Before we really begin I'd like to say a few things. First off, I'd like to thank DBW for inviting me to talk tonight. I need to point out that that I really am specialized in Nano keeping. If you've general reef questions you're best off saving them for another speaker, I'm afraid :) I'd much rather tell you "I don't know" then give you inaccurate information. I'd also like to point out that plenty of other folks have been keeping Nanos longer then I have. My contribution has simply been to organize as much info on them as I could get my hands on into an accessible format.

It continues to amaze me that info on Nanos is so hard to come by. One of these days someone really needs to write a book on the topic. Right now, I think, the sole discussion of Nanos in the hobby literature is a two page section in Tullock's new book. Oh, yes, for those of you who don't already have it, my web site can be found at home1.gte.net/rhe1/nanoreef. A copy of the Nano FAQ can be found there, as well as a lot of other general discussion on Nano keeping.

Much of what I could say can already be found on my web site and I don't want to duplicate it. Instead.... I want to talk about what I see as the future of Nanos and their place in the hobby, as well as address a number of misconceptions. Afterwards we'll do question and answer for as long as I can manage without having a stroke, which would probably lessen my overall enjoyment of the evening :) Okay, enough with the preliminaries.

Nano keeping is past it's infancy. I still consider it largely experimental, but people have been keeping Nanos for upwards of 3 years that I'm aware of. Because they have been around long enough to get exposure (both inside the hobby and without), certain trends become apparent. One such is that almost every reef keeper finds them interesting. I've had well over a dozen people with HUGE tanks contact me... ...asking for info on how to set up a Nano. It's almost humorous when a guy with a 300 gallon tank get's excited about a 5 gallon setup :) This just illustrates the appeal of Nanos. Cheap, easy to maintain, "portable" -- they make a great counterweight to large, traditional tanks. Even more importantly, Nanos seem to capture the imagination of those who don't keep keep reef tanks -- and even those who don't keep tanks, period.

Those of you with larger, more traditionally sized tanks have undoubtedly had friends or relatives remark on how great it would be to have a reef of their own. Those comments usually end sometime around when the price of the setup is discussed :) One thing about Nanos, when someone comments how much they'd like one of their own...well, even after they hear the price they often stay interested.

Since I moved to California a year ago, I've gotten three people into Nano keeping. Just from having them see my tanks. Similiarly, I know of many other people with the same results. Many Nano keepers end up getting tanks for their children or even grandchildren. Keep that in mind. I really am going somewhere with this, appearances to the contrary notwithstanding. :) Many folks out there who don't have a reef would love one, but don't think they can afford one. They've always been told you need a big tank to keep a reef, and that making a small one is flatly impossible. I know that's the position I was in when I first stumbled across an article about a 5 gallon anemone/clownfish tank in FAMA a bit over two years ago. By the very next day I had duplicated the author's setup in terms of hardware and had a couple of pounds of live rock curing. Many others previously unaware of Nanos have done the exact same thing once they discovered that it is, indeed, possible to keep a Nano. I use this to illustrate that there is a -large- pool of potential reef keepers who haven't gotten into the hobby... ...primarily because of it's perceived cost.

A few years ago there were only a handful of Nanos being maintained. Today I regularly receive a few dozen emails a week... ...from people asking how to set one up, how to maintain one, or just to let me know that they, too, have a Nano. Frankly, I consider Nanos to be the fastest growing segment of the reefkeeping hobby, hands down. Within five years I can honestly say I wouldn't be surprised if the number of Nanos is greater then the number of traditionally sized tanks.There is a huge pool of potential Nano keepers. Such a pool of potential traditional reef keepers does not exist. As knowledge about Nano keeping continues to become more and more widespread, I expect we'll only continue to see dramatic growth. Still, the effects of such dramatic growth will have repercussions on the hobby as a whole. On the negative side, the demand for wild collected corals can only increase in the short term. The positives, however, are many. Most are from a business perspective.

