Micro-reef advice

[Cat]

Hi ho peeps!
Just wanted some help as completly new here. I am looking at setting up a 12g micro-reef. I have never kept a marine set up before I just have a 50g Freshwater set up.
Now being new and niaeve I just wanted some tips/suggestions as to what you would recomend I put in the thing as I dont want invertabrates only I would like a couple of fish or so. Perhaps some nice compatable fish ideas that are good beginer fish etc.
Im open to ideas!

 

[TKOS]

Well the bad news is those micro or nano reefs of less than 20 gallons are really only suitable for inverts. There really aren't any fish except maybe a single goby that will do well in a tank that size. If you instead tried for a 20 gallon tank then you could try for a clown fish or something similar.

Try looking at fish recomendations on www.nano-reef.com

 

[mogurnda]

I disagree somewhat with TKOS. For small clownfish, like percula, ocellaris or perideraion (pink), breeders often use tanks as small as 15 gallons for a pair. In a 12, a few small gobies will be fine. Neon gobies (Elacatinus oceanops) would work well in a tank of that size.

There is a very big IF, however. The smaller the tank, the trickier it is to keep it stable, and the faster the system can crash. Especially in the beginning stages (like the first 6 months), the learning curve will be very steep, and you will have to be extremely vigilant regarding specific gravity and temperature. Unless you are willing to study and learn the basics of marine fishkeeping intimately, it will just cause heartache.

If you go to nano-reef.com, you will find a lot of people who push the limits even farther than I am suggesting. You have to be a little careful on that site. Chris Marks has posted some very good articles over there, though and it's worth checking out.

 

[Cat]

Thanks for your help.
Perhaps it would be better then to convert my 50gall tank. Its just that as I havent done marine fish before I dont want to risk shelling out huge amounts of money and have it all go wrong! but if going 'nano' is harder anyway it may be a false economy.
how much money would I really be talking to set up a tank this size?
I dont really know to much about what changes I will need to make to my tank filter wise etc.
I have ordered some books from amazon but have to wait a couple of weeks for them to come through and my mind is racing with possibilities!!

 

[benjen]

This link shows all the costs that have gone into my 45 gallon reef so far. Some of them are because I went back and decided to change how I did something, and also quarantine tank and mantis shrimp hitchhiker tank costs are included. If you are willing to go quite slowly, you can probably get a similar setup for 2/3 the cost.

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28444

To do a reef well, you are looking at least $1000 over time. Live rock, live sand, circulation, skimming, and LIGHTS! cost more than the fish and tank.

My real advice to get your feet wet at a lower price is to try a simple 20 gallon or better 30 gallon tank. Keep the bioload low, and it will be cheaper even if you include the cost of tank and stand. However, if you think you'll stay in marine, it will be much cheaper per gallon to convert the 50, plus it will be easier to keep the tank running stable.

20-30 gallon tank: $25-$60
Stand: $20-$40 dresser at garage sale or goodwill, or get a cheap table for it
sand: $5-$10
live rock & live sand: $100-$300
skimmer: $130-$180
powerheads and heater(s): $50-$70
salt (200 gallon bucket): $50
Precision hydrometer: $25
Test kits: $25-$50
lights: $100-$300

You could get a 20+ up and running for $600-800, or convert your existing 50 for about $150-$300 more. Most of the costs don't go up much as the tank gets bigger until you get to 60+ gallons. The big cost that scales is the live rock, but you can go with 50% or more base rock that the life on your live rock will colonize, you just have to stock more slowly. If you get much above the 60 gallon range, then the light costs start jumping badly, but most smaller tanks can get away with the comparatively cheap power compact setups, instead of metal halides with T5 or PC actinics.

You'll probably end up spending some money on a cleaning crew of invertebrates to clean algae and detritus. This will be about $60 for a 20-30 and about $100 for a 50. If you go for peaceful community fish in your tank, you can also cut the costs of the individual fish, because peaceful fish tend to be cheaper and less likely to kill each other.

 

[mogurnda]

Having done small, and now doing big, I would say one spends more dollars per gallon on a small tank. I don't think it would cost a whole lot more to scale up to the 50 gallon.