Marine Tank size

[dawhits]

For the guy with the 54"x18"x54" I have seen tanks like this they look like a very tall square only 18"wide so it would be very hard to make good rock formations in it. If it is actually 18" deep it would work very well. So before you buy it ask the lady for some more specific specs.
-Erik

 

[Terrorbyte]

<snip>

Filtration.. usually loads of liverock, expensive but well worth it. 1kg per 2 gallons or 1lb per gallon is a basic rule of thumb. If you can increase this further then this is preferred.

Circulation.. rule of thumb is 10x the tank volume turnover per hour as a minimum. Depending on hte types of corals you want to keep (assuming its a reef setup) i would aim for 20x turnover if possible.

with these 2 factors taken care of you will find the rest falls into place fairly easily.

<snip>

Lastly and probably most important...
Research and patience. nothing can compansate for researching the hobby in as great deail as possible. Never rush your project and take each step of this hobby little by little. Slowly, slowly does it and this hobby will reward you.

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I definitely agree there -- research is very important. I plan on letting my Eclipse 6 gallon run for a couple of months with just live rock and the crushed coral substrate, using the stock flourescent bulb that came bundled with this system. I'll probably add the clean-up crew (hermit crabs, cleaner shrimp, snails) after a few weeks to keep the algae under control.

I purchased a "pico pump" (fully submersible) that can move water at about 93gph, so that's a 15.5x turnover rate per hour in a 6 gallon tank. I just thought that any more than that and the current would be too strong. My goal is to add as little as possible and maintain a good reef environment -- beyond just adding the live rock, heater, and powerhead, I don't intend on adding anything. Maintenance is a given (testing water, salinity, chemistry, etc.), but that's the case with any aquarium (although I do expect to pay a bit more attention to the nano reef than I do to my 50 gallon planted tropical freshwater aquarium).

As for what qualifies as a "nano reef", I think anything under 15-20 gallons qualifies. I've kept many aquariums in the past (tropical fish, goldfish, etc.) of different sizes, and I definitely had to pay close attention to aquariums under the 10 gallon range (mainly due to temperature issues). Once you go above 20 gallons, I would consider that more of a medium-sized aquarium. Anything above 100 gallons (in my opinion) is enormous and entails a significant monthly cost to operate and maintain. I've successfully kept both tropicals and goldfish (fantails) in small tanks, in lieu of what others have said about tank sizes. The Eclipse 6 gallon, however, will be my first attempt at a reef/marine system.

Fortunately the LFS (just down the road from where I live) has some very knowledgeable and experienced personnel, and their recommendations have essentially matched everything that I have read online. It pays to have resources around, beyond just the web articles and message forums (although those certainly help in research as well).

 

[scoobyandy]

Hi there, I wanted to set up a small marine tank using an old tank I have. I am a beginner and don't know much about marine tanks The tank I have is only a 10 gallon tank. I only wanted to have a couple of clown fish and maybe a crap. Nothing major. Is this possible or not or shall I just keep it tropical and put a tropical crab in there instead. Thanks in advance



Edit by Navarre:

Please ask the question in a seperate post.
Im closing this chtread as its a pinned article and is not for answering questions.