Rate My Tanks 1-10

[ReefMasta]

2?

sorry 1

 

[HermitCrab15]

sorry 1

whats your reasoning?

 

[sixty_reefer]

What are you doing regarding heating? AC, I don’t seem to see any source of heating in the tanks. You are in a good start although you may have want to eventually change some livestock around or try and consolidate all in one larger system instead of several smaller ones.

 

[HermitCrab15]

What are you doing regarding heating? AC, I don’t seem to see any source of heating in the tanks. You are in a good start although you may have want to eventually change some livestock around or try and consolidate all in one larger system instead of several smaller ones.

I've been looking to change to one bigger tank rather than running multiple small ones because I'm headed to college soon so it isn't very practical to start a new big tank at this time.

 

[HermitCrab15]

I've been looking to change to one bigger tank rather than running multiple small ones because I'm headed to college soon so it isn't very practical to start a new big tank at this time.

As far as heating goes I have 4 tank heaters on the way.
Changing livestock around? what would be a better configuration?

 

[PeterC99]

I currently have 4 small tanks up and running, take a look and let me know what y'all think.

Tank 1

10 Gallons
1 Blood Orange Clownfish
1 Coco Damsel
1 Bubble tip anemone
1 grey anemone (Not sure exactly what it is)

Tank 2

8 Gallons
1 Coco Damsel
1 Long-spined Sea Urchin
1 Giant hermit crab
4 other crabs

Tank 3

1 Dwarf Angelfish
1 Black and White Coris Wrasse
1 Ghost Crab

Tank 4

1 French Angelfish
1 Blue Chromis
1 Coco Damsel
1 Starry Blenny
1 Leather Coral

How long have you been a Reefer?

 

[sixty_reefer]

As far as heating goes I have 4 tank heaters on the way.
Changing livestock around? what would be a better configuration?

Personally I would consolidate all in one, you still have time assuming all the tanks are cycled. It will be a pain to leave all those small tanks behind for someone to care wile you away.

 

[HermitCrab15]

How long have you been a Reefer?

I've had my 15 Gallon for almost 2 years and the other 3 are more recent. i've added more over the last 6 months

 

[HermitCrab15]

Personally I would consolidate all in one, you still have time assuming all the tanks are cycled. It will be a pain to leave all those small tanks behind for someone to care wile you away.

Any size recommendations that would comfortably accommodate all the fish?

 

[A Young Reefer]

My suggestion to you is the following; instead of having this many tanks. Get one that is decently large enough, do you research ,set it up properly, give it time.
And do more research, there are MANY better live stock options that you will like.

 

[HermitCrab15]

My suggestion to you is the following; instead of having this many tanks. Get one that is decently large enough, do you research ,set it up properly, give it time.
And do more research, there are MANY better live stock options that you will like.

I've been looking at a 75 Gallon and I believe this is my motivation to make the change.

 

[sixty_reefer]

Any size recommendations that would comfortably accommodate all the fish?

Any that you could easily afford, once you have the tank, you can change stock around to accommodate the size you chosen I personally find 25 gallons a nice starting size that doesn’t take much space and easy to care for.

 

[HermitCrab15]

When I said it looks brand new . I wasn’t referring to clean glass or fresh water changes clean sand bed .
there is no algae compared to what would be a mature or stable aquarium .
the urchin requires stable parameters . Any fluctuation will cause it to droop .
throw a sheet of nori in the bottom weighed down under a piece of rock .

are the rocks used calcium carbonate reef rocks ?

they almost look like flat slate or limestone

15 Gallon used to look like this.

 

[HermitCrab15]

Any that you could easily afford, once you have the tank, you can change stock around to accommodate the size you chosen I personally find 25 gallons a nice starting size that doesn’t take much space and easy to care for.

I will look into it. Thank you for your feedback

 

[DanTheReefer]

Don’t be disheartened, everyone just wants what’s best for the animals. When I started college in 2010 I had this 6 gallon nanocube. I had a clown and yellow goby which were honestly more fish than most would recommend, although they were happy.

