well here goes a dumb question

ladyblues1965

AC Members
May 15, 2008
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Helena Arkansas
Real Name
Kelley Taylor
What does NANO mean? I have seen this used on the forum alot and I feel real silly asking but ..............
Also FUGE? Dont know what that is .
I do alot of lurking but havent posted much. I am not a newbie to fishkeeping . Have been keeping fish for 30 years off and on. but never heard these term.
thanks
 
a fuge is a refuge, usually a sump-style filter seen more in SW tanks. Refuges are often stocked with live rock, corals, smaller fish and such, they act as a bio/eco filter as they often do in nature.
 
NANO just means small - less than standard size. There really is no "standard" size but most reef systems are in the range of 30gallons and up. The NANO reef is usually less than 15 gallons. I suppose you could also call it a "Micro-reef" if you wanted to but Nano was adopted unofficially.
 
a nano planted tank is usually 10 gallons or less. nano reefs are usually larger because its much more difficult to set up and maintin a reef that is 5 gallons. plus, when people think of a reef tank they think of a giant 180 gallon setup, which dwarfs a 30 gallon easily.
 
In SW, generally tanks of 30 gallons or less are nanos. In FW, there is some debate, though many say 10 gallons and less, some 5 gallons and under, and some say tanks of a couple gallons. In SW, tanks of 5 gallons and less are usually called 'picos' or 'picotopes'.
 
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