10 Gallons Worth It?

[seymour47]

Hey everyone. I'm semi-new to the salt water world. I've spent the last 5-6 years involved in large scale academic research with salt water tanks (32, 10-gallon tank, closed sump-skimmer system) and am currently in the process of designing/constructing a 72, 10-gallon tank, hybrid flow-through/sump-skimmer system. So, I understand mostly what I'm doing.

Unfortunately, these systems require no 'fun', in that they house the organism of interest and nothing else. That said, I'm thinking of getting into the hobby at home, but am on a very limited budget.

I'm wondering if everyone out there would consider a 10-gallon saltwater tank worth the effort? Or would I be better off pushing to 20+?

[clay12340]

Go check out the nano section of the site.

I ran a 12 gallon and a 3 gallon for a couple years and they were very enjoyable tanks. Your fish options are very limited, but there are a lot of fun inverts that do very well in small tanks. The big problem is that water quality changes very rapidly in those small systems. So they can be a challenge to keep, and require a lot of care to keep everything happy long term.

[leewish]

It really depends on what you want to do in it. People do small tanks. Smaller tanks limit you on how many fish, size of fish, corals, etc. Do what you can afford to do and what is right for the fish. Search craigslist for deals on tanks. You can usually get equipment (tank, stand hood) 1/2 off the price of retail.

[Uncle Salty 05]

I would go with a 20 long at least.
Small tanks are very unforgiving if a mistake is made.
I have seen nice tanks set up in Mason jars, so it can be done.
The conventional wisdom is that you should always go with the largest tank you can afford. Large tanks are much more forgiving if a mistake is made.

[Aliciamb2]

Uncle salty is correct. I would recommend you go at least 20 gallons. I would go as big as you can afford or feel comfortable that way. Plus a lot of the time after a couple months you end up wishing you had gone bigger to begin with.

[Triggerfish]

Originally Posted by seymour47

I'm wondering if everyone out there would consider a 10-gallon saltwater tank worth the effort? Or would I be better off pushing to 20+?

if thats all i had to setup sure i would consider it. would a 20+ be better..certainly would.

[Fish Biscuit]

+1 go with a 20 L or even a 40 B. Get one next time Petco is running their $1 per g sale.

I personally like the length of the tank since it gives you more room for corals.

[cloak]

If you have a firm grasp on how an aquarium works, (cycle) keeping a 10 gallon tank should be no problem at all IMO. Don't overfeed, don't overstock, siphon out any accumulated detritus, keep any sort of mechanical filtration clean, remember to top off, do regular water changes, etc. Your pretty much doing the same thing you would for a 100 gallon tank, only on a smaller scale.
In the right hands, a nice little piece of the ocean can be created within a 10 gallon tank. GL.

[thenewguy997]

The bigger the better but some of the most beautiful tanks ive seen were nano. The city zoo has many beautiful under 20 size tanks, deff worth it if thats all you can afford or have time for

[seymour47]

Thanks for all your input, everyone. I'll see if I can afford to push it to 20 gallons.

[hijinks]

remember to calculate the long term costs of a bigger tank also. Salt can be expensive

[sponger0]

If you are looking for a smaller tank and trying to cost down, check the out Biocubes. Under $300 new and you can find them used for less.