What would be the smallest amount of Gallons needed in a tank to have a succesful salt water tank. I currently have a freshwater tank but love some salt-water species and think the variety is much more pleasing in salt-water. Unfortunately i don't have tons of money to spend on extremely large tank and was wondering what the smallest sized tank i could have with maybe a few invertabrates and one to five good looking fish. Thanks a lot for your you help and suggestions in advance
Smallest Possible Marine Tank
- Thread starter anduknodis
- Start date
Its possible to be 1 gallon or less.
But as for your question, the answer will always be the largest you can afford simply because it is easier to maintain vs. a really small tank. Smaller tanks take more attention to detail and are less forgiving.
Google saltwater tank sizes and read up on the whys and hows. Alot of people keep 10 gallon tanks tho it can be more time consuming and the tank can go downhill quick with such a small amount of water.
Hope this helps
But as for your question, the answer will always be the largest you can afford simply because it is easier to maintain vs. a really small tank. Smaller tanks take more attention to detail and are less forgiving.
Google saltwater tank sizes and read up on the whys and hows. Alot of people keep 10 gallon tanks tho it can be more time consuming and the tank can go downhill quick with such a small amount of water.
Hope this helps
I must agree that the larger the tank, the eaisier it is to maintain. I have a 55gal now, but I had a 15 gallon when I first started off and I would'nt have anything under that volume. If so, you are looking at just too much work to keep your water quality at safe levels. Also too, look into what fishes can survive in that small of a tank. You see a lot of people on here sometimes say they had a tang in a 10gal tank. WTF!! I would suggest 1 to 2 fish. Do some research first though before starting a saltwater tank. Dont just go to your LFS and ask what you need, depending on your LFS, they may just try to make a buck!!!
2-gallon reef:
http://www.melevsreef.com/pico.html
The rest of his site is tremendous for reef and SW info too.
http://www.melevsreef.com/pico.html
The rest of his site is tremendous for reef and SW info too.
For loads of small SW tank info, check out www.nano-reef.com . I'd go with at least a 20g or 30g if you can afford it, as everyone has said smaller tanks can be harder to look after. Neglecting to top off a 5g tank for just one day can result in a huge swing in salinity, whereas a 100g tank would be much more forgiving! Also keep in mind that lots of marine fish get fairly large, and you can't stock a SW tank as heavily as you can with FW.