Help me decide on tank size... should I go crazy??

[Devaji]

SOOOO,
all this time in QT got me thinking...
I will be moving into a new house in a few months that we gutted and did a complete Reno on ,spend way to much money and over a year in the making so now that we are 85% done I got to thinking about the unfinished basement ....
I do have a med sized fish room down there with a lift station.

up stars I will have 2 peninsulas. a fiji cube 18.5 RFA nano (loving this little tank!) and a red sea 650P the will be a LPS- mixed reef.
BUT I have always wanted a butterfly and large angle , tang FOWLR.

So I am thinking about finishing out the basement for a media/music /extra room.
if I could get the GF on board I think it would be a great place for this tank.

So let's talk about the fish I want to keep or like to help decide on size and type of tank. NOTE this is just in the idea stage and fish selection would be based on tank size.

large angles
emp.
regal

dwarf angels
CB
maybe 1to 3 more depending on size of tank

butterflies:
a handful of these beauties like 5-6

puffer
porcupine puffer always loved these guys

wrasses
Harlequin Tusk
Red Coris Wrasse
Mystery Wrasse or scott

Tangs
Naso
Desjardini Sailfin
purple

so that give you an idea on some fish that i would like so a butterfly angle and tang FOWLR.

min size tank i am looking at is 180 -200 gal

choice #1 the proStar 200
it's a nice rimless clean tank complete pkg deal right around 2K tank stand and sump (I believe) all tho this is on the smaller size for a FOWLR for me it appeling for the clean lies and price tag. I would have to ditch the Emp angle

#2 planet aquariums mega matrix 310 2.5K for just the tank + would have to drive 8hrs each way to meet the truck with out crazy shipping to my door. I hear good things about plannet tanks but they do look old school with the rimed bottom and top. add 500-800 for the stand

#3 glass cages 340 gal 10 footer I know I KNOW GC had a bad tanks there for a while but joe from them has been on R2R and I think he is willing to make a great tank. 2300 + shipping + stand

#4 after reading @AlexG plywood monster tank thread for the last few days and getting sucked in to plywood tanks, this is an intriguing idea for sure.
i would do a 500-720ish gal tank with 3/4" viewing windows on front and 1 side. but after have nice rimless tanks not sure I would love it. maybe even more as it HUGE??

#5 wait around and see what used large tanks come up with in a 8-10hr drive maybe scrap the bigger fish if needed.

#6 custom make a acrylic tank myself. I have watch a few videos but it not cheap and man to mess it up would be crap. + they scratch easy altho I did have a GC 240 years ago but i was so new to reefing what the heck did i know.

what ever i get would have to be moved in to the basement not an easy task for sure. guessing the 10' is out unless it's built on side.

anyway I would love to hear you thoughts on this. I know there are not a ton of FOWLR system out there but I think it could be a fun system?

this would not happen until next winter at the earliest.

open to other suggestions...

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

I really like the nice rimless tanks, but for me the main attra tion is the fish. Because of this, I could not justify a premium ta k at the expense of size and therefore fish I wanted.

On the other side of the coin is the plywood tank. You could go big for relatively cheap. The problem I would have with that is I just havent seen any that dont look home made. They seem not quite nice enough for me. Then there is the feat of a failure...

For me, the choice would be an economical large tank like the GC 10 footer you mentioned.

For me, an easy choice. Good luck whatever you decide and keep a build thread going WHEN you build this!

 

[joe0813]

psssh basement tank should be as big as possible. Unfortunately in the saltwater world a 180-200 gallon tank is small.... I've also read nightmare stories on glasscages tanks.

 

[Matt Carden]

Definitely go with the GC 10 footer so you won't be limited on fish selection

 

[X-37B]

Fowler 10'x4'x3' custom almost 800g's large sump for 1000g's total.
Would be one awesome setup for the large angels and others.

 

[Fish4udog]

I have a GC tank probably 6 plus yrs old nice tank only a 120 gal but don't have a big room have had other brands that didn't hold up .

 

[SebastianReefer]

Fowler 10'x4'x3' custom almost 800g's large sump for 1000g's total.
Would be one awesome setup for the large angels and others.

Go with the biggest you can afford and have the time to maintain I have 6 tanks and I still want bigger so number 7 is going to be the Red Sea 3XL 900 but whatever you do I would love to see the build lots of pics !!!

 

[SebastianReefer]

Go with the biggest you can afford and have the time to maintain I have 6 tanks and I still want bigger so number 7 is going to be the Red Sea 3XL 900 but whatever you do I would love to see the build lots of pics !!!

