Pretty easy sulf sufficient small tank?

Hey guys,
Mike in Orlando here. I've been interested in having a saltwater aquarium for quite sometime now. I think they're awesome and have read a few books for beginners and a few more in-depth books as well as been all over the forums. I know the general consensus is the bigger the tank the easier it is to maintain proper levels etc etc. I'm looking all over and have decided I want a small tank one for like one fish, some live rock with a few bits and pieces of coral and such, and of course some take maintenance animals, shrimp, snails, crabs etc etc. I'm looking to see if there is a fairly easy to maintain setup for this that I can either build or piece together? How small can I go? I'd like to make it as easy to maintain as possible. You know something that I don't have to worry about checking levels all the time and can have somethings involved that maintain levels for me maybe add salt etc etc. Any ideas. I know I have to be involved in this but I'm looking to make it as easy on me as possible. Thanks guys any input is huge and much appreciated. Keep up the good work here.

Sincerely,
Mike ;D

 

30g biocube, or try to pick up a 40g breeder or 55g. thats about the smallest I would go.

 

The smaller the tank, the harder to maintain and keep in check

 

That's what they say, but I've had no troubles with my 29g BioCube. Just have to get the right lighting regiment, water flow 30x, and bi weekly water changes.

I've had awesome growth with coralline algae and a huge pod population just by having the tank running for a few months w/o a skimmer

 

I was in the same boat as the OP. I had considered larger tanks but the JBJ 29 v.LED fit the bill pretty well. As long as you take neccesary precautions (which I didn't take enough) and you keep a steady eye on your parameters, you'll be alright.

 

Alright, I'll be the oddball here and say 10gal if your looking for small. I have a pretty self sufficient 10gal frag/mini reef running right now.

Here's my setup:
10 gal tank
Hang on Back Eheim filter
Hydor Theo heater
Boost LED Par30 bulb
Boost LED light bracket
DIY ATO system from Bulk reef supply
5 gal ATO resevoir

The only maintenance I ever do on it is my water change. I currently have 5 sexy shrimp, 6 heads of blasto divided among 2 frags, a large zoa rock plus two zoa frags, 2 different acans, numerous kenya trees, 4 heads of dendrophylia (a 3 headed piece and a single head piece), a roughly 18 head duncan, a 4 head frogspawn (roughly softball size), and a clean up crew from reefcleaners.org. Coral growth is better than I could have ever expected with just the one LED fixture, I only ever have to fill up the ATO resevoir about once every few weeks, and the usual water changes are enough to keep everything in balance. It's been running steady for about 1.5 years now. I would say the whole setup minus the cost of corals and rock would be around $225

 

29 gallon Biocube here. Picked it up to learn the game before jumping into a big tank. Plus, I'm not done with the PhD yet and I didn't want to attempt to move a big tank or take a loss on selling it. It's been pretty easy to take care of.

 

anpgp could you explain your DIY ATO system? I have a two 5gal water jug with RO always on hand and I usually have to add about one cup a day because I have the lid always open for heat escape (made in china BioCube fan wiring shorts really easily)

But I'm a broke college kid who works at Home Depot and I'd be easier for me to make something if its easy enough

 

Instead of working around the problem, why not fix it? Find what is shorting and insulate it from the moisture. My fans never "shorted".

 

Solder or a new PC fan would be a likely and cheap fix...just have to figure out what failed. Grab a volt meter from work and get to probing