Just curious... - Aquarium Advice

Japola44 · 12-19-2005, 01:08 AM

I went to the lfs the other day to see about starting a stocking list for my new 55gal fresh water tank.
I was disapointed by the stores fw selection but when i went to the salt water there were so many fish i had never seen and some of the colors were just wow! I don't think i am up to keeping another large aquarium especially salt water, but out of curiousity how small of a sw tank could you keep? If i were to get some salt water fish they would just be anything really small and colorful.
I'm just curious thats all. my family might eat me alive if i were to suggest another aquarium, but you never know i might just come about one haha.

theatrus · 12-19-2005, 01:33 AM

The bigger the better really. Minimum I'd suggest is a 30, though a 55 is better. Note that SW fish need a lot more space than FW, and many fish are fast swimmers which don't do well in small tanks (such as any tang, the smallest yellow tang would be a good bet for a 90gal). A vague rule of thumb is around 5 gallons per inch of fish. A 30 buys you ~ 6" of fish, which is 2-4 small fish (clowns, gobies, chromis, dartfish, etc).

Japola44 · 12-19-2005, 02:09 AM

ok thanks for letting me know...my curiousity might be cured i don't believe i can afford the risk of getting a 30 gal + tank. My family would not apreciate it lol

oyf709 · 12-19-2005, 03:20 AM

u can go as small as 10g,which could be consider as nano tank.But u do limit ur choice to select fish.Also, since its so small, u probly need to do water change everyday depend on ur bio load.

Japola44 · 12-20-2005, 12:03 AM

Another question... If i were to set up a nano tank in say my 20gal which will soon be emptied into the 55gal, how dificult is it to convert a fw to a sw tank?

theatrus · 12-20-2005, 12:13 AM

You need to drain the tank and change the substrate. I assume you've never dosed copper into the tank (which would be bad for invertabrates).

A 20 is doable. You will need to keep up with water topoffs in such a small volume though, as the salinity can swing more.

AMANIQU77 · 12-20-2005, 12:32 AM

Nano reefs are cool.

Japola44 · 12-20-2005, 01:03 AM

ok.. well this might be a doable project, after i am done with the 55gal. Thanks!

JeridJohnson · 12-20-2005, 02:09 AM

I consider myself a beginner and ran a 20 gal fish only salt tank for well over a year.. It was actually pretty easy. After having fresh water fish I just one day decided to switch. I will never go back to freshwater.. I am now hoping to get a 50-60gal tank set up and am starting the research all over as it has been a few years..

Japola44 · 12-20-2005, 01:41 PM

I don't think i could abandon my freash water fish because i think the ones i have are pretty cool, maybe not colorful but they are really iinteresting. I will probably be back in a few montsh looking for help on a 20 gal sw set up thanks for hte help!