Is 25 gallons too small for a saltwater setup?

[Phaythe]

Hey all,

I've a small tank - 25 gallons, is that too small?

[Pan]

it all depends on what you wish to accomplish. I have a 20 gallon, that i have learned things about along the way, some mistakes and some good things with it. Other people have less than 10 gallon tanks running. It just requires a little more concern and diligence.

[Ruth]

It's not too small - heck some people even do it with 1g but definately more work and more of a challenge. Bad things happen really quickly in smaller tanks.

[TheReefGeek]

25g is not too small, good to learn on because the cost isn't astronomical for mistakes made.

Do keep in mind when buying equipment, that you might upgrade later on (sooner than later for lots of people!) so especially over-buy lighting and a skimmer, IMO.

[Sushiman]

It can make a great nano, here's the catch if you don't already know; bad things happen fast in small tanks. temperature being the first thing popping into my mind. If you plan for it though, it most certainly can be done, hell, tinkering is half the fun anyways.

[Bartman]

I've had a 10G for over 3 years with all my original livestock. You just need to pay attention.

[zoomin]

I don't know your situation, but from my experience, "go as big as you can". It seems a common theme to start small and move to bigger tanks, but the process of moving livestock to a new tank is no fun for you, and disruptive to your captives, errr ... I mean *pets* :)

Of course, "as big as you can" is pretty general. I guess its' really a question of what is limiting you:

1. If it is space, then there's not much you can do - physics is physics and two things can't occupy the same space at the same time, etc...

2. If it is $, then I would suggest adding a sump. This way you can probably double your volume of water and your expenses don't _really_ go up that much. More water = more stability as others above have noted above. Also, it is really nice to have the flexibility to add things in the sump area (refugium, kalk reacter, chiller, heater, phosban reacter, activated carbon reacter, etc.). There are all-in-one units too that have a sump behind the display area of the tank in case you don't have the space underneath the tank for a sump.

3. If it is because you're unsure about the whole thing and don't know if you're into it for the long haul then see # 2. The added stability will increase your enjoyment.

4. if it's because you think a smaller tank is less maintenance, then you
might be surprised that because of their volatility, smaller tanks might require MORE care and attention then a larger tank (relative to volume of water) up to a point and then the huge tanks have all their own huge time consumptions.

my $0.02.