How do they do it?

[Amphiprion]

So I've been working on setting up a 125g tank lately (and I'm very close. Will have a progress thread up soon as I'm only 2 pieces of equipment short and should only be a couple weeks) and also a 10g both salt. I keep getting recommended very high gallonage filters for the smaller tank (which of course is smart with any tank) and a lot of equipment. Why is it that I see 3-10g salt tanks with nothing more than a power filter that seem to be doing great?

Heres what made me ask this. I wanted to setup a 10g tank with seahorses (now maybe considering something different though) and I was recommended high GPH filters, protein skimmers, and other stuff but then I see this ~3 gallon fluval edge tank that has 2 very small clownfish in it, hosting nems, and the nems and liverock and fish seem to be doing excellent with no extra lighting or filtration besides what is built into this fluval edge. I'll include a pic

View attachment 198323

the one I saw was more up and down (and smaller than the one pictured) and the nems were living at the top but still how is this working? Is it really that easy? I almost bought a fluval edge today that looked like the one pictured. It was 6g and I want to know if I really could have had a saltwater setup in it as it comes and why with other small SW tanks there's more involved with what I've been recommended to buy and such. Is there some different way it is handled or something? Is it just more experienced people that can get away with that? Just very intrigued by this.

You also have to keep in mind a few things when you see some these tanks online and ask yourself a few questions:

1) how long has it been set up and how long has livestock been in there?

2) how much and how frequently are they doing water changes and associated maintenance?

3) how long will they be able to realistically keep the pictured animals in there?

I can assure you that the answers to these three questions will be rather disappointing relative to how the tank looks. I've kept tanks that rely on nothing but a powerhead and some light--all spotlessly clean with water changes and lots of them. Unfortunately, it makes a great selling tactic in LFSs when you want to sell a full setup. More than likely, the person won't be willing or able to do the frequency of water changes needed. Granted, in this case, it is a small system, so the volume necessary isn't so bad. Lastly, any of the animals in that tank will NOT be able to be there for terribly long unless you stunt their growth, which is a bit unethical.

A lot of folks, especially nowadays as the marine and reef aquarium fad is reaching new heights, you'll find that many are focused solely on aesthetics. Some of these people only keep tanks for a few months at a time--maybe a year or so at the most--before they tear it down and start again when it doesn't look pristine. A lot of that has to do with the various influence of certain big communities and what they've deemed worthy of being a nice aquarium. Rubbish in my opinion, but to each his/her own.

In any case, it sounds like you are headed in a good direction with your system. Don't be confounded or the like by some of the things that you see. If you do, you'll never be happy with your system and you will constantly be chasing something that is either completely unrealistic or, worse yet, something that is detrimental to the health of the inhabitants. Trust me, I've been there and done that, as well until I finally decided that what I have is great and that I would enjoy it as much as possible. Unfortunately, it took me years of aggravation, (absurdly) expensive equipment, and crackpot additives to figure it out instead of trying to stay on the bleeding edge.

 

[Nepherael]

Lol thanks a lot! Yeah after coming to this forum I've learned quite a bit and I'm all about enjoying my fish. They're my buddies so I can live with a tank that doesn't necessarily look like my pic up there

As far as the tank it is at my LFS. I resisted buying one of those tanks today and instead decided to put the money toward the RO/DI unit for my 125g and take the time to really question them about it. I have seen it there for around 3 months and the 2 fish are for sale but have not been moved out (one is a clown and the other I can't remember but I think it gets large and I'm hoping it isn't already starting to stunt). It made me wonder what fish could actually be kept in a tank that size for its entire life. I mean really wonder because, as I said earlier, I would really love a coffee table setup like that. Their tank had some very pretty purple live rock (which I need to look into because I heard that is something that grows on it to make it look purple like that), 2 big nem's on top, and some very small ones all around it. I just didn't get it.

If I ever do a small setup like that I still think it would definitely be a dwarf seahorse setup but I'm so excited for what my 125g will turn into. I can live with the tank not looking like a magazine because I'm realistic but I'm definitely worried I won't get enough color out of it. I'm worried the rock won't grow and will just keep looking like rock. I still have lots of research to do though on salt so I'm sure I'm gonna learn quite a bit when I can get that RO/DI unit in because all that leaves is my sump pump and a bunch of small purchases and once that is on its way I have to really research hard because with the price of live sand and live rock none of that will go near my tank until I know every little thing I can think to ask XD

 

[greech]

@platy's post 2 posts above this

If a coral outgrew a tank it would probably get stressed out and would die


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That is spectacular ! I'm gonna have to use that one .

Nano reefs are here to stay. The costs to setup a tank that is 20 gallons isn't much more than a 125 assuming you equip them with like (but size appropriate) equipment. What makes nanos popular is the lack of space required and the lower cost of and ease upkeep. A 50 gallon bag of salt will get you 4 water changes on a 125 where you'll 20 to 25 changes on a 20 to 30 gallon. Besides upkeep costs, there have been so many nano fish introduced into the hobby and more are coming in everyday.

