Smaller system to start or go big off the bat?

Billy617 · Feb 25, 2020

Hi All - I'm in the very early planning stages of a system and I have a fundamental question that will determine my path forward.

This will be my first reef tank (up to now I've only kept freshwater community and African cichlid tanks), and I'm trying to decide between starting off with a small system (I'm thinking a 32 gal Biocube) with the understanding that I'll be upgrading in the future, and waiting a while longer to go big (~150 gal) off the bat. I've researched the pros and cons and understand that a smaller tank will be more difficult, but my thinking is that I can get the hang of things while the stakes are much lower, and I could even convert the smaller system to a hospital or QT tank to serve the eventual larger tank. I think getting some hands-on experience with a smaller system (at a much lower price point) would be beneficial vs. going big right away and potentially making some early mistakes that could have otherwise been avoided.

Auquanut · Feb 25, 2020

Welcome Billy! That's a very good question. I can only give you my own experience. I started with a 29 biocube. Within a year I also had a 125 up and running. I found that the 125 ultimately was easier to maintain as well as being much more flexible as far as what I want to achieve in the hobby.
Personally, I think that cutting my teeth with the 29 gave me the experience I needed to be more successful with the larger tank from day one. I ran both for a long time, but sadly, the biocube is now in storage awaiting use as a quarantine or whatever.
So in my opinion, I think you have a solid plan as long as you're willing to accept the added cost of the intended upgrade. Of couse you could always keep both reefs running as well.

Jeto2004 · Feb 25, 2020

Depends of how much confidence you have into translating read knowledge into practiced methodology. Personally I started (well still starting - consider myself as a complete newbie) out with a larger tank, but taking it extremely slow. My tank is wet for 6 month know and just 2 month ago I added a piece of coral. Going slow allows you to get comfortable practicing and putting your knowledge to the test. The only very small regret I had is that it may makes sense to start out with a frag tank set up to start with.

Jeto2004 · Feb 25, 2020

Oh and welcome to R2R!

WVNed · Feb 25, 2020

What do you want to keep? No one ever asked me that when I started.
If you want fish I would start with a bigger tank.

Daniel@R2R · Feb 25, 2020

Go as big as is reasonable for you. The bigger you go, the easier it is to fine tune water parameters, and going bigger opens more fish options up too (so maybe knowing what you want to keep would be the best place to decide tank size). However, the bigger you go, the more costly your equipment will be too. So do what makes the most sense.

Wrasse-cal · Feb 25, 2020

Big. I wish I had gone bigger, and am planning my next tank. The cost of "doing it right" once, versus twice would have in the end been cheaper long term.

HOWEVER, my current tank has allowed me to refine what I like/don't like with respect to design as well as function. So for that reason, using a first tank as a proof of concept or prototype system does have merit.

WVNed · Feb 25, 2020

I have used 8, 20, 30, 54, 75 and 240 gallon tanks. Any of these tanks can hold nice corals or nems. The 75 was the first tank I could get enough fish in to make me happy.

Dragon174 · Feb 25, 2020

Welcome to R2R! I cut my teeth years ago with cube tanks (60 gallons) as I was very unsure about keeping a reef tank. It allowed for a little more stability but it also didn't have a sump and ran hang on the back filters. There wasn't the web with all of these great forums to help with at that time either.

You also need to consider your budget. I've had may tanks and recently set up a new 120 gallon tank and didn't skimp on anything. I did some planning, more research and still went way over my budget and I still have lots more that I need to add to my system.

As other said, it will also depend on what you want to keep. If you want softies and such, these can be more forgiving in a smaller system, but you will be very limited on what fish and how many you want in the tank.

Just some food for thought.

zoomonster · Feb 25, 2020

I know the smaller tanks are popular and might add one myself one of these days. But being old school I'll go with advise from years ago. Don't bother with anything less than 55g with 90g being a good, readily available 4ft tank. I kept a 90 plus attached tanks for years, took a few years off and came back with a 6ft 200g (and wish I had of gone closer to 300g).

Fishy212 · Feb 25, 2020

If you have to ask... then you already know the answer.... you have to draw the line somewhere. Really think about the time that you need to devote to your tank on a daily / weekly basis.

WVNed · Feb 25, 2020

Cheap as it gets unless you find something used.
Get a 75 with stand at Petsmart for $300. Make a sump from a 20L and 2 pieces of glass. Skimmer, heaters, overflow and 2 black box lights. Drill it and put in an overflow. A pump. Some PVC.

Or run away. This hobby is really a disease and once it sucks you in you don't care if you even eat as long as the fish do.
The addiction starts.

Super Fly · Feb 25, 2020

If I had to do it over again after 2 upgrades, I'd go big off the bat. As per many responses, u don't hear too many folks saying they should've started with smaller tank.

Zan's Aquatica · Feb 25, 2020

I would start smaller because it's easier to take care of and easier to upgrade... i would just buy the equipment that can handle an upgrade (such as higher watt heater, etc) all the good gear is programmable now anyway and you can start with 1 light, 1 wavemaker, etc. then add a second of each as needed IF you upgrade . Big tanks are a lot of work and maintenance takes two times the strength and time and money!

ramabama · Feb 25, 2020

Just big baby

Billy617 · Feb 25, 2020

Thanks everyone! I've clearly got some considerations to make. I think the first thing I'll try to do is develop my wish list for stocking the tank and try to let that guide me.

BigBoyReefer · Feb 25, 2020

I started off with a 10 gallon and did great only kept corals and inverts for a while and eventually a small fish

Indytraveler83 · Feb 25, 2020

I'll be honest, I'm glad I didn't go with the tank I wanted off the bat.

There is a steep learning curve to this hobby, and there's about 1,000 "right" ways to do things. I built my 90 gallon in a totally different way/method than the 54 I first setup. I'm happy to have made my newbie mistakes on the smaller system, and known exactly what I wanted due to personal experience on the bigger one.

Just my 2 cents.

IamChrismWard · Feb 25, 2020

My advice is go as large as you can, it will cost more but it's a lot more forgiving. If you lose 2 gallons of water due to evaporation in a hundred gallon tank your salinity level will hardly change, if you lose a gallon out of a 20 gallon tank you're going to have issues with your fish and coral, due to the level fluctuations. My second bit of advice buy the best of everything you can, skip the $70 lights go for the $600, cheap lights and filters cause more headaches than they're worth. I speak from experience I have a whole closet full of cheap crap equipment that I had to upgrade for the good equipment. Third piece of advice ask as many questions as you can, watch as many videos, make yourself as knowledgeable as you possibly can it will make your tank perform better and your stress levels go down.