230 gal acrylic, first large tank

SteelShark

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I unexpectedly came into possession of a very nice large tank, and I have nearly zero experience! Not going to lie, I'm fairly intimidated, and I've come here so I can learn how to do things the right way. I know it would have made more sense to start out small and work my way up, but I didn't expect to receive this tank and I didn't pick it out, so here I am. I actually got the tank over a year ago, and I have been too nervous to do anything with it, so it has sadly just sat in my garage until I finally decided I can do this.

The tank is acrylic and about 230 gallons (60"x30"x30"), with an acrylic stand and canopy. It is not plumbed and it has no equipment - just the tank, stand, and canopy. I've attached a couple of pictures, please pardon the messy garage and the fact that I still haven't even finished removing all the packing material, put the doors on, etc.

This may be ill-advised based on my near-zero experience, but I want to make this a reef tank because... well, because they are awesome and I can't bring myself to do anything less with such a nice big tank. I have a little experience with small (10 gal or less) freshwater tanks, but no experience with saltwater, reef tanks, etc. All I know about reef tanks is what I've learned from watching the BRS "52 Weeks of Reefing" series.

Fortunately, I have a good place to put the tank - a tiled room on a concrete slab with no direct sunlight.

I think my first step is to figure out how to drill holes and plumb the tank, which sounds terrifying. I'd like to get that out of the way while the tank is still in the garage, before I move it inside. In parallel, I need to figure out what equipment I need - lights, pump, sump, etc. I'm also going to figure out how to run a dedicated electrical line.

20221203_144615.jpg 20221203_144639.jpg
 

blaxsun

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Did it come with a sump? That's probably one of the first things I would spec-out as it will influence where your plumbing goes (you may need to temporarily remove the center support on the stand to get it in. When you have a chance, you should remove the canopy and take some images from the top to show the overflow box (etc.) in case you need any additional suggestions.
 
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SteelShark

SteelShark

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Did it come with a sump? That's probably one of the first things I would spec-out as it will influence where your plumbing goes (you may need to temporarily remove the center support on the stand to get it in. When you have a chance, you should remove the canopy and take some images from the top to show the overflow box (etc.) in case you need any additional suggestions.
Nope, no sump, pump, lights, etc. Not drilled, either. But thanks for the advice on sorting out the sump first, makes sense for figuring out where the plumbing goes. In general, my plan is to go as large as will fit comfortably.

As soon as I can get an extra set of hands, I'll lift the canopy and take some pictures of the top, as well as from inside the stand looking up.
 

Devaji

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Nope, no sump, pump, lights, etc. Not drilled, either. But thanks for the advice on sorting out the sump first, makes sense for figuring out where the plumbing goes. In general, my plan is to go as large as will fit comfortably.

As soon as I can get an extra set of hands, I'll lift the canopy and take some pictures of the top, as well as from inside the stand looking up.
welcome to the salty life!

it looks like it is drilled. when you take off the canopy look inside the overflow box there will be 2 or 3 holes for bulkheads and the plumbing. you can also look under the stand to, to see if its drilled. I would be surprised if it's not. if it has an overflow there in a 99% chances it drilled.

now to your general question,
you got this!
bigger it easier to care for as it take longer for things to go off. that said it take more to get it back on par.
have you ever keep SW tanks before? if not I would suggest starting out with fish only with live rock. that way you only have to think about temp, S.G and flow to a lesser degree. also lighting is alot cheaper too. once you have that down then you can think about corals or keep it fish only.

if you have not the seen the BRS 52 weeks of reefing is a great place to start. they are coming out with a "season 2" of that show but it's prob. gonna be very nerdy.

its a nice size tank and looks great. just do a water leak test before taking it inside ( if it will not freeze in the garage that is.)

there are a ton of helpful people on here and other forums. take it slow and ask questions the more the better.
 
