are larger tanks easier to keep
- Thread starter greg803
- Start date
fishamajig
Member
bigger water changes and more salt, but more stable in the long run. I would say maintenance is harder but stability drastically improves.
alm502
New Member
I don't agree that the maintenance is harder.
I have three tanks.
- One is a 65-gallon tank with about 60 lbs of LR, a 3" sandbed, some soft corals and about 6 fish. I use a wet/dry filter with a built in skimmer. Weekly maintenance = 1 1/2 hr.
- One is a 7-gallon nano tank with 10lbs of LR, 2" sandbed, 1 fish and some soft corals, Prizm skimmer. Weekly maintenance = 1 hour
- One is a 210-gal reef tank with 300 lbs of LR, a 4" sand bed, plumbed through the floor to a sump in the basement, an external AquaC skimmer, chiller, refugium, dual return pumps, 8 fish and some corals. Weekly maintenance = 45 min
Guess what? The easiest tank of all is the 210 gallon. The hardest is the 7-gallon.
Larger tanks have more water, and are more stable. That is part of the problem with the 7-gallon tank. 1 oz of excess nutrients in 7-gal is MUCH worse than the same 1 oz of excess nutrients in a 210 gal. Vacuuming the 7-gal is qucik, but hard since it is hard to get to open sand. The 210 is so easy my wife does it every week!!!
But alot of it has to do with how the tank is setup and stocked. I have a better cleaner crew in the 210 than the 65, the equipment is more accessible, and I have better equipment on the 210. Hence, the tank is more self-sufficient, easier to maintain, and more stable. Water changes are a piece of cake since the sump is wide open and the RO/DI water is 10 feet away. For the 65-gal, water changes are upstairs and the RO/DI until is downstairs.
What I am trying to say is that the answer is more in how the tank is setup. The better the arrangement and forethought into how you will do things like water changes, vacuuming, lights, etc, plus investing in good equipment will make any tank easier to maintain. A poorly thought out and arranged tank is a nightmare, no matter what size it is.
Understand though that bigger tanks mean bigger expenses (bigger sump, bigger pumps, more rock, more lights, bigger skimmer, more livestock, more salt, more water, etc). Gee, no one told me that little secret when I started!!
My recommendation: Go as big as you can afford to set up properly and support over the life of the tank. Not just to setup, but to maintain as well.
Good luck,
Rick
I have three tanks.
- One is a 65-gallon tank with about 60 lbs of LR, a 3" sandbed, some soft corals and about 6 fish. I use a wet/dry filter with a built in skimmer. Weekly maintenance = 1 1/2 hr.
- One is a 7-gallon nano tank with 10lbs of LR, 2" sandbed, 1 fish and some soft corals, Prizm skimmer. Weekly maintenance = 1 hour
- One is a 210-gal reef tank with 300 lbs of LR, a 4" sand bed, plumbed through the floor to a sump in the basement, an external AquaC skimmer, chiller, refugium, dual return pumps, 8 fish and some corals. Weekly maintenance = 45 min
Guess what? The easiest tank of all is the 210 gallon. The hardest is the 7-gallon.
Larger tanks have more water, and are more stable. That is part of the problem with the 7-gallon tank. 1 oz of excess nutrients in 7-gal is MUCH worse than the same 1 oz of excess nutrients in a 210 gal. Vacuuming the 7-gal is qucik, but hard since it is hard to get to open sand. The 210 is so easy my wife does it every week!!!
But alot of it has to do with how the tank is setup and stocked. I have a better cleaner crew in the 210 than the 65, the equipment is more accessible, and I have better equipment on the 210. Hence, the tank is more self-sufficient, easier to maintain, and more stable. Water changes are a piece of cake since the sump is wide open and the RO/DI water is 10 feet away. For the 65-gal, water changes are upstairs and the RO/DI until is downstairs.
What I am trying to say is that the answer is more in how the tank is setup. The better the arrangement and forethought into how you will do things like water changes, vacuuming, lights, etc, plus investing in good equipment will make any tank easier to maintain. A poorly thought out and arranged tank is a nightmare, no matter what size it is.
