tank size

[magoby]

Hello everyone I am very new to saltwater aquariums. I had freshwater for years but always wanted to go salt. I am still in the learning stages and planning for my set up. I want to see what the opinion is on tank size. The forum search tool seems to be broken so I thought I would just ask, so forgive me if this has already been discussed.

I am going with a tank larger than 55 gallon I know that. I am considering either a 90 or 125 Gal tank. I want to keep corals and a variety of fish in the tank. I would love to have a tang but everything I am reading is that a recommended tank size for them is 150-200+ gallons. My main consideration is that the 125G will be 6' long and require additional lighting vs. the 90 which will be 4' The plan is to use DIY LED lighting.

Any opinion or recommendations would be greatly appreciated in helping me make my decision.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

There are several tangs that can be put into a 125 gallon tank. The only difference between a 125 and 150 is the height of the tank which most fish won't care about, you might when you have to reach in and grab something. Look at the tank sizes for tang sticky at the top of this and you will find some kind of tang you like that will work.

I would say if your budget allows, go for the 125. You will love the 125 because you won't be as limited in stocking choices fish wise as you would in the 90. I have a 125 that I am setting up and it is my first tank. Glad I did this instead of a 90 that I as looking at! I too will be doing a DIY LED lighting fixture and found a way to do it for around $600-$700. You can save money by purchasing a used reef ready 125 and stand or just the tank and build your own stand. There are people getting out of this hobby and there are set ups in local clubs and on Craigslist going for dirt cheap, so look into that.

 

[sandwi54]

125 is a much better choice than a 90 as that opens the door for medium-sized fish, including smaller tangs. 90 is great if you want a decent reef tank with small fish, but 125 will allow you to do all of that plus keep a couple of medium-sized fish.

Please take all the time to read and research and do things slowly. this hobby requires a lot of patience to be successful.

 

[magoby]

Wow thank you so much for the quick responses! I was leaning towards the 125G tank and now Im even more convinced!

Reefing Newbie: I like what you have going on and I was actually planning something very similar, I have an extra 55 gal tank I want to turn into a sump. I found a couple threads for doing DIY LED's such as this one http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1587273 but will have to expand it to 72 LED's due to the length of the tank. I’m planning on building my own stand as I am going to build the tank into the wall of my finished basement. I have an unfinished room behind the wall where the tank will go making access to the tank and equipment easy as pie.

Sandwi54: Thanks for the advice; I would really like to have some medium sized fish too so again Im leaning towards the 125. I’m giving myself about a year for this entire plan to come to fruition including building DIY sump, LED and stand and of course cutting the whole in the wall. I’m taking the next few months just to take in all the information I can find and plan ahead.

Im sure I will be posting quite a few more times on here. Glad to see there are so many willing to help!

I will keep an eye on Craigslist for deal, what a shame people are getting out of this hobby, its something I have always wanted to do. Their loss is my gain!

 

[Reefing Newbie]

Glad I could help! My DIY LED build will be put in my build thread when I have the money to get the parts for it. Glad you are taking your time with this because moving fast won't do you any good. Hope to see you start a build thread that I can follow!

 

[sandwi54]

Glad I could help too! It's good that you are taking things slow. Nothing happens fast in this hobby.

Don't forget to get a quarantine tank (QT) to quarantine new fish and treat for diseases. This will prevent getting disease into your display tank (DT) and causing tank wipeouts. In my opinion, the lack of QT use accounts for more than half of the people leaving this hobby. QT is also in my opinion the most important piece of equipment in this hobby.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

Yes, QT is the one thing that can make or break your experience in the hobby as a good one or bad one. Depending on the types of fish you get and how big you plan on purchasing them, you could get a 20 gallon long tank with a HOB filter, heater, lighting(standard works fine), stand(if you don't have anything else), and a powerhead. I personally have a 46 gallon QT tank for my fish because I have certain fish that need to be introduced at the same time(like 5 anthias) so I need there to be enough room for their QTing.

I have a feeling you will do very well in this hobby and be someone who down the road will have a 400 gallon tank! Lol, I hope to be one of those eventually