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SteelShark

SteelShark

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welcome to the salty life!

it looks like it is drilled. when you take off the canopy look inside the overflow box there will be 2 or 3 holes for bulkheads and the plumbing. you can also look under the stand to, to see if its drilled. I would be surprised if it's not. if it has an overflow there in a 99% chances it drilled.

now to your general question,
you got this!
bigger it easier to care for as it take longer for things to go off. that said it take more to get it back on par.
have you ever keep SW tanks before? if not I would suggest starting out with fish only with live rock. that way you only have to think about temp, S.G and flow to a lesser degree. also lighting is alot cheaper too. once you have that down then you can think about corals or keep it fish only.

if you have not the seen the BRS 52 weeks of reefing is a great place to start. they are coming out with a "season 2" of that show but it's prob. gonna be very nerdy.

its a nice size tank and looks great. just do a water leak test before taking it inside ( if it will not freeze in the garage that is.)

there are a ton of helpful people on here and other forums. take it slow and ask questions the more the better.
I know it is unusual to have an overflow box without being drilled, but unfortunately, that is the case... I checked again just to be sure.

Thanks for the encouragement! I've never had a SW tank before. I had a 20 gal FW as a kid, and I started up three small FW tanks (10 gal, 9 gal, 5 gal) about a year ago just to learn some basics. Then decided to go with SW for this big tank. FOWLR sounds like a good plan for starters.

I have watched the BRS 52 weeks of reefing, but I need to watch it again since so much went over my head the first time. I hadn't heard about season 2, but will look for it.

Thanks again!
 

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I'd consider it a good thing it didn't come drilled. It's not unusual for drilled tanks to come with pitifully undersized holes or the wrong number of holes for your desired drain system.
 

Devaji

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I know it is unusual to have an overflow box without being drilled, but unfortunately, that is the case... I checked again just to be sure.

Thanks for the encouragement! I've never had a SW tank before. I had a 20 gal FW as a kid, and I started up three small FW tanks (10 gal, 9 gal, 5 gal) about a year ago just to learn some basics. Then decided to go with SW for this big tank. FOWLR sounds like a good plan for starters.

I have watched the BRS 52 weeks of reefing, but I need to watch it again since so much went over my head the first time. I hadn't heard about season 2, but will look for it.

Thanks again!
huh that is odd. I guess you will have to drill it yourself then. that kinds sucks for a 1st timer. but acrylic is a lot easier to do that glass.
Q? is the overflow box cemented to the back piece?

yeah there is a lot of info there. I have been reefing on and off since 2003 still learning.

if you have any questions ask away. there are a ton of helpful people around here.
 
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SteelShark

SteelShark

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huh that is odd. I guess you will have to drill it yourself then. that kinds sucks for a 1st timer. but acrylic is a lot easier to do that glass.
Q? is the overflow box cemented to the back piece?

yeah there is a lot of info there. I have been reefing on and off since 2003 still learning.

if you have any questions ask away. there are a ton of helpful people around here.

Yep, going to have to drill it myself - unfortunate but not the end of the world. I'll have to drill through the acrylic stand as well (with wider holes to accommodate the fittings for the bulkheads), and it has a centerline support brace. So I think the best approach is to drill a pilot hole upwards from inside the stand into the overflow box... then lift the tank off the stand and flip it over... then drill down through the tank into the overflow box... then drill down through the stand.

Yes, the overflow box is cemented and sealed to the back piece. I'm pretty sure the overflow box is 12" wide by 7" deep, but I'm estimating from outside the tank because I haven't actually lifted the lid off yet... it is a little more than I can personally handle, so I'm getting some suction cup lifters and then having a friend come over to help.

I need to decide what size holes I can fit in the overflow box, keeping in mind that I have to stay clear of the centerline brace in the stand. I'm curious what others here think about what I'm leaning toward right now:

- For supply, I am thinking a 1.5" line. I don't have a pump yet, still trying to sort out which one to get, what flow rate I need, etc. Display tank is ~230gal, and I'm estimating ~65gal for a 48 inch sump, so calling it ~300gal total volume. So I think I need somewhere between 1500 to 3000 gph for a return pump, but I need to refine that a bit. Tons of info on R2R to help with that, just need to read and digest.

- For return, I think a single 3" line would fit but if not, then two 2" lines. I haven't sorted through all the pros/cons on those options yet.

Ultimately, I'd like this to be a reef tank, so I want to plumb it in a way that will accommodate that goal even if I only start out with FOWLR and don't need the higher flow rate right away.

At some point, I think I might like to put in a closed loop pump or two, but I'm still learning about that option. I think for that, I could go out the back of the stand, up the back outside the tank, and then in through the canopy, without drilling more holes through the overflow box.

Learning a ton, thanks very much for everyone's help. I appreciate everyone's patience with someone jumping into such a large tank with so little experience!
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

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