Get a tank where you can do all of the moves with one or two buckets. My school was about an hour from home and I would bring everything home for spring break and winter break. Had it down to a science. Looking back, a used nanocube or bio cube would probably be perfect since they are built like tanks, lids are tight fitting (less evaporation/ RO water runs), good at hiding equipment like heater.

I don’t have any pics from then, just this pic of 2008 prior to college. There’s a 6 line wrasse in the pic that I was observing prior to adding to my high school 75 gallon tank, which was honestly way better than my current 75. How I miss the old school live rock.

My overstocking fail was in grade school when the first fish I bought for my first 10 gallon tank was a clown knife - yeah when I told my parents I’d need a couple hundred gallon tank when he got a little bigger they made me bring it back. Unfortunately it’s probably a mistake most of us have made.

 

[Wrassenaround]

I know it's easy for us to be critical when we have a lot of experience in the hobby but part of being in this hobby is teaching others and assisting them on their journey. Walker, I would suggest you use this forum to learn as much as you can about this hobby instead of looking for ratings. There are thousands of people on Reef2Reef that are cornucopias of knowledge. Ask questions and do your research especially when it comes to livestock.

As far as my recommendations go with your current tanks, if these are your first ones I would consider not having so many and just focus on one or two. Having started in this hobby with a 20 gallon tank I can't say take it "slow and steady" enough. I would consider myself to be very successful with my tank but I took my time and did plenty of research when it came to adding corals and fish. Many people will say a smaller tank is much harder to keep in the hobby especially if its your first one. A small error in dosing or water chemistry can have very large consequences.

For livestock, don't let your eyes make decisions on what you want. Many fish are not suitable for smaller aquariums. Even the dwarf angel that is in your tank is best off in a larger tank and one that is established with many critters it can graze on. Its easy to get caught up in getting fish that you want even if they are small and give them back or trade them when they outgrow the tank. In theory that works but in smaller tanks that doesn't always happen. I have added pictures so you can see how mine changed over the first year.

I know reading this probably isn't what you wanted to hear but hopefully it will help you out in your reef keeping journey.
Here are some pics of my 20 gallon as it progressed from new to mature and during rough spouts when I had water chemistry problems. (its not always glamorous)
Day 1

2 Months after setup - First coral(s) added

3 Months after setup - First fish and more coral

4-5 Months after setup - Algae issues, more coral, additional fish

7 Months after setup - Algae continues to be an issue and first big coral loss
(leather coral on left had flatworms so I dipped but did it incorrectly and killed it)
(didn't take time before to research the dip....)

1 Year after setup - Tank is mature, algae issues are rare. Still no SPS corals

1.5 Years after setup - finally SPS introduced with Acro frags (both withered away) got a stag horn frag that I still have to this day that is grapefruit sized colony.

2 years after setup -
Tank reached its peak with corals and had 4 fish. Then started to battle coral death with lack of dosing (no sump). Ended up upgrading to a 90 gallon system this year. 75% of coral in this picture is no longer living due to disease and the tank move. (it's a hard hobby but its worth it) Check out my build thread on my new setup, may have some helpful information.

 

[GHOSTLY]

I suggest shut all of them down and really focus on one tank. I kept 5 beautiful planted tanks before but found it most enjoyable focusing on one tank. You also may wanna change stocking as angels get bigger.

 

[PeterC99]

I've had my 15 Gallon for almost 2 years and the other 3 are more recent. i've added more over the last 6 months

Next question- why so many aquariums?

 

[HermitCrab15]

Don’t be disheartened, everyone just wants what’s best for the animals. When I started college in 2010 I had this 6 gallon nanocube. I had a clown and yellow goby which were honestly more fish than most would recommend, although they were happy.

