Smaller tank or save up for larger one

[mcfilthy]

Hey all,

New to hobby, never had a saltwater tank before. I had a freshwater as a kid and took care of it. I've been spending a lot time researching things, started building a saltwater mixing station (see my build thread). Would you suggest for your first tank to wait and save up for a larger 150-175g (total) or get something smaller like the helloreef kit, etc?

Thoughts?

 

[dakoop]

Smaller = easier maintenance
Larger=greater stability

 

[mcfilthy]

Smaller = easier maintenance
Larger=greater stability

True. Hmm.

 

[Vinaka_vakalevu]

Hey all,

New to hobby, never had a saltwater tank before. I had a freshwater as a kid and took care of it. I've been spending a lot time researching things, started building a saltwater mixing station (see my build thread). Would you suggest for your first tank to wait and save up for a larger 150-175g (total) or get something smaller like the helloreef kit, etc?

Thoughts?

You’ll get all sorts of responses but I think a 150 is a lot of tank to learn on. At that size everything is bigger and everything costs more. @VintageReefer can hook you up with an awesome reef ready tank that’s like 70gal +\- it would make a perfect first reef. Its a great price and would allow you to focus on learning a system and keeping it stable without dropping 5k + into a 150

 

[VintageReefer]

You’ll get all sorts of responses but I think a 150 is a lot of tank to learn on. At that size everything is bigger and everything costs more. @VintageReefer can hook you up with an awesome reef ready tank that’s like 70gal +\- it would make a perfect first reef. Its a great price and would allow you to focus on learning a system and keeping it stable without dropping 5k + into a 150

83g
48x20x20
Nearly full setup -83g tank, stand, 26g sump, 9g ato, plumbing kit, return pump, and shipping - 1700$

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I think go with whatever you want, but remember that bigger tank means bigger maintenance expenses.

Smaller tanks nowadays are very easy to maintain and keep stable, "nano" filtration technology has come a long way.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey all,

New to hobby, never had a saltwater tank before. I had a freshwater as a kid and took care of it. I've been spending a lot time researching things, started building a saltwater mixing station (see my build thread). Would you suggest for your first tank to wait and save up for a larger 150-175g (total) or get something smaller like the helloreef kit, etc?

Thoughts?

larger affords you more room for fish and coral, more forgiving allowing more time between water changes and room for components which reduces maintenance

 

[exnisstech]

I would think about fish you may want. Larger tanks have more possibilities. Personally I'll never set up another tank that isn't large enough for at least 1 or 2 tangs for algae control.

83g
48x20x20
Nearly full setup -83g tank, stand, 26g sump, 9g ato, plumbing kit, return pump, and shipping - 1700$

I swear I feel I should buy one of these and combine my reefer 300 and 170. These reports of seam splits are making me nervous

 

[mcfilthy]

83g
48x20x20
Nearly full setup -83g tank, stand, 26g sump, 9g ato, plumbing kit, return pump, and shipping - 1700$

Why so cheap? Is this is a custom build or?

 

[VintageReefer]

All info is in this thread
It’s from current USA

Best reef ready tank deal of 2024 - whose looking for a new tank?

I’ve been holding off on posting this but now I’m ready I came across what I believe is the absolute best deal you’ll ever see on a reef ready system Background - Current USA had a custom tank built for their marketing photos. It’s all over their website under the sections for r24 led reef...

www.reef2reef.com

Post 19 has the buy link to current pricing and instructions to get a free plumbing upgrade and discounted return pump

 

[KQuillan]

Bigger, bigger expense. However, I went through three tanks in 18 months before finally being happy with the size of my tank.

 

[Dragen Fiend]

As someone who started at 15 gallon then branched to 1,3,5, 20 and now a 25 gallon lagoon lol.

