Tank Size: what to choose. FYI

[Amunet]

Would you say a strictly coral/anemone tank with very few fish would do well in a 50G tank or do they require a larger size?

[Sk8r]

Your possible problems: 1) and worst: a nem getting up and swimming---they float about, stinging things, if really annoyed: they puff up, get into the circulation, and generally go where the current goes, until they get sucked into a powerhead (best not to have intakes where nems can reach) and turned into a stinging soup that gets everybody at once. Keep the nem in perfect water and keep 'reachy' corals from annoying it. 2) a nem growing (faster than corals) and getting in reach of corals. By a few fish, you may mean clowns, and they can get really aggressive, tending to claim quite a bit of the tank. They ignore dragonets and dartfish, usually, don't much mind blennies and gobies, but anything like a chromis, a damsel (which they are), or ANY fish that looks like them and they're on the warpath. I had clarkii's that not only took after everybody but the species listed, but bit me bloody. (If I were getting a clown, I'd go for pink skunks, myself.) In general, the answer to your question is yes, but you're going to have to be particularly careful about aggression of corals, nems, and fishes.

[rivoth]

Originally Posted by Sk8r

You need 1 lb of live rock per gallon

An alternative to live rock is an equivalent weight of sand. If you don't like the look of a tank filled with rocks then put in 3" of sand and just enough live rock to give the look you want.

Some early studies of different types of sand beds showed that all types where capable of a great deal of nitrate reduction.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/6/aafeature

[sstewart81]

Thank you for the tips. I am always researching things I think I want, and for different ideas on how to do some thing.

[mbehmke]

I'm a college student and have a 2 month old aquarium. I went 55 gallon and went cheap on a lot of different things, but I made sure to upgrade the things that were important. In the end, its cost about $1,000 so far. I built my own stand to help lower the price. Hope that gives you a cost idea

[Sk8r]

that's quite good, actually. The upper limit for a 55 can get scary: what you CAN spend: as much as 4000 on a 55 g, depending. Big costs are lights---500.00-800.00 for metal halides or HQI. A pump, depending, can run you around 100.00 for a mag 5, and upward, sump (prebuilt) 150-300. Tank, pre-drilled, with overflow and durso kit, up to 800.00 depending on glass thickness/quality and shape of tank. Skimmer: around 100, up.
Numbers like these are enough to give you indigestion, but it is useful to know what the upper end is, so that you can figure how what-you're-being-offered figures on that scale. If you're being offered a terrific bargain, how bargain is it?---and what quality corners might have been cut? and how expensive will it be for you to do some DIY.
DIY sump: highly do-able. HOB downflow---(hang-on-back)---worth a bit to have it actually pre-drilled. Glass thickness: tricks like laying down eggcrate lighting grid in the bottom can protect somewhat thinner glass from rock punches. Live rock: big savings if you get one live rock and order in some nice base rock and just wait 8 weeks on the cycle.
If you save in one area, you might be able to afford a little nicer item in another.

Important to what you keep: your lighting. Do your homework---do you NEED metal halide? Will t-5 HO do it? Don't get oversold. Don't get sold a big filter system: that's what your rock is for. Figure how much pump you need. Ask. No sense buying a killer pump and then having to throttle back (let me tell you that one!). ASK re the glass thickness when considering a tank. Consider a non-glass tank IF it has good bracing, because they can bend if not well-braced.

All these things are reasons to shop around and not pounce on the very first thing offered. Be picky. Read the labels and specs. COmpare. And if you're trying this for the first time and aren't sure this is for you, consider an all-in-one, which will let you get your feet wet in the hobby for about 300.00, and which, if you don't push it too far too fast, can be a good experience.