Pic of my 105 gal. Tank 75 sump 30

 

[Devaji]

I really like the nice rimless tanks, but for me the main attra tion is the fish. Because of this, I could not justify a premium ta k at the expense of size and therefore fish I wanted.

On the other side of the coin is the plywood tank. You could go big for relatively cheap. The problem I would have with that is I just havent seen any that dont look home made. They seem not quite nice enough for me. Then there is the feat of a failure...

For me, the choice would be an economical large tank like the GC 10 footer you mentioned.

For me, an easy choice. Good luck whatever you decide and keep a build thread going WHEN you build this!

quite the catch 22 eh.

I have seen some nice looking plywood tanks. most FW ply tank they dont seem to fish them and I agree they not look clean and something you would want as a show piece.

the few i has seen I really like.
that said nothing comes close to a nice rimless tank.

for this build I would go euro braced no prob. I have seem some great looking bigger euro braced tanks. when you go big you need the extra support.

I love the idea of the weight of acrylic the 240 I had 2 guy could move it no problem. if I find a great deal on one I might just do it!

 

[Devaji]

psssh basement tank should be as big as possible. Unfortunately in the saltwater world a 180-200 gallon tank is small.... I've also read nightmare stories on glasscages tanks.

yeah right 100-200 is small I dont think its big until its 240+ then monster 400+
yeah I have read some poor CS reviews. I really think there trying to turn the business around and working more with folks now. aleast that is what I am starting to hear on here.

Definitely go with the GC 10 footer so you won't be limited on fish selection

the problem there is after thinking about it I would have to remove the new picture window we just put in the master bed, to get it to line up with the basement stairs. even an 8' might be tight. i'll take some measurements when I am over at the job site tomorrow.

Fowler 10'x4'x3' custom almost 800g's large sump for 1000g's total.
Would be one awesome setup for the large angels and others.

yeah right go big or go home. I do belive there is a sweet spot for a nice FOWLR tho just not sure what it is? as in all thinks in reefing and life it's all about balance.

 

[joe0813]

the problem there is after thinking about it I would have to remove the new picture window we just put in the master bed, to get it to line up with the basement stairs. even an 8' might be tight. i'll take some measurements when I am over at the job site tomorrow.



yeah right go big or go home. I do belive there is a sweet spot for a nice FOWLR tho just not sure what it is? as in all thinks in reefing and life it's all about balance.

Could always go with a custom length.... 84x48x30 that way it would fit length wise but then youd have depth to it

 

[Joe Glass Cages]

SOOOO,
all this time in QT got me thinking...
I will be moving into a new house in a few months that we gutted and did a complete Reno on ,spend way to much money and over a year in the making so now that we are 85% done I got to thinking about the unfinished basement ....
I do have a med sized fish room down there with a lift station.

up stars I will have 2 peninsulas. a fiji cube 18.5 RFA nano (loving this little tank!) and a red sea 650P the will be a LPS- mixed reef.
BUT I have always wanted a butterfly and large angle , tang FOWLR.

So I am thinking about finishing out the basement for a media/music /extra room.
if I could get the GF on board I think it would be a great place for this tank.

So let's talk about the fish I want to keep or like to help decide on size and type of tank. NOTE this is just in the idea stage and fish selection would be based on tank size.

large angles
emp.
regal

dwarf angels
CB
maybe 1to 3 more depending on size of tank

butterflies:
a handful of these beauties like 5-6

puffer
porcupine puffer always loved these guys

wrasses
Harlequin Tusk
Red Coris Wrasse
Mystery Wrasse or scott

Tangs
Naso
Desjardini Sailfin
purple

so that give you an idea on some fish that i would like so a butterfly angle and tang FOWLR.

min size tank i am looking at is 180 -200 gal

choice #1 the proStar 200
it's a nice rimless clean tank complete pkg deal right around 2K tank stand and sump (I believe) all tho this is on the smaller size for a FOWLR for me it appeling for the clean lies and price tag. I would have to ditch the Emp angle

#2 planet aquariums mega matrix 310 2.5K for just the tank + would have to drive 8hrs each way to meet the truck with out crazy shipping to my door. I hear good things about plannet tanks but they do look old school with the rimed bottom and top. add 500-800 for the stand

#3 glass cages 340 gal 10 footer I know I KNOW GC had a bad tanks there for a while but joe from them has been on R2R and I think he is willing to make a great tank. 2300 + shipping + stand

#4 after reading @AlexG plywood monster tank thread for the last few days and getting sucked in to plywood tanks, this is an intriguing idea for sure.
i would do a 500-720ish gal tank with 3/4" viewing windows on front and 1 side. but after have nice rimless tanks not sure I would love it. maybe even more as it HUGE??

