Nanoreefs=cruel?

Right this could start a good debate now but I think it really needs brought to light.
This all started when I posted pictures on a forum and some old fashioned keepers called me cruel because they can’t just accept that reefkeeping is changing and they are too stuck in their ways.
One point they made about nanos being marketed badly is rather true but it is also down to advice given by lfs being anything up to a million miles away from correct. For example just because a regal tang is only a baby does not make it a suitable inhabitant for a nano because a few months down the line it will require much more space that your tank can provide. Unfortunately on many occassions I have seen on various forums, people keeping tangs and other unsuitable inhabitants in their nanos.
I personally do not see anything wrong with my stock being kept in a nano, I have 3 fish, a flameback dwarf angel, ocellaris clown and a pyjama cardinal. Would you rather see this or someone keeping a naso vlamingii in a 6x2x2? I know which one sounds cruel to me.
A massive benefit of nanoreefs is that is makes the hobby more readily available to people just starting out with the lower start up cost. People don’t tend to like this because people will just go out and buy a nano and not researh it properly and kill off a lot of livestock which is a terrible thing but on many occassions I have seen large setups for sale costing less than a new nano. My point there is that a beginner to the saltwater could make a mistake with any setup they have and kill off stock and this should not just be narrowed down to us nano keepers because most of us are just as dedicated to the welfare of the oceans as you reefers out there with your ‘superior’ tanks.

Please add any comments on this below guys.

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  1. Curvball says:

    Great post Stephen. It does seem like many people see nanoreefs as cruel – and they can be, especially if you put a yellow tang in a 24g system… then again, most reef fish shouldn’t be kept in tanks, period. The swimming space they require is immense.

    But one thing many reefkeepers miss when it comes to nanoreefs -they are more difficult to keep than bigger systems. Such a small volume of water is more challenging to keep stable. This is one area that I worry about when ‘newbies’ get into reefs, although the costs are lower, the attention required for tank stability is so much higher.

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