Best Starter Aquarium?

[ctopherl]

That is true! I’m gonna end up getting the Fluval Evo XII 13.5 gallon salt water kit.

13.5 might be tough to keep stable for a first tank, and you will likely be more limited in fish than you think. If you are just testing the waters for a bit before going big that is fine. I started with a 55g and lasted 2 years before upgrading to a 180g… would’ve been much quicker if I started small!

 

[OU812Reefing]

Hi! I’m new to this and never had a salt/fresh water tank before. I’ve been looking at different stores and places online to get a tank, but I’m not sure which one is best? I was looking at glass frameless ones, and possibly something from fluval but I’m curious as to what everyone else thinks! Thanks!!

Proclear ProStar 60 no regrets

 

[vetteguy53081]

For the sake of space, ease of maintenance and cost- Cant beat an all in one (AIO) and the 32g bio-cube system

 

[Andreas' Reef]

I would say a Biocube 32 is very easy to set up and get going. There are just a few things you need at the start that don't come with the tank like some filter medium and a powerhead. And there is tons of room for upgrades in the future, like the coralife protein skimmer, which worked well for me.

 

[Andreas' Reef]

bros right about that

Bro is correct

 

[Andreas' Reef]

Stear clear of the fluval evo 13.5. It's too small

 

[TorontoReefer]

I’ve got a Reef Casa studio 12 with a Halo light and I’m very happy with it. They have larger sizes too. I have a build thread going if you want to see what it looks like. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/reef-casa-studio-12-build.942350/page-3

 

[Mikey-D]

I have the IM 75 EXT.

My Opinion:
You have room to aquascape, house some cool fish and not feel the need to grow out to a bigger tank once you have fish and the taste for coral. This allows you to accommodate all of that. Keep a decent budget and if you get a ro/di system water changes and ATO are much more manageable.

 

[jasonvan]

i start with at least a 40gal. smaller tanks require more attention. 1 little thing can throw the tank off and crash it. i been there with my 10gal nano. harder to crash a bigger tank imo

 

[GDiaz]

bros right about that

I agree

 

[nanonem]

I know a lot of people are vouching for the fluval evo 13.5 gallon but Innovative Marine has a great 15 gallon tank for $100 that I just got. Here is the link: https://www.saltwateraquarium.com/15-gallon-fusion-aio-all-in-one-cube-aquarium-innovative-marine/
Can’t beat the price and quality of IM.
You’d probably wanna upgrade the 130gph return pump on this one but you can’t beat $100 for a starting price.

 

[liddojunior]

If looking for a sold starter tank. As everyone mentioned AIO tanks are great

I would honestly recommend reef casa. They are on par with Waterbox tanks and they have start kits that have everything you need to start!

The aquarium is the cheapest part. I think the accessories and rock/sand always end up being where the cost is

Home

Reef Casa makes the worlds first true saltwater aquarium kit perfect for setting up a nano saltwater tank in your home or office.

reefcasa.com

 

[Andreas' Reef]

I’ve got a Reef Casa studio 12 with a Halo light and I’m very happy with it. They have larger sizes too. I have a build thread going if you want to see what it looks like. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/reef-casa-studio-12-build.942350/page-3

I'd figure as much since you're from Toronto! @Fragbox Corals

 

[NormanB]

I've always been kind of an al la carte kind of person, so I like to pick and choose what equipment I buy.

I'm on my 3rd system which is now 3 years old after a 10 year break. Before that 2 systems over a 15 year period.

I've only used 75g tanks with overflow for my reefs thus like someone else said, requires a sump. For me the 75 is the sweet spot size wise to keep what I want and still not go broke setting it up and stocking it.

Just my .02

 

[AquaticVisualPleasures Al]

A 25 or 30g AIO I found to be the easiest and least stressful. Water changes are a breeze and everything is easily accessible to remove any pests, clean the sand, rocks and so on. Easy to light and easy to get proper flow.

Absolutely, though I'd bump up to a 40gal. Breeder the "floor plan is much nicer and easier to spread and space things and same amount on usage of the same size filtration lights have better options one light can do too.

 

[Cthulukelele]

I agree with above about a 30 gallon or so aio. Used to be the advice was go as big as possible, but with how user friendly aio aquariums are nowadays its a great way to start the hobby with a lower stress smaller system to see how much you like it

 

[Tamberav]

Absolutely, though I'd bump up to a 40gal. Breeder the "floor plan is much nicer and easier to spread and space things and same amount on usage of the same size filtration lights have better options one light can do too.

Yes 40 breeders are great. I wish more beginners would consider them as they are around $40 during the sales. I think a lot of people feel they need to be fancy with rimless for social media and they don't get as much attention anymore. The only downside to them is potentially more cost to light then a cube.

 

[OfficeReefer]

Hi! I’m new to this and never had a salt/fresh water tank before. I’ve been looking at different stores and places online to get a tank, but I’m not sure which one is best? I was looking at glass frameless ones, and possibly something from fluval but I’m curious as to what everyone else thinks! Thanks!!