Corals go in, coral grow, corals get fragged, frags get traded for new corals .

Don't judge the simplicity of a tank by the displays you see at your LFS. They have all day, every day and an arsenal of dry goods to maintain their tanks. Its in their best interest to have everything looking good when customers come in. Other than species that have a proven tract record of poor survival in the hobby, the work difficult or expert typically means one of 2 things...(1) you work hard on the tank or (2) you pay a lot of money for equipment that reduces the amount of work you have to do .

 

[Nepherael]

Lol there it is. I knew there was an easy explanation. Either spend a lot of time maintaining or a little more money.

I'm on my way Greech. I have a thread up now working on a RO/DI unit, I'm picking up that skimmer I messages you about on Wednesday, and all that's left is setting up the sump (keep an eye out for a PM or a thread about that) and getting some little stuff. Ugh I'm not looking forward to the purchase of all that sand and rock (again, watch for a message about that. Gotta see what I can get away with to start cycling and seeding).

Once I get the equipment I'm gonna start my progress thread (or track down the one I started. Might just make a new thread for organizations sake though lol) and get to work on a stock list and research while I build the sump and make sure everything functions

 

[platytudes]

A lot of folks, especially nowadays as the marine and reef aquarium fad is reaching new heights, you'll find that many are focused solely on aesthetics. Some of these people only keep tanks for a few months at a time--maybe a year or so at the most--before they tear it down and start again when it doesn't look pristine. A lot of that has to do with the various influence of certain big communities and what they've deemed worthy of being a nice aquarium. Rubbish in my opinion, but to each his/her own.

100% agree with this. The high tech planted nanos are guilty of this too. They aren't permanent. You'll find some pico reefs that are, such as this:
http://www.youtube.com/user/brandon429
But they are so unlike the pristine mini aquarium first posted. They are an actual environment and not a decoration. I honestly think many of these setups are put up just long enough to take pictures and then taken down...I know that is definitely so for the planted tanks crammed into just a few liters of water.

I don't include the 14 gallon nano tanks as part of this fad, but rather the tanks in the single digit range which are incredibly impractical and basically just form over function in every way.

This is a great example of pico tank fail:
http://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/385773/finnex-4-gallon

When I moderated another forum, I used to see a lot of this. I don't have experience with saltwater, but sometimes it would be days before any of the other mods came online, so I did my best to help. In the back of my mind, I always thought, "You're having these problems because you're trying to grow an underwater reef in a bucket of water...you #^*&$@!"

I'm sorry, but no matter what kind of additives they invent, or how scientifically advanced the additives become, I still cannot believe that multiple corals can grow well in a tank that is so tiny. The addition of "clean up crew" just seems absurd to me.

 

[platytudes]

What do you mean by food safe receptacle?

I had always thought you needed to mix saltwater in a container that was also food safe. One of the most popular choices is the grey Rubbermaid Brute container, which is food safe. Looking this up, I see that even Drs. Foster and Smith (along with plenty of other websites) say it is ok to use a clean, new plastic garbage can or tote....hmm! I always thought the typical black plastic garbage can was not so great to use, maybe that wasn't true.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=422

 

[Nepherael]

Ah right on. Glad you mentioned it anyway. I was thinking basic 5g buckets but I should probably go a little bigger for such a large tank. Maybe a 30+ gallon Rubbermaid tub.

I gotta get this RO/DI thing figured out. I read a very interesting write up about it but factoring in saving money is making it a bit of a pain. I at as well just budget $200 and call it a day. I'm really impatient so I was hoping to find a quality cheaper one with some eBay links I psed in another thread. I think I have the right idea with what I need though so the build your own on bulk reef is probably the way I should go

 

[platytudes]

Their tank had some very pretty purple live rock (which I need to look into because I heard that is something that grows on it to make it look purple like that)

I think you mean coralline algae?
http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/general.cfm?general_pagesid=294

Like I said, keep reading...*cough cough* what books have you got on order from Amazon?

 

[Nepherael]

None. I will probably never buy a book again when I have the Internet at my disposal. Yeah that's what I read it was. I actually still haven't really dug into my salt research yet, I've still been doing so much with freshwater I haven't been able to dig and I know once I start if my tank still has weeks before I can even start cycling it I'll get angry and impatient.

 

[Khemul]

A lot of these pico tank are done with a full plan behind them. Even larger tanks are often done with a plan behind them, but larger tanks give a lot more leeway with plans and how long they can play out.

But a person putting a large coral in a tiny tank is not all that different from a person putting multiple large coral right next to each other in a big tank. Both cases are going to fail if the person didn't think things out and plan for the future.