Beginner Tank Size?

My roommates and I are thinking we want to set up our first marine tank. We've got several freshwater tanks around the house, and feel ready (as much as a beginner can, at any rate) to start up our first saltwater.

We plan to have, at the very least, a tank ready to start up by the end of summer. This will give us time to research what we want, what we need, and what we can afford to accomodate the types of life we want to have.

However, we seem to differ on one point.

We each want a different size tank. They want to start small (Biocube or 10/20 Gallon), and I think we should start somewhere a little bigger (40-50 Gallon).

I think a larger tank would be easier to maintain once you've got it going (dead fish taking longer to fill the tank with ammonia than a smaller tank, before you spot it and remove it, temperature changes less drastic), while they say a smaller tank would be simpler and less expensive to stock.

What are the pros and cons of a small/medium tank for beginners to set up?

for your first tank, i would go with a medium sized one, the larger they are the more stable they are.. but i guess its also depends on your budget

robert fenner suggests not going any smaller then 40-50 for beginner tanks...one really great book you should look into reading/renting is the conscientios marine aquarist by Robert M. Fenner..great book! good luck and keep us updated,

Agreed on the medium size tank (or larger) being the way to go. The smaller the volume the more difficult initial stability becomes. When small tanks go south it can happen in hurry. This is not to say you can not be successful with a smaller volume tank but the work load increases significantly...daily fresh water top offs, religious water changes (10-25% once if not twice/week), parameter testing, etc. If you are prepared to keep on top of things daily and $$ are an issue the BioCube 29 is a decent bang for the buck but it does have a few drawbacks.
I run both a BioCube 29 and a 90 gallon mixed reef. Work load on the BC is twice that of the 90 (with a sump).

You and I are in a very similar boat, kept freshwater for a little while now want to dive into SW. I'm using a 28g tank, partly because it wont cost as much as a 55g or something like that, but it will still have stability with water parameters.

I will be running a super skimmer 65, 130W light(daylight and actinic), and 2 Koralia 1s. I'm starting with a FOWLR but want to have a reef down the road a little. Anyways, you've come to a really helpful site with knowledgeable people with experience.

Your in luck..I have decided to sell my entire 120g set-up including all live rock(150lbs), inverts (snails (astrea,margarits,cerith,nassarius,turbo), blue leg hermit crabs, brittle star, and the bad cowrie), coral and coral frags, and fish for $2500. Includes a 25g sump refugium, ETSS Reef Devil skimmer, mag 9.5 return, 2 Hydor korallia 3's, Coralife Aqualight pro with 2 150 watt 15000k metal halides (brand new bulbs), 2 96watt power compact (03 true actinic) and 4 X 1watt lunar lights, Turbo twist 3X uv, two little fishes phosban reactor, and all dosing testing equipment.

Fish are 3 blue green chromis, 2 true perc clowns hosting in both torch and hammer corals and likely paired with all the dancing going on, 1 six line wrasse, and 1 atlantic blue tang juvenile (still yellow with blue accents).

Corals..... 3 types of Hammer , torch, loads of zoas (purple, green orange, red black, pink yellow,etc...), three types of acans, two types of gsp, colt coral, 2 types of chalice, purple staghorn, acropora, green milli, clove polyps, xenia, red plating monti, green monti digi, candycane, orange, red, purple/green, green stripe and metallic blue mushrooms, orange, green and purple yuma, metallic green porites, devils hand leather and ummmmm....I am sure I missed some.

Tank is 60 X 18 X 24 and has a pine stand and matching canopy. Drilled with two overflows. I am taking a job that requires extensive travel so I am getting out for a year.

Old pic......

We would really need to know what you want to keep to give a specific answer to the question.

Personally I would go with the largest tank that comfortably fits space available and budget and that can support the stock you are planning. I prefer tanks with more depth front to back over narrower tanks. If I were suggest a specific tank that makes a great starter reef it would be the 40 gallon breeder tank (36in long x 18in wide x 17in tall) the length to width ratio gives a nice foot print for a rock stack and the height is shallow enough to make lighting easier.