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RE: What is a good beginner SW tank size??

Hailey — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 07:24:55 GMT

LOL...too funny.

RE: What is a good beginner SW tank size??

jfish13 — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 20:26:28 GMT

Hailey, since I quoted the pics of your reef someone pmed me about sw tanks! they said I saw "your" reef! I replied "I don't have a single sw tank" So, hopefully the member pmed someone else!

RE: What is a good beginner SW tank size??

ILuvMyGoldBarb — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 17:41:18 GMT

I have to agree. 55 gallons is the smallest tank I would start with when first getting into the marine tank hobby. Evaporation becomes an issue in anything smaller and the possible wild swings in salinity can have dire consequences for your fish. You constantly have to top them up to keep the salinity stable. Also, because marine organisms are much more sensitive to things like ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, the small volume of water will make it difficult to keep those down. Nitrates will rise much faster in a smaller volume of water. The fish may produce the same amount of waste but it is not as diluted in a small tank as it is in a larger system.

RE: What is a good beginner SW tank size??

Hailey — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 20:32:10 GMT

Thanks. Wait till you see new pics...assuming I can ever get my hands on a digital camera. :P

RE: What is a good beginner SW tank size??

jfish13 — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 20:09:04 GMT

Hailey (1/18/2008)

Small tanks (under 40 gallons or so) can be very difficult to stabilize. Your best bet is to go as big as you can afford and fit in your home, because your chances of success are dramatically better. I have spent little more than Saltwater Aquarist (maybe about $700 total now) and I have a thriving 72g reef with anemones and corals along with two fish (would have been 6, but I got off to a rocky start by introducing a fish without quarantining early on...I'll never do that again).

I got all this for so little because I bought used. I got all the live rock I needed (over 100lbs), plus the tank (which was actually a 90g, but I wanted a bowfront so I moved everything into a tank I already had), solid wood stand, powerheads, an anemone, several corals, and three fish from someone getting out of the hobby for only $300. I upgraded the lights and added a good skimmer, a couple powerheads, and some sand (it had crushed coral to begin with but I switched to a cheap aggregate sandbox sand from Home Depot). Now I am done with everything but livestock, an I'm using Christmas money to get the rest of that. This was the tank when I first bought it and set it up (it looks very different now, and much better, but even this shows what can be accomplished with just $300 or so if you are smart about it).

BTW, sorry about all the glare, but i just can't get a decent photo of a bowfront tank. I'm going to try again soon and maybe post some pics of it as it is today (the difference is amazing...The corals and especially purple coralline algae have grown immensely, and I re-aquascaped it much better).

Great tank Hailey!

RE: What is a good beginner SW tank size??

jfish13 — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 19:57:00 GMT

Wow!! thats a GREAT deal! :D

RE: What is a good beginner SW tank size??

Hailey — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 19:55:48 GMT

Nope. Someone even gave away a smaller SW tank with fish. etc because they were moving (only hitch was it needed to be picked up that day).

RE: What is a good beginner SW tank size??

jfish13 — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 19:53:20 GMT

Hailey (1/18/2008)

Craigslist...it's a beautiful thing. ;) You wouldn't believe the deals I have seen go by (including a 90g reef for $100...I would have bought it but I had no more room for tanks).

Are you kidding??

RE: What is a good beginner SW tank size??

Hailey — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 19:52:26 GMT

Craigslist...it's a beautiful thing. ;) You wouldn't believe the deals I have seen go by (including a 90g reef for $100...I would have bought it but I had no more room for tanks).

RE: What is a good beginner SW tank size??

Saltwater Aquarist — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 19:47:48 GMT

wow $700 for a reaf tank is great. My 24 cost $500 with fish and LR. where did you get the tank?

RE: What is a good beginner SW tank size??

jfish13 — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 19:33:44 GMT

Thanks! I think I'll wait a whil before I start one! (I'll be reading about them though!;))

RE: What is a good beginner SW tank size??

Hailey — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 16:51:54 GMT

RE: What is a good beginner SW tank size??

Saltwater Aquarist — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 11:28:46 GMT

55 gallon cost more $$$ money to start. If you want to buy really good light that could be $700 the aquapod has good lights already in it. You would also need to set up some kind of filter,that could be hard and $$$$ all you need to do with the aqaupod is just add sand, LR and water its all in there. You can also get the stand for an aquapod and that only costs $50. A 50 gallon tank stand would be in the hundreds.

RE: What is a good beginner SW tank size??

tmac1rebok — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 11:11:17 GMT

Go with a 55gallon. Its 48inches long. Goood size start. I would feel that getting aquarium system negates the ability to upgrade the hardware in the tank or even tranfer some stuff over to a larger tank. Esp. I you want coral and the lighting its strong enough, but seem fine at the time. Seriously consider piecing together a tank. Its also more enjoyable that way.

RE: What is a good beginner SW tank size??

Saltwater Aquarist — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:35:57 GMT

yep i also sent the more info this morn

RE: What is a good beginner SW tank size??

jfish13 — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 22:13:26 GMT

Did you get the pm?

RE: What is a good beginner SW tank size??

jfish13 — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 22:01:25 GMT

I'm pming you right now!

RE: What is a good beginner SW tank size??

Saltwater Aquarist — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 21:58:39 GMT

I am a teen too :). I would say an aquapod 24 is an ok tank. you have to get it at dr fosters and smith they have great prices on aquapods. you can also keep coral in an aquapod if you want. It costs about $500 after everything for me to set it up. You will need to mod the tank a little it needs better fans not that hard also you will want to change the screws to a none rusting screw like plastic. If you need any more help PM me.:D

What is a good beginner SW tank size??

jfish13 — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 21:43:13 GMT

I really want to start a fish-only sw tank! I've been reading books about SW tanks! and really want to start one this year, or sometime later! Here are my questions:

What is a good beginner SW tank size?

Can a responsible Teenager have one?

Whats a good protien skimmer?