Whats the best size tank to start off with?

[Anchor]

Hello Amberlynn and welcome to R2R. You are going to get a lot of info on your questions so I suggest researching what you want to keep first. Next figure out what all you MUST have to keep that. For saltwater you are going to need things you never thought about so RESEASRCH heavily.

As to tanks.. I think you are going to find that if you are going to keep fish only or go reef that you will be much happier with standardized sized to start. for Saltwater, the 37 or the 55 are what I would consider non-standard.

Standards would basically include 40B (As an aside there is a 30B and 50B with the same footprint available)and 75 for starter reefs and smaller fish. 90, 120 for moderate fish and a nice footprint for aqua-scaping reefs. Tangs, Angels, and some of the other larger algae grazers, Triggers etc, 120 plus... Keep in mind these animals grow and get stressed in smaller systems if you are not prepared for their needs. I am not an advocate of the trade em in or sell em when they get too big.. to me its like selling your dog when it gets past the puppy stage.

Most of all, be sure you know what you are getting into and at the start in particular, Know about what your inhabitants are going to need and understand compatibility. You can do almost anything but you need to understand the limitations of each choice.

 

[Gabriel Trifa]

if u start with a small one.... further down the road you will want a bigger one...
So start with one medium size... 75 - 120g range

 

[Spkarim]

Also besides budget and time commitment, it depends how many fish you want.

A lot of small coral can fit in a 40g tank, but should probably put only maybe 5-6 small 2-3” fish.

if you want lots of fish, or larger fish, go big.

 

[Randomwhiteguy89]

I would have to say a 40 gallon breeder just like others have said it has a nice depth so it’s not just a wall of rock and with the size of the tank you can get away with just getting a Chinese box led for about $100 which will last quite a long time and grow basically any coral, it’s just the right size that it doesn’t have very drastic swings in water parameters and at the same time if something was to happen you can change out 50% of the water quickly to correct the problem so there’s no need for a sump or a protein skimmer the only other tank I would suggest for a beginner would be a 75 gallon but with a 75 comes a higher cost and you would have to start looking into getting a pre drilled one or having the one you buy drilled so you can set up a sump system

 

[Retro Reefer]

Any reccomended 40b build threads?

I have had all different size tanks over the years and currently running a 40B, one of my favorites to date! You are limited in fish selection but for me its all about corals anyway... check out my build thread for a simple and fairly cheap system.

 

[Y8ZC]

I have been reefing for just over a year now, and over the years have had fish only saltwater tanks. I think the best tank to start with is a nano and slowly build up. They’re far cheaper than bigger tank and also have more limits on equipment, fish, and corals. These limitations really helped me to get the basics of reef keeping down and understand each and every coral’s and fish’s needs. Also the slow progression of a nano is great at keeping you from rushing in and getting confused or getting too much for you to handle at once. Maintenance is another huge factor too, I do 2g water changes and still have 3g for topping off and the next water change with a 5g bucket. As a kid helping my parent do water changes on their 90g seem like a half the day event, get water, mixing, getting the temp right, cleaning the protein skimmer, etc.
Another great part about a nano is that you can the look of a mature reef relatively fast, where as a large tank you’ll feel the need to fill in more or the bare spots.

 

[MohrReefs]

I got a 44gal to start. Good so far!

 

[Zan's Aquatica]

30 gallons because you can keep smaller fish very happy and its big enough to have some cool options, nice space to aquascape and you can fill it with coral without spending a fortune trying to fill a bigger tank! my first tank was a 30 when i was a little girl and i would stick with a 30 forever actually..

 

[Anchor]

A 30 is a 40b only the 40 is 6 inches deeper front to back. Nano tanks can be good learning opportunities but can also be frustrating for some new people. Well,... any tank can be frustrating and you don't have to be new to reefing for that to happen. Anyway, aesthetics plays a big part in reefing so in spite of all the suggestions and comments on what is best.. It boils down to what the OP wants. I personally hate bowfront and wavy front panels as it distorts my view. I consider aquatic animals pets and not decorations. I look to optimizing the happiness ( as it is for a confined animal) of my aquatic pets. And as the old adage says... "Pick what you want to die from and live accordingly." Which, of course, has nothing to do with this topic.

 

[gray808]

Tell me you just want some Xenias, mushrooms and GSP and maybe a Firefish goby, I can easily recommend a 5-10 gallon AIO tank to see if you like it.

Hmmmm. You know, I didn't even think of this possibility, I was focussed on starting with, at the bare minimum, a 32 BioCube.

I could easily do a 10g tank in my apartment, now.

Any suggestions on a 5-10g AIO setup?

--Gray

 

[Y8ZC]

Hmmmm. You know, I didn't even think of this possibility, I was focussed on starting with, at the bare minimum, a 32 BioCube.

I could easily do a 10g tank in my apartment, now.

Any suggestions on a 5-10g AIO setup?

--Gray

Water box 10g cube looks like a good bet, but I have not real experienced with it. My buddy has a nice looking 5g Fluval. But he had to upgrade the lighting and return. I built my own AIO and it turned out pretty good I have a three section filter area with mechanical filtration and a refugium. Running great and was easy to build!

 

[Fezbearer]

I've been following this post since I'm also looking at getting a tank fairly soon. I was wondering about your thoughts about getting something along the lines of a Reefer 170 or a Marine AIO 40.2 as a first aquarium. I understand they're small and would limit the amount of fish and corals that I could get. That said, if I decide to get a larger tank I figure they can be repurposed into a QT or Freshwater tank.

 

[Quietman]

I really like the size of my RSR170 and it's a gorgeous tank. It was largest we could have in the area we set aside for it and our first tank so wasn't sure if we were going to really like the hobby. I wanted the 250 originally but my wife thought would've been too large for the area - she was right of course, the 170 fits much better. Still if the 250 would've looked good, it would've been nice to have the larger tank. I think really, you adjust to size of tank, you have to. You can run out of space in a bigger tank, too.

So we like the hobby and are now setting up our second tank, (a 55 gal, again, not ideal size but limited in space so we're happy).