Angel and wrasse 150 gallon reef

[Boreas_SA]

Thought I'd start build thread to get some advice. Currently I have a 3'x2'x2' tank that has served me well for almost 4 years now. It is becoming a bit overcrowded with 39 fish and counting. The fish seem happy, but we are moving house in a month or so, so it is a golden opportunity to give them some more space since I have to move the tank anyway. The long term plan at the new house is to convert the existing bar area into a big reef in about 3 years (moving house is expensive, so no big tank right away). The interim plan, and subject of this thread, is a 150 gallon tank that will be set up in the interim until the bar area can be converted to a bigger tank.

The tank in question is an old Cleair aquarium (rebranded here as Aquaria), 5'x20'x28' lxwxh. The reason for this particular tank is firstly it is not costing me an arm and a leg (would rather spend money on the eventual big tank), and secondly, it is high enough to fit my current scaping into. The current scaping is all glued together and glued to an acrylic base and background, so hoping to transfer it just like that to the new tank.

So far I've converted the stock single overflow pipe to a Bean Animal, and built an overflow box. Some pics and a video of the current tank and its scaping in the next post, as well as of the new tank. Any suggestions and comments welcome.

 

[Boreas_SA]

Current tank when it started in 2019:

Current tank now:

 

[Boreas_SA]

New tank so far:

 

[Boreas_SA]

First question, does anyone see any issues if I convert these braces to full euro bracing? I.e. new longer braces running left to right on tank, the front to back braces moved further apart and the middle one taken out?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Are you going to do a floating aquascape again or not?

 

[Boreas_SA]

Are you going to do a floating aquascape again or not?

Yes, going to transfer that scape over exactly like it is currently

 

[Boreas_SA]

Tank is running. Redid the bracing, as well as the overflow box as per original post, so tank runs quietly and is easy to work in. Also repainted the tank with a matt black finish. Been running a month or so now:

 

[Boreas_SA]

Tank settling in:

 

[Boreas_SA]

Tank doing well and maturing:

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Tank doing well and maturing:

Your tank is doing amazing!

 

[Boreas_SA]

Just about a year old now:

 

[Boreas_SA]

Newest addition:

 

[Boreas_SA]

Update pic:

 

[Boreas_SA]

Update pic:

 

[Boreas_SA]

Some new additions:

 

[Tcook]

Is that a pink tail trigger? How is it doing with the smaller fish and coral?

 

[Boreas_SA]

Is that a pink tail trigger? How is it doing with the smaller fish and coral?

It is, yes. It has been a model citizen, absolutely zero issues, even with cleaner shrimp. It got quite big though, and felt bad for it as it was pacing a lot, so passed it along to a friend of mine with a 1000 gallon tank a month or so ago.

 

[Boreas_SA]

Christmas came early this year:

 

[Boreas_SA]

Very full and busy tank, think there are 16 or 17 angels in there at the moment:

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Very full and busy tank, think there are 16 or 17 angels in there at the moment:

Your tank is getting full! Any plans on upgrading it soon?