WOW! Tank of The Month for a Nano Tank! Thank you to everyone who voted for my tank. It is an honour to receive this Award :-)

I first got into marines around five years ago, and since then I have only ever had small tanks. My first tank was the largest being forty litres. I bought this tank from an online auction site and was given some bad advice and ended up losing all my stock. I then found Ultimate Reef and gained a great amount of knowledge from reading and asking questions. I built my first custom pico at fifteen litres which I ran for two years, followed by my current tank which is twenty five litres. The reason behind the small tanks were due to having to move them around the county with me due to moving between University and work placements every six months.

When I first started keeping marines, there was the view that you must get the largest tank you could afford so you had the biggest volume possible. Having a greater volume of water will create a more stable environment for your inhabitants. I went away from the norm, and believed that I could keep a very small volume of water stable, both on the stand and during it being moved. I believe I have managed this without harming any of the inhabitants.

A really important aspect in the design of this tank was to be able to move it easily. The easiest way I have found to move the tank is to use an old salt bucket, which holds around twenty five litres of water. This then became the volume of the tank and I had to work out the dimensions. The dimensions of the tank are 250*350*250mm, the display is 250*250*250mm with extra space on the back creating the back chamber.

The way I designed my tank makes it as easy as possible to move it. The method I use to move the tank is:

1. Firstly, prepare extra salt water, as I always seem to lose water somewhere on the trip
2. Drain water into an old salt bucket
3. Install heater and power head and plug into a mains socket
4. Move all stock over to salt bucket
5. Pack up equipment into car
6. Move salt bucket containing stock into the front passenger foot well, plug the heater and power head into an inverter in the car. This then keep the temperature and oxygen levels correct
7. Drive to the new destination
8. Set up tank and equipment
9. Transfer water and stock back into the tank
10. Plug everything back in and reset timers.
11. Carry out a full set of water tests to ensure parameters are correct
12. Carry out water change if needed.

I designed the tank using Google Sketch up. Once this was done, off I went to my Local Fish Shop (LFS) to order the custom tank. The LFS uses a very well known reputable tank builder, but this was not the experience I received from the company. The first tank arrived with very poor craftsmanship, the second tank arrived and a panel had fallen off the tank, and the third tank arrived with the front panel scratched and very poor silicone work (Photos can be seen in my tank thread). I complained again, and they said they would send a forth. They lied to me and said the tank was in the post, but this was not the case. After waiting weeks and weeks, I gave up and set up the third tank. I set up this third tank as my stock was being held in a temporary holding tank and needed to get moved into a proper tank before it started to suffer. My LFS did everything they could to try and resolve the issues, but could not get the tank builder to send through a fourth tank. The LFS were as annoyed as me, and refunded me the cost of the tank, and let me keep the third tank free of charge.

The next stage of the tank build was to install the rear chamber. A very kind UR member said he would cut and send me the acrylic. This arrived and I stuck it together with superglue and used silicone to stick it to the back of the tank.

While all the above was happening, I designed the tank stand and then sent this off to Cockfields Farm to get constructed. The stand arrived on time, and I was very happy with the cost and high quality of it. Thanks Mark.

Due to the small size of the tank, I wanted to also make a feature from the live rock. I spent a few hours working with a few bits of LR that I broke into a few pieces. I then managed to come up with a bonsai style rockwork. The first time, stupidly I did not stick it all together, and then spent about another week trying to get it looking the same again.

I then left the tank to cycle for a few weeks before adding my stock.

When I set up this tank, LED lighting was starting to become available for reef tanks. There was a lot of hesitation from people about how successful LEDS were going to be. I thought the only way to know if they were any good was to try them. The more people bought them, the more they improved, and have now become a more viable option of lighting.

I initially looked at the TMC tile, but I was unhappy about how high it needed to be mounted to get a good coverage of light over the tank. Chis C then mentioned these Par38 bulbs that were available in America. We bit the bullet, and ordered a few each. No one had heard of these in the UK, and now they are a popular lighting choice on nano tanks. Cheap imitations are also now being built.

I started out with two 20k bulbs, (which consists of three blue LEDS and two white LEDS), over the tank for around six months. Everything was growing well, but one day I decided to turn one bulb off to see what would happen with the corals. All the corals liked the lower light level and started to colour up more, expand, and generally look a lot healthier. Since then I decided to keep the one Par38 over the tank.

In the rear chamber of the tank, there is a small 1000lph Hydor Nano pump. This pulls water through various sections in the back and then exists the rear chambers through a spray bar. This spray bar helps to agitate the surface of the water and also sprays behind the rockwork to stop dead stops.

In the main display, I have a Koralia Nano pump which is rated at 900lph. This pump is pointed over the top of the live rock, and towards the surface. This is to also aid surface agitation to increase gaseous exchange.

The total turnover in the tank is 1900lph.

1900lph / 25 Litres = 76 Times turnover per hour.

76 times turnover sounds like a lot but I find this works out quite well.

The filtration is very basic. I have around 1.5kg of live rock in the main display. The Koralia Nano pump pointing towards the rock increases the flow of water through the live rock to aid in rate of filtration from this.

The back chamber of the tank was designed to hold, and keep, most of the equipment and filtration hidden from the main display.

The middle, of three back sections is where the rest of the filtration occurs. This holds a Tunze 9002 Nano skimmer and the rest of the space is filled up with ReefresH20 balls.

