1.5g nano tank

[R3verb]

Hey all,

So I have been in the hobby for about 1.5 years now, I have learned a TON so far. I want to try and do a coral only tank at my work. I think this could work because all I would have in it is coral and snails which both get their food sources from the light above the tank. This means that I could be gone over the weekend and not have to worry about any fish dying or anything. I was looking at a 1.5 gal tank (see link below). If all im doing is some polyps and mushrooms, what do you guys think? Is this possible?? I know that it would be very important to make sure the water level is constant (probably would do an ATO for it) and weekly changing of the filter would be a must. I'd really like some hints from people who have experience with these very small tanks!

Tetra 1.5 Gallon LED Desktop Aquarium Kit - Small Fish Tank and Desktop Fish Tank from petco.com

 

[Waddi]

I just think that 1.5 Gallon would be too small. Absolutely no room for error. I mean if one of your mushrooms decided to play some Chemical warfare, you are screwed! Haha.
I think you really dont realize how little water and room in the tank until your rocks heater ect are in there...
Just my opinion. You're probably better off with going with a picotope or something slightly bigger.

 

[R3verb]

So what about something in the 3gal range?

 

[ErinCahir]

3 gallons I think is a good size for a tiny tank.

The company that makes my tank has a 2 gallon and a 4 gallon version.

Aqueon® Evolve 4™ nano All-Inclusive Desktop Aquarium with LED - Aquariums - Fish - PetSmart

Aqueon® Evolve 2™ nano All-Inclusive Desktop Aquarium with LED - Aquariums - Fish - PetSmart

 

[texreefer]

Another good option would be the dymax IQ3 . A small bag of purigen, chemi-pure elite, and filter floss will do wonders for a small tank like this. Plus any aio will help hide float switches for your ato. You can keep it fairly cheap if going for low light coral, but might need to DIY a good led if you get into anything better . Your biggest battle will be heat, you don't realize how much heat a power head can put off until you get into really small tanks like this , a cheap desk fan will help in the summer months . It can be done, but like waddi said , your room for error is very small.


Good luck

 

[Bifferwine]

Pico tanks are so cool. A 1.5 gallon tank would be a challenge, but it's doable. There is a guy on here that has some beautiful pico tanks made out of wine bottles, flower vases, etc. His tanks are INCREDIBLE. But I believe he does close to a 100% water change every week. Sorry, I don't remember his username. :(

Doing only corals and a couple inverts would be fine.

 

[R3verb]

My plan is to do a 25% water change twice a week (this would be from the water taken out of my main DT at home which has excelent params). I think I may go for something around the 3 gal size. We will see!

 

[RockStacker]

My plan is to do a 25% water change twice a week (this would be from the water taken out of my main DT at home which has excelent params). I think I may go for something around the 3 gal size. We will see!

You would be better off mixing a new batch of water for your nano tank. You need to give a nano tank all the advantage it can get in order to thrive in such confined space.

In salt water, there is no Certified Pre-Owned water. Old saltwater from a tank, even if the test parameters check out, can still contain biological compounds that could be undesirable.
The old water also might have lost a significant portion of the trace elements that would have come from newly mixed water.

 

[SigEpLucas]

I have a 2.5 gallon all glass aquarium that I'm using for a pico. I am using an Aqua Clear 50 but not as a filter just to slightly increase volume, and for flow. It's a bit much on the flow. I'm using a rapid led light in a custom canopy and a float switch for an auto top off. The only tips I can give so far would be:

1.) Use a 50 watt heater. The Hydor Theo 50 watt is the exact same size as the 25watt and the 25 watt was running 24/7 to maintain the temp. The 50 gets it done.

2.) An ATO of some type is a must, especially over the weekend. I didn't have one at first and would top off every morning and that wasn't enough. The salinity swings were too much and a weekend of evaporation was catastrophic. Ever since my water is always at the right spot.

3.) A dimmable LED kit seems to be a great choice. Enough light for anything and a dimmer to make sure it's not too much. Also they don't put off a lot of heat. My JBJ power compact bulb was putting off too much heat and the LEDs aren't heating up the tank.

4.) Use some type of carbon or chemi pure if you can hide it. I just buy those fluval spec carbon bags from Petsmart and they're like 3 for $4. Help keep the water pretty clear.

5.) Definitely no fish. Weekly water changes wouldn't keep the nitrates down. I had a small damsel for a few weeks and took it back to the LFS because no matter how many changes I did the nitrates were too high.

6.) Finally, I would recommend drilling your rocks for coral pegs. I'm kicking myself for not doing this and still might. In such a small tank your coral placement will be limited. This being said I'm having trouble finding suitable places for corals where they won't blow over or my crab won't knock them over. Drilling the rock for a few pegs would have gone a long way.

Anything else just ask but so far it's been great having a little reef on my desk. I love it!