Whats the #1 thing a nano/pico reef should have?

Ive slowly moved towards smaller tanks over the years and I currently have a 4 gallon cube with HOB aquaclear that i put live sand in to act like a refuge. Aside from lighting, in the past my filtration has varied such as, HOB, Canister, HOB Refugiums, skimmers, uv sterilizers and maybe more on my 4 gallon.(not at the same time) My last 3 tanks i havent used any substrate because i like the clean look with less cleaning. During the different stages of my tank i found that just a small HOB was sufficient for the type of coral i had at the time. I would like to start a new build and im weighing my options for a nano tank, nothing detailed just in general a nano tank. Ive herd people saying, no filter more LR and less bioload and good water flow. To protein skimmer, sump, refugium all at once. Im leaning towards heavy flow, low bioload, constant water changes and possibly a HOB refuge.

I want to know whats everyone's feeling on the topic.
What would you run?

 

No one has a nano or pico reef?

 

"Whats the #1 thing a nano/pico reef should have?"

I'm going out on a limb here, but my first guess would be: water ;D


Seriously, I'm not much of a nano guy, but you can never go wrong with a lot of water changes, live rock and flow. If you can work in a protein skimmer then great; it will keep you from having to do as many water changes. As to the fuge, I'm a huge fan, but not really for filtration purposes. Having one introduces natural food into the tank and corals love that.

 

Ok i like it

 

1. A controller 2. ATO 3. Small fish bioload

 

1) ato

 

Any equipment that will guarantee stability. The smaller the volume of water, the faster parameters can change, and we all know what happens when things start to fluctuate.

ATO is good. Thermometer is vital though

 

IMOPE, protein skimmers don't do much for small tanks. I've had 3 different models on tanks from 20 - 30g; yeah, they collected skimmate, but didn't really reduce nitrate production to any noticeable degree. Activated carbon does a better job.

 

I took my canister filter off and put a wave maker in its place. Lets see what the outcome is. So far my hammer is loving the nice flow. ATO is a really good idea! but i done have any room for it! I am the ATO haha. Im shooting for low bioload and strong flow.

 

So far no major changes to levels in my tank. Coral has normal growth not seeing any changes with out the canister filter. Its not any more dirty with out it. Il keep updating as i check levels.