Too Big?

[Justaerin]

Hi all

Just curious, when it comes to a first marine tank is there such a thing as too big?

 

[brian1]

HI, you may want to start small, but then...........whoa!!! it will get bigger..........

 

[SaltNoob]

BIG, means expensive. I priced out all the good stuff for a 210... it was over $6,000 USD

That includes everything from heaters to rocks to tank/stand/sump, etc.

It does not include any corals, or inverts

-Tyler

 

[kyle sicard]

Big tanks mean more money(equipment and stocking all has to meet the demands of a larger tank which means more and larger stocking/equipment) ,but the beauty of larger tanks is that their easier to maintain since changes in the water occur in much smaller amounts since its able to disperse across a larger amount of water volume.

Smaller tanks are cheaper (less live stock/smaller and less equipment), but they are harder to maintain since water quality can be skewed from the smallest of change.

for an example say something dies in your tank (about to give random numbers that are not correct but will help you get the point) that dead organism is going to decay and create ammonia that will turn into nitrites then nitrates (all of which are bad for your tank). again these are random numbers, The smaller tank lets say 34g will have an increase in ammonia of 5ppm which will convert to the nitrites and then ntirates, from the increased ammonia your cleaner shrimp and 1 coral dies generating more ammonia, your now at 10ppm of ammonia. While in the larger tank the initial dead critter generates 1-2ppm of ammonia and nothing else dies, therefore making larger tanks easier to maintain good water quality. Can't stress this enough but those are completely random numbers, the example was to give you an idea of how water volume affects water quality. This example also applies to additives that you manually add to the water.

Hopefully that gives you a basic overview of the differences in the smaller or larger tanks. I had a 175g for 7 years, a 300g tank, and recently started up a 34g and a 10g tank, so I've dabbled in both the smaller and larger tanks.

 

[Justaerin]

I should have just asked is a 6'x2'x19" too big to start with as thats what I may be in posession of at some point rather soon. was thinking of sumping it with the 4'x2'x15" thats coming with it.

 

[jeasko]

Short answer is no its not too big to start with, irregardless what size system you go with just take it slow and you'll be fine

What Kyle is trying to say is the higher the water volume the more diluted the pollutants/toxins will be buying you time to take correct action, makeing it easier to control