Get a tank where you can do all of the moves with one or two buckets. My school was about an hour from home and I would bring everything home for spring break and winter break. Had it down to a science. Looking back, a used nanocube or bio cube would probably be perfect since they are built like tanks, lids are tight fitting (less evaporation/ RO water runs), good at hiding equipment like heater.

I don’t have any pics from then, just this pic of 2008 prior to college. There’s a 6 line wrasse in the pic that I was observing prior to adding to my high school 75 gallon tank, which was honestly way better than my current 75. How I miss the old school live rock.

My overstocking fail was in grade school when the first fish I bought for my first 10 gallon tank was a clown knife - yeah when I told my parents I’d need a couple hundred gallon tank when he got a little bigger they made me bring it back. Unfortunately it’s probably a mistake most of us have made.

It is nice to have a friendly response, my college will be about an hour and a half away so similar situation to yours. I hadn't thought of having a nano cube while in college but it seems like the perfect solution to my problem. A small movable tank that can have interesting marine life. Thank you for your suggestion. I love the look of the tank you posted it looks very natural but well-maintained, exactly what I've been going for but somewhat unsuccessfully.

 

[HermitCrab15]

I know it's easy for us to be critical when we have a lot of experience in the hobby but part of being in this hobby is teaching others and assisting them on their journey. Walker, I would suggest you use this forum to learn as much as you can about this hobby instead of looking for ratings. There are thousands of people on Reef2Reef that are cornucopias of knowledge. Ask questions and do your research especially when it comes to livestock.

As far as my recommendations go with your current tanks, if these are your first ones I would consider not having so many and just focus on one or two. Having started in this hobby with a 20 gallon tank I can't say take it "slow and steady" enough. I would consider myself to be very successful with my tank but I took my time and did plenty of research when it came to adding corals and fish. Many people will say a smaller tank is much harder to keep in the hobby especially if its your first one. A small error in dosing or water chemistry can have very large consequences.

For livestock, don't let your eyes make decisions on what you want. Many fish are not suitable for smaller aquariums. Even the dwarf angel that is in your tank is best off in a larger tank and one that is established with many critters it can graze on. Its easy to get caught up in getting fish that you want even if they are small and give them back or trade them when they outgrow the tank. In theory that works but in smaller tanks that doesn't always happen. I have added pictures so you can see how mine changed over the first year.

I know reading this probably isn't what you wanted to hear but hopefully it will help you out in your reef keeping journey.
Here are some pics of my 20 gallon as it progressed from new to mature and during rough spouts when I had water chemistry problems. (its not always glamorous)
Day 1

2 Months after setup - First coral(s) added

3 Months after setup - First fish and more coral

4-5 Months after setup - Algae issues, more coral, additional fish

7 Months after setup - Algae continues to be an issue and first big coral loss
(leather coral on left had flatworms so I dipped but did it incorrectly and killed it)
(didn't take time before to research the dip....)

1 Year after setup - Tank is mature, algae issues are rare. Still no SPS corals

1.5 Years after setup - finally SPS introduced with Acro frags (both withered away) got a stag horn frag that I still have to this day that is grapefruit sized colony.

2 years after setup -
Tank reached its peak with corals and had 4 fish. Then started to battle coral death with lack of dosing (no sump). Ended up upgrading to a 90 gallon system this year. 75% of coral in this picture is no longer living due to disease and the tank move. (it's a hard hobby but its worth it) Check out my build thread on my new setup, may have some helpful information.

Thank you for your feedback, I did come here looking to inform myself more about the hobby and see what people thought of my tanks and their suggestions on how to improve. I have been met with plenty of hate (some of it not unwarranted) but I appreciate you taking the time to share with me your tank build. I loved seeing the progression over the years and hope to one day do something similar.
If you could do it all over again with your 20-gallon what would you change?
Tank looks beautiful by the way, definitely the most interesting I have seen so far on here.
I will say I definitely got a little starry-eyed at the prospect of having 4 fish tanks but you and others have suggested taking a couple down and focusing on 1 or two which I will take that advice.