GOING BIGGER: Are you planning a reef tank UPGRADE?

Greneis · May 7, 2020

Last year I went from a 32 to a 150. Now I want an even bigger one.

jk_s124 · May 7, 2020

SkiCatTX said:
Working on my dream 180g right now! Hope to have it up and running this summer...

That looks great!

dtimerunner1 · May 7, 2020

revhtree said:
Hello folks! Hope your day is off to a good one. I'm sure it's going great if you're planning on a new tank upgrade soon! I thought we could talk about that today and what you're planning on doing! So please let us know by answering the following questions:

1. Are you planning to upgrade your aquarium to a BIGGER aquarium soon or at some point down the road?

2. Why are you planning for a bigger tank? Why the upgrade?

If you have any photos of a new upgrade please share!

We started with a 75 gallon reef ready two years ago, then added a 65 gallon reef ready a year later. Just finished cycling a 29 gallon, that needed drilled for a overflow, to run to the sump. We also have a 120 reef ready, stand, canopy and Geo's reef sump that will ship out to us this week. It will probably take another 6-8 months to aquire the remaining items to set this tank up.

Lukielight · May 7, 2020

I have a spot in the room above my garage I'm turning into my home office, since it looks like working from home will be much more often in the future. I'm just trying to figure out how big I can go before I start sagging the floor haha.

vetteguy53081 · May 7, 2020

Many know, I am going bigger yet when I get to Florida. Guy will be moving 3 months after i get there and needs it gone By July 2022. He has committed it to me - 1500 gals !!

When it was new:

Radman73 · May 7, 2020

When my 220 leaked I bought a WB130.4 from my LFS. I'm actually happier with the WB to be honest. That being said, I'm sure I'll want to go bigger at some point, but I see that point a decade or more down the road, assuming the WB doesn't leak lol! I'm in a happy place with the hobby, which I haven't been in a very long time. So I think I'll stay the course as long as I am.

McPuff · May 7, 2020

My path so far has been 29 --> 100, then a crash. Then I started fresh with a 135 --> 150 --> 180 --> 120 --> 300. Have had the 300 up for nearly 4 years and have no idea when I could possibly up-size again. Almost every other time has been due to moving to another house. That isn't happening anytime soon and I can't fit a bigger tank down my stairs (literally!). So to get a bigger tank I'd need to build it in place. This means it would have to be plywood and I need some practice on a sump or something smaller before I can possibly think about a 400+ gallon plywood tank. Will take some serious negotiations with my wife... but I also want another fun car so... yeah, I might not ever upgrade. :0)

WiscoFishNut · May 7, 2020

1. Are you planning to upgrade your aquarium to a BIGGER aquarium soon or at some point down the road?
Most definitely

2. Why are you planning for a bigger tank? Why the upgrade?
Bigger is better lol. But seriously though, I'd like to be able to keep some of the fish on my wish list and my current setups are nowhere near big enough for that. I'm looking to get something in the 96" x 24" x 24" range. It's going to be a while tho since the wife wants to put in hardwood floors first and I'm fairly certain some engineering work will need to be done to handle the weight. We may very well be a different house before all this happens making that a moot point

radiata · May 7, 2020

NEVER. When one reaches a certain age, one needs to either start downsizing or start writing a very detailed book on how to maintain the system once you're gone.

JCTReefer · May 7, 2020

Upgrading from 54 to 210. Tanks is being built and has yet to ship. In the beginning my old tanks were in this order. 60,100,240,140, current 54, and now custom 210.
Reason for upgrade.
Yellow Tang will need more space and corals are outgrowing the tank. Maxed out coral/real estate wise. Maxed out fish wise. It is lightly stocked IMO. 1 damsel, Melanurus Wrasse, Royal Gramma, Clownfish, Small Yellow Tang. I know the Tang will appreciate the upgrade, and it gives me an excuse to buy more corals and add some of my favorite fish “angels” that are too big for my current tank. Super excited. New tank, new equipment, more room!!

Terrp · May 7, 2020

I think I need a bigger box!

Ksulli · May 7, 2020

I know never will not be the top vote getter. But I am still in the process of improving the one I just set up.

RobB'z Reef · May 7, 2020

Been out of the hobby since 2005 (curse kids and farming), but that's all ancient history now. Gathering quotes on a 180 (72.5x24.5x25). The last tank i had was a 40 breeder with a 30g dyi sump and refugium etc etc... I see that a lot of things have changed since i was active. So much to absorb.... ugh. I have a clear path on plumbing, pumps, controls and what type of tank i want to start with and eventually evolve to. Obviously i haven't dealt with LED's cuz I've been out of it a while and I'm most familiar with PC/TC/MH. I want to remain open to exploring LED's but don't want to start out with them.
I find most appealing at this point a hybrid fixture that i can eventually add LED's to when I'm ready and i find something i can trust for longevity and like the coloration after gaining back some experience. I don't go for the artificial florescent saturation I'm seeing out there with the deep blues etc that ppl are running with their LED's. I respect their preference, but mine is more towards that brighter white with a blueish tinge that you'd find up to 20 ft in the natural world. LED's look appealing to add in that shimmer which i do appreciate a lot. But that can wait. with looking at a deeper tank (front to back) I'm not seeing anything out there for LED ready hybrid fixtures that hold 6 T5 bulbs... why not? I'd like to explore two 6x39's to use dimmable balasts. I don't want to employ the LED light bars you can jam into the T5 sockets... just too limited in my book, and the power modules i've seen are just way too pricey for something i don't need right off the bat. This is something i want to grow into and it smooths the curve on the investment over time. I recall @BRS when they were first starting out and i got my first RO/DI unit from them. I was shocked by what they've evolved to over the years and the level of awesomeness in their leadership with BRS TV and the information they've laid out there for us hobbyists, Kudos Guys!