New hobbyists require equipment. The more people buying reef-related hardware, the more the manufacturer's have to make. The more they make, the more they sell, the less they have to charge for individual items. Lower hardware prices mean even more new hobbyists, both as Nano keepers and traditional reef keepers. A larger consumer base also is good news for commercial aquaculture operations. With enough people buying their products... ...they can actually become profitable. As they become profitable, they can afford to breed more species. Which means a wider variety of captive bred animals for everyone. Finally, perhaps most importantly, it may be some guy in Idaho who is currently keeping guppies who may discover how to successfully keep goniopora. The more people in the hobby, the more trying to experiment to find better methods of reef keeping, the greater the odds of the hobby advancing.

If our hobby is to do anything more then survive, it needs to grow. I believe Nanos will be the form of a large part of that growth. They open up the hobby to a large pool of folks who otherwise might never get to experience it. A large part of my own efforts is devoted to finding a small, low cost system easy enough for -anyone- to maintain. It may be an impossible goal, but it's definitely worthwhile. A lot of folks seem to think of Nano keeping as a fad, and don't take Nano keepers very seriously. Me, I see the reverse. Just like with freshwater aquariums, the average reef tank will get smaller.

Still, as Nano keeping grows, there have been a number of truly bad ideas passed back and forth. Distressingly, some even seem to be gaining momentum. It is these which I'd like to turn to next. The absolute worst idea involving Nanos I've ever heard I'm sad to say I hear -frequently-. That idea is that you can keep a mandarin in a Nano successfully. While it's true that the very, very rare exception does happen, nearly every mandarin imported into the hobby will never be weaned onto prepared foods. And quite simply, the natural copepod population of a Nano is emphatically NOT sufficient to keep a mandarin fed for very long at all. In the end you'll just end up with a dead mandarin and a decimated population of copepods. This should be elementary. It's very disheartening to me to see that it's not. I don't know if any of you have been in the hobby long enough to remember, but in the late '80's in the U.S. Moorish Idols were imported right and left. People were almost universally unsuccessful in keeping them, but they kept buying them anyway. Today you rarely see an Idol for sale. But when was the last time you walked into a fish store and -didn't- see at least one mandarin? Another idea I get asked about a lot (and wished I didn't) is the use of Eclipse hoods for a Nano. For those of you not familiar with them, the Eclipses are hoods with a built in Bio-Wheel filter and a single NO floro. bulb. From past experience, let me say that they are both attractive and very efficient on a fish only set up. They are categorically not suited, however, for use with a tank of live rock and photosynthetic invertebrates. Nevertheless, I average 3 emails a week from folks looking to use one on a reef tank. Surprising too, since the things are -not- cheap.

Another misconception is that a shallow tank requires a lot less light then a larger one. This is (in my view) incorrect. Work I've seen done by a variety of authorities seems to very strongly indicate that the refraction properties of the water in our tanks... ...does -not- attenuate light to a noticeably large degree. Plain good old-fashioned distance from the bulbs is what attenuates light in our tanks. At least, for the average home tank...if you've got a 5 foot tall aquarium, well, that's a different story. My own experiments show that it's almost impossible to put too much light on a Nano (as long as the inhabitants are properly acclimated). Depending on what you want to keep, it is possible to get by with comparatively little lighting. 18 watts of Power Compact lighting on a 5 gallon is often enough to keep mushrooms and most polyps, for example. Nevertheless, the polyps which will survive in that 18 watts will do so much better with more lighting that it's almost criminal to use the "bare bottom" lighting. For what it's worth, I feel that Dr Bingman's idea of watts per square foot of tank surface (w/ft2) is a lot more accurate a gauge of lighting requirements.... ...then watts per gallon. It has been suggested that on a 24" deep tank, the target number to shoot for is 100w/ft2. On a 12" deep tank (about what most Nanos are), my best guess (based on my own lighting and the successful and unsuccessful results of others)... ...is that so long as you can supply between 40w/ft2 and 70w/ft2 ou'll be alright. I'm sorry I can't narrow that down any further at this point. It's just too new, and I don't have that large a pool of data to draw conclusions from. And yes, you can use even more light then that. My 15 gallon runs at 112w/ft2.

