New to Reefing - Information Overload

[cracker]

Welcome Derek to R2R !
I know what t Ya mean about info over load . I try to weed thru it all ,take notes Of what seems right to You & try that . If this doesn't work out ,try something else .

 

[Reefer Deez]

Hello and welcome to R2R
It's a pleasure to have you here with us

 

[saltyhog]

Welcome to R2R! I know what you mean about information overload.

I bet if you were successful in freshwater you can and will be in the salt world. This is a great sounding board to check out the decisions you make!

I have two tanks.....a 10 gallon IM Fusion AIO and a 6' x 2' . The big tank is much easier to keep things under control. It requires much more frequent water changes and closer monitoring. I even have a good ATO on it and it still is difficult some time to keep things looking like I want them.

 

[Raege]

Welcome to the salt side.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Welcome to R2R!!!

 

[dbl]

Welcome to R2R and your new reefing family and welcome to the hobby.

 

[KrisReef]

Good day reefers!

I am new to reefing. As in, I don't even have a salt tank set up yet. I am a meticulous researcher before getting involved in all things new.

I have been keeping freshwater for a couple of years now. I have always been hesitant to get into salt, as I have been told it's super time consuming and costly. However, I recently watching a Marine Depot video on a "budget" nano tank. It got me very interested.

I have been inundated with information and possibly bad information. I came here for your advice and interaction.

Is a 10 gal AIO nano tank appropriate for a 1st timer if I am diligent in monitoring and maintaining it??

Thank you for your time,
Derek

Derek,
As a long time saltwater addict, I think it is only fair to warn you about how addictive reef tank keeping can be.
The weekly water changes, watching fish and corals grow, testing, feeding, topping off the tank with RODI water, and the constant trips to the LFS just to score new stuff and supplies is very taxing. Many of these folks on here welcoming you to R2R are hard-core long time reefer addicts whose lives totally revolve around their tanks.
Do you want this to happen to you? I certainly hope you will join us, it's a lot of fun and very rewarding once you get your tank rocking.

Stick around and we'll be here to help you out.

So now you can't say; "No one tried to warn me."
I'm glad you've joined us at R2R!

 

[Muttley000]

Good day reefers!

I am new to reefing. As in, I don't even have a salt tank set up yet. I am a meticulous researcher before getting involved in all things new.

I have been keeping freshwater for a couple of years now. I have always been hesitant to get into salt, as I have been told it's super time consuming and costly. However, I recently watching a Marine Depot video on a "budget" nano tank. It got me very interested.

I have been inundated with information and possibly bad information. I came here for your advice and interaction.

Is a 10 gal AIO nano tank appropriate for a 1st timer if I am diligent in monitoring and maintaining it??

Thank you for your time,
Derek

Welcome to R2R! I would encourage a new hobbiest to start with something larger if possible. I think a 40 breeder is a perfect size, but that is not always possible either. Whatever you decide there are plenty of people here to help!

 

[JasonK84]

@Derek Claxton
My advice:
Figure out what inhabitants you can't live without. Base your tank size to what fits those inhabitants. Little cute fish get really big and pretty fast! There are very few fish choices for a 10 gallon tank.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Welcome to R2R! Remember the AIO part of that tank takes up a lot of space. My guess is the actual display in that AIO 10 gallon will have about 6 gallons of water after rock is added. If you really want closer to a 10 gallon display, I would look at at least a 20 gallon AIO. An IM 20 Fusion for example probably has about 12 gallons of water volume in the display part.

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Welcome to R2R!

 

[Chrisfish]

Welcome to R2R

 

[Reefing Madness]

 

[Lovemyreef2015]

 

[Derek Claxton]

Welcome to R2R!!!

You can definitely be successful with a 10 gallon as that was the size of my first reef tank.

That being said, a 10 gallon (especially an aio 10 gallon) really limits what you can keep. I would research what kind of animals you want to keep, then find the appropriate size tank to accommodate them.

I have always liked Clownfish. Was just looking to start with a FOWLR a bonded pair of clowns to start.

Derek

 

[Derek Claxton]

Love the turtle. Thank you.

 

[Derek Claxton]

Derek,
As a long time saltwater addict, I think it is only fair to warn you about how addictive reef tank keeping can be.
The weekly water changes, watching fish and corals grow, testing, feeding, topping off the tank with RODI water, and the constant trips to the LFS just to score new stuff and supplies is very taxing. Many of these folks on here welcoming you to R2R are hard-core long time reefer addicts whose lives totally revolve around their tanks.
Do you want this to happen to you? I certainly hope you will join us, it's a lot of fun and very rewarding once you get your tank rocking.

Stick around and we'll be here to help you out.

So now you can't say; "No one tried to warn me."
I'm glad you've joined us at R2R!

Kris,
I am use to the weekly water changes...7 fresh tanks running now. From 10 to 75 galls. I don't have a LFS close. So, I have had to drive a good distance or purchase online everything I have now. With the addition of Salt, I can only imagine how much more time I will spend on the hobby. Thank you for your thoughts. I look forward to my first salt tank.

Derek

 

[Derek Claxton]

Welcome to R2R! There is alot of information out there. I would suggest checking out these threads to get you started
As long as you stay on top of your parameters, a 10 gallon tank would be good
Larger tanks tend to have less parameter swings, but unless you're getting into SPS corals, you should be fine
Starting A Saltwater Aquarium
Cycling an Aquarium
Acclimation and Quarantine

#WelcometoR2R

Thanks for the links. I am looking forward to being active on this forum.

Derek

 

[PDR]

I have always liked Clownfish. Was just looking to start with a FOWLR a bonded pair of clowns to start.

Derek

I would recommend at least a 20 gallon (display volume) tank for a pair of ocellaris clowns. A larger tank may be required if you want a larger species of clown. I know they look small in the store, but they can get 3+ inches and are messy eaters. The additional water volume will help keep nutrients down and parameters stable. They can also be quite aggressive to new additions even in a larger tank, so keep that in mind as you decide what you may want to keep down the road.

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

Welcome to R2R! It's a great community with really nice people

Don't forget AIO's are usually marketed with total water volume, not display volume. So a 10g AIO might actually be closer to 6g because of the 4g volume of water in the filtration area. Not sure what specifics you are looking at but something to keep in mind. I previously had a Nuvo 30L which is 30 total gallons, but only about 22 useable gallons in the display. I very quickly upgraded to a Reefer 525XL (110g display, 140g total). Not saying that will happen to you but make sure you're aware of the actual display tank's volume

And I second everyone else here that you should start with a bigger tank. It can be really hard to keep little tanks running smoothly (it's keeping me out of starting a nano tbh) but my 30g tank was a breeze.