Peninsula tank idea

[bigbugoutfitters]

My wife and I are building our first home(my hometown in NW Montana) which should be done in October. Currently have a reefer250 that is going pretty well and would like to have a new tank to transfer everything to. Ideally I’d like a 72x18x24 penninsula tank.
Currently I am running bare bottom in the reefer but some of my favorite fish are jaw fish and wrasses. I tried having sand in a Tupperware for my dusky wrasse but it just didn’t work and I hated how it looked.
That being said I love the look of bare bottom tanks and I am really enjoying my higher flow corals.
So, what I am thinking is having a higher flow bare bottom side and the far side being gorgonians, nem, macros?
Attached is my masterpiece sketch. Any thoughts or ideas? Anyone running a setup like this?

 

[fishguy242]

@1ocean is i believe...

 

[JTP424]

Definitely feasible. Basically a dropoff tank. Might want to add a ledge to the higher part to avoid things getting knocked over the edge!
Looking forward to see it built!

 

[AKReefing]

Your tank is cracked.

 

[bigbugoutfitters]

Ah, sorry. Not a drop off tank. That was my post work way of saying that is where the sand would be. Ha. Not much of an artist.

 

[bigbugoutfitters]

I’ll do a legit sketch tomorrow.

 

[JNalley]

Is this going to be a custom tank, built into the house? If so, maybe someone can design you a drop-off style tank, where the dropped off section has sand, and the upper section is bare-bottom?

 

[JNalley]

Something like this perhaps:

 

[bigbugoutfitters]

As awesome as those drop off tanks are, I am thinking something less extreme/expensive. This is more what I was thinking. High flow on the left side. Might be able to cut down one of the jebaos but i figured it could program em to create some nice random flow. Should be enough to keep all the sand on the right side of the tank.
So left side of tank primarily sps and some lps. The further to the right you go the less flow you have by design. I’m sorta worried it might look a bit janky having the sloping sand.
Would you think the 72x24x18 or the 60x30x18 would look/work better.
Ideal fish for tank are as follows
Dusky wrasse
Convict tang
Some type of anampses wrasse
Pair of yellow head jaw fish
Absolute dream fish is blue throat trigger but I think this tank might be too small.
Wrasses
More wrasses
Couple more wrasses
And 1 clown goby.
Looking at going through sca for a custom tank. Not sure if there are some more affordable custom tanks but I’m willing to take some recommendations. Wanting to build the stand custom myself, and I enjoy making my own sumps so it am not looking for a complete setup.
For lighting I am running noops. Will probably purchase 2-3 more of them.

 

[JTP424]

As awesome as those drop off tanks are, I am thinking something less extreme/expensive. This is more what I was thinking. High flow on the left side. Might be able to cut down one of the jebaos but i figured it could program em to create some nice random flow. Should be enough to keep all the sand on the right side of the tank.
So left side of tank primarily sps and some lps. The further to the right you go the less flow you have by design. I’m sorta worried it might look a bit janky having the sloping sand.
Would you think the 72x24x18 or the 60x30x18 would look/work better.
Ideal fish for tank are as follows
Dusky wrasse
Convict tang
Some type of anampses wrasse
Pair of yellow head jaw fish
Absolute dream fish is blue throat trigger but I think this tank might be too small.
Wrasses
More wrasses
Couple more wrasses
And 1 clown goby.
Looking at going through sca for a custom tank. Not sure if there are some more affordable custom tanks but I’m willing to take some recommendations. Wanting to build the stand custom myself, and I enjoy making my own sumps so it am not looking for a complete setup.
For lighting I am running noops. Will probably purchase 2-3 more of them.

Could work. I would probably do some small pieces of acrylic or glass to separate the two sides to create something for the sand to be "contained" similar to the Tupperware, but one half

 

[bigbugoutfitters]

Could work. I would probably do some small pieces of acrylic or glass to separate the two sides to create something for the sand to be "contained" similar to the Tupperware, but one half

The problem I found was that the sand would get kicked up every time my wrasse went to sleep so the containment method wasn’t that great. You don’t think that high flow along the bottom of the tank would keep it all to one side? Just think that the acrylic separator would be more of an eyesore than gradual sand encroachment.

 

[JNalley]

I’m sorta worried it might look a bit janky having the sloping sand.

This is my concern, and why I think a drop off tank would look best for this type of thing... If you're going with a custom tank anyways, I'm not sure a drop off design would add that much more cost, especially since you're building your own stand...

Would you think the 72x24x18 or the 60x30x18 would look/work better.

What do you like about each layout?

 

[bigbugoutfitters]

What do you like about each layout?

My main concern is flow. I suppose the 30” would allow for more depth and perhaps a more interesting scape? And the 72 would be more swimming room? Especially if I do get a tang or two.

As for a drop off tank I’ll check out the pricing of it. I would imagine it would be a fair bit more expensive but I don’t know how they price those.

 

[1ocean]

@1ocean is i believe...

yes I am running a 300 96x30x24...I have a few wrassess and I have 10 pounds of caribsea sand in each far back corners of the tank. I just have it poured on the tank floor and let it do its thing. It pretty much stays in the back corners. When I clean the glass I just use my hands to wave any sand that may have gotten to far away from the corners back into the corners. On average each 10 pounds covers about a 12x15 area

 

[1ocean]

JTP424..I find any container does not work as wrasses can move alot of sand and then you will be having to try and get it back into the container, And it does not look natural...I like how my sand looks like a beach edge...If that helps you with a mental picture...I know it is blue, tank is waking up but you can kinda see the left sand area and the right far back

 

[JTP424]

JTP424..I find any container does not work as wrasses can move alot of sand and then you will be having to try and get it back into the container, And it does not look natural...I like how my sand looks like a beach edge...If that helps you with a mental picture...I know it is blue, tank is waking up but you can kinda see the left sand area and the right far back

Awesome! Seems like his idea will work then! Cool!

 

[bigbugoutfitters]

Awesome! Thanks for the reply. Construction starts on the new house in late June and is done in October. Hope I can move it all in then!