Understand though that bigger tanks mean bigger expenses (bigger sump, bigger pumps, more rock, more lights, bigger skimmer, more livestock, more salt, more water, etc). Gee, no one told me that little secret when I started!!
My recommendation: Go as big as you can afford to set up properly and support over the life of the tank. Not just to setup, but to maintain as well.
Good luck,
Rick
alm502
New Member
Originally Posted by Greg803
You mentioned in your post that you vaccum your tank I have never done that. Is it ok to do that to live sand? What do you use?
I just use a siphon tube and vacuum the sand as I do my water changes. Right now I use a Hagen Easy Clean Gravel Vacuum, but there are 100's out there to choose from.
There are different views on how deep to vacuum, how often, and all of that. I subscribe to the theory that you should vacuum only 1/3 of the sand band at a time. and vacuum the first inch or so of the bed. I generally go a little deeper along the glass becuase my wife doesn't like all the bio-stuff you see in a healthy sand bed. Most people don't and are shocked at what a healthy sand bed looks like!!
Vacuuming also helps to stir the sand bed. Views differ on this as well. But I think it helps. Of course, if you have something like a sand sifting goby or a sand sifting star then you can either skip the vacuuming or else just vacuum the surface. But, many people that know a whole lot more than Id o warn the sand sifters, espceially stars, generally decimate the dandbed and then starve to death unless you constantly replenish it with something for them to eat. SO, I just vacuum and use Nassarius snails to stir up the bed.
You mentioned in your post that you vaccum your tank I have never done that. Is it ok to do that to live sand? What do you use?
I just use a siphon tube and vacuum the sand as I do my water changes. Right now I use a Hagen Easy Clean Gravel Vacuum, but there are 100's out there to choose from.
There are different views on how deep to vacuum, how often, and all of that. I subscribe to the theory that you should vacuum only 1/3 of the sand band at a time. and vacuum the first inch or so of the bed. I generally go a little deeper along the glass becuase my wife doesn't like all the bio-stuff you see in a healthy sand bed. Most people don't and are shocked at what a healthy sand bed looks like!!
Vacuuming also helps to stir the sand bed. Views differ on this as well. But I think it helps. Of course, if you have something like a sand sifting goby or a sand sifting star then you can either skip the vacuuming or else just vacuum the surface. But, many people that know a whole lot more than Id o warn the sand sifters, espceially stars, generally decimate the dandbed and then starve to death unless you constantly replenish it with something for them to eat. SO, I just vacuum and use Nassarius snails to stir up the bed.
T
tizzo
Guest
The reason the views differ are because of hydrogen sulfide releases.
You either need a way to keep the HS from being released, or you need to to keep it from building up.
A sand sifting crew will keep it from building up. while a plenum under the substrate will keep it from being disturbed all together.
How deep you want your sand bed, usually deturmines which method you will choose.
You either need a way to keep the HS from being released, or you need to to keep it from building up.
A sand sifting crew will keep it from building up. while a plenum under the substrate will keep it from being disturbed all together.
How deep you want your sand bed, usually deturmines which method you will choose.
unleashed
Active Member
as other have stated go as large as you can afford to maintain .not only in money but in time also.but do realize that the larger the tank the more cost it takes to keep it running efficiantly,lighting plumbing pumps powerheads filtration,more water for water changes more salt more addetives.I recently upgraded my 120 reef and my 100 fowlr to a 300 gal semi aggresive reef.its much less time consuming caring for the one over the time caring for 2 smaller set ups. but I had to do alot of upgrading to do so such as lighting return pumps proper sized skimmer and sump.a water change in the 300 is a minimum amount of 50gal ro water per week plus 5 gal top off every other day.it takes more buffers more addetives such as foods and suppliments for corals.but i prefer it over the time and money I spent caring for the other 2 tanks separatly.we now have 3 tanks up 300 reef 125 aggresive 10 (my sons)clown. and 15 gal fw tank. just be sure what you get is what you want to care for.if you change you mind later and decide to go smaller just keep in mind resale of these systems is about 1/4 of the cost you spent setting up in returns
fishamajig
Member
all im saying is more tank more time