FishRFriendsNotFood's 130 Gallon Reef

FishRFriendsNotFood

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I'm still planning and thinking things trough about my upcoming FIRST reef. But first things first...
After having a 60g community freshwater aquarium for a year, I found out it's not challenging enough for me. Once the tank is set up, there's not much to do with it. Also the plants and behaviour of the fish are not that exciting. In the past year I've seen a lot of threads about saltwater aquariums and the colors and the variety of creatures that live in there are... amazing?
On our holiday in France, I dragged the family to the largest aquarium in Europe called "Nausicaa". That was the moment I heard a voice in my head: "you want a reeftank, you need it!" (In dutch of course)

First I needed a plan of approach to convince my wife. She said: why didn't you go for salt immediatly? I thought: that's way too easy and unfortunately I was right. At the moment she's convinced the 60g is large enough, so I still need a new plan of approach.

About the aquarium: what's the plan in my mind:
  1. An oak cabinet is ordered together with other matching furniture in our livingroom and to be delivered by the end of the year. Dimensions: 55" x 18" x 33" (W x D x H)
  2. Custom build aquarium 52"x 23" x 25" (WxDxH) with an overflow box for 2 drains of 1,5" and a return of 1,25" (2x 40mm and 1x 36mm). Eurobraced and a lightcanopy
  3. All the drains go through the wall, through the stairs into the basement where the sump will come. I still need to cut 1 concrete stair out to guide the plumbing through and finish the stairs with tiles.
  4. Fishroom: plenty of space for the sump, QT's and waterstation. This is also where water enters and leaves the building.
Equipment I have in mind:
  • Return pump: Red dragon 3 100W should be enough to make a 5x turnover from the sump to upstairs (10ft)
  • Skimmer: Deltec 1000i or Tunze DOC 9410dc
  • Heaters: not decided yet, at least 2 for redundancy
  • Lights: Mitras Lightbar 2 - 1x deep actinic and 1x ocean blue
  • Streampumps: Tunze or MP40's?
  • GHL profilux 4: I would like to monitor and control as much as I can with the P4
  • RO/DI: Osmopure 100 GE Deluxe
I'll add some pictures of the rooms where the magic is going to happen later!
 

madweazl

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Narrow, tall aquariums are difficult to aquascape in a pleasing manner and also make it more difficult to maintain. Speaking from experience, try to keep the top of the aquarium roughly armpit height, it makes things quite a bit easier down the road. The 150g build in progress in my signature is similar to what you have planned (different equipment but plumbed to the basement fish room). I tried to make everything as easy to maintain as possible (which took considerably more time and money up front to plan but worth it to me).
 
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FishRFriendsNotFood

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Narrow, tall aquariums are difficult to aquascape in a pleasing manner and also make it more difficult to maintain. Speaking from experience, try to keep the top of the aquarium roughly armpit height, it makes things quite a bit easier down the road. The 150g build in progress in my signature is similar to what you have planned (different equipment but plumbed to the basement fish room). I tried to make everything as easy to maintain as possible (which took considerably more time and money up front to plan but worth it to me).
Ik might missed it in your thread but which height do you recommend?
 
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FishRFriendsNotFood

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Time for some photos as I promised!
The reeftank will replace the current fresh water aquarium.
IMG_20190926_132746510.jpg


A hole is already made where they plumbing goes towards the basement.
A stair will be cut out for the pipes to cross towards the left side...
IMG_20190926_132900068.jpg


...and cross the hallway to the fishroom.
IMG_20190926_132926216.jpg


This room will serve as they fishroom.
The cabinet needs to be finished and will hold the sump and refugium. To give you and idea of dimensions of the room: the cabinet is about 5,5 feet.
IMG_20190926_132943323.jpg
 

madweazl

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Ik might missed it in your thread but which height do you recommend?

My recommendation is no taller than the width of your aquarium but for the sake of maintenance, keeping them low enough to work in is really handy! You can keep the aquarium a little taller if you shorten the stand to accomplish the same thing. Aesthetically, if you cant get over the lower height, don't. You like what you like :)
 
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FishRFriendsNotFood

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Perhaps a typo, but you say the stand will be 55"x18" and the aquarium will be 52"x23" ? Will the aquarium tank overhang the stand?
That's correct, the tank will be larger on the backside to be able to connect the bulkheads through the bottom of you understand what I mean. I don't want to cut a hole in the stand for it. I'll have to add support for the overhanging part of the tank.
 
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FishRFriendsNotFood

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My recommendation is no taller than the width of your aquarium but for the sake of maintenance, keeping them low enough to work in is really handy! You can keep the aquarium a little taller if you shorten the stand to accomplish the same thing. Aesthetically, if you cant get over the lower height, don't. You like what you like :)
Thank you for your reply, I'll definitely keep that in mind. I do have some time to think about the dimension since the cabinet isn't here yet
 

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Seems to me the first thing to figure out is how to support the entire tank. Having 5 inches hanging over the edge is risky and if you somehow plan to brace it, make sure it is perfectly level with the rest of the stand.
You could use very thick plywood or even 2 thick pieces that would cover the entire bottom of the tank and drill the holes in it for your plumbing while offsetting it from your stand.
 
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FishRFriendsNotFood

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Seems to me the first thing to figure out is how to support the entire tank. Having 5 inches hanging over the edge is risky and if you somehow plan to brace it, make sure it is perfectly level with the rest of the stand.
You could use very thick plywood or even 2 thick pieces that would cover the entire bottom of the tank and drill the holes in it for your plumbing while offsetting it from your stand.
I understand your worries about it and I still have doubts. Good that there's this forum to share things like these.
This was my plan:
- green: waterproof wood (they call it green MDF here) under the tank of 18mm thick The overhanging part supported to the floor and attached to the back of the cabinet.
- red: insulation panel to cover any parts that cause high-pressure points on the aquarium
Naamloos.png

Do you think this will hold the overhang? Any other ideas welcome!
 
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FishRFriendsNotFood

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At this moment, nothing to update here but I do have a question for you experienced reefers.

My girlfriend isn't really excited about my plans on upgrading my current tank dimensions.
I currently have a freshwater tank which is 100x40x60 cm (39"x15"x23"). With the phrase "happy wife, happy reefer" in mind, I'm taking her doubts in consideration. Eventually I can drill the aquarium and make an overflow on the back of the tank.
What about these dimensions for a reef tank? I know the lack of depth will limit my options for a nice hardscape and the shorter length will limit my options for any livestock, for example tangs...
Are there any tanks here with a depth of only 15"? Do you know a build thread of a tank with these dimensions?

Thanks in advance!
 

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If you want happy wife etc.. get her involved.. let her look at fish she likes and convince her nothing smaller than the tank you want will hold one like that.. Trickery to lead to happiness.. (suggest showing tangs ).
Never know, she might want a tank of her own..

I like your dimensions.. though different than what you may find here in the USA, it is still in th 130 gallon range.. I like that shape of tank too.. My preferred one is a 120 gallon.. 48"x 24" x 24" or a 150 that is 48 x 24 x 30 tall. though I might prefer the depth at 30 I think
 
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