I have never had issues with water quality, as the tank is not overstocked and I carry out regular water changes.

The heating and cooling for the tank is controlled by an ATC-800. The ATC-800 allows you to plug in two pieces of equipment. One to control heating and the other to control cooling.

The heating side of the ATC consists of a 50w heater, which is situated in the first chamber of the rear compartment of the tank.

In the summer months, when the tank has a risk of rising in temperature, I plug in a clip on five inch fan, from a well known DIY Store, which helps increase evaporation and therefore increases heat loss.

I find that my tank temperature sits at 25.7c.

I do not add any supplements to my tank. I find it easier to carry out regular water changes which helps replenish any elements that may have been depleted from coral growth.

The only thing I do dose, on a daily basis, is a few millilitres of South West Marines cultured Phytoplankton.

Keeping the salinity levels constant is essential. A piece of kit I could not live without is the Auto Top Off (ATO) unit. The float valve for this is situated in the final chamber of the rear compartment, which is where the evaporation level shows. The ATO unit is plugged into a timer, which is programmed to turn on for fifteen minutes, four times a day. I tend to lose about two litres of water every three to four days. Without the ATO, the last compartment of the rear chamber would become empty within a day and the return pump would run dry.

The tank is fed with New Era Marine Flakes and Nano Mix frozen gamma cubes on a dailly basis. I try to feed the tank a few times a day, but only adding small amounts.

A few times a week I like to feed my LPS corals. They get both the marine flakes and the frozen food.

There is not really much more to say about feeding, apart from that it is important not to over feed in a small tank as phosphates and nitrates can easily build up.

The upkeep of a nano tank is very important due to the very small volume of water.

The key to a successful tank is perfect water. To get your parameters spot on, you have to test. I test important parameters like Phosphate, Nitrate and Calcium bi-weekly.

To keep you parameters stable and correct, it is important to carry out regular water changes. Due to my tank only being twenty five litres, it is very easy to carry out a 10 or 20 percent water change every week. I think regular water changes are the key to my success and are very important if you keep such a small volume.

There are a number of things I do every week to keep the tank looking clean, this includes cleaning the skimmer cup, cleaning the glass a few times a week, and then keeping an eye on the corals and frag them back, or move them if they start to fight.

On a bi-monthly basis, I take out the pumps and spray bar, and give them a good clean out to keep them working efficiently.

I have had a number of problems with my tanks in the past, but this is mainly down to bad advice and rushing! Something that you must never do with this hobby is rush. It is always very tempting to get the tank wet and start stocking it straight away.

To be honest, I’ve not really had any serious problems with this tank. Except from the start where I had issues with the quality of the tank build. Which was never sorted and I settled for a sub standard tank.

The biggest problem with a small tank, and wanting to pack it as full as you can with corals, is corals fighting and killing each other.

I have found that LPS corals like to fight each other, and also LPS fight against SPS corals. My green star polyps like to wave around and will quite happily grow over my zoas and kill them off, and must be kept trimmed back.

The way I stopped the LPS from fighting is to split them up with soft corals in between, or to only put the same types of corals together.

Throughout the majority of this tanks life I have kept three fish. Some people would not agree with keeping fish in a tank this small, but I have kept water parameters spot on, and planned to upgrade to a bigger tank once I finished university and bought my own house. I am now currently in the process of setting up my new tank.

The fish in the tank are

• Black and White (Ocellaris) Clownfish
• Yasha Goby (Stonogobiops yasha) paired with a Randals Pistol Shrimp (Alpheus randalli)
• Yellow Goby (Gobiodon okinawae)

The fish have always got on well with each other, and I have never seen any signs of aggression between them.

I have tried to pack this tank with as many corals as possible. There is not much of the rock that is visible, which is how I like it :-)

The corals in the tank are:

Zoanthids	Turbinaria	Plating Montipora
Echinopora	Fungia	Acanthastrea
Blastomussa	Trachyphyllia	Xenia
Green Star Polyps	Toadstool Leather	Ricordia
Feather Duster	Gorgonian

Randal Pistol Shrimp	Cleaner Shrimp	Turbo Snails
Dove Snails	Cerith Snails

Keeping a nano reef is a great way to have a marine tank without having the MASSIVE costs of a large tank. The costs involved in keeping a nano tank are still large and you must ensure you are in a financial position to fund this hobby and be able to spend money if you get any issues or emergencies with the tank.

I am currently in the process of upgrading my tank to a large nano tank, which is around 125 litres (view the tank build). The plan for this tank is to go along the SPS route with only a few LPS and Zoas. I hope I can get this new tank looking as good or better than my current tank.

I would first like to thank everyone who has voted my tank as TOTM and left such kind comments on my tank threads. Thanks also go to all the people who have helped me along this amazing journey.

I would like to thank my parents, Wayne and Kate, for doing a great job of looking after my tank while I was travelling in the summer and also any flat mates over the past five years who have looked after the tank while I have been away.

A big thanks goes to Matt and his staff at SouthWest Marines for their amazing corals, service, and advice. There are plenty of other LFS that have helped me out but it would be impossible to list you all.

Over the years I have witnessed great generosity (when people donated me frags when I had a tank wipe out) and I have also made many friends, and learnt a great deal from you all. Special thanks to some close friends: Pedro, Owlbassboy, James.Weir, and Chris C, to just name a few. There are many more, you know who you are.