Question: Cost aside, is a smaller reef tank easier to care for than a larger tank?

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by deepRED

Agreed.

For me, for someone just starting out I will suggest an all in one or else a 40 gallon breeder. I find it's a good balance with not being super tiny and not too big. Easy enough to do water changes and you don't need a garbage can sitting in your living room to mix water.. lol....

For someone who for sure is going to stick with it and not shut the tank down in half a year, I too prefer in the 75-125 gallon range. Seems to be a good balance of ease of maintenance and stability, and you can keep a larger range of fish, corals and inverts.

I've had 300+ gallon tanks and picos, and I can say each presents it's own challenges.

I'm currently running 800+ gallons of tanks, so I have a pretty good idea how long it takes to do stuff.

That's a very strong point you have placed. Lots of people are tempted by "nemo" and "dory" other that sheer dedication and either ends up with a small tank getting bashed by tank police or ends up with big tank without knowing whether or not they can maintain the tank in the long run. I knew I was up for fun challenges when I started my 20 gallon (since nano = hard to keep is a very common notion in forums) but someone without idea of how to maintain a saltwater generally (since many forums which are not "nano friendly" makes it seem like big tanks don't need maintenance) and ends up getting a big tank depending on the notion of bigger the better and BAM!

Off topic: would love to see your 800 gallon tank A thread for it perhaps? One of the popular notions of this forum is: pic or it never happened