Whats the best size tank to start off with?

Amberlyn22092

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I feel like a 37 gallon is a good starting tank and my husband wants a 55. I guess its not a huge difference but this is my first saltwater tank and want to know what is the best size to start with.
 

lapin

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It is not the size that's important as much as how much you want to spend and what sort of corals fish you want to keep. Med size is the best beginner tank. Too small and you are restricted as to what fish you can keep and you have to keep eyes on fluxuations a lot more closely. Too big and its harder to clean, do water changes ect...
My LFS has differnt size tanks set up and running maybe go to good LFS and look.
 
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Dragon52

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I started way back when with a 30gl, then 55, then 135, then a 120 after being out for may yrs, now have a 185 & wish it was bigger.
but as stated it depends on what you want to put in it. Check out this section for more info. Many questions already asked here.
 

vetteguy53081

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The one in which you have room to accommodate. I can say 55 gallon or such, but you may not have 48" of room for placement
Below is a calculator to help you figure what size is best for you.

 

Indytraveler83

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It is not the size that's important as much as how much you want to spend and what sort of corals fish you want to keep. Med size is the best beginner tank. Too small and you are restricted as to what fish you can keep and you have to keep eyes on fluxuations a lot more closely. Too big and its harder to clean, do water changes ect...
+1

The best size tank is what suits your goals. Too small and you will quickly run out of room and struggle to keep it clean. Too big, and you find yourself buying equipment and investing in more than you bargained for. Tell us more about what you want to do with it!
 

Sosuke

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I feel like a 37 gallon is a good starting tank and my husband wants a 55. I guess its not a huge difference but this is my first saltwater tank and want to know what is the best size to start with.

I think a 50 - 100 is a good starting point, I however made the beginner mistake of starting off with a 5 gal ;Facepalm
 

MatsReef

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Honestly there’s virtually no difference between those two size tanks in saltwater. If you’re talking between 50 and 90 then yes there’s a difference. Neither a 37 or 50 is enough for fish that need room to swim. My advice would be is to look at the animals you want to keep and buy a setup closest to that within your budget.
 

TaylorPilot

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Larger tanks are more stable, but they are more expensive to setup and maintain. Plus, are you more willing to do a 10 gallon (two bucket) water change on a 40B, or a 25 gallon (5 bucket) water change on a 120. All that being said, I would skip right by the 75 or 90 and get the 120. That extra width is a game changer. The 120 is probably my favorite off the shelf tank....I would skip the 55, they are tall and narrow. The 40B is a much better setup. It is 3' long so requires less light, and the extra depth gives you much more room to play with aquascaping. A 12-13" wide tank is pretty narrow.
 

NowGlazeIT

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6-60 gallons imo. I started with a 6 gallon bio cube and my favorite cube was the 60 gallon. One was baby steps into saltwater fish and the other was baby steps into reef keeping.
 

siggy

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One of these would make life easier 45 gallon kit (50ish) If you add up time plumbing and the main components you will get a superb system to start out and grow with.
Best of luck and welcome to the club ;) red sea or water box
1582072846002.png
 

cloggins

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If it's a first tank, BRS has a good set of vids showing how they setup a (fairly inexpensive) 40 breeder. It wouldn't be a bad place to start, learn. Then, move up. I had been away from the hobby for a while. My return tank was a Red Sea Reefer 625 (about 160 gallons total volume). In hindsight, I think I might have started with a 40 to relearn things.

If you know exactly what you will want in a couple years, go for gold. If you're not sure, take it easy. This is a long term hobby.

 

JayLu

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Something like a 75 gallon tank may give your fish some more room too swim and give you more room to aquascape. Assuming it is not too large for you / your room. But realistically, any choice would be fine for a first tank. I started with a 46 gallon bow, and enjoyed it for years before moving to a different size tank. I also had a 29 gallon biocube that was a wonderful reef tank.
 

motortrendz

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Arguably, depth is probably the most important aspect of whichever tank you decide to go with. You need room to build your aqua scape. A 55 is a nice length tank but at 12in deep once you put rock work in you'll quickly notice and feel like your tank is a brick wall of rock and that there really is no room for fish to openly swim and placement of corals will shade anything below. I always try to find a tank with atleast 18" depth or 24" will make you very happy. Me personally I would find a 90 or 120g If you decide to go with a 4ft tank.. if you go with the smaller tank look into the cubes.
 

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