40g breeder or 66g for beginner

[BigEreef]

Same here ;Hilarious Started off with a little 2.5 gallon heated and filtered betta tank, then a 36 gallon bow front with dwarf gourami's then my current 40 breeder, and now I have a 75 in the garage ready to go! lol I have to stop there though

Hahahaha this hobby is very addicting and rewarding that personally have been thinking of expanding the garage just to have more space for tanks

 

[Hemmdog]

Aint that the truth i started with a couple of 5 gallons planted, then went up to 1-10g and 1-20g and finally the 40g and 66g that used to be also fw planted

I hear ya on that. I started when I was 5 with my first tank in my room and I’ve been hooked since. The tank was a 8g hex, I loved that tank so much, it had some gourami’s and Molly’s. I even remember the Molly’s bred in that tank. So cool seeing that so young. After that I had a 20g with the same fish. Then one of my brothers got a 75g African cichlid tank. That was so cool too the way he had it lit. Then personally I had a 35 in high school. Got out of the hobby awhile in college but got back in my last 2 years with a 10g tiger barb tank. Then 35g red bellied piranha tank that was a huge conversation starter.. lol. After college got a 55g planted fw German blue ram and cardinal tetra tank. Started working at a public aquarium then; so I didn’t really want to do maintenance when I got home, so I got out of the hobby. Then 2 years ago got into reefing and started with a 32 biocube, 8 months later added a 90 gal, now I replaced the biocube with a 40b bare bottom reef! I’ve been hooked for life!

 

[BigEreef]

I hear ya on that. I started when I was 5 with my first tank in my room and I’ve been hooked since. The tank was a 8g hex, I loved that tank so much, it had some gourami’s and Molly’s. I even remember the Molly’s bred in that tank. So cool seeing that so young. After that I had a 20g with the same fish. Then one of my brothers got a 75g African cichlid tank. That was so cool too the way he had it lit. Then personally I had a 35 in high school. Got out of the hobby awhile in college but got back in my last 2 years with a 10g tiger barb tank. Then 35g red bellied piranha tank that was a huge conversation starter.. lol. After college got a 55g planted fw German blue ram and cardinal tetra tank. Started working at a public aquarium then; so I didn’t really want to do maintenance when I got home, so I got out of the hobby. Then 2 years ago got into reefing and started with a 32 biocube, 8 months later added a 90 gal, now I replaced the biocube with a 40b bare bottom reef! I’ve been hooked for life!

Thats amazing. I started while in high school with bettas and shrimps. Then moved to apistogrammas, rams and tropical communities. I know that feeling of doing something all day knowing you have to continue to do it at home. Probably the number 1 reason why us mechanics drive beaters or take our personal vehicles to somebody else

 

[Peace River]

Hello everyone, just wondering witch tank would be best for a beginner saltwater keeper. I have a 40g breeder and a 66g tank (48.5x12.5x25) empty right now that used to be freshwater tanks. I just recently moved so I had to take the tanks down and to be honest I have always been interested in saltwater but was afraid because of “how difficult” some friends made it sound like. After plenty of research I feel confident enough to start my own saltwater tank fowlr for now and move up from there slowly as I learn more and more about it. So by just looking at the tanks I feel like the 40g breeder would be a lot better to aquascape and to work on it since i can easily reach the bottom. On the other hand even tho the 66g I feel is too narrow to achieve a good aquascape ( not a fan of just a wall of rocks ) and harder to do some stuff I do like the big window display. So my question is based on your experience witch tank would you prefer or recommend to a beginner like me. Also any advice on equipment will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

As you can see from the responses there is not one right or best answer. I like the idea of the 66g as your display and use the 40b as a Qt. You mentioned a FOWLR setup but I didn't see a mention of fish - I encourage you to look at the setup from your perspective and from their perspective, then heavily weight your decision toward what the fish want and go with that!

 

[BigEreef]

As you can see from the responses there is not one right or best answer. I like the idea of the 66g as your display and use the 40b as a Qt. You mentioned a FOWLR setup but I didn't see a mention of fish - I encourage you to look at the setup from your perspective and from their perspective, then heavily weight your decision toward what the fish want and go with that!

Hello there, thank you for you advice. And yes I realize i never mentioned the fish I would like to house in the future tank. So far the ones that have caught my attention are a pair of clown fish, a goby/pistol shrimp combo, banner cardinalfish, orchid dottyback and blennys. Very open to suggestions on stocking ideas or pointers since I know for sure there are hundreds if not thousands of fish that I dont know or have even seen thanks to me being a newbie in the saltwater fish keeping .

 

[Peace River]

Hello there, thank you for you advice. And yes I realize i never mentioned the fish I would like to house in the future tank. So far the ones that have caught my attention are a pair of clown fish, a goby/pistol shrimp combo, banner cardinalfish, orchid dottyback and blennys. Very open to suggestions on stocking ideas or pointers since I know for sure there are hundreds if not thousands of fish that I dont know or have even seen thanks to me being a newbie in the saltwater fish keeping .

You say you want a FOWLR tank, but clowns are sneaky. They start dancing around each other and then you start to get drawn in. Next thing you know you are buying an anemone for them and a little later you decide since you already have an anemone you might as well get some soft coral then SPS. Then that gorgeous $50 1/4" frag all of a sudden seems to make perfect sense...all because of those sneaky clowns!

 

[BigEreef]

You say you want a FOWLR tank, but clowns are sneaky. They start dancing around each other and then you start to get drawn in. Next thing you know you are buying an anemone for them and a little later you decide since you already have an anemone you might as well get some soft coral then SPS. Then that gorgeous $50 1/4" frag all of a sudden seems to make perfect sense...all because of those sneaky clowns!

So true. Thats why Im planning to start as a FOWLR but try to set up for future corals from the beginning as much as possible because just like you said one thing leads to another and next thing you know you are in the market for upgrades and all kinds of goodies. I do plan on evolving from a FOWLR and add corals, but again I plan to do so slowly as I learn more and more about it. One thing I dont like to practice is the “buy first then research” habit I see way too frequent not only in the hobby but many other scenarios. So basically knowing myself and the love I have for clown fish, the anemone and corals will eventually be in my life no doubt about it