What to do with reef tank when I go to college?

[Tristan]

Ah I’m a senior right now and going off to college in August. I have a pretty well established reef tank, but I don’t want to tear it down. It would be something I would really miss in college and I doubt my mom would be able to take care of it. I know some colleges allow a 10 or 20 gallon tank but is that actually feasible to do? Like with all the water changes and all that.

I dose No3Po4x, so luckily I already don’t do a lot of water changes, but still.

 

[fishguy242]

hi,what size are you running now?i don't see a reason you could not do it,aio 20 gall??

 

[ApoIsland]

Thinking back to my college days there is no way that I could maintain a tank. Constantly moving the tank back and forth during long summer and winter breaks. Finding someone on campus to take care of it for a week during short spring and fall breaks.
If you can do it you are a better man than me.

 

[jrill]

Take it down

 

[skydirt]

You can always rebuild later bigger and better

 

[Tristan]

hi,what size are you running now?i don't see a reason you could not do it,aio 20 gall??

My tank is currently a 20gal but depending on which college I get into, some the limit is 10, others is 20, or no pets all even fish.

 

[fishlover1478]

My tank is currently a 20gal but depending on which college I get into, some the limit is 10, others is 20, or no pets all even fish.

if you can afford it maybe having a good lfs/maintenance company maintain while you are away from home you might be able to work out a deal with lfs if you have any nice corals that they could frag periodically but you have to really trust them with that

or you could downsize if you have to have a tank

or you could do freshwater which i think would be easier to move

i've been thinking about this to i'm in highschool and i doubt any college is going to allow a 75 gallon with sump

 

[fishguy242]

hopefully you can just take with you best wishes

 

[Speaker]

Personally I think it will be a big pain. Moving it at a minimum of twice a year. More than likely 3 because most winter breaks are close to a month long. Not to mention dorm rooms are usually pretty small. I would take the tank down personally and start again after college. Carrying in pre made saltwater won't be much fun either.

 

[fishguy242]

i just visited your build,take that baby with you if you can ,just plan a whole day for moves

 

[ReefBeta]

Isn't Coral12g start with a college tank? Go see how he did it.

 

[saltcats]

I don't think I could've maintained a tank in college - the workload can be heavy, and dorm rooms/bathrooms are very small. Filling and storing buckets would be tricky, plus you'd have to really trust your roommate and all their friends. I'd also take a close look at the pet guidelines - my school technically allowed 10 gallon aquariums but they had to be unheated. I'd think aquarium equipment noises might drive a roommate crazy too!

Not to mention regularly moving it as others have said, uni housing maintenance coming in and spraying for pests, people in neighboring rooms microwaving non-microwave safe containers (I know someone who lost a tank of freshwater shrimp to this...)
I would definitely recommend waiting until after you graduate to set the tank back up

 

[Cell]

I'd shut 'er down at least for the first year. Any irreplaceable corals I would sell/frag forward to someone who I could get a frag back from in the future.

Any local club members willing to take it on for free frags of whatever you have? I'd take care of someone's nano for a year if they had some sweet corals I could trim.

 

[wenliu51]

I just saw your build thread. Please take it with you but understand when winter/summer breaks come you might have to break it down. Maybe you can sell off most fish/coral but keep it super low maintenance with you in college. Also, would you have roommmates? Are you gonna be in the dorms? Kinda hard and tight spacing.

If they have a rule re max size 10gallon/20gallon who cares lol

When you finish college you might be spending a few years paying off school loans.. but I think if you got into the hobby this young... you'll come up with a huge master tank in your 20's. College-- Exciting times!

 

[Tamberav]

I hauled a 12g AIO around in college. It wasn’t hard to do since it was smaller. I just put all the rocks in one cooler and the fish in another. I bought gallons of distilled water and kept easier corals.

I had two 5g buckets for water changes.

Since it was an AIO, the tank was silent. Avoid loud equipment so it won’t bother any roommates.

I am talking from experience of doing this not just hypothetical thinking. It really was no big deal. Just don’t haul around an acropora tank and skip easily stressed fish. I had a clown and a shrimp goby.

The tank can survive a week on its own. I would put some pods in and it had a lid to prevent much evaporation (which also means less hauling water). I took it with on summer break ofc.

Around 10g is probably the perfect size. Larger being too much to haul and smaller being too unstable to leave for a week.

 

[fish farmer]

I'd downsize...maybe a 5 gallon jar. Something you can move....I had salt and fresh at college.

I had 15 to 20 gallon fresh tanks in the dorms, just broke them down or left them running without fish (brought the fish home over winter break). Week vacations I didn't worry too much about.

I tried one 20 gallon salt in the dorms but overstocked it. When I moved out of the dorms I tackled it again, saltwater fish only, I'd cart the fish, some rock, gravel, bio balls and set up holding tanks at home. Left the display tank running over the winter break. I had roommates so they would tell me if anything was off. I packed the fish in coolers and buckets and used a battery powered air stone, college was only a couple hours away. I don't remember loosing any livestock.

And if you do this....you may find fishy friends. I had a guy on my floor see my 15 gallon pond life tank and we became best buddies....you should have seen our room the next year, salt tank on one desk, crayfish tank on the other and the whole window was full of jungle plants. One of my girlfriends was also into the fish life as well.

 

[snorklr]

off campus apartment....when my son went to college the freshmen were the only students that had dorms available....after that you were on your own

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

Ah I’m a senior right now and going off to college in August. I have a pretty well established reef tank, but I don’t want to tear it down. It would be something I would really miss in college and I doubt my mom would be able to take care of it. I know some colleges allow a 10 or 20 gallon tank but is that actually feasible to do? Like with all the water changes and all that.

I dose No3Po4x, so luckily I already don’t do a lot of water changes, but still.

I started a biocube 29 when I was in high school and started selling high end corals. I went to a university that’s only 20 minutes away for 2 reasons. 1. They gave me a good golf scholarship and 2. I wanted to be close to my reef. I have now added on to my system and am currently building a 550 gallon system. I am now a junior in college and have no problems maintaining a working reef system, selling and shipping out Coral’s weekly and going to frag swaps up to 5-6 hours away and being on a D2 sports team and doing my course work. It’s definitely feasible. I generally go home every weekend and 3-4 times a week I’ll run home for a little to check on the system. My mother knows enough these days on how to run my system and what to look for. Take this from a college kid who has $60k in coral in his system Lol. Of course if you wanna go to college across the country that’s different but I had a few D1 offers I turned down due to being across the country and didn’t want to leave my tank. I’m that dedicated.

 

[Uncle99]

I think it’s doable if you want it to be.
Your not new, so you know what it takes and what time you have available.....but if this is like your passion, then go ahead.
20g is no big deal, just make sure you have access to water.
You could dose trace and reduce water changes again.

 

[Cell]

It really is a difficult question because everyone's priorities are different. More responsibility can mean less fun and spontaneity. What if your freshman buddies decide to go on a spur of the moment road trip? "Oh sorry, fish." What if you or your roommate are big partiers? Drinking, dorm rooms and fish tanks might not mix well.

What will your water source be? Not sure you can really hook up an RODI to a dorm room community sink for hours at a time.

Will you have a vehicle to buy supplies or someone to drop them off?