330 gallon 10+ year dream tank!

RJKain-777

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So this weekend has been a very exciting one! We finally closed on our home, construction will be done early October, which means my wife has allowed me to go bigger then my current 90 gallon tank.

I enlisted @Joe Glass Cages to build my new tank, the tank is 84x31.5x30.5 for just over 330 gallons, will feature a coast to coast over flow, starfire front panel, and euro bracing. It’s going to be a “inwall” tank, with a fish room behind.

Why didn’t I go 96 inches? Well my wife said no to an 8ft tank, but didn’t say how much smaller it had to be. Also, 84 inches will be a lot easier to maneuver into the basement. It’s a straight stair case, but needs to be put on end at the bottom to get around the corner and with 8ft ceilings, I’m afraid she’s got me beat on the argument.

The tank will be on a wooden stand, as well as the sump right behind the tank for easy maintenance.

Lighting I will be using 5 hydra 32hd and 4 rows of Blue plus T5s. If I need more lights, I’ll add another 5 hydras spaced evenly over the tank.

Flow inside the tank will be managed by 4 mp40s and flow from the sump to the tank will be managed by the cor 20 thats on my current 90 gallon. With the small head height (less then 2 feet) I think this pump will do just fine.


The rock structure will be open concept, with plenty of shelves, and caves for the fish to hide and corals to grow.
This will be a 10+ year tank, primarily SPS dominated.

As of now, I have a majority of the equipment, minus 3 lights, and the tank. So it should be a fast build, once the ball gets rolling. I do have to frame and drywall the basement before it gets wet.

Below is the “concept” of the basement, pretty well the “ultimate” man cave.

EED06C65-1F00-4BAE-A9D9-7258A6DE316C.png
 
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RJKain-777

RJKain-777

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Living the dream. Some day I'll have a huge tank but not until I'm in a house that Im happy staying in for the long haul. Until then I'll live vicariously through others.
This has been my dream since I got into the hobby, I’ve always been changing tanks (55, 150, 15, 220, 180, and now my 90) and never been happy , I always thought it was “I don’t have money for nice gear that’s why I’m not happy” but , life changed 4 years ago, and I went all out on my 90 and still not happy with the limitations of corals and fish. My dream tank has always been a 360 gallon , 96x30x30 , but , this is the next best thing ( a fish wont notice a foot difference).

My dream was always a small school of yellow tangs (3 or 5) and I’ll be able to do that with this tank.
 
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RJKain-777

RJKain-777

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So been doing a lot of thinking on how I’m going to get the tank into the basement, more importantly, how to find people willing to help, moving it’s easy, it’s a straight stair case down. Couple furniture dollies and a motorcycle jack
 
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RJKain-777

RJKain-777

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So, with my job I get a lot of time to think, most the time it’s a bad thing. Any ways, I’m “thinking” of using reef breeders on the tank, with T5s. Would they work on a tank this deep? Or am I better off with my original plan. My goal is 200+ par threw out the whole tank.
 
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RJKain-777

RJKain-777

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Just for the heck of sharing my thoughts (back to the to much time at work) and cant decide on lighting, since I have everything else now:

I currently have 2 hydra 26hd, obviously if I were to stick with hydras it would be 32hd...

Would 2 rows of 4 (with a 26hd in each row) be adequate for a SPS tank? That’s $3000 in lighting I’d be buying (hydra 32 are $500 each here in Canada)

or should I spend $4500 and get 3 Atlantik v4 ?

really torn on lighting as there’s so many options and if I’m spending the kind of money Iam, I obviously want the best results.

Here’s a photo of what I do for work, I case any one was wondering why I have so much time on my hands:

36DCE33B-A1BF-43FB-93AF-37E0116A10F1.jpeg
 

fishguy242

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hi sorry cannot help w lights :)
 

fishguy242

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ask in the lighting forum :)
 

Billldg

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I am in the process of upgrading to a 72x30x24 in tank. I love the hybrid lighting fixture. You could go with 2 36 in wide hybrid fixtures to completely cover the tank. You could also go with a 48 in and 36 in hybrid fixture to cover it even more.
 
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RJKain-777

RJKain-777

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I am in the process of upgrading to a 72x30x24 in tank. I love the hybrid lighting fixture. You could go with 2 36 in wide hybrid fixtures to completely cover the tank. You could also go with a 48 in and 36 in hybrid fixture to cover it even more.
So , do a row of hydras (4-5) and then some aquatic life t5s? Only issue with that is would I get 200 par in most of the tank?
 

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So , do a row of hydras (4-5) and then some aquatic life t5s? Only issue with that is would I get 200 par in most of the tank?
I like the hybrid because its, kinda, the cheap, and proven way of getting total coverage. Par is dictated by the height in which the fixture is hanged. You can raise the fixture to lower par, and then raise the intensity of the LEDS if you want more. You can put those lights in the fixture and have great success.
 
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Mixing lighting technologies: Do you use multiple types of lighting for your reef?

  • I currently use multiple types of lighting for my reef.

    Votes: 76 44.2%
  • I have used multiple types of lighting for my reef in the past.

    Votes: 21 12.2%
  • I haven’t used multiple types of lighting for my reef, but I plan to in the future.

    Votes: 25 14.5%
  • I have no plans to use multiple types of lighting for my reef.

    Votes: 48 27.9%
  • Other.

    Votes: 2 1.2%
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