What size tank would you recommend for a beginner?

[taricha_94]

I'm just curious. I'm just now beginning to do research on reef tanks but I feel like it might help me to narrow down what size range would be best for a newbie. My dad started out with a 29gal and I learned what (little) I know about reef keeping from his experiences. At the time, his tank seemed like an appropriate size for learners. However, he recently came across a fluval spec v (5gal) for really cheap and offered to give it to me if I ever wanted to get back into fish again. I've been reading mostly on nano reefs (mostly the smaller sizes) and I've read things like evaporation happening a lot quicker in super small tanks for example. But I also don't think it would be wise to start out pretty big as there are probably a lot of problems that aren't exactly newbie-friendly.. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Edit: after looking at the tank sizes of picos and nanos on this forum, I understand that a 5 gallon is actually considered a pico!

 

[GMay]

The other thing to keep in mind is the total cost of operating a marine aquarium. Small means it is less expensive to build and maintain.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I like the standard 20g or 30g. The 30 long has a nice wide foot print. My 30 Cube now is pretty darn cool too. Used with stand $80.

Starting out I did the 10 20 then 30. The 30 long lived 3 years. All with hob aquaclear, hob refugium, heater and ato. no sump. If you fall in love you can sump all those with a small hob overflow box.
Consider that it is also furniture too so you want it to look nice where its going in the space it will live. you can look up standard sizes on the internet.

 

[StoneFlyTyer]

For the most part a lot of people say 55gallon is a good beginner tank due to the fact you have more time to fix problems if they occur. The bigger the tank the more room you have for error and it is a bit more stable, this is where I started and the research I did when I started suggested it

 

[MOPAR]

Usually the smaller the tank the more difficult. With such small water volume keeping parameters stable is difficult. So going larger would be easier to start. The more water volume you have the more forgiving chemistry changes will be and there is alot to learn mistakes will be made. Go as big as room and budget will allow.

What do you plan to keep in this tank? The type of corals and fish can play a major role in what tank size you will want or need.

 

[Cgschulz]

This is my opinion but I would say some were between 29 to 90. With the smaller tanks if somthing go's wrong it go's wrong fast and with a bigger tank it tacks more time so u have more time to fix was going wrong. On the other hand the bigger tank u have to take into consideration the size and weight. Also equipment and up keep cost on bigger tank is more. I personally started with 45 but quickly upgrade. But in the long run it all will depend on wot fits your life style as long as u keep up on water changes and testing the water a smaller tank would work fine but every one has there own opinions so just take all the info u get frome everyone and u should be able to make a go decision. Good luck and remember the most important thing is to have fun

 

[Bouncingsoul39]

I'd recommend a 40 breeder or a 55 gallon standard. You can get either at Petco on their $1 per gallon sale. Great, cheap way to get into the hobby. You are super restricted on the fish you can keep in something 20 gallons or less. Go with the largest you can afford. Keep in mind, the more water volume you have, the larger your margin of error.

 

[jduck]

40-90g

 

[Clownman727]

Get the biggest tank you can afford and have room for.

 

[Chris-tico]

40 w/sump. or bigger.

but that means more money to expend

 

[Lynn52]

I like the 40 breeder. It is big enough to slow down problems. It is big enough to put a few small fish. Their foot print is easy to aqua scape which the 55 isn't.

 

[Salt Creep]

40 breeder. Great footprint for aquascaping. Big enough that you can catch issues in a timely manner, but small enough that you don't need to invest a bunch of money right away. This is the max size I would say could go skimmerless weighing the cost/benefit of water change frequency. Go too small and you're limited on livestock and small swings become big swings... Go too big and you are looking at $$$. 55 gallons are very difficult to aquascape due to their size. 40 breeder is the sweet spot for beginner tanks imo.

 

[Salt Creep]

40 breeder. Great footprint for aquascaping. Big enough that you can catch issues in a timely manner, but small enough that you don't need to invest a bunch of money right away. This is the max size I would say could go skimmerless weighing the cost/benefit of water change frequency. Go too small and you're limited on livestock and small swings become big swings... Go too big and you are looking at $$$. 55 gallons are very difficult to aquascape due to their size. 40 breeder is the sweet spot for beginner tanks imo.

 

[taricha_94]

Thanks everyone for your input! I really appreciate it! I now agree that going as big as I can is probably the best idea. I am a little limited on space however, and I haven't really thought about what kind of livestock I might add but I don't think I want too much. I actually have a spare 40 breeder left over from an old reptile enclosure... The only problem is finding the space for it..

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Good discussion!

 

[MikeyAl]

For the most part a lot of people say 55gallon is a good beginner tank due to the fact you have more time to fix problems if they occur. The bigger the tank the more room you have for error and it is a bit more stable, this is where I started and the research I did when I started suggested it

Agreed. That is what I started with. Good size. Smaller tanks, I think are harder, because less room for error.

