Nano coral?

So I am new to the hobby and want to start out simple with a 10G setup.  My question is:

Nano corals are any regular coral that will fit in a small tank usually 29 gal or smaller.

Edited by bannshy - October 21 2008 at 1:09pm

I second what tazman said. The bigger the better. I would set up the 30 if I were you. I have had tanks for over 2 years now and my nano I have now is way harder than my 45 gallon tank was. Because of the smaller amount of water, things change a lot! Temp swings, Alkalinity and calcium swings, pH swings. A 30 gallon may be a little more to set up early on but will save you in the long run, IMO. Just look for things on sell here on the site. It will save you a bunch of money!

As for local fish stores, I am not too sure what is up by you. The Aquarium is on 90th and 7th but I recommend not going there. Unless you want to spend 2 to 3 times the money! I shop at a LFS down here in Utah county. It is called Reef Runners and they are the best store I know of! The selection can be minimal at times but the guy who owns it is the most helpful and most knowledgeable in town, IMO! He actually cares what is in my tank and how it is doing.

Tank size is all relative... I have a 6 gal nano cube that has been without a water change for probably 4 months... My damsels, chocolate chip star, and GSP are doing awesome   I actually think it's way easier to maintain than my 125 (pretty much because I don't do anything with it...)  I bring this up, because I asked about setting up a 10 or 20 gal years ago, and everyone turned me off to doing it.  I've been in the hobby for 2 years now, but that number would be 4 or 5 if people hadn't told me that a 10-20 gal reef was a bad idea (as a side note, I was using a 10 gal starter kit from walmart with screw-in PC's for a year and grew musrooms and gsp just fine).

Anyway, I'd say that mushrooms and zoas are great for nanos!  If you have good enough light, I love candy canes, frogspawn, hammers and so on.  You can also try some leathers, although they tend to get huge... so you may have to cut them back every now and then. 

Anyway, my $.02 knowledge.

Good luck, and have fun!

Welcome BrandonA!

All great info thanks a ton.  Right now i have a small T5 lighting system.  Can't say for sure but one is a normal white light tube the other is a actinic tube.  I believe it is 10000k not sure on the watt.  I'll look at it when i get home.

BrandonA wrote: Only thing is have someone that knows not a lot about the hobby and someone who knows a little can ramble off anything they want and the guy who knows nothing takes it as fact.

Excellent wisdom.
You will find that, in general, the advice that is given here will be better than any advice received from any LFS (local fish store).
I have a lot of respect for Kris and his wife, and all the other LFS owners, which I have known for more than 10 years, but when it comes to what a hobbyist in Utah (or Wyoming, Idaho, Oklahoma, etc) should do in any situation, this MB is a trusted and often quick source of information(answers sometimes come in less than 30 minutes). After all, we started the WMAS specifically to learn how to do this better. We have no ulterior motives. We are not trying to sell you anything. The text below is from our mission statement on the "about us" page:

"....dedicated to the support of the hobby of marine aquarium keeping. We believe in conservation of coral reefs by promoting captive breeding and propagation of marine creatures and developing natural marine environments for our specimens. We promote responsibility and education of marine hobbyists."

Many of the people you will meet here, would love to have you visit and see their tanks, pick their brains and send you home with some LS (Live Sand), Macroalgae and maybe a coral frag or two for your new reef tank.

From one old hobbyist to a new hobbyist, Welcome to the fun and challenge of keeping a reef aquarium. The following thread may also help you get off to a good start: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244

Feel free to call me anytime for immediate advice at the number below.


Edited by Mark Peterson - November 10 2008 at 10:24am

Edited. Thanks

You going to get us some pictures?