Alright, let's throw this open to questions.

Q: I am planning on setting up a 10gal and would like to have a small sump to keep heaters etc. in. Can you recomened a way to add an overflow (diy) that would actually fit a small tank and not take it over?

Truthfully, not without taking it over. People have used sumps on Nanos in the past (Julian Sprung for example has a 60 gallon sump for a 15 gallon tank)... But I can't suggest a good method of doing so (without clever aquascaping) that doesn't intrude

Q: I have a 10g tank where the rock/plenum is bringing down nitrate levels to under .1ppm and I'm having difficulty keeping most macro-algaes at that level. Would you ever recommend the use of nitrogen only plant food to help sustain macros in a tank?

I can't say I've experimented along those lines. I -have- used an iron supplement in a 10 gallon macroalgae/mushroom tank with good results though. If you try it, lemme know how it goes

Q: Not to rain you your parade, but given that many folks that now keep FW have a tough time at it what mix of products do you tink make the ideal nano-reef at this time?

I'll use a 5 gallon tank for an example... Quite simply, 36 watts of PC lighting, a small counter current air driven skimmer....and that's it. No supplements. No big skimmer Just rudimentary equipment and regular partial water changes. My 16 year old sister has been successfully keeping a 5 gallon reef for 6 months now... ...and she's never kept so much as a goldfish.

Q: How do you manage to fit a skimmer on to such a small tank i.e. what sort of skimmers can you use and how are they arranged in the system?

Actually, A good way around this problem is to get one of the smallest model air driven skimmers and a hang-on power filter with a fairly deep body... Just put the skimmer in the body of the power filter, after removing all the media from the power filter. Intrudes only a very small amount into the tank, and it works, too.

Q: On hot summer days, do you have trouble keeping the temp. down with such a small volume of water?

Personally, no. But I live in L.A. Many people who live in areas with hot summers are faced with two choices: Either consider running the tank year round in the mid 80's F (as Dr Shimek has reported), or have an air conditioner in the room with the tank.

Q: Water changes, how much and how often?

I recommend around 25% weekly, on a Nano. When you're dealing with such small tanks, you're only talking about 5 minutes work

Q: Is it really a good idea to make the reef keeping hobby cheaper? Then it will be much easier/cheaper for more people to get involved, which will mean more people without the knowledge to keep them (more so than currently)

Okay, good point. But on the other hand, if the hobby stays as it is, how can the commercial aquaculture companies ever make enough of a profit to be worthwhile? The market base just simply doesn't exist for it be that profitable. As long as we stay with wild caught specimens, the environmental groups will continue to "yell" at our hobby... ...but, financially, it's difficult for anyone to do commercial aquaculture and make a living. Yes, there are exceptions. But how many? On the other hand, as newcomers enter the hobby, it's our responsibility to help them get the knowledge they need to be successful.. ...but then, any of you familiar with how reefkeepers@majordomo.net came about is already well aware of my views on that subject

Q: In the FAQ it says that fans are not a good idea because they cause too much evaporation and wild shifts in s.g. Couldn't you drip in makeup water?

Sure. I even know of a few people doing it. Most Nanos, tho, don't use sumps or even stands -- so people don't like equipment "cluttering up" the view. Absolutely no reason why it couldn't be done, tho.

Q: how do you feel about refugiums on nanos?

I feel Nanos -are- refugiums, if you want them to be. Don't include any fish that will decimate the micro fauna population, and you'll have refugium like microfauna and flora thriving

Q: Given your watt.sqft measure then a light for a 10gal would also be sufficent for a 16gal?