I have several Fluval for sale right now. I think they are okay products but their lights are terrible for integration and control.

If I were to do it all over again, I would probably get something 15-20g, because you'll want to make and change your own water regularly and where you do this and how much you make, might depend on where you live. If you are in an apartment, keeping more than 20g will be challenging and some will not permit aquariums at all or those over 50g.

My recommendation is something that will permit easy changes, good flow and an amount you plan to lose entirely, since most of this stuff loses money rather than makes it. Get the accessories from InTank and maybe a light from AI or go with an AIO. I also recommend to start thinking about aquarium controllers, Apex or CoralVue but what accessories work with that. Consistency is key to success here.

Also, if you want cool fish, you are limited with a 20g but not so much with a 50g. I went bigger once I purchased a house and settled on a Red Sea Reefer 250 later on, as this is big enough for everything I want. Good luck and enjoy!

 

[AquaticVisualPleasures Al]

Yes 40 breeders are great. I wish more beginners would consider them as they are around $40 during the sales. I think a lot of people feel they need to be fancy with rimless for social media and they don't get as much attention anymore. The only downside to them is potentially more cost to light.

It may seem that way, the cost of lights are ridicules. You can pick up lower cost "adjustable nice wide spectrum lights that have all you need" if you were to opt. For vispectra I think the name is the "three foot" model more watts fits the tank and I think it's like three hundred or less many many guys, gals and coral farms use them as their lights that cheap and they work. Best advice is go as big as possible up a 90gal. With over flows and a sump fluvals are great filters in my experience the larger and largest models are in the end what you wanta shoot for on purchases not much more money much more filter capacity on flow with an completely forgotten about filter most don't wanna clean them and the larger ones are an ease to clean great for any type of "strippers of the water for chem filtering pads absorbers etc. And it does do all three filtration needs but add it to a sump with fleece a protein skimmer and three part it with trace elements added get good GOOD TEST KITS. That's all you need ....well fish food coral food pods phyto....hahaHAHA welcome to the world of creating an eco-system. Last words start with live Rock from great places like TBS and send the dang money on wet rock top rock not base nice big pieces of life all over it to start and know you gotta cycle that thing thru that ugly phase.

 

[Tamberav]

It may seem that way, the cost of lights are ridicules. You can pick up lower cost "adjustable nice wide spectrum lights that have all you need" if you were to opt. For vispectra I think the name is the "three foot" model more watts fits the tank and I think it's like three hundred or less many many guys, gals and coral farms use them as their lights that cheap and they work. Best advice is go as big as possible up a 90gal. With over flows and a sump fluvals are great filters in my experience the larger and largest models are in the end what you wanta shoot for on purchases not much more money much more filter capacity on flow with an completely forgotten about filter most don't wanna clean them and the larger ones are an ease to clean great for any type of "strippers of the water for chem filtering pads absorbers etc. And it does do all three filtration needs but add it to a sump with fleece a protein skimmer and three part it with trace elements added get good GOOD TEST KITS. That's all you need ....well fish food coral food pods phyto....hahaHAHA welcome to the world of creating an eco-system. Last words start with live Rock from great places like TBS and send the dang money on wet rock top rock not base nice big pieces of life all over it to start and know you gotta cycle that thing thru that ugly phase.

Ya.. I mean potentially cost more. It depends if you are a name brand light person or not. Plenty of people want the AI prime and not the chinese box. Same reason they want the rimless tank and not the 40 breeder from petco.

I disagree with as big as you can but I know everyone says that. My 80g is more work then my 25g ever was. This is because water changes or any sort of reset or getting to a pest aiptasia is basically a joke in a 25g. I absolutely hated my 75g (too deep for me) before the 80 shallow as I didn't like to go pitts deep to reach things. I mean how many times do we hear.. "I can't reach it, I can't pull the rocks out" - plus more fish means more potential disease entering the tank and again... beginners don't want to buy from fancy online QT places or QT their own, they buy from the LFS until they get burned and then come asking for help and and they don't have a second spot to put 90 gallons worth of fish to QT them and maybe quit.

I know people like to say "oh but swings!" but neglecting a big tank is just a bigger problem forming slower then neglecting a small tank. It is all the same except a small tank you can turn around in a few hours with a 5g bucket. I just wouldn't suggest going too small as people generally want fish and corals and space is limited if you go too small.

I think there are best case scenarios and then there is reality of what the majority of beginners will do.

Also worth realizing is nano-reefs are not as difficult as they used to be. LED's are a big help to that. You don't worry so much about overheating like back when it was t5 or metal halide over your little reef (oh and power compacts!). There are also tons of products like nano skimmers, small sized ATO's that fit in chambers, reactors, one head dosers paired with all4reef, little bags of chemipure or purigen and anything you could want that never existed before. Keeping a nano is a simple task these days.

In the end though, budget will dictate a lot of what they do.