Dark_Rider2k3

I always hear that smaller tank sizes are harder to take care of then larger tanks?

What is the reasoning for this? I have been discussing with my dad about getting a SW tank for our living room or dining room, and he was asking me why I didn't go with a 30-gallon (my 20-gallon FW he said was a real nice size and that he didn't see why i would need (or want) a tank that is 60-100-gallon).

The 2 tanks I am looking at are 30-gallon and 70-gallon. How much Live rock would I be looking at getting (and how much sand would you all recommend) ?

Rbacchiega

a larger tank is better because it allows for a little more room in terms of water condition. Think about this, a piece of uneaten fish food decaying in a 20 gallon tank will affect the water much more quickly (and, more potently) than that same ammount of food in a 70 gallon tank.

It depends on what you're looking at doing with your saltwater tank that will also determine the ammount of live rock you'll need. If you're going with a fish only, technically you don't need any live rock as long as you have strong enough filtration. A fowlr (fish only with live rock) will sort of be in the same boat, but obviously you'll want enough live rock in there to allow the fish to hide and to be esthetically apealing. If you go with the full out reef tank, I would suggest anywhere from 1 to 1.5 pounds per gallon or more. For example, my 90 gallon will eventually have upwards to 135 pounds of live rock.

As for sand, it depends really. Gozer reccomends 1 inch (he helped me ALOT when setting up my tank, so I can't take all the credit) if you were looking for a shallow bed, or 4 inches if you want the deeper bed. Keep in mind that with sand, detritus settles in, and withouth proper aeration and bed movement, becomes factories for nitrite..or nitrate, I can't remember right now. Anyways, I've chosen to go bare bottom. Its easier to clean, allows for more tank rotation without causing a sand storm in your tank, and frankly, allows me that much more money to put elsewhere in my tank.

best of luck!

Dark_Rider2k3

Thank you!!

I love the beauty of a reef tank so that's what i'm aiming for. I am just making sure I know what I get into and that I do this right the first time hehe.

When you mentioned the "1 to 1.5 pounds" i felt a little dumb cuz I remember reading up on it before (it just slipped my mind).

bare bottom would save me money, but I couldn't see having nothing on the bottom of the tank lol. I may put 1-inch of sand, but this could easily change as right now i'm just looking up everything.

Rbacchiega

I never thought I could go without sand either, but think of all the crap (literally) that you'll miss if you're syphoning because of the rock formation etc. Granted, I"ll still miss a little bit, but it's easier for the current created by the powerheads to move the detritus into a location that's easily syponed from the tank. If you do indeed go with sand, be sure to get lots of critters that will help stir up the gravel bed in order to avoid any "dead" areas that will just end up causing you grief.

agsansoo

Rbacchiega's is going barebottom ! All right ! Welcome to the Fish Lore Bare Bottom Club !!!

Sabi

I'm no expert in marine keeping, but i know some ppl just put a sprinkling of sand to cover the bottom. Its what i'm going to do.

Rbacchiega

Thanks agsansoo. Those banana things have to be the most annoying smiley I've seen LOL but yes, I too have a bare bottom

Narcicius

Reading this makes a reef tank not so hard to attain. Thanks for the thread, I think i'll look into some saltwater, btw I was kinda cautious about saltwater due to the nitrate/nitrite buildup in sand.