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everyone

Please post your questions and comments about the Nano Reef Contest Here. I will try and answer them so others can also read them.

Clear skies
Vishnu

Hey Vishnu just a suggestion,maybe we should change the lighting to 110w. I have been looking at some PC lights and most of them are 2@55w.

Garrett

Hi Garrett

I spent a lot of time about the lighting issue. I see your point, but the conclusion we made was that we are never going to get everyone happy about the wattage. The original nano-reef.com contest had a limit of just 40 watts and they had a strict guideline about the exact type of bulb and unit you can use. We have relaxed it considerably to bump it up to 100 watts. Which is about 10 watts/Gallon for a 10 gallon tank. At that amount of light you can keep pretty much any type of coral. As far as specific units go we are leaving it to the users to come up with the bulb/fixture combination. There are 20" PC units that have under 100 watts. In fact coralife has a 28 watt and 96 watt units that are 20" long, ideal for 10-gallon tank. There are also several 70 watt Metal Halide units in both hood and retrofit setups.
The bottom line is not the wattage or the bulb or the hood. Its simply the growth of coral that the contest is going to be judged on. Hope that address your question. Thanks for your question.

clear skies
Vishnu

Yes it did Thanks Vishnu

Your welcome. You are always a good sport.

Asked this question on the other forum and was told to post here... "this may have been in there but can the tank be smaller and how is the tank judged on color and things like that that are going to be subjective to the type of coral that you choose. I only ask this because I can get things to grow like hell but there color will suck."

Thanks for your question. And welcome to the forum.

The tank has to fit the dimensions stated in the rules. You could be 1/2" +/- if you make a custom built acrylic tank but in general a standard 10-gallon tank is preferred. I am not sure subjective is the right word I would use. We are looking for both quantity of growth and quality of the corals which defines its health. Good husbandry would include having aesthetically pleasing colors (natural for the corals) apart from good growth. So if you get things to grow like hell then you have solved one issue and can just work on improving the colors of your corals (assuming that you can duplicate the growth in the nano tank.) Poor color is a classic sign of high nutrient levels in the tank. At the same time there are colorful corals that thrive in high nutrient waters. The judges we have picked are aware of this and will take it into consideration. Hope that answers your questions.
Vishnu

, I have a 10 that im not doing anything with it. The problem is i have some sand in it right know no water. Is it ok if I take a pic with the sand in there or do i need to remove it? Thanks opipe73

I think that should be fine as long as its just sand sitting in there. But if you can remove it then its better since everyone will start with the same empty tank on Day 1.
Vishnu

ok i need to remove to paint the back. thanks and cant wait for it to start. opipe73

How could you use a sump? You have a 10g tank and that is the total water volume you can have right? so if yo have a 10g tank and a 10g sump thats 20g right? or am I missing something.....

Okay looks like people are over interpreting some rules. So let me try to make things clear.

SUMPS, SKIMMERS and Refugia: Typically, you cant really have a separate tank apart from your 10 gallon. If you see the nano reef forum, its very popular to put a false wall inside the 10 gallon tank and create a sump/refugium/skimmer area similar to Nano Cubes and Aquapods. This is done to keep the clutter to the minimum in the display side and also have a nice place to have a small refugium/heaters etc. Frankly, with a 10 gal tank one can easily get away without a skimmer or a refugium just by doing 2-3 gal water changes every week or two unless you keep a large bio load.

As far as using skimmers, HOB filters etc to increase tank water volume. They have to be within reason and that's a commonsense issue. You obviously cant have a Volcano skimmer with 90 gallons of water on a 10 gallon tank. At the same time, you can have a small Tunze nano skimmer that can sit in your tank or your refugium area (within the 10 gallon). The same goes for HOB filters, try to be reasonable, don't put an extra large HOB skimmer or refugium to increase your water volume.

Again, the key issue here is husbandry and not that extra gallon or two of water that's going to make you win the contest.

If I find any discrepancies with anyone's setup I am not going to disqualify you but give you a chance to fix the situation. So relax and don't get worried too much about the rules

Hope that helps.
Vishnu

so... small nano skimmers and aqua clears modded into a fuge will not count as flow?
we will still be able to use a small power head?