Hello folks,

Happy new year first of all. My wife and I have decided to set up a new
salt-water tank in our living room. Since I'm totally new with the marine
tank, I have some questions and hopefully you pros can help me out.

1. Petco is selling a 12 gallon tank complete with all the salt-water
accessories that need to get me started (salt, meters, filter, net, testing
equipments). However, I heard people saying that setting up a salt-water
tank for less than 30 gallon is waste of time because small tanks tend to
have less buffer than a bigger tank. Is this true? Or it¹s just a myth?
2. If 12-gallon tank is too small, what¹d be the minimum size that I should
consider? Granted I will monitor the water in a daily basis, but there will
be times that I go on vacation and might need my tank unattended for a week
or two.
3. I understand that after I have setup the tank initially, I should leave
the water and filtration system running for at least two weeks. What are
some of the things that I should be aware of during this period, or before I
start setting things up?
4. Aside from the hanging type of filter it comes with the Petco package (if
I go for the 12 gallon option), should I get additional filters to keep the
water cleaned and stabilized at all time? If so, what type or brand that
you¹d recommend.

Thanks in advance for your help. Cheers.

- James