Reef Tank Size - Moving Difficulty

[Schraufabagel]

I’m looking to get into the hobby sometime next year and I understand that generally speaking, a larger tank is better for beginners since it dilutes any dosing mistakes easier.

My question is, with living in an apartment for the next 4~8 years while saving for a house, is it practical to keep a tank over say 40 gallons? I wouldn’t move every year, but I could potentially move once or twice on that time frame. I’m very fond of the Waterbox tanks and they have 35, 50, and 65 gallon AIO options. I understand that moving any saltwater tank is always a challenge, but in your option, at what point would this become too much work for the effort?

The 65 gallon is appealing since it allows for more types of fish and it would have plenty of room for growth over a longer period. Unlike the smaller ones where I’d run out of space in the tank pretty quick. But I’d be perfectly fine accepting that a 35 gallon or even the 20 gallon cube are a better option for me if that’s what people think.

 

[JumboShrimp]

I haven’t looked into Waterbox too much, but I know that Innovative Marine has some in the 50-70 gallon range where the stands break down. I wouldn’t hesitate to enjoy one for the years you plan to be in your apartment, and then move it into a house.

 

[Hugh Mann]

I personally wouldn't go over 65 gallons if I knew I'd be moving a couple times before settling down. It's a lot of work taking down the tank, moving the livestock and rebuild everything. I moved my 55 from upstairs to downstairs in my house and it took 8 hours start to finish working alone. Still, I wouldn't let a long day every couple years keep me from setting up a tank.

 

[Schraufabagel]

I personally wouldn't go over 65 gallons if I knew I'd be moving a couple times before settling down. It's a lot of work taking down the tank, moving the livestock and rebuild everything. I moved my 55 from upstairs to downstairs in my house and it took 8 hours start to finish working alone. Still, I wouldn't let a long day every couple years keep me from setting up a tank.

I’ll be living with my girlfriend, so that’s one extra hand I definitely wouldn’t go over 80 gallons either way. I’ve just been leaning toward a larger one like that where I would be satisfied for many years after. I feel like I’d be disappointed with running out of space on a small tank

 

[muggle reefer]

We did a household move several years ago, as you get more stuff there is a lot going on with a move. We were selling one house and moving into another. We have a 35 gallon Red Sea max. So I paid my lfs to move my tank. It was not about weight, it was about safely transporting our live fish and so on. It was also about, we had a lot going on with the move, it proved one thing that we did not have to think about, it was just done.