OverWhelmed with my options

[BearCook]

Hey guys, i am new to the salt life. have had Countless freshwater aquariums up to a 300 gallon with a tiger shovelnose catfish. was thinking of doing a 45 gallon reef tank. was talked into a 125 because i eventually want to end up owning a large reef. HOWEVER, I've just seen my first rimless cubes yesterday. 25 too small, 93 too big, 60 just right. I feel like goldilocks, But, honestly i think the footprint of this tank is beautiful. while i eventually want to end with a 125 I'm living in an apartment and think the 60 is just beautiful (corner flow by the way). I almost walked out of the store with the tank yesterday... But, felt i should turn to the community for advice. already have an idea drawn up in my head for a custom stand. one thing this lifestyle has taught me, research, ReSeArCh, RESEACH! lol sorry

 

[Flippers4pups]

60 gallon is a great apartment size tank. I've had a 56 collum in a apartment before and it was a great size. Not to big, not to small.

 

[snowhite]

60 is a good size to be pretty stable, especially if there's a sump under it adding to the water volume. IMHO there's a huge difference in the "feel" of maintaining a 30g vs a 50 to 60gallon tank. Especially when learning. If it's an AIO (All In One) it will still be fine, you'll just have different options/approaches down the line as you find you may choose to add other options depending where you head livestock wise.

My wife and I switched from freshwater to saltwater starting a year ago. We had 11 freshwater tanks. Now we have 8 saltwater tanks and 3 freshwater. Some of the salt tanks are as simple as utilizing our old Canister filters and cleaning filterfloss in them every couple of weeks. The larger tanks (52, 75, 90g) now have sumps under them, etc.

It can be done many ways with success, and you can start basic and increase the complexity as you go. One mistake many make is to get to complicated to soon and either burn yourself out, or create problems for yourself due to not understanding the differences between salt and freshwater.
I know I started to go whole hog with complexity and forced myself to back off and slow down. Watching, Learning and finding how to recognize the things happening in your tank is something that happens over time. Going to complex or moving to fast often keeps you from learning these things.

 

[Cwentz758]

Welcome to the biggest reef in the hobby!

On another thought imagine having to move the 120g out of that apartment whenever you go compared to the 60. (Moving a tank of any size is a pain)

Also once the 60 is fully stocked and you want to upgrade you should be able to transfer everything and have the 120 up quickly without a complete cycle.

 

[BearCook]

60 gallon is a great apartment size tank. I've had a 56 collum in a apartment before and it was a great size. Not to big, not to small.

Some preliminary sketches for a stand and ideas for storage options. Hiding behind faux stone rock work. Been in renovations for many years so its always a part of adding to the visual appeal of a new tank. Also the shorter part of sketch to double as extra seating. Basically meant to be dual function partition wall

 

[Cell]

It seems like you are destined for several tanks. I'd go with the 60 until I found a more permanent home.

Welcome to R2R!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Biggest is best. Why? Once your into the hobby, you will want to keep adding to beautify your tank and wish you had more space. Start with that space.

 

[BearCook]

For Visual appeal would anyone recommend painting corner flo area with black acrylic since i would like the tank to be visible from all sides?

 

[snowhite]

I also wouldn't screw around with dosing and such for a while (months or more) until it's needed due to corals consuming trace elements and such. Just water changes will be more than fine for quite a while until your coral livestock gets large... back to that comment on complexity unless its needed.

 

[BearCook]

I also wouldn't screw around with dosing and such for a while (months or more) until it's needed due to corals consuming trace elements and such. Just water changes will be more than fine for quite a while until your coral livestock gets large... back to that comment on complexity unless its needed.

Appreciated. I've watched alot of BRS and really followed many of their suggestions to heart. a Refugium with a starter kit from algae barn using marine pure block ive decided is a must. Excited to grow macro and have a good pod stock because eventually i want to own a Mandarin Dragonet in my tank. ive looked at Blueberry Gorgonian and some other soft corals. Not sure about what LPS id like to own. so many striking corals to choose from. i do know that im not rushing into anything and will slowly add corals after researching compatibilities and growth rates. havent found any SPS Overly appealing. but ive heard the bug will strike me at some point.

 

[snowhite]

IMHO, if you're not hell bent on high end SPS then you've gained a lot of leeway and time to learn.
Just waterchanges, testing and a refugium will do the majority of what you need if not all for quite a while. Depending on amount of livestock in the tank, many will say a skimmer could be added, but again, that can be based on testing levels of Nitrates.

Personally I have 'Fuges in most tanks and a Skimmer only in my 90g Anemone display tank. I run the skimmer periodically and it's not really needed thusfar. It was just part of the used 90g tank setup I purchased and is oversized for a 300g tank. If I'd run it constantly it would totally strip the tank.

 

[NashobaTek]

 

[Arricefe]

2' x 2' 60 gallon is the perfect size for lighting options. Also when you upgrade and you stay with the 120, 180, 240 family you just need an additional light for each 2 foot more of tank.