SteelShark
Community Member
Hello! 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.
I know there is a wealth of knowledge already posted here, so thank you to everyone who has added their experience already. I'm now off to search and learn more!
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.
I know there is a wealth of knowledge already posted here, so thank you to everyone who has added their experience already. I'm now off to search and learn more!