So with most hybrid fixtures only being 18" wide that I've come across, is that adequate for a 25" deep tank? Looks like i might be into the DYI world for what I'm looking to do. Look forward to chatting with more of you as i venture forward into this time/money suck vortex once again.

JoeIII · May 7, 2020

About 5 years ago we got our 125 and almost immediately started withing it had more depth front-back. When we moved about 6 months ago we sold that system and plan to build a ~250G system in the new house at some time.

In the meantime we are loving the nano life - 12G zoa tank. The ease of everything and lack of expense is making a pretty convincing argument to stay small

PedroYoung · May 7, 2020

I've been in the process of going bigger for the last 3 yrs, going from 75G to 200 with basement sump (sump is bigger than current tank.

getting close.

Untitled by Peter Young, on Flickr

RRTV-Cody · May 7, 2020

Why-Me said:
I bought a used 120 reef ready dual overflow 4x2x2 with Current USA 8 bulb T5, stand, heaters and some extra stuff.
Going to be picking it up within the next week or two.
I'm upgrading because my current 40b setup was just a stepping stone to begin with, time to move on, bigger and better!

Brings me back... Lol that was my first reef tank set up!

ReefGeezer · May 7, 2020

Man... I can't afford the tank I have now! The "finance department" is already squawking.

muzikalmatt · May 7, 2020

brandon429 said:
the physical act of moving live reef materials among tanks is a form of reef surgery that has varying outcomes, its rather easy to find in the emergency forum moves that did not go well. Message me for custom move planning I want the works on file for future jobs. I think we have a bulletproof way to move without loss, worth testing. we have other jobs logged for you to see before you attempt.

basic summary of whole tank transfer safety:

two modes exist: 1 moving over pretty much everything in reef A to reef B including all micro life, waste, and all substrates. various offers exist online on how to pull off a complete transfer. this seems like the ideal way/preserves the most microbial life, but its actually the riskiest way. moving waste over commutes the complete risk in this plan of attack. as you research work threads using this method, you see variation between 'it worked' and my tank cycled again/loss.

2. the no cloud waste transfer. This is where your tank is deep cleaned right in between takedown of A and before setting up B tank. though it seems deep cleaning would be harmful, it resets the age lifespan of your reef, has never caused a mini cycle or recycle, and constitutes none of the failed move attempts in the emergency forum in fact we use the method for 33 pages in the sand rinse thread to fix, move, and upgrade reefs never having to test for ammonia (reliable). it is 100% safe to move reef materials if you move no waste clouding. you have to re ramp your lighting in the new reef/running full production lighting in reef B using same materials is a bleaching risk.

Great info, but I think if/when I upgrade I'll just start from scratch. I've been pretty cavalier with my first reef tank

brandon429 said:
the physical act of moving live reef materials among tanks is a form of reef surgery that has varying outcomes, its rather easy to find in the emergency forum moves that did not go well. Message me for custom move planning I want the works on file for future jobs. I think we have a bulletproof way to move without loss, worth testing. we have other jobs logged for you to see before you attempt.

basic summary of whole tank transfer safety:

two modes exist: 1 moving over pretty much everything in reef A to reef B including all micro life, waste, and all substrates. various offers exist online on how to pull off a complete transfer. this seems like the ideal way/preserves the most microbial life, but its actually the riskiest way. moving waste over commutes the complete risk in this plan of attack. as you research work threads using this method, you see variation between 'it worked' and my tank cycled again/loss.

2. the no cloud waste transfer. This is where your tank is deep cleaned right in between takedown of A and before setting up B tank. though it seems deep cleaning would be harmful, it resets the age lifespan of your reef while maintaining all nitrification ability, has never caused a mini cycle or recycle, and constitutes none of the failed move attempts in the emergency forum in fact we use the method for 33 pages in the sand rinse thread to fix, move, and upgrade reefs never having to test for ammonia (reliable). it is 100% safe to move reef materials if you move no waste clouding. you have to re ramp your lighting in the new reef/running full production lighting in reef B using same materials is a bleaching risk. this method is far more work than approach 1, and you can bet six worms are going to be killed in sandbed rinsing to ensure your thousands of dollars in coral are not killed.

This is some really good information and I think leads to a great follow up question.

When upgrading, how many of you would start from scratch (and why), and how many would transfer over your existing rock, corals, fish, etc?

I think if/when I upgrade I'll start nearly from scratch. I would like to keep my fish and maybe certain corals, but I have a few unwanted hitchhikers (vermetids...ARGH!) that I would really want to avoid transferring to a new tank.

bdehlin · May 7, 2020

Currently upgrading from a lagoon 25 to a Cadlights 100g!

richarddeweerd · May 7, 2020

For me it is happening now. Tomorrow I will order my new 105 gallon tank, sump and stand. My current 8 gallon nano tank is getting too small for my fish.