Dory, I Shrunk the Reef: Why I’m Trading 4ft for a Nano

Time for me to face reality, the 4ft reef tank is big, expensive, complicated and time consuming. I don’t want any of these things anymore so after lots of procrastinating I have decided to downsize the tank so something much simpler and smaller.

The current display tank is around 340 Liters + sump, its a huge focal point in our front room, it always starts conversations when people come round but its too big for the space. It has a large cabinet underneath along with an electrical cupboard nearby. The new tank will be an AIO unit sat on top of a table, just as elegant but not so dominating.

I estimate that the big tank uses around £1 of electricity a day! I think that the new tank will cost around 40 pence per day. Imagine what amazing corals I could get with the £219 a year saved in electricity alone!

The fear! If this tank splits I end up with over 300 liters of water on the floor! The new tank only be around 80 liters of water, still a bad day if it breaks open but its not going to destroy the entire room.

The Plan

I wanted something smaller but long so that could sit against the same wall as the current tank. There aren’t many small but long All In One tanks available in the UK but I got lucky. Charterhouse aquatics have started to sell UNS tanks in the UK.
UNS make the 90LA, an All in One peninsula …..Christmas came early.

I chose this tank because it fits all my new requirements and it feels like the “premium” option for a nano tank.

Moving to a new tank is going to need space, not something I have much of, especially around Christmas. The tank will be setup in the new year once all the Christmas presents have found a new home and the tree is back in its home in the attic.

Things are going to take lots of time, hopefully in the following order:

• Setup new tank alongside old tank
• Slowly move some rock, corals and fish to the new tank
• Sell the old tank and any kit\coral\fish left over
• Lay new flooring in the room where the old tank sat
• Move the new tank into the same spot as the old tank

Easy right? What can go wrong?