Rookie upgrade here

[colette39]

Ok I have a 10 gallon with 2 damsels, a pistol and a goby. It's time I go bigger. I've got a 30 gallon tank but has no trim, stand or lid it's 36" and I have a 24" dual aquatic life light.

Now I'm thinking going to 50 gallon would be the best to add 2 clown fish. The 10 have coral frags we've added too And was a fowlr. When we got it and was running a year before that.

What's some advice on upgrading to either the 30 gallon for now or going straight to the 50 gallon. I'm patient and like to piece together with used parts.

Thanks for the help.

[Mike-fish]

I would go with the 50g. Constant upgrades get expensive fast

[scubadawg]

If you have the space, I would go to a 90 Gallon tank minimum

[asylumdown]

Decide what it is that you want to keep, and get the tank for that. If you have a hard on for the majestic tangs, start planning a 180 gallon or more. If you really like the cool small stuff (pistol shrimp and goby pairs are so freaking awesome) you don't need such a big tank. I actually just turned my 5 gallon QT tank in to a full time pico tank because the teeny tiny reef organisms that are so interesting to watch just vanish in to the 275.

If all you want is to keep clowns and an anemone, you can totally build a well planned/researched 30 gallon around that. Less to heat, less to light. But if you want some other corals and a few other fish as well, a 50 gallon might give you more flexibility. The amount of work necessary to maintain a larger tank scales with the size of the tank without some serious infrastructure adjustments (a 1 gallon water change is a heck of a lot easier than a 20 gallon water change if your'e doing it with pales and buckets), but also the stability of the system increases with size as well.

In any case: rule #1 is decide what you want to keep, or have the ability to keep, and get the right tank for that. Plan the system, don't let the system plan you.

[mrhasan]

+1

Remember, people will always keep on saying "bigger the better" but I would say "maintaining a smaller tank properly is much much better than maintaining a bigger tank with improper care".

One thing I did learn over the course of this hobby is, if you can maintain a nano properly, maintaining a bigger tank will be a piece of pie given that you have the "dedication" and the "money" :D

So whether you should get 30 or 50, that's up to you to decide :) Some general advantages and disadvantages of the size:

30 gallon advantages:
1. Easier to maintain
2. Cheaper to maintain
3. Needs less space
4. Needs less stronger light

30 gallon disadvantages:
1. Limited stock of fishes (I am not going to talk about it since that will make me a hypocrite :razz:)
2. Keeping those parameters in check can need a bit more dedication
3. Easier to go wrong and kill stuffs
4. No TANGS!

50 gallon advantages:
1. Bigger dimension; more opportunities
2. Can handle much more bioload (including a yellow tang)
3. Easier to maintain the parameters (in context to 30gallon)
4. ONE YELLOW TANG!

50 gallon disadvantages:
1. Expensive to maintain
2. Will probably need a protein skimmer to maintain "clean" tank
3. One wrong move and a bigger nuked situation!
4. Will need stronger light

There are many more advantages and disadvantages but I tried to note the ones that came to my mind :)

Decide what it is that you want to keep, and get the tank for that. If you have a hard on for the majestic tangs, start planning a 180 gallon or more. If you really like the cool small stuff (pistol shrimp and goby pairs are so freaking awesome) you don't need such a big tank. I actually just turned my 5 gallon QT tank in to a full time pico tank because the teeny tiny reef organisms that are so interesting to watch just vanish in to the 275.

If all you want is to keep clowns and an anemone, you can totally build a well planned/researched 30 gallon around that. Less to heat, less to light. But if you want some other corals and a few other fish as well, a 50 gallon might give you more flexibility. The amount of work necessary to maintain a larger tank scales with the size of the tank without some serious infrastructure adjustments (a 1 gallon water change is a heck of a lot easier than a 20 gallon water change if your'e doing it with pales and buckets), but also the stability of the system increases with size as well.

In any case: rule #1 is decide what you want to keep, or have the ability to keep, and get the right tank for that. Plan the system, don't let the system plan you.

[gregzz4]

mrhasan, shame on you :surprise:
I wouldn't recommend ANY tangs in a tank smaller than a 75g/4 foot
And a Yellow should have larger than a 90g

[mrhasan]

mrhasan, shame on you :surprise:
I wouldn't recommend ANY tangs in a tank smaller than a 75g/4 foot
And a Yellow should have larger than a 90g

Ops I am sorry :( I should have been more clear;

Correction:

People do keep tiny tiny yellow tang (or the small varieties of tangs) in 40B+ but ofcourse for limited time. With me saying that tang can be kept in 50g meant that you may keep one which is really small but for a limited time and will have to find a new home when they grow over like 3 or 4". I hope that corrects my mistake :smile: I guess you will know the time to relocate when they start getting ich ;)

Sorry about the confusion and I hope I don't get flamed by tang police :cry:

NO TANGS IN 50 GALLON CONDITIONS APPLY

[gregzz4]

Thanks for clarifying that Raied :smile:

[Dearth]

I currently run a 33 gallon tank that I love but will eventually upgrade it.

Things to remember with smaller tanks
-definitely cheaper to run than larger more complex tanks
-don't require a sump system can get away with hang off the back skimmer
-get crowded with equipment real fast
-depending on what you want in both critters and fish creativity is name of the game
-require frequent top ups due to evaporation loss(I top mine up 3 times a week in between weekly water changes)
- if something's goes wrong things will tend to go bad real fast (fish dying, coral dying)
- depending on your bio load might have to do daily cleaning of tank glass(I have a heavy load 7 fish 2 peppermint shrimp and lots of CUC spend about 10 mins a day cleaning glass and skimmer box)
-limited to the size of fish and types of fish you can get especially where aggression issues come into play
-same goes for corals
-tank parameters can be more difficult to maintain although I haven't had any serious issues on that end with my tank

Whatever you decide to get enjoy it don't have regrets as regrets tend to empty your wallet real fast;)

[colette39]

Well we just bought a brand new 45 gallon tank. It 36x12x24. Now I've got it filled with live sand and 25lbs of live rock from a established tank. The waters murky now. I've got a heater in it and a powerhead and the t8 light. Should I have the powerhead and light on? Or wait till it clears up? Also how will i go about transfering the sand and rock from the 10g?

And for fish we want - the 2 damsels, the goby, the pistol, 2 clowns and a flame hawkfish.

And thanks for all the info in upgrading.

[gregzz4]

I'd suggest keeping the lights off for now, or you'll just fight algae
Also, keep your pumps and powerheads off until the sand settles, to avoid unnecessary wear

If you want to add critters right away, I wouldn't transfer the old sand, unless you wash it 'very well', but the amount in a 10g is not worth saving, IMO
If you transfer the sand, even though you want the life, you may have an issue or 2

But, with that in mind, if you don't plan on adding any 'critters' for a bit, until after your new tank cycles, go ahead and transfer the sand and LR now
Then go through the regular cycle testing;
NH3, NO2, NO3

[colette39]

The live rock is in the tank with the fish we have, can I have the fish in the tank without live rock and transfer it all over then the fish when the tank cycles?

[mrhasan]

Thanks for clarifying that Raied :smile:

Oh no worries :D I do miss use sentences sometimes :redface: