I've only used clearos so far but have become intrigued by the carto tank. I think i'll just do a straight cartomizer first before messing with the whole tank system on top of it
It's not a bad step and progression.
When you get a good carto-to-liquid match and have figured out what resistance and number of coils (single/dual) that match up with your devices (or your) preferred power (voltage/wattage), just think of the tank as a "auto-fill reservoir" for the same spec carto (except the tanked carto will have holes/slots).
Instead of having to maintain a particular level of saturation (or "slushiness" as many people like to call it), the tank is just there to help keep the carto properly loaded/wet instead of having to manually pull off the tip and retop the carto.