My boyfriend and I have been thinking about starting a saltwater tank because my b/f loves my tropicals but when we go fish shopping he always looks at the salt water fish. I want to start out with a nano-reef or whatever, just to get into the basics of water quality/chemistry and problems we could run into.

My question is, how small is too small for a nano? I've read about nano's as small as 2 gallons in my aquarium fish magazine, but you can't put any fish in that small of an area as far as I know? Maybe a starfish or some other invert.

Any tips/suggestions would be greatly appreciated... I have a lack of space at the moment, so technically I shouldn't even start up another tank, but I'd like to know what I would be looking for when I do get enough space for it.

Thanks!

Well my tank Hun is a 12 gal Nano Reef. I have a total kit. Comes with a built in light and filter in the tank. You would need something like this if you wanted to go small. Also Live rock, Live sand and some Calcium additive, Alk buffer, test kits are very important.......Alk, nitrite, phosphate, calcium, nitrate, and a Ph would be good too.

This is what it looks like Hun

http://www.aquaticeco.com/index.cfm/fuseac...l/iid/76/cid/24

It is harder at first to get running with all the testing and such, but after that is just maintenance on the tank, water changes once every week or two, Additives to the coral and feeding them.......

thanks

I was thinking of getting a small 16 gallon bowfront from work, it's like, $80 and $100 for the stand, or I could go to the next size up (28gal I think) for the same price, stand is a little more. OR! I could get another 20gallon from someone at work and switch it from tropicals to saltwater

grrr!! I need my own house!

You and me both, this appartment isnt big enough anymore for 6 tanks in it

hehe, the sad thing is, I live with my boyfriend and his parents and we just have our room, very small room... lol. If I had my own house, it would be much easier to say, SURE! I'll buy a 120 gallon and put it in the living room! lol

The general consensus in the SW world is that "bigger is better"--55 to 120 gallons is what most experienced folks recommend for a newbie. Things can go south really fast in a small tank and parameters are a lot harder to control in SW than in FW. Of course, some people do have great success with a small tank--hi, Koko. :-) But I'm starting a SW tank right now, and personally I'm scared to go with anything less than a 55 and settled on a 75 as the biggest we have room for.

My biggest suggestion, though, is to do a LOT of reading and research before you jump in. It's not a cheap hobby as I'm finding out more every day! Some suggestions:

"The New Marine Aqaurium" --Paletta
Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert Fenner

Both of these books are invaluable.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewforum.php?f=7 (less active, more personal)
http://reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay...?s=&forumid=104 (zillions of posters)

Tons of knowledgeable, helpful people on these boards. Be prepared for conflicting advice, though--SW people tend to really be into their equipment and systems and have very strong ideas about the "right" way to do things. Heck, I'm starting to get strong opinions and I've only got a quarantine tank. :-) "Those who know" say you can expect to pay $20-$30 per gallon to get completely set up.

Have fun!!

Thanks for the heads up and I do plan on doing lots of reading before I start out on my little venture. I know money is something that isn't skimped on in SW, so I know I'll be spending money I think I'll just make a list of everything I need and collect everything as extra money makes itself available. First thing I'll buy is the books though


Thanks everyone

I agree that a larger tank is easier. I had a 55 gallon and now I have a 5 gallon nano. You have to be very, very careful with a small tank, even salinity can change drastically in just ONE DAY due to water evaporation. And you have to add inhabitants very slowly, so the system has time to adjust. There is definately more room for error with a bigger tank. However, once you have some experience, you can go small. I have my nano in the kitchen, it doesn't have fish in it, just hermit crabs, live rock and sand, and a couple featherdusters. But I still like to sit and watch all the little critters. I want to add some low-light corals, maybe in the fall. The tank has been established for over 2 years, so it's pretty stable by this point. I get nervous about adding anything though.

I agree with the cost per gallon, too. I think I spent almost 50 dollars on live rock and sand just for my 5 gallon. It was really nice cured rock though, and I got to pick the pieces out myself, from a local LFS. They had a great reputation for reef tanks and supplies. Unfortunately, they closed.

Laura