First Reef

[BlueAbyss]

I'll be one of the few that disagree with the 'bigger is better' statement. I went with a 10 gallon because I am on a budget and wanted to 'test the water' so to speak (I know that's a terrible pun for those of us that do a lot of parameter testing )... I have plans for a 29 gallon but felt a need to go smaller with the first reef.

I'm interested in animals that would be lost in a large reef... Pom Pom Crabs, Sexy Shrimp, Pederson's Cleaner Shrimp etc... But the draw for a larger tank is more (and larger / fancier) fish, and I love the colorful fish. My 10 gallon will support 1 - 2 small fish... not great for a fish fancier. Since I'm more interested in invertebrates and corals and that sort of stuff, that's great... I can see the small stuff up close.

Every facet of this hobby is pretty great... I've seen impressive tanks as small as a few gallons! Smaller tanks take less things to fill them, but have less room to grow, plain and simple. Smaller tanks are more challenging to keep stable also... something I learned very well in the past 2 months since I started my tank.

Whatever you decide to do, Canreef is an excellent resource. Keep us posted, we all love pics!

[scherzo]

I've only had a SW tank for a short time. (relatively speaking). I've been doing the FW thing for a long while and have gotten quite "advanced".. I guess.(still learning though) as I've done the High Tech Planted thing.

Reefing seems to be similar to the high tech planted thing in terms of keeping things in close check and very well balanced.

I have a 29 gallon tank to start. I added a 20 gallon sump to try and keep things stable. Everything is running great! Parameters are pretty much level.. nitrates are 0.... phosphates are 0...etc..etc.

I'm going slow though. Stocking carefully and slowly. Feeding carefully... I'm having no problems at this point (knock on wood).

Nano seems to be working for me..

having said that.. I'm thinking of converting my 90 gallon into a reef tank.. I'm already cooking some LR just in case I decide to change that over.. the 29 has taught me a lot!

[oolichan]

Thanks for all the advice. It sounds like if I have the tank built I should go with a corner overflow.

To be honest the 45G was double what I was going to start with. I have a new 20G with a 15G for a sump that I was going to set up but felt that would be too small.

I'm actually suprised to hear that 45G is considered a nano!

The space I have available is in my kitchen and the footprint of the tank can't be any longer that 36". The space is deep though, 24" and ideally would have a height of 18" or less. That means max gallons would be a little less than 70 and to get to 70 I would need a custom build. Or I could get a 3' 50G and have it drilled.

Maybe I'll keep my eyes open for someone selling a custom tank close to those specs and if nothing comes up have the 45G or 65G tank built.

[intarsiabox]

I am in the process of setting up a new tank in my dining room and have similar dimension problems. I found a 30x20x20 with 2 overflows in the rear on this site that will suit my space requirements. I don't know if yours is going beside a kitchen counter (24" deep) but if it is you might not want your overflow in the middle of the tank. If you don't have access to all 4 sides then most of the back half of your tank will be more or less wasted space as you can't see it. I'm running a 20g reef tank right now and there is plenty of action and you can put tons of frags in there, but as they grow you'll probably have to start making frags yourself. And trust me, you can sink a lot of cash into even a small 20g tank!

[oolichan]

Yup, I would like to build it into the kitchen, hence the 24" depth.

Definately prepared for the investment. The good news is there seems to be a lot of people getting out of the hobby and some pretty good deals on equipmet. I plan to build slowly as stuff becomes avaialble used.

[Myka]

Imo, it depends whether you're more into fish or more into corals. If you're really into corals like I am, then working with a smaller space isn't an issue. You can always sell a few of your less liked corals to make room for new ones. That I was did with my 33g. If you're more into fish I would suggest you get a 4 or 6' tank instead of going with a cube since even though cubes may have a significant number of gallons, it doesn't have the same amount or length of swimming space that fish like Tangs need.

As far as your particular tank dimensions go, I prefer taller tanks as to shorter tanks as I find them easier to aquascape. I find shallow tanks have little upper swimming room for the fish once the rock is in there and you add some corals, not to mention when the corals really start to grow! I agree that you should go as big as your budget and space allow, but to stick to efficiency as well. By that I mean, decide on lighting as well, and you can plan the tank as a whole instead of just around one aspect.

For a cube using one light, the maximum efficient size would be 30x30x30, but that's quite a big tank. This is efficient because a single halide with a "special" reflector designed to spread the light (like a Lumenbright, Lumenmax, or Lumenarc) will spread the light to a 30x30" patch. It is also easy to light 30" depth with a halide light.

My personal preference for a cube would be 24x24x26", but I'm not a huge fan of cubes just because the aquascape is so limited. I like to use halides supplemented with T5s, so the 24" will accomodate that.

I would reccommend against the centre overflow since it really cuts out the space for aquascaping, and really distract from the look. I find they look more inconspicuous when they are in a corner, especially when the overflow is black and you paint the background black.

Really it comes down to figuring out what you like, and what you want out of it.

[oolichan]

Great post Myka.

I am mainly interested in corals, I have some pretty amazing FW fish and the real draw to SW for me is reef.

I'll think I'll stick to 24" long and deep because it fits my space perfectly and will look custom but I'll go deeper, over 20". Lights for a 24" length seem to be fairly reasonable as well and I have a buddy that sells T5 fixtures.

Definately won't go centre overflow, that's come through loud and clear.

[Navarchus]

well myka.....



No problem there.....



No problem there either

[oolichan]

That first tank is unreal. What size is it?

[Pazil]

With the aquascaping that I have done in my cube.... my 4 tangs never have to turn around like they do in a narrow longer tank..... They can just swim around the towers and continue along thier way.... I really think that the longer tank is better thing is not always true.