Salt water newbie

[Dearth]

I am a long time fresh water aquarist that is looking at setting up a salt water aquarium but have some questions.

-I have always been told to set up largest tank you could afford which has always stopped me cold from setting up a salt water but recently learned about nano aquariums And from reading various forums a lot of serious salt water aquarists dislike nano aquariums but I would rather take baby steps so what size of nano aquarium would you recommend 9, 10, 14 or 20 gallon?

-what kind of coral, rock, sand and bottom feeders/fish would you recommend for stabilizing tank and how many of each would you recommend?

-is darker setting better than having an aquarium in a bright area?

Thank you for any info you can provide

[Proteus]

I think that the biggest issue with small tanks is water volume. Large tanks with more water can have a little more room for error.
I have a 26 gallon cube that I love. I down graded from a 250 gallon system and I'll tell you the smaller is cheaper to operate.

Find a tank suitable to what you want. And get the required equipment. Ie. skimmer lights sump

Live rock and sand. Then add water. It'll will be a month or so before you could add livestock. But research what kind of tank u want. Specimen or reef. Fowlr

This is a great site for info from much more experience reefers

[mrhasan]

If 20 is your limit, I would suggest that you get a 20 long. Awesome footprint and should give you a bit more space for more corals and one or two more fishes. I have also being into freshwater for like 10 years and started saltwater about a month ago and its going great till now. Small is not bad as long as you have proper filtration and do regular maintenance. The only downside I would say is that it limits your livestock to a "huge" extend!

[Lonster]

Think about using dry base rock if you want to make sure that there are no bad hitch hikers and save a bit if money. You'll have to wait a bit longer for the cycle to finish but then you can spend a bit more on your skimmer or lights.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by Lonster

Think about using dry base rock if you want to make sure that there are no bad hitch hikers and save a bit if money. You'll have to wait a bit longer for the cycle to finish but then you can spend a bit more on your skimmer or lights.

the price for dry rock and live these days is almost par so not saving that much def not enough for a simmer or lights and with not getting any pests also comes not getting any good things.


even if i had the choice to use free dry rock id still go majority live rock.

[Enigma]

Originally Posted by mrhasan

If 20 is your limit, I would suggest that you get a 20 long. Awesome footprint and should give you a bit more space for more corals and one or two more fishes. I have also being into freshwater for like 10 years and started saltwater about a month ago and its going great till now. Small is not bad as long as you have proper filtration and do regular maintenance. The only downside I would say is that it limits your livestock to a "huge" extend!

X2. 20 long tanks have very nice dimensions. Though I think 40 breeders have the "best" nano dimensions.

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by Enigma

X2. 20 long tanks have very nice dimensions. Though I think 40 breeders have the "best" nano dimensions.

40 long is even more awesome. And I don't think 40g would be considered nano :P

[Dearth]

Thank you for the information after reading some more I think I might use my 33 gallon tank standard glass rectangle shape and I do have some accessories that I can convert to salt water and will have to buy the rest and I already have rock I have 18 lbs of fake lava rock gifted to me for Xmas a few yrs ago but never used in my fresh water tanks.

One problem I do have is every room in my house is bright and always had algae issues because of the light are salt water aquariums affected in the same way? If so is there a light diffuser that I can use without spoiling the looks of the tank?

Another question I have is what is the best light medium to go with as all I have are the standard fluorescents but coloured (red,blue,yellow) are LEDs or halogen better to use?

Again thank you

[reefwars]

liverock for a 20g got to cost what $40 at most:P

[claymax]

i cant seem to find live rock for less that 8$/lb....