How many tanks is "too" many?

[SueAubu]

So, I have been thinking about starting another tank and I just need some validation from others in the hobby. I currently run a 40g Nem tank in my home office, 180g mixed reef in the living room and a 40g FW planted guppy tank in the dining room. I want to add a 150g FOWLR to the living room as well. I don't know whether this makes me a "crazy fish lady" like my man thinks I am or not. I am 95% sure it's going to happen I just need that "encouragement" to enable me to blame you all when things go sideways. Which they somehow always do. Thanks for playing.

I have a 95 coral in the bedroom, a 55g Fowlr for the jerk face fish in the living room. Another 55g, next to it that I rescued. I have a 220g that has coral but is sitting fallow after losing rescued livestock to velvet. (Then the 20g hospital tank I needed for that crisis) I have a 29g fw tank in the kitchen for pleccos that the grandsons gave up on....

Which one of us is crazy?????

 

[EricR]

How many:

Me: as dictated by space and resources—maybe another will fit.
My wife: 1 is enough

I agree with your wife,,, doh!
Well,,, sometimes a 2nd temporary one for QT or interesting experiments.

I'm in the minority here since this isn't my "main" hobby,,, but have found myself spending more time on this stuff in recent years.

 

[Aquarist76]

At my last house I had 12-14 tanks going at any given time. I had a 96" 210G Planet Aquarium, Red Sea 180G, Red Sea 55G x2 as well as Petco tanks: 75G, 55G x3, 40G x2, 30G, 20G x2.

It was like I was running my own pet store. LOL. Had well over 100 fish; all saltwater.

Currently I "only" have 4 going in my current house. Most of my fish are at my family's house where there are 3 more tanks.

I am single. LOL.

 

[Dorsetsteve]

For me personally, two is too many. As soon as there is more than one then my attention is diverted and one will do less well and I will be annoyed.

 

[Reefing_addiction]

When you decide to open your own aquarium you have to many tanks

Because now it’s a business and there’s taxes and employees and blah blah blah

I think as long as you aren’t overwhelmed with the amount of work another tank will create then go for it

The extra work is what has me wishy-washy on keeping the 75 when the 100 comes in….

 

[BryanM]

I'm just getting started with a 425XL. It's overwhelming at the moment.

I agree with whoever said when it stops becoming fun. For me, overwhelming is a lot of learning, which is fine.... When maintenance becomes a chore, its too much.

Personally I can't imagine a 2nd tank right now, but if I/we do, it'll be more nano like

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Sure, it is easy to take care of 15 tanks when life is good...

When would taking care of 15 tanks ever be easy?
Unless you invested in Apple stock in the 80's and were able to hire a full time staff and have a 17,000g main display...
Oh, yes I see now

 

[aztoza]

Honestly to people who don’t “get it”, even one tank makes you weird to them. To people who understand the value, multiple tanks is awesome.

 

[gastone]

8 tanks under 30g each currently. Never thought I'd have 8 nanos/smallish tanks, but it's fun planning them out individually.

 

[Boomer52]

How many:

Me: as dictated by space and resources—maybe another will fit.
My wife: 1 is enough

Me: We don't need all this furniture. Another tank would fit where the sofa is.
Same answer. My wife: 1 is enough.
Practical answer: How many can you properly take care of from both a time and expense standpoint?

 

[Jedi Knghit]

Two

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

I have 5 tanks going now, 7 if you include the 2 satellite tanks off of the temperate. Plus, I usually have some sort of temporary tank running QT or some sort of experiment. My tanks are not Reef of the month tanks, something is always overgrown, the glass always needs cleaning, coral warfare is a constant. I am always putting out fires, those are my priorities. I am, always working toward a goal of automating myself or my systems to take some of the load off. The final aspect of that goal would be to allow myself to get the joy out of my tanks that I had in the beginning. The sense of discovery, one has when a new creature crawls out of a piece of live rock, or a mystery, plain Jane frag turns into something beautiful.
My only goal currently is good husbandry. Because of that, beside the day to day to-do's my weekends are full. When my other half suggests we get away for a few days, it fills me with anxieties. My area where I keep my tanks is a disaster, filled with testing, fragging and nutritional needs. I try to find a place for it all, only to pull it back out a few hours later to address something.
I always have had MTS...
I probably would have zero tanks over just one tank.
Right now I am limited by my ability to providing good husbandry to have more...
Although, I woke up thinking about creating a anemone tank for a LTA that is not working out in another tank.
So there is that...
What was the question again?
Oh, yeah.
Although I recognize the issue, I will not encourage it.

 

[RSNJReef]

I have 5 tanks going now, 7 if you include the 2 satellite tanks off of the temperate. Plus, I usually have some sort of temporary tank running QT or some sort of experiment. My tanks are not Reef of the month tanks, something is always overgrown, the glass always needs cleaning, coral warfare is a constant. I am always putting out fires, those are my priorities. I am, always working toward a goal of automating myself or my systems to take some of the load off. The final aspect of that goal would be to allow myself to get the joy out of my tanks that I had in the beginning. The sense of discovery, one has when a new creature crawls out of a piece of live rock, or a mystery, plain Jane frag turns into something beautiful.
My only goal currently is good husbandry. Because of that, beside the day to day to-do's my weekends are full. When my other half suggests we get away for a few days, it fills me with anxieties. My area where I keep my tanks is a disaster, filled with testing, fragging and nutritional needs. I try to find a place for it all, only to pull it back out a few hours later to address something.
I always have had MTS...
I probably would have zero tanks over just one tank.
Right now I am limited by my ability to providing good husbandry to have more...
Although, I woke up thinking about creating a anemone tank for a LTA that is not working out in another tank.
So there is that...
What was the question again?
Oh, yeah.
Although I recognize the issue, I will not encourage it.

Automation will be your best friend, my friend.

 

[reefpanda]

Not reef related but I once had 100 discus tanks. Go for it!

 

[PharmrJohn]

My maximum is dictated by my wife, as she has the most common sense between us, I shall defer to her wisdom.

 

[NotReefsafe]

I don't believe in setting up a tank if you don't know what you are going to put in it. If all of your tanks are vastly different, and you desperately need another to accomadate a new fish you want, then it's fine. But if you have 8 mixed reefs that are all a bunch of random corals and fish, you don't need another, it's the same thing in a different form and more work for minimally more enjoyment.

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Automation will be your best friend, my friend.

Working on it... I wish I went with another brand when I started to install a monitoring system, but I am into it past the point of financial return. Just a little tired of modules disappearing in the middle of the night. Plus the redundancy that goes along with that. I know every controller has it's own uniqueness and drawbacks... but

 

[Dizzy 05]

So, I have been thinking about starting another tank and I just need some validation from others in the hobby. I currently run a 40g Nem tank in my home office, 180g mixed reef in the living room and a 40g FW planted guppy tank in the dining room. I want to add a 150g FOWLR to the living room as well. I don't know whether this makes me a "crazy fish lady" like my man thinks I am or not. I am 95% sure it's going to happen I just need that "encouragement" to enable me to blame you all when things go sideways. Which they somehow always do. Thanks for playing.

Never too many tanks!! I have that same problem. 75 nems tank, 125 mixed reef, 75 frag, 13.5 a 10 and a 7 that are currently running with saltwater feeders, a 55 that houses a pair of soap fish, currently putting a 130 into cycling, a 29 neo shrimp, and a 500 freshwater pond(mollies, guppies and barbs). Will also be setting my 40 breeder back up.

 

[Dragen Fiend]

I'm at 5, I'll let you know when I find out lol.