Short on space, but love fish? A nano reef tank, Nano Tanks, Nano Reef Tanks, Nano cube fish tank, nana hats shark tank, nano reef tank might be the tiny touch your home seems to be missing. Here are some of the best we have found for your life.
A large aquarium, densely planted with greenery and colorful fish, is a sight to behold. As beautiful as it is, though, it does take up a great deal of space and can be a lot of work to maintain. If you are looking for the aquarium concept but don’t have the time or space to accommodate a monster tank, maybe a nano would be more your speed.
Looking to learn more about nano tanks or what some of the best options are? You’re in the right place! Here, you will learn all you need to know about nano tanks before you go shopping. Also, you will find our top 10 choices for the best nano tanks.
What Do You Need to Know About Nano Tanks?
Well, as the name suggests, it’s an aquarium coming in miniaturized size. By technicality, the term is used to refer to tanks of about 30 gallons or less, but do not get misled; even a 10-pound tank may weigh over 100 pounds when filled.
Setting up a nano tank can be quite an exciting challenge for any aquarium hobbyist. However, there are some things you should at least know before trying your hand at it.
- This nano kit is going to be ideal for all those who are just starting: a tank equipped with all the necessary systems to run a planted aquarium—the filtration, heating, and lighting.
- You’ll need to be very conscious about where you place your nano tank. Small temperature swings from direct sunlight or sitting near a cooling vent can have a much stronger impact on a small tank.
- Keep it simple. When choosing your tank inhabitants and your decoration plan, just choose a theme and stick to it. Otherwise, you’re going to make it extremely hard to keep all of your tank parameters on target.
- Be very careful about overstocking. You may know about the old rule of thumb: one inch of fish per gallon, but even that could be too much in a nano tank. Stock just a few fish or corals over weeks, better yet, months, so the system can adjust properly.
- Incorporate as many live plants as possible. Living plants will present a much more valuable basis for biological filtration than artificial plants and could help to maintain good water quality in your tank.
- Watch out for the lighting. In small tanks, heated lighting systems can become disastrous—while LED lights do very well in nano tanks.
You need to know how to properly set up your nano reef tanks, nano cube fish tank, nana hats shark tank, of course, and much of it is being diligent with the maintenance. Maintenance is more difficult in small tanks than in large tanks because, in a small system, small changes can drastically affect the ecosystem.
Related: Best Fish Food For Aquarium
How many fish could you put in a nano tank?
As with all fishkeeping, optimum numbers of fish are very much related to water quality, and therefore filtration. In nano aquariums, space for filtration may be at a premium. So here size does matter.
As an example, 10-15 smaller fish of the same size as Neon Tetras or White Cloud Mountain Minnow in a 50-liter aquarium would be okay. Similarly, 1 or 2 larger fish like Goldfish would also be suitable.
If your fish are at full size and water parameters are acceptable, then you are good to go for adding more. In fishkeeping, you are always going to have the most success with a little bit of patience. When you add small quantities of fish at a time, you allow the good bacteria living in the filter to slowly adjust to the changes without spiking the ammonia and nitrite.
Do nano tanks/small fish tanks need a filter?
No matter if it is a 20-liter aquarium or a 240-liter aquarium, ALL aquariums need filtration. The extent of filtration, however, will directly implicate the size of an aquarium—that is, the smaller the aquarium the smaller the filter, as a rule of thumb.
In each case, there needs to be biological and mechanical filtration. These are explained as follows:
It mechanically filters out large solids like fish waste from the main body of aquarium water. It includes one or a series of sponges.
Biological filtration consists of colonies of good bacteria, like Nitrobacter and Nitrosomonas, that neutralize toxic ammonia and nitrite, byproducts of fish waste. Normally in the form of large surface area materialization like K1 media, bio-balls, or ceramic media.
As pointed out earlier, one of the beautiful things about good nano aquariums is that they include more than adequate filtration systems as standard.
How to set up a nano tank
While setting up a nano aquarium, or for that matter any aquarium, you need to ensure that you have all the following correctly fitted with installations done as per the instructions:
- Filter/Filter Media
- Pump
- Inputs/Outputs
- Heater if you plan on keeping tropical or marine fish
- Light
This can then be followed by the substrate, which can be sand, aquatic compost, or gravel. In most cases, dechlorinated water is added thereafter, and gently poured to disturb the substrate minimally. Now you can add the finishing touches to your aquarium by aquascaping using rocks, plants, wood, and ornaments.
The Best Nano Tanks
When purchasing a nano tank, one needs to consider the kind of tank you intend to grow. Some nano tanks are specialized in reef environments, while others can be much more versatile. If you’re not quite sure, then have a look at some options to give you ideas.
Here are our guide for the best nano tanks:
1. Coralife LED Biocube Aquarium
This is the cube-shaped nano tanks, which comes in both 16 and 32-gallon sizes. It has a compact built-in filtration system with a quiet submersible pump and bright LED lighting. An integrated 24-hour timing and three lighting channels are also provided.
2. Tetra LED 3-Gallon Cube Aquarium
The next most popular variant of the desktop aquariums comes from Tetra in this 3-gallon cube, featuring a no-frills design that has 360-degree viewing. Besides an overhead LED light, it features a Tetra 3i filter to keep the tank clean for your fish.
3. Marineland Contour 3-Gallon Aquarium Kit
This is a 3-gallon contour glass aquarium kit or 5-gallon easy to set up and easy to maintain. It contains a concealed 3-step filtration system and an adjustable flow filter pump, daylight and moonlight LEDs.
4. Enn Plax Vertex Desktop Aquarium Kit
Another mini option within nano tanks, this 2.7-gallon tank sports a unique bent glass and frameless design. It includes a hang-on water filter, a thermometer, and a fish net so you have just about all you need to get going.
5. Hagen Marina 360-Degree Aquarium Kit
This nano tank measures 2.65 gallons and features a unique design that looks good from any angle. This fish tank comes with custom LED lighting and can be used for cold water or tropical fish.
6. Fluval Edge 6-gallon LED Aquarium
If you’re looking for something a little bigger than 2.6 gallons, try this 6-gallon nano tank. It comes in the shape of a cube with its integrated filtration and lighting systems concealed in an attractive column.
7. Fluval Spec III 2.6-Gallon Aquarium Kit
This 2.6-gallon aquarium is perfect for the desktop and contains a very resilient 3-stage filtration system, an ultra-bright 31-light LED system, and all filter media required to get started. Just add fish and your decorations!
8. Hagen HG Fluval Flex 15-Gallon Aquarium
With its modern style and sleek features, this freshwater aquatic kit is an outstanding 15-gallon aquarium. It is equipped with an incorporated multistage filtration system and the lighting is offered by a 7500K LED lamp. All the features are well concealed to give it a sleek, modern look.
9. Marineland Portrait 5-Gallon Aquarium Kit
This 5-gallon aquarium kit, with its incorporated 3-stage filtration and overhead LED, makes it perfect for a desktop tank. The blue and white LEDs will shimmer with daylight and relax in a moonlight glow.
10. Fluval Sea EVO XII 13.5-Gallon Kit
Fluval Sea EVO XII 13.5-gallon Kit for something a little more substantial, or in case you want to set up a reef tank, this 13.5-gallon aquarium kit would be more appropriate. It is attractively designed with a honeycomb pattern to hide the filtration system and comes with a multi-functional canopy with an easy-feed door and sleek waterproof casing.
These are just some of the options available in nano tanks. If you don’t see one here that fits your vision, don’t be afraid to keep shopping. Keep the tips above in mind to help guide you in making a smart choice for yourself and your future inhabitants in the tank.