# Start out small or go all in?



## silverfly (Jan 11, 2009)

Hey guys,
I currently have a 46 Gal freshwater that is doing pretty well. It's had its ups and downs, but I'm starting to itch for some salt water critters. I visited fish place yesterday and noticed that they had a 14 gallon setup with a couple inverts and maybe one fish, some live rock, etc. The tank seemed to be doing well.

So, my question is: even though I've read that it's ideal to go bigger for salt water, would it be wise to try something small at first to gain experience and save money?

-Nick


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

Smaller is harder, but it can be done. I would suggest if you don't want the hassle of figuring out everything on your own and stay a bit on the small side to go with an all in one system such as this
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3730+19849&pcatid=19849 or
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3730+18524&pcatid=18524

but in all reality a 55 gallon would be a better start.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Wise to start small? Nope. Just the opposite.
Of course the tank is the store looked fine. It gets constant attention. This is good, because small tanks NEED constant attention.
As a beginner, you're going to make mistakes. In a small tank, little mistakes very quickly become huge.
Big tanks offer a big safety net, you see, in that things happen more slowly in them, giving you time to notice and fix any problems before you lose everything. Small tanks are a lot riskier, even though a bit cheaper to set up and run.
If you're looking to save money, go small. You won't save much, but maybe it'll be enough. If you're looking to make sure you get it right the first time, go big. Besides, every time you turn around you'll be seeing cool stuff that you want, only to find that it can never fit in a small tank. Heck, that's also true of big tanks, but especially bad in small ones.
Experience? It could be said that doing it the very hard way first, with a small tank, would give you a lot of experience in a hurry. "Crash course" is how I'd describe it, heavy on the crash part, but sometimes you get lucky in life, so maybe it would be fine.

Whatever you do, make sure that you at least get this one thing right: Set up a second quarantine tank, and use it! If you don't, you WILL regret it sooner or later, and probably sooner. The way that most saltwater critters are housed and transported absolutely guarantees that every single critter you see in the store is absolutely infected with _something_.


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## silverfly (Jan 11, 2009)

It sounds like the small tank would actually cost more so I'll probably go big when the time comes. What size would you suggest for quarantine?


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

even a 10 gallon can be very effective.


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## Hydr0 JoE (Jan 13, 2009)

i have had some experience now with fw tanks too, and want to start a sw tank, so for a beginner it should be 20+ gallons?


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

I'd even say 30, but 20 can work okay.

A 10 makes a good quarantine tank for many species.


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## silverfly (Jan 11, 2009)

Such a scary undertaking! haha. Thanks for the help.

All I really want are a couple clown fish, coral, and inverts. It'll probably be another year or so before I go for it.


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## wgama (Dec 20, 2007)

I started with my 14 gallon nano and its jam packed full of stuff and still goin good! I think it definatly helped me learn the ropes and get everything perfected before bringing out the big bucks for the 90 gallon.


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