Wanting to Downsize

[PiscesGirl]

Hi,
I have some questions for you if you don't mind?? I posted this in the new to saltwater area...but wondered if anyone who owned nano's, pico's could help as well.

I have finally ventered into the saltwater world after only having freshwater and I've always had a dream of having salt.
Well I bought a 58 gal. reef ready oceanic tank about a year ago and it's been a love/hate relationship since. I've posted my questions here along the way and received some really great help.

I"ve added these to my tank: outer orbit lighting with 1x150 watt MH and 2X96 watt.
TE nautalis skimmer and put it in the sump.

The problem is...well I don't know what the problem is. Water is my biggest issue: I'm not using ro/di. I know I know tap is horrible. I"ve done nothing but read up on it and hear about it from everyone. The thing is I have to add 5 gal of water every 3 days. It evaporates so quickly I 'm going to spend a fortune in water to keep this thing going....either with buying a ro unit or spending the gas money to go buy it from the pet store.

I was curious about pico's/nano's. I've read over and over about how smaller systems are harder to maintain cause your system can crash due to the smallest thing...however if I had a smaller system I could buy bottled water (right? or if not I could buy enough ro/di at the store it would last me a while) and it woudl be easier for me to take care of I think.
Everything on my 58 is so heavy for me. It's hard to lift the lighting off to clean the overflow filter. It's a pain to fill up the tank every three days.
I'm just really frustrated and was curious about smaller systems...I don't want to give this up but I just may have to.

If you have any insight I would REALLY appreciate it.
THanks,

[DrHank]

I don't know the dimensions of your 58 gallon however if you want to keep your lighting, you could look for a smaller tank with the same length. A 29 gallon is 30" and a 30 long is 36". Both tanks would be smaller and probably easier to manage than your 58 gal. Most folks that I know who are successful with a nano or pico have sumps that are at least as big, if not bigger, than the tank.

[lcstorc]

I would not go all the way to pico. You just can't keep enough in it to be fufilling unless you keep sexy shimp which are really cool.
What kind of water problems are you having? Perhaps we can help with those instead of helping you get a new tank.

[PiscesGirl]

mainly water
I have to add 5 gal. of water to the sump every 3 days. It's evaporating like crazy.
The skimmer doesn't work like I thought it would either. It just collects a bunch of water not the gunk I thought it would.

I'd like to use ro/di water so I can keep my tank looking and running nice, but my trips to the lfs would increase greatly (cost of gas and water)with having to add this much water all the time.??

[DrHank]

What brand of skimmer do you have? There should be a way to make it work better. Might help to know what yours is. You will never be sorry that you bought a RO/DI filter. I've had one for a bit over a year and it simplifies things so much. You should also have a TDS meter to check your water periodically and make sure that the filters are working properly. Consider it a good investment!

[PiscesGirl]

It's a TE Nautalis skimmer with mag 7 pump. I bought it for $50 from someone locally.