Reef Tank in an Apartment?

[Joe Tony]

I'm gonna be moving soon and I'm strongly considering living in an apartment, rather than a house, and I was wondering about the logistics regarding keeping a reef tank in an apartment. How likely is it that a landlord would allow it? Would a 55+ gallon tank be possible? Overall, what are people's experience with apartment reefkeeping?

 

[GlassMunky]

Depends on the place if they allow tanks.
I’ve kept a 90G reef in my old apartment.
Biggest thing i dealt with was water changes and where to keep the RO and water.

 

[Bo.]

Talk to the landlord as a first step, really depends on the property management company. I have my rodi on a "y" fitting from the washing machine, it's no big difference for me.

 

[Joe Tony]

Talk to the landlord as a first step, really depends on the property management company. I have my rodi on a "y" fitting from the washing machine, it's no big difference for me.

Thanks

 

[Steven Garland]

I have always stayed in apartments and never had an issue with keeping tanks.

Most will have a restriction on sizing though. When me and my wife moved into our first apartment,it was 10-20g limitation.

The apartment I just moved into,didn't have limitations supposedly there is a guy in the building across from mine with a 50g reef tank.

 

[Joe Tony]

Depends on the place if they allow tanks.
I’ve kept a 90G reef in my old apartment.
Biggest thing i dealt with was water changes and where to keep the RO and water.

Would it help my chances if I had a smaller tank, say a 55-gallon instead of the 120 I was originally planning for?

 

[Steven Garland]

I would suggest keeping it smaller,due to WC purposes. Do you have space for a RO unit and storage container,do you have a local store that has their own sw you can get ? Those are 2 limiting factors.

 

[Uncle99]

I’d get some insurance, then no worries.

 

[dennis romano]

Talk to the landlord first. You may have to get insurance. I had a 29 gal blow a seam at 3 a.m. The tenants below had water coming through their ceiling.

 

[Mydoghasfleas]

Landlord aside, I would also consider how long you will be staying. If it’s only a year, exponentially harder to break down a larger tank!

 

[DED65]

Be upfront with the landlord, they may charge an additional fee for having pets. Renters insurance covers your belongings, the owners policy covers the building.

 

[Joe Tony]

Landlord aside, I would also consider how long you will be staying. If it’s only a year, exponentially harder to break down a larger tank!

This would be a permanent thing for me.

 

[Joe Tony]

I would suggest keeping it smaller,due to WC purposes. Do you have space for a RO unit and storage container,do you have a local store that has their own sw you can get ? Those are 2 limiting factors.

I do want to upgrade from my current 30 gallon, but maybe I could just upgrade to a 55 to keep it relatively small. And if it were to be that small, I feel like I would just get gallons of distilled water instead of worrying about installing an RO system. Distilled water's worked well enough for my 30

 

[Nick Steele]

I have a 55, 15 freshwater and a 20g reef tank in our apartment.

We are inside a complex but are renting from someone who has bought the unit. First apartment had laminate floors or something else that didn’t do good with water so my wife mentioned the aquariums. At first she wasn’t fond of the idea but she assured her tanks were brand new and I work in the aquaculture field so she opened up to the idea. She wouldn’t let us in the first place but had another apartment open in a month with tile and we moved right in. We got renters insurance that covers water damage for us and we are all good.

 

[Steven Garland]

I just get premixed from lfs's. I need to get a refractometer so I can use my new bucket of red sea blue bucket lol.

Most places don't care as long as its a small volume of water.

 

[RuuToo]

I did my first tank in an apartment on the 20th floor of a building in downtown Philadelphia. It was a 54 gallon corner tank and it worked out really well. Moved it after a year without too much drama.

 

[Joe Tony]

I just get premixed from lfs's. I need to get a refractometer so I can use my new bucket of red sea blue bucket lol.

Most places don't care as long as its a small volume of water.

Would a 55 gallon qualify as a small amount, in your experience?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Many tanks out there in apartments. Consider both weight of the system and landlord permission.
Forget insurance which is as outrageous as flood insurance.

 

[fish farmer]

I've had a 38 and a 55 in an apartment. I had an RO/DI in both, there are creative ways of making up water and storing in small spaces, did a lot of water work in the shower. Smaller tanks also mean less water to change and store.

 

[Steven Garland]

To me that is massive. But I keep pico/nanos. My biggest has been a 7g. But mainly because I am cheap. 99% of apartments require renters insurance which will cover most mishaps short of the tank falling thru the floor.

I just moved into another apartment 2 weeks ago,and the leasing manager said as long as you have renters insurance its fine.