Want to start a fishtank

[isandir]

Hey everyone,

I'm currently a college student renting an apartment. I would like to start a saltwater tank up but from what i read everyone recommends these huge for my apartment 50+ gallon tanks to start with. I think the biggest tank that could reasonably care for and move around when i need to would be 40 gallons or less.

I had a freshwater tank for much of my life until 8th grade. I moved and all my fish had to go . I also cared for two 300ish gallon (pretty large) saltwater tanks my school school had from 6th grade to 8th. The word is that all the fish died after i left, so i guess i was doing something right. So i have some experience with both salt and freshwater tanks.

So now i am 20 and i really miss having fish. (sorry for putting you through my life story here heh)

I guess i am looking to ask if a 30 gallon or so saltwater tank is workable, can i do it pretty cheap, or should i just wait until i have a real job and a house.

Depending on what you guys say i might just opt for a smaller freshwater tank i know i can do.

Thanks for all your advice!

 

[steelhealr]

Hi isandir.....the real question is how much difficulty will it be for you to move your tank when semesters change and will you have someone able to take care of the tank on spring break, etc? It is not impossible to keep a small tank. 30G and under would put you under the 'nano reef' category. There is probably always at least 5-10 minutes of work you can do on it everyday when it's up and running. Obviously, if you have the room, the larger the tank the more room there is for margin of error, same as in FW.

Next time you have a minute, go to the local aquarium store near you. Look at the usual suspects:

-10, 20, 30 gallon AGA's
-12G Nano Cube (avoid the 24G because of cracking issues)
-check out a 30G Oceanic...very nice tank..solid, good for a nano
-26G bow front
-29G

The smaller the tank, the more limited you will be with stocking and also the more careful you'll have to be with water husbandry. If you could fit a 40G, assuming the other stuff is too big, I think that would be best, keeping in mind that most marine aquarists would not recommend starting out with anything less than a 75G. SH