#5 wait around and see what used large tanks come up with in a 8-10hr drive maybe scrap the bigger fish if needed.

#6 custom make a acrylic tank myself. I have watch a few videos but it not cheap and man to mess it up would be crap. + they scratch easy altho I did have a GC 240 years ago but i was so new to reefing what the heck did i know.

what ever i get would have to be moved in to the basement not an easy task for sure. guessing the 10' is out unless it's built on side.

anyway I would love to hear you thoughts on this. I know there are not a ton of FOWLR system out there but I think it could be a fun system?

this would not happen until next winter at the earliest.

open to other suggestions...

@Devaji, thanks for mentioning Glass Cages. #3 on your list. I love that. Room to grow and that is our focus. We are very proud of our growth in this transition so far but not too proud to know that we can grow even more. Serving customers humbly is key to us learning and adjusting to everyone's needs. Thanks again.

 

[Devaji]

Could always go with a custom length.... 84x48x30 that way it would fit length wise but then youd have depth to it

I thought about that. another good reason to do a plywood tank i can make it what ever size I want dont have to try to move a huge tank down the flight of stairs.

I also was thinking about a large cube like 4x4 or5x5 IDK...

 

[Devaji]

@Devaji, thanks for mentioning Glass Cages. #3 on your list. I love that. Room to grow and that is our focus. We are very proud of our growth in this transition so far but not too proud to know that we can grow even more. Serving customers humbly is key to us learning and adjusting to everyone's needs. Thanks again.

no problem!
show us some of the tanks being made at the felicity! even better if there big ones!

 

[Joe Glass Cages]

I really like the nice rimless tanks, but for me the main attra tion is the fish. Because of this, I could not justify a premium ta k at the expense of size and therefore fish I wanted.

On the other side of the coin is the plywood tank. You could go big for relatively cheap. The problem I would have with that is I just havent seen any that dont look home made. They seem not quite nice enough for me. Then there is the feat of a failure...

For me, the choice would be an economical large tank like the GC 10 footer you mentioned.

For me, an easy choice. Good luck whatever you decide and keep a build thread going WHEN you build this!

@GoldeneyeRet, thanks. Those 120 longs are radical builds. Building several a month lately. Had a radical build a little over a month ago, 130 x 60 x 36. See below. RadicalTank!

 

[Joe Glass Cages]

no problem!
show us some of the tanks being made at the felicity! even better if there big ones!

hmmmm pictures.... this is a 130 x 30 x 36.... Brandon got it 3 weeks ago.

 

[sfin52]

 

[JMM744]

I went with a 180 6’ tank and regret it big time. I love my butterflies and even though the tank is big it’s not big enough. Go 8 or 10 ft and go 30 or 36 inches front to back. Even deeper if possible . Another thing I would change is going peninsula style instead of the overflow in the back. Much easier to plumb, at least in my basement.

 

[Joe Glass Cages]

psssh basement tank should be as big as possible. Unfortunately in the saltwater world a 180-200 gallon tank is small.... I've also read nightmare stories on glasscages tanks.

@joe0813, I've heard of some as well. I can share that begining from Oct 2019 forward, I am not aware of any issues that equate to a nightmare. Lets be realistic. Every company will have an issue or two or many. How do they handle the issue? What do they do to rectify the challenge? Does the company blame the customer or take ownership? Does the company evaluate the challenge and try to prevent it from occurring again? We are a new and humble Glass Cages. We are ready to serve. Please see below.

Appreciate all the conversations and honesty.

During October of 2019 there was a major transformation at Glass Cages.

Glass Cages Transformation:

• Leadership Change
• Quality Assurance with QA Check Points
• Digital Production Tracking
• Improved Customer Service
• CAD drawing and approval processes
• Major Investments in Fabrication Equipment
• Polished Edges are now standard on all builds

We are not stopping with these improvements. Please see our reviews after October 2019 on Facebook, google and Reef2Reef. We have asked our new customers to share the truth. Knowing the truth allows us to reinforce the good and correct our challenges.

I am so excited and proud of our Glass Cages Team. We look forward to hearing from you about how we can serve you better now and in the future.

Passion Rules!

 

[Joe Glass Cages]

yes, Going Crazy!!!!!