12 gallon SW tank for a newbie...? questions on setup

[berryj]

Alright, I want to get a small fish tank, and I would love to make it SW if I can swing it. Im leaning towards an Eclipse 12 with Bio-Wheel. (another option is 15 gallon high tank) And all I really want to have in it are two clowns: a black percula and a true percula....or 2 true perculas.

Now, Im sure most of you are laughing at me b/c of my desire for such a small tank but Would it really be that difficult for a newbie to control a small saltwater tank with 2 fish and no reef in it?

After research, Im thinking like 50lbs of sand and 15-20 lbs of live rock if i went with the 15 gal. . Im kind of mixed up on the set up i need....
- Is live rock necessary. Could i just use the fake coral reef
- is the eclipse 12 too small for 2 med. perculas

I don't know if it would work, but my ideal set-up would be the eclipse 12 with the biowheel filtration. 1-2in of sand and fake coral, fake plants, and 2 true perculas (sm to med)

Thanks in advance for your help, I'd love to get a SW set-up going, but just not sure about where to start.

 

[Woodstock]

Welcome to Reef Sanctuary Berryj!

Here is a thread about nanos that you should read...

JBJ Nano Cube Advice

It is a definite problem with the cracking My tank recently developed a small stress crack on the rounded corner I have contacted JBJ and they are replacing the tank after I send in the receipt and a picture of the tank
The 2006 models are being made with thicker glass so hopefully It won't continue to be an issue. I really do like the look of the tank

 

[Cougra]

With such a small tank you really can't afford to take up much room with substrate or over do the anout of rocks without making life extremely difficult for you. Also IMO a 12 Gal tank is too small for a pair of clownfish, especially for someone without any experience keeping a SW tank. IF at all possible, get a bigger tank even a 20Gal tank (24*12*16) will give you a lot more room for error and give the fish some breathing room. Although they don't need much space to swim, they do require more territory then the 12 Gall tank will offer. Also even though the tank is called a 12 Gallon tank you will never fit 12 Gallons of water into since the measurements are taken from the outside of the tank.

50 Lb of sand will fill your little tank and leave you without room for rocks or water! In such a small tank I would honestly suggest either go without a substrate (primary recommendation) or if you don't want to have a BB tank then only use a token amount of substrate, enough to barely cover the bottom of the tank.

I also think you'll find it difficult to place 15 to 20 lb's of live rock in that tank (depending on the type of LR you purchase) and will greatly reduce the water volume in the tank.

Remember for ever item you add to the tank you are sacrificing water volume!

Stability is the key to keeping a marine tank healthy and in small tanks it takes a lot more work then larger tanks. It's best if you get the largest tank that you could possibly can, your fish will be better off for it in the long run!

 

[Woodstock]

Alright, I want to get a small fish tank, and I would love to make it SW if I can swing it. Im leaning towards an Eclipse 12 with Bio-Wheel.....

I don't know if it would work, but my ideal set-up would be the eclipse 12 with the biowheel filtration. 1-2in of sand and fake coral, fake plants, and 2 true perculas (sm to med)

Thanks in advance for your help, I'd love to get a SW set-up going, but just not sure about where to start.

You will be fine with 2 perculas, a 1" sand substrate and fake plants/corals in a 12 gal nano You don't need rock if you'll be using the biowheel for biological filtration. Just keep up with regular water changes to keep the nitrAtes down. Be prepared to top off daily with fresh water for the evaporation too. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[DaveK]

Alright, I want to get a small fish tank, and I would love to make it SW if I can swing it. Im leaning towards an Eclipse 12 with Bio-Wheel. (another option is 15 gallon high tank) And all I really want to have in it are two clowns: a black percula and a true percula....or 2 true perculas.

Now, Im sure most of you are laughing at me b/c of my desire for such a small tank but Would it really be that difficult for a newbie to control a small saltwater tank with 2 fish and no reef in it?

After research, Im thinking like 50lbs of sand and 15-20 lbs of live rock if i went with the 15 gal. . Im kind of mixed up on the set up i need....
- Is live rock necessary. Could i just use the fake coral reef
- is the eclipse 12 too small for 2 med. perculas

I don't know if it would work, but my ideal set-up would be the eclipse 12 with the biowheel filtration. 1-2in of sand and fake coral, fake plants, and 2 true perculas (sm to med)

Thanks in advance for your help, I'd love to get a SW set-up going, but just not sure about where to start.

I would consider a 12 gal tank with two clowns in it to be very difficult to keep for someone new to the hobby.

Can it be done? Yes, by someone experienced, but someone new is going to make mistakes and end up with a tank of very dead fish. There is no margin for error on small tanks.

I would also recommend the use of live rock, but corals and other stuff is optional. Your sand bed should be shallow, just enough to cover the bottom, half an inch or less. You do not want this to become a dirt trap. It's not that live rock looks better than fake stuff, but that the live rock contributes a lot to the filtration system. You'll have much better water quality. I'm not a fan of the "fish only" type of system, because I have found them much more difficult to keep disease free, and to maintain the water quality. Yes, I did do fish only setup for years before I ever did a reef.

If you have any choice in this matter go with something much larger. You chance of sucess will be much greater, and you find as long as you don't go too big, it will not be that much more expensive. You are going to need light, heat, and filtration for any size tank, and going up a size or two isn't that expensive.

 

[Newt]

Welcome to RS!

I agree that a 12 gallon tank can be done successfully but better done by someone whose been in the hobby for a while and knows the demands of such a tank.

If you are willing to put a lot of time in the tank, then I say go for it.

Personally my first tank was a 10 gallon, and there were a lot of pros and cons to the system. Pros- ideal for the reefer with a lack of space.

Cons- Absolutely no room for error with water quality, and for most people the major con is lack of room for fish. Con, if you decide to upgrade to a larger tank, it means throwing more money into the tank, lighting, and filtration all over again.

Just a pair of clownfish would do just fine in a 12 gallon tank...but the main problem is that you inevitably will catch the SW bug, and want to upgrade to a larger tank anyways.

Buy as large of a tank as you can afford, and the best equipment out there, it will save you a lot of money and fish lives in the long run. But first, buy a few SW books, and read read read. Nothing good in this hobby comes when things are rushed.

Good luck!
Jason