NanoAddict

Did anyone else notice that even though people make a bigger deal about getting larger tanks for stability in a marine tank, reefs are some of the smallest aquariums we see?

Tony G.

yes!

Gouramiguy17

No..... Ummm...... I'm not a fan of saltwater so I wouldn't notice.

Tony G.

when i was interested in getting into a SW everyone pretty much told me to get more than 20 gal, when i was planning to start on a 2.5 pico. Then a close friend who owns a salty told me he started off with a 2.5 and his went great.

If you look closely at SW posts. Most of them are below 10 gals...

sgould

You might also notice that most of them are being set up by relative newcomers to the sw hobby, and have at least one caution posted by someone who has been at it longer.

The issue with smaller tanks is not that it can't be done. Clearly it can. There are just greater risks of loss if something goes wrong, and that should be recognized up front. If someone still wants to set up a small tank knowing the risks and stocking limitations, then by all means...have at it!

Time

Yeah I am aiming for a 20 gallon reef but I am set back in $$$ and the lights are expensive. I love small tanks.

NanoAddict

yeah, i wanted a 50 gallon fish only, but ended up with a 20 gallon reef tank, that was when i first got into saltwater

ATP

When I first started, I wanted it as big as I could I would get a 300 if I could. I think the bigger it is, the more natural you could decorate it and the more choices you could have for fish. I have a 125 and hopefully we'll get a 250 in a few years.

NanoAddict

thats sweet, i just didnt want to spend that much money on it

ATP

thanks,

How big is your tank?

NanoAddict

i had a 10 and a 20 gallon, but i dont have saltwater anymore

locoyo386

I think that small tanks are just as easy to handle if not easier than bigger tanks. When you noticed something wrong, just hit the reset button and your back to step one without any side effects. What I mean is that being a small tanks you have less water to change when something goes wrong with it it. I have around 12-10 gallon tanks by now and it is not hard at all. I love the tanks to because you have them every where andn not just un one spot in the house. Yes you are limited with what you can have, you would not put a spotted grouper in one, but there are plenty of fish that can be housed in small tanks. Personally my favorite is the purple firefish or the red bandded goby.

sirdarksol

Well said.

I wouldn't call a total loss of a 10g tank full of corals "without any side effects." All it would take is a few days of poor water conditions to kill off an aquarium.

The reason that many people are doing reefs in smaller tanks has nothing to do with it being easier, it has to do with cost. It's cheaper to stock a 10g tank with coral (or anything) than it is to stock a 50g tank.

With both marine and freshwater aquaria, water quality is easier to maintain in larger tanks. Yes, it takes a bit more physical work (especially if you're using buckets for everything), but one dead fish in a 10g will spike the ammonia much more dramatically than the same dead fish in a 50g. An accidental extra teaspoon of salt in a 10g is a much bigger difference than in a 50g. Etc...

locoyo386

Would you be able to notice the poor water quality effects on the corals? If so than you have time to react to the water quality issue. What problems in water quality are not able to be resolved by doing a large water change in a small tank?

This might be true, I will not say anything further to this since I don't do it for cost reasons. I just simply like ta ability to have multiple tanks all around the house instead of one or two.

This is definetly arguable since it has to do with the husbandry ability of an specific individual, I have not had bad water quality that was bad enough to crash my tanks. I however have read about people with bigger tanks that have crash way more often than mine.

This is true, that is why you look at your tank often enough to see how the fish are doing. I had that happen in one of mu tanks. An emerald crab die and I did not know it, but I did notice the fish swimming differently. That, to me meant something was wrong with the tank, thus I checked for ammonia and nitrites. I noticed there was a sustantial ammonia in the tank. I did 85% (8.5 gallons) water change and the tanks was fine after that no more problems with the ammionia rising. It all was taken care with a single 8.5 gallon water change. I would not been able to do that had I had that same level of ammonia in a bigger tank. It would have taken more water volume to achieve the same dilution.

Yeah, but they are so low, at list when it comes to salinity, that it does not make a significant difference in the level. Only if you really make a big mistake you will see more of an imidiate and rapid change in the tanks inhabitants.

ATP

Hi,

Quote:
Would you be able to notice the poor water quality effects on the corals? If so than you have time to react to the water quality issue. What problems in water quality are not able to be resolved by doing a large water change in a small tank?

-Yes, you would be able to notice poor water quality with corals, the problem is if the coral doesn't look healthy, there are more factors which might affect it other than water quality. calcium, magnesium, and KH will be jumbled up when doing large water change. All three are what hard corals are made out of.

sirdarksol

No, this is a fact that is related to the fact that any addition or subtraction of anything to or from the tank will create a greater change in concentration. Whatever the capabilities of a given individual, a mistake in a smaller tank will create a greater change than the same mistake in a larger tank. That's what I was getting at with the dead fish reference.

It's much like the difference in dosing meds for babies vs dosing meds for adults. In an adult, the max daily dose of acetaminophen is 4000mg. In a baby, it's around 200mg. It's about as likely for the pharmacy to make a 5mg mistake on either dosing, but while this is less than a 1% increase in the adult dosage, it is a 2.5% increase in the baby. The difference in impact is huge. This is why pharmacies and nurses are extra careful when dealing with meds for babies; a mistake of a few milligrams is a bigger deal. They use very exacting equipment and great care, double checking their own work and then having it checked and checked again by the administrating nurse.
Yes, these procedures can be used for aquaria, but they take more effort... effort that isn't as necessary for larger tanks, which is precisely what I'm getting at.

locoyo386

See now that makes more sence. I have never kept corals thus I can't argue to what the effects are in overdosing say , calcium, magnesium or variences in alkalinity, hardness and/or pH balance. However in small tans with fish only the main problems usually tend to be with pH and obiusly ammonia and nitrites. The effects are not suddle and immidate. When the changes are extreme (which is nearly impossible, unless you did a 80% water change wi RO instead of salt water), I can see the fish being more prone to sudden death. But let's say you did do that, and by mistake you added RO instead of saltwater. In small tank the fix can be done realitively easy and cheaper. You just have to pay attention to the tank and noticed any differences. That is where I was going with the husbandry issue. You could easily neglet the bigger tank and have a bigger issue in it just simply because of the bigger volume. It owuld need bigger everything, water change more dosing of calcium or magnesium. Well to me it has been relative easy to keep ten gallon tanks with fish only, just as easy as freshwater tanks. In general that is why I don't go reef because they tend to be more difficult than FOWLR.