If I was in my forever home. 100% get the largest you can go/afford once you dip your toes and known what you are getting into. I want 175-200 gallon tank in the future

Bigger tanks=mistakes are more forgivable. But when something really bad happens. The amount of work to correct sucks. Vs something small under 20 gallons. Too easy to fix.

If I were to do anything over. Don't cheap out on other things like lights, wavemakers etc. These can always be overkill and adjusted to fit a smaller tank and eventually be used in a bigger tank.


I truly believe beginners should stick with 20 gallon or under. IM has starter kits for less than $100 that can't be beat.

Smaller tanks are easier to work with. The biggest thing is costs. Spending hundreds if not thousands on a tank only to jump out of the hobby within a few months to a year is not worth it. Its hard to sell used tanks. But its easy to sell other equipment.

 

[Fish Fan]

I'm going to say go a little smaller on your first tank, but don't go less than like 40-60 gallons. You're just too limited on the fish you can have.

The reason I'm suggesting you go smaller is if this is your first tank, you maybe be very surprised at not just the cost to setup a large tank like that, but the ongoing maintenance costs and electricity, not to mention the work involved. That's hard to plan for if this is your first tank.

If you setup that 150 or larger and then decide for whatever reason that this hobby isn't for you, I think you'd have a very hard time selling that kind of a system. You'll like drop many thousands of dollars setting that tank up, and you'll get back pennies on the dollar when you try to sell it, if you decide leave the hobby.

Take another look at the tank deal that @VintageReefer linked to. I considered it strongly, but I really wanted a peninsula styled tank. Reports are that these tanks are quite nice, a few minor issues mostly with the stand, but overall a great deal, nice looking system, and it would be a great first tank. And you'd have a much better chance of re-homing that system if you needed to.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

 

[cloak]

It's all the same...

You either have a "blue thumb" or you don't. GL

 

[littlefoxx]

Hey all,

New to hobby, never had a saltwater tank before. I had a freshwater as a kid and took care of it. I've been spending a lot time researching things, started building a saltwater mixing station (see my build thread). Would you suggest for your first tank to wait and save up for a larger 150-175g (total) or get something smaller like the helloreef kit, etc?

Thoughts?

I say go bigger to start. I went from a 75 to a 125 and a 75 and then sold those and combined them into a 300 gallon… lol and all the cool fish need bigger tanks!!

 

[Gundy]

There are a lot of variables to consider. For one, how committed are you for staying in the hobby long term? Are you fully aware of how expensive it is to set up a larger tank especially if you want to purchase state of the art equipment and automate your tank?

The real issue in my opinion is cost. You might lose a lot of money when you sell your first tank to buy a larger one. My son just set up his first reef tank and purchased a water box that is roughly 100 gallons. You will have to limit the size of your fish but is a good sized tank. A lot to think about before you buy a tank.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

I like the 4ft 120 I have. Great depth two standard LEDS are all you need, in my case a 48 in T5. I can reach the bottom . Cost of dosing, water changes ect are not cost much over a 90 or 75 gallon.

 

[vlangel]

This can be a very expensive hobby. A 40 gallon breeder at Petco can be a good entry level size and not break the bank. Buying used equipment or even an entire tank set up can offset costs.

 

[jmcdona6]

I went with a 150G as my first tank and echo some of the others on here. Bigger is always better until its not.

I was well researched and put a lot of effort into it. I made mistakes though still. You will too. Also, sometimes bad things happen, even to reef keeping professionals. When those speed bumps occur, self-inflicted or not, the bigger the tank the harder and more expensive it is to fix.

I also had and enjoyed a 25G lagoon. Very successful and any issue I had was often just a few 5 gallon buckets of fresh salt water away from being fixed. But it was too small. Packed...real estate became a concern after a year or so.

I would recommend a 50G (75G Max). Plenty of room to get started. Significantly less cost. Easier to manage crisis on.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I started with a 20g Red Sea AIO tank. I have been happy with it due to the limited space I have in my house. If you have the space, a 40-50g tank is a good start