I now have a 90. I think 55 and 90 are perfect.

 

[Duke4Life]

I went 10, 20, 55, and 125 before. This time around I started a 10 and 20 for quarantine while I worked on my 125.

 

[Neptune1707]

I think this is very subjective matter...however, instead of the size of the tank I think the key to success as we could all agree is the equipment and lights that go with WHATEVER size you choose. With that being said, if your a beginner I would recommend a plug and play aquarium setup that has the proper filtration, skimmer, lights etc selected for you. I have been doing saltwater for about 20 years with varying degrees of success and failures. One of my biggest failures is not understanding the right equipment, pump sizes, lights that I needed. I recently purchased a Red Sea Max-500 (135g) set up. I know I paid a premium price for the name brand and the equipment that came with it was prob marked up from if I would have selected my own filter pieces/lights....but I trust the research done by Red Sea and they have taken the guess work out of the equation to create a tank capable of supporting a proper LPS/SPS reef tank. With that said my tank has been up and running for the past 2 months and I have had more success out of the gate than all my other tank set-ups. I'm jealous of the fact that new people coming into the hobby have the internet and great sites like this to get information on what to do from when I started in the hobby. But like all things you have to still sort thru the good info and the bad info. This site does a great job of giving good advice and steering you toward obtaining your goals to have a reef tank. Joining a local fish club will help too! Nothing like local expert level reef keepers to give you hands on advice about any issues that arise...well worth any club membership fee Good Luck and we are all on here to help...just ask away! Attached is pic of my tank...just finally started to add some corals this past weekend, colt coral, radioactive dragon eye zoos, feather duster, long tentacle sea anemone, purple mushrooms....all are open and very happy.

 

[Neptune1707]

I think this is very subjective matter...however, instead of the size of the tank I think the key to success as we could all agree is the equipment and lights that go with WHATEVER size you choose. With that being said, if your a beginner I would recommend a plug and play aquarium setup that has the proper filtration, skimmer, lights etc selected for you. I have been doing saltwater for about 20 years with varying degrees of success and failures. One of my biggest failures is not understanding the right equipment, pump sizes, lights that I needed. I recently purchased a Red Sea Max-500 (135g) set up. I know I paid a premium price for the name brand and the equipment that came with it was prob marked up from if I would have selected my own filter pieces/lights....but I trust the research done by Red Sea and they have taken the guess work out of the equation to create a tank capable of supporting a proper LPS/SPS reef tank. With that said my tank has been up and running for the past 2 months and I have had more success out of the gate than all my other tank set-ups. I'm jealous of the fact that new people coming into the hobby have the internet and great sites like this to get information on what to do from when I started in the hobby. But like all things you have to still sort thru the good info and the bad info. This site does a great job of giving good advice and steering you toward obtaining your goals to have a reef tank. Joining a local fish club will help too! Nothing like local expert level reef keepers to give you hands on advice about any issues that arise...well worth any club membership fee Good Luck and we are all on here to help...just ask away! Attached is pic of my tank...just finally started to add some corals this past weekend, colt coral, radioactive dragon eye zoos, feather duster, long tentacle sea anemone, purple mushrooms....all are open and very happy.

this pic is actually before I added the coral LOL

 

[taricha_94]

I think this is very subjective matter...however, instead of the size of the tank I think the key to success as we could all agree is the equipment and lights that go with WHATEVER size you choose. With that being said, if your a beginner I would recommend a plug and play aquarium setup that has the proper filtration, skimmer, lights etc selected for you. I have been doing saltwater for about 20 years with varying degrees of success and failures. One of my biggest failures is not understanding the right equipment, pump sizes, lights that I needed. I recently purchased a Red Sea Max-500 (135g) set up. I know I paid a premium price for the name brand and the equipment that came with it was prob marked up from if I would have selected my own filter pieces/lights....but I trust the research done by Red Sea and they have taken the guess work out of the equation to create a tank capable of supporting a proper LPS/SPS reef tank. With that said my tank has been up and running for the past 2 months and I have had more success out of the gate than all my other tank set-ups. I'm jealous of the fact that new people coming into the hobby have the internet and great sites like this to get information on what to do from when I started in the hobby. But like all things you have to still sort thru the good info and the bad info. This site does a great job of giving good advice and steering you toward obtaining your goals to have a reef tank. Joining a local fish club will help too! Nothing like local expert level reef keepers to give you hands on advice about any issues that arise...well worth any club membership fee Good Luck and we are all on here to help...just ask away! Attached is pic of my tank...just finally started to add some corals this past weekend, colt coral, radioactive dragon eye zoos, feather duster, long tentacle sea anemone, purple mushrooms....all are open and very happy.

Thank you! This is very informative and helpful! I'm sure it's definitely worth the extra money to get equipment I know is going to work.. It's a lot to keep track of and I'm bound to make mistakes