SPS dominant 6 gallon tank *NEW TO SALTWATER, NEED YOUR HELP

[BigBoyReefer]

Hello;Happy I am new to reefing and extremely fascinated in SPS coral (specifically chalices, acans, Scolys) and I really like nano tank. So I want to keep them in this 6 gallon tank but don’t know if I should and am curious about the requirements I would need to meet. Any info helps!! Open to buying other tanks to.

Tank dimensions:
20’ 7.5’ 7.5’

 

[sawyern]

Hello there! Unfortunately that tank will most likely be way too small to keep much of anything. Small tanks are extremely tricky to keep afloat as keeping the water at appropriate parameters will require at minimum daily monitoring, very frequent water changes, and lots and lots of knowledge. Additionally, you will need to be dosing, or at least measuring the levels of, certain minerals to keep those corals happy and alive, which in that size of tank will also be hard.

If you were an experienced reefer, that tanks may be okay as a little frag tank for keeping coral before they grow large enough to be put in a display tank, but other than that I'm not sure it would be big enough for anything. A tank of that size will also require a sump tank in almost all circumstances.

What I would maybe recommend instead - start with a cheap 29gal or 55gal along with a 10-20gal sump, practice getting the water parameters down to a T, start with a few hardier corals and practice growing them, and then once you are confident in your ability to choose the proper hardware (lighting, sump tanks, protein skimmers, powerheads, filters, etc), then start getting into more specialty items like SPS and nano tanks (smaller tanks).

Good luck on your journey into the reef world

 

[Blitheran]

Nanos are fun but take a great deal of care and expertise. Everything can fluctuate dramatically. Salinity, PH, temp, alk, cal, mag these are a few of many things. Personally the bigger the tank the better. This tank will require a lot of hang on the back filtration and take up a lot of room inside the tank which can be unsightly imo. I would look into getting an innovative marine tank with filtration in the back of the tank, which hides everything from the display.

 

[xinyan]

those corals are actually LPS(large polyp stone corals ) I would say go for it. I started with a 6 gallon fluvial edge as my first time. so long as you do your research and be patient I'm sure you can do it. those corals you like don't grow super fast not are they too difficult to keep alive. so long as regular water changes are done I don't see why you couldn't. iv done 6 gallon. a reef jar. a 30 gallon and my current 4.6 gallon. in my opinion the larger volume is more stable however I get just as much enjoyment out of the tiny tanks as I do the big ones. it's much easier to do a large water change if anything does go wrong. also it's good to pay attention to the small tanks all the time so that if any problem occurs you can notice it right away. an ato (automatic top off )for a small tank is a must I think.

 

[Mirkus]

My first tank was a 7 gallon mini bow! I even had a small metal halide, like 70 watts, with a few sps (eventually). As others have said, to start with a 6 gallon Sps tank will be extremely challenging for anyone, not just beginners. Go a little bigger and it will be easier on you.