So my wife bought a 500 gallon tank......

[vetteguy53081]

So my wife bought this (used): Just over 500 gallons. Just the tank and cabinets, nothing else included, so basically starting from scratch. Big step up from our 2 35 gallon freshwater tanks. I think the acrylic tank weighs 700 ish pounds. It is on a slab. While I am versed in industrial pumps and valves, the initial plan is to have it set up and maintained by a local company for salt water. I am, however, very open to suggestions as to reliable pumps and filtration systems, and any other advice. Probably not going to have coral. I don't even know the terminology or extent of required equipment. I am a big fan of forums and will be reading what I can. No immediate timeline, and pretty good budget; I saw the post about this not being cheap, and we knew that "diving" in.
Gary

This was my 660g with skin off to give you an idea of what I used to maintain tank well. Large skimmer, chiller, Scrubber, UV unit and calcium reactor

 

[Dierks]

Now that is a Big Tank! And from 2 35's in FW to Saltwater with that big boy, you are going to be on one heck of a learning curve! Pull out the wallet as you won't need that anymore as you are about to burn up all that retirement money!! Welcome to the club and I am excited for you, Good luck and I am sure you will have lots of folks here hearing you on!!

 

[Nano_Man]

This was my 660g with skin off to give you an idea of what I used to maintain tank well. Large skimmer, chiller, Scrubber, UV unit and calcium reactor

That is one stunning tank

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Welcome to R2R!! Beautiful tank and cabinet!! Can't wait to see what goes in this.

 

[Lavey29]

Something different keep a congealment of cuttlefish , coral/marbled shark, dwarf sting-ray?, eel?

Or a humpback whale. Sure wish my wife would surprise me with a 500g tank instead of another huge Nordstrom bill.

 

[Devaji]

WOW! you're wife sure is a keeper.
I do hope its something you are into as well.

all that said. its a huge tank. I would start of with FOWLR ( fish only with live rock) that will be the easiest
I would do angels, tangs, butterflies and wrasses and puffers. just keep in mind about aggression levels of fish.

as suggested brows other build threads to get an idea of what people are doing.
dont rush this and do it right from the get go. that said we always learn when doing.

ask lots of questions alot of friendly peeps around here.

looking forward to a build out on this tank! plz do share.

 

[alpenreef]

doing the math in my head … 500 lbs of live rock, 500 lbs sand. $7000

 

[vetteguy53081]

doing the math in my head … 500 lbs of live rock, 500 lbs sand. $7000

I had 3oo# and the rest was coral and coral on rock

 

[twentyleagues]

doing the math in my head … 500 lbs of live rock, 500 lbs sand. $7000

You dont need 500lbs of live rock. It would be nice but not needed.

 

[alpenreef]

You dont need 500lbs of live rock. It would be nice but not needed.

Yeah it‘s possible my tank math doesn‘t translate to a bigger tank. I made 3 pillars with 150 lbs gulf live rock on top of 100 lbs of sand. My tank is 180 gallon and has a 5x3ft footprint.

 

[twentyleagues]

Yeah it‘s possible my tank math doesn‘t translate to a bigger tank. I made 3 pillars with 150 lbs gulf live rock on top of 100 lbs of sand. My tank is 180 gallon and has a 5x3ft footprint.

You didnt need that much either. Its probably nice if you have the money though. You could have used half dry or more and had pretty much the same effect.

 

[1000rrstunna]

sweet! looks like its going to be an awesome adventure i hope you like tinkering because thats what reef tanks or saltwater is all about!

 

[PharmrJohn]

Wow, that's quite a tank.

Since you are familiar with industrial plumbing, I would strongly suggest you set the system up yourself. Saltwater systems seem more complex from the outside than fresh, but it really isn't all that much more to get familiar with. If you build your system, you'll be a lot more familiar with it when you inevitably get faced with fixing/adjusting something while the service people aren't available.

I'd love to follow a build thread as you set this moster up (Hint hint)

+1. When I was young(er) and full of gusto, I didn't let a little thing like 'I've never done this before!' get in my way. Lol, but it was a double edged sword. I made a few mistakes, but learned SO much more on the positive side. So much that 15 years later I remember how to plumb! However, these days there are some really good ideas out there on how to plumb a system properly. A tank that big would be REALLY fun to delve into.

 

[1112-425XL]

 

[Jimbhoy13]

Welcome to R2R Gary. That tank is amazing.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

Honestly Halides would probably be the most cost effective for lighting such a large tank. At least the tang police won't come knocking.

1000g minimum for a yellow

 

[alpenreef]

You didnt need that much either. Its probably nice if you have the money though. You could have used half dry or more and had pretty much the same effect.

That I am not sure about. I don‘t want to use dry rock ever.

 

[56longroof]

Nice score! I wish I could get my wife to find me a tank like this.

 

[56longroof]

That I am not sure about. I don‘t want to use dry rock ever.

I use it for base rock only. Saves alot of money on live rock.

 

[twentyleagues]

That I am not sure about. I don‘t want to use dry rock ever.

Thats a choice. If you have the money sure why not. I used all dry rock in my current newest reef. No issues other than what I have introduced by accident. My return to the hobby tank was set up using lr from the lfs, on going issues with bubble algae and aiptasia. Most corals have been moved to the new tank after a good cleaning and peroxide bathing where applicable. The only thing left in that tank are the rfa's. I may try to breed some berghia in there I have stopped trying to kill the aiptasia.