overstock it. Or if you blow off regular maintenance. All the thinking that applies to a nano, should also apply to a larger reef. I think its more a matter of space and cost. For a 20gal nano, you will probably spend about 150 dollars on some good pc lights. If I were to light my 90 for a reef, ! would get 2 MH plus either actinic VHO or PC lighting. I would probably end up spending 5 or 6 hundred on lighting versus the 150. 20# of live rock at 5.99/pound=120. Ninety pounds of live rock=539 dollars. If moneys not an issue and you perfer the look of the large reef, go for it. But don't do it because you think its a lot easier, its really not all that differrent. Besides, the nanos have a certain zen garden feel, that a lot of us enjoy.

[HuBu]

it would depend on whether you have the cash for it or not. because a 90 gal tank would cost a lot of money to stock and equipment. i would have to vote for the larger tank because a nano would require you to give it a lot of attention due to the small volume of water. in a bigger tank, changes in the water quality cant be as harmful as it would be in a nano due to its small size.

[printerdown01]

Yeah, it would provide a LOT more stability. If 5 snails died in a 75 there wouldn't even be a blip on the radar; conversely if 5 snails died in a 7.5 gallon it would be a major problem. However, it is less likely that 5 snails will died in a nano. I too was freaked out by the thought of not having that extra water volume as a safty net. However, after having my nano for over a year I can tell you that I really don't think they are any harder to keep. As long as you keep up on water changes you will be just fine! It really is no big deal, there is a lot of hype but I haven't seen anyone have any SERIOUS problems with it (even people who have never done reef set-ups before). As a tip, you will have 2 things that will keep you out of trouble (whether you are setting up the tank incorrectly or you are going to add something that will eat your other inhabitants). Number 1: Books... These are full of info that will keep you grounded in fact rather than opinion (both opinions of your LFS owner or opinions of people on the internet). Number 2: Nano-Reef.com... This board has hundereds of people that successfully keep nano-reefs. If you are thinking about doing it, no matter how unique you think the idea is, chances are someone on here has done it before (even if it is a reef tank in a shot glass -it HAS been done ...and you were worried about water volume ). People around here can help guide you through just about any problem you will/can encounter, and can give you reviews on just about any peice of equipment, supplement, salt, water, or live creature you can think of. With thousands of experiances at your finger tips, it is pretty easy to navigate . However, if you have the $$$ to build a 75 gallon reef GO FOR IT! But that will cost you a pretty penny!!!! Check out the cost of MH lighting on that puppy, and you'll probably be back to looking at nanos, lol (ok, as the title implies a poor college student). I used to run a 55 gallon reef while I was in highschool... They do cost quite a bit to run! I was laughing the other day while talking to someone, as for the price of replacing the bulbs in my 55 I could purchace an entire lighting set-up (and a nice one at that) for a 10 gallon, and have $$ left over for other stuff.