Reef tank question
 

Hey guys i just wanted to ask you guys a question and see what you all thought, Right now i have a 90g tank and i am looking to upgrade i just moved into a new house and i am starting to working on the basement, So my question is to you guys what are your thoughts on big tanks? I am looking to do a big tank and was not sure what size to go with, i was thinking about 180g but i think i really want to do the 300g or should i go bigger? If any of you guys got any insight or tips or any info at all i would love to hear it thanks.
Michael

There is a big difference (pun definitely intended) between 180 and 500 gallons :-)

If you are prepared for 500 gallons worth of pain I say go big or go home :lol:

big tanks = big bucks.....and not just initial cost.....everything goes up exponentially.....100g water changes can be pricey:wink:.....that being said.....if its within your budget......go big or go home:twised:

Oh and pain = more of everything. More equipment, more supplies, more money, more time, more, More, MORE, MOAR!! :-)

Lol
180 to 500 gal is probably 6 times as expensive both in set up and maintaince
Kinda like asking vette or lambo ?

The bigger the better no really if its a basement setup go for an inwall setup as it is cleaner look,do custom tank as long as you like a feature wall giving yourself a back work room totally insulated and vented.Do maybe 30" wide and I don't suggest going over 30" deep unless you have long arms:biggrin:
maybe 8 feet long X30"X30" roughly 375glns
or 8feet X30"H X 36"W roughly 450glns
So many choices :shocked!: now I want a bigger setup:biggrin:

By the way welcome to to Canreef where you will find lots of addicts packed with information on all aspects of reefing:biggrin:

Why not a 1000 gallon?

I went from a 180 to 300DD I love the deeper tank for scape possibilities, it all comes down to personal preference (and the $pace you have to work with)

Woohoo !!!! Nothing like a new house to put a tank into :mrgreen:
With what everyone has said so far ...
You haven't mentioned what your annual budget is for said tank, or space for it, so giving you an opinion on what to go with is difficult.
And with that said, it's subjective anyway.
How much work do you want to put into this new tank?
How many square inches of glass do you want to clean and look at?
And so on
Have fun and start a tank journal for us to envy you :smile:

Also, how big are the doors or entranceway to the basement. Can you get a huge tank down the stairs or will you have to build one in place?

I personally would love an 8' long x 30" high x 30" or (36" wide).

100g water changes = 2 barrels. If you have room to set up a fish room behind the tank, that will make water changes very easy as long as you have room for barrels.

I'd say it depends on what you like. Big tanks are
More stable and thus creates a more "true" reef. However, small details get lost a bit in huge tank IMO. I love the small critters, reclusive fish and close-ups with coral... And I achieve that with a smaller tank. If you like the look of a full reef rather than specimens, the. Go as big as you can afford.



Ps. Anthony, I beat ya to last post :P

300 dd is a dream tank of mine the dimensions are wicked and its only kinda giant.

300g with 24" or 26" depth, kind of shallow reef style. then it can be longer and/or wider if you want. And coast to Coast overflow :P

Hey guys thanks for all your thoughts, Ill try and add some pics of the basement so you guys can see what im going to be working with, I do have room to make a fish room, i can either make it its on room or i can build it into my mechanical room.

I have a walk out from my basement so i will be getting a made tank and then removing the door to bring it into its new home :)

This is very true. Unless things are closer to the front you can't get nearly as personal with some of the life in the tank. I also have 19mm glass so there is distortion to deal with as well if you aren't either looking straight in and up close... or standing a few feet back.

I'm spending far more time working on the new tank as well. Would I ever go smaller again though? Not if my budget doesn't force me! If I ever move years from now I'd even consider another upgrade if my budget allowed but that's very unlikely.

I'd hate doing anything on this tank without a fishroom!

Beyond 300 gallons, I would go with acrylic. (I did...and I would again). Glass gets too thick and the tank simply becomes too heavy.

I went from 210 to a 300DD. I really love it. But if you have no cost restriction then the bigger the better. IMHO :twised:

Hey guys this is what i will be working with, sorry for the crap pic, I just did it fast been really busy.

So this is the basement and this is what i had in mind as of right now the fish room would be in the mech room that has a drain and i will be installing a sink after. What im not sure of doing right now is doing the tank outside what i have in the pic right now or to do a in wall tank and have the glass flush or to do 1/2 and 1/2 , have the tank in the fish room and half the tank in the other room, If i were to do the 1/2 and 1/2 then i would most likely make the fish room bigger.

http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/1666/fishroom.jpg
http://www.freeimagehosting.net/l3zsh
http://postimage.org/image/5lnsqf7zv/full/

No pictures showing :0(

I like the flush look as an inwall tank you only see a window to the reef (I like that look:biggrin:) it you are worried about having the fish room bigger then simply extend your wall to the length you like.

Should be good now I think

I know a few people with huge 300+ gallon tanks that hardly ever do water changes.

Why? It's more stable and they didn't overload their tank with fish aka low bio load.

My neighbour is going on ONE YEAR for his reef tank with NO WATER CHANGES. Just keeps topping up with RO water. He has a 300 gallon with 150 gallon sump. 50 gallons of the sump is refugium. Has a good SWC skimmer which barely pulls anything out anymore thanks to the refugium. He has 6 tangs, 2 big angels, and maybe 8 damsels. Rest is coral.

He still has the same bucket of Tropic Marin salt from last summer.

I have a quick question about making the furnace room into a fish room. Wouldnt it make the rest of the house smell like an aquarium? I have my hockey equipment hanging in the furnace room and my wife hates it! and I get the equipment cleaned twice a year :mrgreen:

This is also something I would like to know, because my 90g in my old house was in the furnace room but it never smelled and it ran great for 2 years. Will a bigger tank make a difference?

Your furnace does not draw air from around the furnace area. It uses the fresh air return vents for that.

Ok good to know thanks. I guess my hockey equipment is just foul smelling since she can smell it upstairs haha

Time to get them cleaned again

Hey guys i was just wondering what is one of the best ro/di systems on the market right now ? And if so what one should i look into?

Vertex unit is an all in one with booster pump, they are pretty nice. I helped out a good buddy of mine installing it few month back, it's a caddillac(or lexus)of RO UNITS.

I bought a Puratek 100 GPD unit from JL with a booster pump.

NICE!

Hey guys just wanted to get your thoughts on this, looking at getting the custom sump started and it will prob be around 100g, What would you guys put in it for this type of tank?

-live rock chamber?
-Refugium?
-Any custom stuff i should look into?

I think a better question is, what do you want in your sump ? :biggrin:

A live rock chamber is nice to have, but not necessary in a sump. A refugium is nice to have but not necessary.

I would say, if someone is considering a 500G system, the cost is not an issue.

Size really depends on what you want to accomplish.

If I had space and the means to support a 500G tank..... Heck!

BUT as mentioned.... exponentially more for everything. From salt to lighting to rock and sand... coral and fish. You will have an empty 500G tank with 3 frags and a blenny, if you know what I mean.

Be sure to start a build. :wink: