Would This Be Considered "nano"

[penguinpimp1990]

would a 10 gallon (US) tank with liverock, live sand, small peaceful fish/ crusteaceans, and mushrooms be considered a nano reef? I really dont think it would because there are no corals. How hard do you think a tank like this would be to run? (forgot to add that it will have the basics like powerheads, skimmer, ect.)

Also Ive read everywhere that a nano/pico tank could in the long run cost the same or even more than a larger reef tank, do you think a tank like this will quite expensive?

 

[Fish Fingers]

If the tank had no corals, it wouldn't be considered a nano reef, but would still be a nano tank(nano is the size not whats in it). Just to give you a heads up goes you don't need a skimmer for such a small tank, and you would only need fluros if the only "coral" you wanted was mushrooms. A 10 gallon tank would be moderately easy to run as long as your research well and do everything perfectly. You'd certainly need to monitor the tanks parameters often to make sure they are all ok and be strict with waterchanges, lightly feeding and removing waste from the tank. The only problem with a tank that small you could only really have 1-2 small fish.

As for the cost thing, my nano has cost a lot less than my 3ft main tank. My 3ft has cost about $800 whereas my nano has costed me around $200(with most of the equipment in each tank being second hand).

 

[penguinpimp1990]

Is that $200 for the insides (ie sand, coral,) or for the entire setup (ie tank, stand, ect.) I already have an empty 10 gallon with heater, stand, light fixtures, refractometer, and some powerheads lying around...

 

[steelhealr]

Agree with the above. Average startup cost for a nano tank is about $400. The costs DO catch up quickly....frequent water changes, instability can cause losses, etc. You CAN save money if you go FOWLR (fish only with live rock) as corals really do fluff up your costs..unless you find a good buddy to exchange frags with. SH

 

[Fish Fingers]

Is that $200 for the insides (ie sand, coral,) or for the entire setup (ie tank, stand, ect.) I already have an empty 10 gallon with heater, stand, light fixtures, refractometer, and some powerheads lying around...

That was everything except the fish and stand (i didn't buy a stand). My fish so far have cost me about $90. Id bought most of my stuff second hand and I don't pay for water changes cos I use NSW so that brings down the costs of running the tank.