size of tank for newbie

[cinnabon]

Whats a good size of tank for a SW newbie?

[thegrandpoohbah]

The bigger the better. Just remember, SW gets expensive fast. So do your research and figure out exactly what you want before you start shopping. No point getting cheap lighting now if you decide that you'll eventually want SPS or clams. You'll end up sending more money down the road on upgrades so just do it right the first time.

[cinnabon]

well, my daugthers bf wants to get her a 25 gallon tank. He has been doing alot of reading but since it will be at our house I thought it would be a good idea to familiarize myself too. We really have no fish experience, except when we had my sons junior high class fish at our house for the summer. That was a fresh water tropical tank.

[Slipstream]

Personally I would go with a 30 Gal at least. I have a 32, and a 33 salt, and i wont go any smaller for salt water.

[thegrandpoohbah]

Agreed. I started with a 20G FOWLR (Fish Only With Live Rock) and if I had to do it over I would have gone much bigger. A small SW system also requires much more maintenance than FW. Things can go wrong very quickly with such a small volume of water. I recommend you do some reading at http://www.nano-reef.com (http://www.nano-reef.com/).