If the tank's dimensions equal the same square footage, yes.

Q: What is the reccommended method of filtration in these setups? More or less a berlin setup..?

More or less. I've experimented with ATS on my 15, and I plan to try mangroves soon. But yes, I recommend berlin

Q: Can clams and sps be kept happy in a nano?

Yep. I keep a tridacna in my 15, and I know of a few others who do so... ...and while I don't have any SPS species, I know people who've been successful with them in tanks as small as 2.5 gallons

Q: Are skilters good for nanos?

Trick question. They're better then nothing, but they simply don't function well. In a nano tho, skimming is secondary to water changes.... ...so one CAN use a skilter and get by. Since they're simple to use and they FIT on a 5 gallon, they're also a good option for a beginner. Still, given the choice, I'd much prefer even the air driven skimmer in a power filter that I was discussing earlier

Q: Have you had any success with NO Flor. lighting on a Nano, Specifically, I have a 10 gal with a act. blue and a 10,000K daylight...

I tell you, last summer I moved the inhabitants of a 7 gallon tank with very little surface area and 18w of PC lighting... ....to a 10 gallon, lit by 30 watts of NO floros and 18 watts of PC. One of my hammers bleached and died before I ditched the NO's for more PC's. So no, I haven't had success with NO's, and I don't recommend them. Many others say they're fine, but from my experience I doubt I'd use them again.

Q: What's the smallest nano ?

That I know of? DC Pott's Project Pico Reef, which was (If I recall) a 1 gallon.*

Q: What should our guide line be when stocking a nano?

Small specimens, light stocking. I don't, for example, feel comfortable with fish in a tank smaller then 10 gallons... ...although I might conceivably put ONE small fish in a 5 gallon

Q: Even with ac room,how cool can we get the nano w/mh without freezing the room?

Pretty cool :) Small bodies of water react quickly to temperature changes. If you keep the room in the mid 70's for a half hour, I'd say the tank will be that temperature, too That's why the reverse (with using an overpowered heater) is so important

Q: Why not run the nano tanks with just heavy carbon filteration ?

Dunno. Might work. I haven't tried. As long as you change the carbon frequently, it might work.

Q: You think an ETS Reef Devil is too much for a 16gal w.16gal sump?

I would tend to think so....might be alright for an SPS tank, but even a 200 gph powerhead provides plenty of current in a 10 gallon tank. As far as overskimming, that one I cant answer.

Q: Would it be possible to use sunlight as lighting for a nano?

If you live in an area with plenty of strong sunlight, and (big if!) you can keep the tank from overheating in the natural sunlight... ....then I would think it is, indeed possible. Haven't tried it, can't say for sure -- but I can't see why not.

Q: How much rock would you reccomend for say a 10 gal tank?

Fiji? About 7-8 pounds. Florida? Maybe as much as 10 All depends on the type of rock

Q: I recently setup a ten gallon micro reef with 5 pounds live rock and 4 pounds live sand, two powerheads, and a 15 watt floresent bulb, I plan on keeping mainly shrooms, feather dusters, stars, and maby a toadstoll mushro0om, what do you think of this type of tank, will it work, A friend via internet has the same setup and I was wondering your opinions on it

...first, 4 pounds of live sand? I've got 20 pounds of sand in my 15, and it only gives me a half inch of substrate. Second, you might want to add a few more pounds of rock. Not really neccessary from a filtration standpoint (i've used less with no problems)... ...but from an aesthetic one, maybe. Finally, I'm really uncomfortable with just the one 15w NO floro. I'd say at the very least add a second one... the 4 pounds of live were mixxed with 10 pounds of caribsea Ah, okay :) Even better would be to pick up a 36w PC fixture (around $75) or a 15" PC retrofit (for like $130).

Thanks for the talk Charles!

*Editor's note: DC Potts' Pico Reef was 2.5 gallons (let's talk him into setting it up again!)