230-300g tank. 7 or 8 feet?

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

I have a 10 foot wall where my 525xl and its sidecar 15g tank reside. I'm toying with the idea of filling up the wall more with a bigger tank (and I want bigger tangs sooo...).

The width unfortunately is fixed to 24" max. I have a small house and the tank is in the living room so it needs to stay tidy and not stick out too much. However it would be the only thing against the wall so length is cool.

I toyed with the idea of a 9 footer that, instead of being centered, would be place against the corner of the wall with the overflow there but I was worried that would make maintenance very difficult (would it?)

An 8 footer would look nice, leaving a foot on either side of the wall. Hard to tell if it would be overbearing but my thinking is it would actually look nicer than what I have now. The 525xl just kinda seems random -- not big or small enough to "fit" against the wall.

A 7 footer would allow me to expand a bit in terms of height without pushing the cost or the volume of the tank to an unreasonable size. Since I only want SPS at the top I'm not worried about height affecting lighting.

8 foot dimensions:
96x24x24h; 240g
96x24x30h; 300g
96x22x30h; 275g (would extend as far as my current tank which would be nice)

7 foot dimensions:
84x24x24h; 210g
84x24x30h; 260g
84x22x30h; 240g
84x22x34h; 275g
84x24x34h; 300g

I'm 6'3" and pretty comfortable with the idea of a taller tank. I like the way it looks and no matter what I'll be adding supports to the joists in the crawl space so if it's not to expensive it's on the table.

As far as I understand, these sizes are all enough for some of the bigger tangs and a tang gang. I'm trying to weigh cost and size against the wall and aquascaping. I would need new skimmer, more A360's and a sump; not cheap. Considering building my own sump out of a petco tank but I have no experience doing that. I think I'd be able to re-use my other equipment and just add sand and more powerheads (I have a ton of LR in the garage the needs to be cured again).

Can anyone comment or provide pictures of these sizes? What am I getting myself into here? My current tank is young and not running out of room but I have this burning desire...

(please excuse the plain room this is my first house and I'm still acquiring furniture and deco. also this was before a st patty's day party lol)

 

[Fishfinder]

96x24x30

The longer the better. If your tall enough to reach go for the height.

 

[Salty Lemon]

First of all, your home is lovely -- never apologize. Secondly, I'd go 8 feet. It will look fantastic. Speaking from experience, I have a tall tank -- it sucks to clean and place corals. So if you are okay with submerging yourself or are at least 6'4" (just a guestimate), I'd go longer and lower. No matter what you decide, it will be amazing.

 

[BestMomEver]

I like the depth of 24” it makes aquascaping so much easier. Any deeper is harder to get to. We had a 500 gallon that was roughly 8’x3’x3’. The extra depth made it really hard to get to the back. 24” is perfect. I too like tall tanks but, again, anything over 30” is a real pain. I would do the 96x24x30... 300 gallons. Perfect!

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

Yeah I think I’ll do only 30” if it’s not too expensive otherwise 24”. I’m thinking steel stand that’s 40” not 34”. Lots of room under there for equipment that way, esp since it’ll need a bigger skimmer. I don’t mind using a stepladder but... would 40” stand and 30” tall tank look ridiculous? Also white or black?

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

And thank you Salty Lemon

 

[JMM744]

I have a 72” 180 gal. tank and I saw the hand writing on the wall with my midsized redsea sailfin. It’s in a much bigger tank now at soemeone else’s home. It could go the length of my tank with the flick of its tail. Go as long as you can. I wish I had gone longer. My next will be 8 or 10 ft.

 

[ScottieB]

I agree with the 97x24x30 that’s the exact size I have. It’s a little deep to get something on/off the sand bed, I use a step ladder and still usually get me sleeve wet up to my shoulder.

Thankfully I don’t need to do that very often but even arranging rocks and frags can be difficult. My tank is in the dinning room and I also didn’t want it to protrude too far into the room so the depth is a trade off I’m willing to make.

Here’s a photo of the early setup (6 months ago).

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

I agree with the 97x24x30 that’s the exact size I have. It’s a little deep to get something on/off the sand bed, I use a step ladder and still usually get me sleeve wet up to my shoulder.

Thankfully I don’t need to do that very often but even arranging rocks and frags can be difficult. My tank is in the dinning room and I also didn’t want it to protrude too far into the room so the depth is a trade off I’m willing to make.

Here’s a photo of the early setup (6 months ago).

That's just beautiful. Woooow! I love the height!

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

Anybody have blueprints / plans for sumps for big tanks? I'm trying to figure that out right now but it's hard to find a cheap petco tank that is long and narrow like what I would need :/ I just want a skimmer section and a fuge. I have reactors but never really use them; I'd like to not use them on this tank either. Keep it simple! Filter floss, skimmer, fuge, return section. Any ideas there?

 

[gobble]

Where are you guys buying 7, 8, 10 foot tanks? All custom?

 

[lbiminiblue]

Sumps are very simple to make, once you find the right sized one. You could probably fit a 30-40, or even a low 55 in there.

All you have to do is buy acrylic sheets, cut them to size, and install them in the tank at different lengths to separate. Drill holes in the sheets according to how high you want the water in each section to be. You could have your overflows drop right into a chamber that’s partitioned, then a skimmer in that section too. Next up is the refugium, then another sheet, and then filter floss, another sheet, then pump.

Internal pump?

 

[sstanley223]

I found this. Also, there are companies that sell the acrylic baffles pre laser cut so all you do is silicone them where you want!

https://www.reef2reef.com/index.php?threads/299654/

 

[sstanley223]

I found this. Also, there are companies that sell the acrylic baffles pre laser cut so all you do is silicone them where you want!

https://www.reef2reef.com/index.php?threads/299654/

Actually I was thinking of a 75 gallon for the sump, but you get the idea! Lol

 

[paphater]

8' all the way. I'm thinking of doing a plywood build so I can do 10'.