Planning an Upgrade ... Upgrade Beginner(?)

[Lou City Reefing]

Hey everyone! The family and I are looking to upgrade to our *Dream Reef Tank* I currently have a 20 gallon and we are looking to upgrade to a 150-180 gallon tank, because we don't want to upgrade incrementally when the end result will be the same.... A bigger tank!

What tips / advice that you would have liked to have known when you were making an upgrade to such a large system (by my standards this is large lol)

*These are questions for the sake of brainstorming and starting dialog*
Are auto water changes a must have for you?
What costs incurred that you were not expecting when making a large jump? (I know more equipment, more rock, more water = more money).
What would you have done differently when upgrading?
What equipment do you feel is essential for a system of that size?

I plan to piece the equipment out slowly and over the course of several months to a year

After speaking with my local reefing club their advice was "Think about what you want and go bigger!"

I was originally was looking at an Eshopps Mariner M130 or UNS R150, but now we are looking at 6ft x 2ft x 2ft ~180 aquariums.

 

[Lou City Reefing]

I just popped into ReefDudes' YouTube stream and he said if I'm taking my time then I should build my aquascape, and start cycling it in brute cans so that it can be fully cycled day one of starting up the new tank, which I thought was an amazing idea!

 

[me & my baby]

That’s a good idea , also taking your time will let you pick up deals on equipment . Bigger is more stable so go with what you feel suits you the best . I have had 10g up to 300 and I now have a 150 5x2x2 . For me water changes are a must but I am old school and I am in the mind set of if it isn’t broken don’t fix it .

 

[Lou City Reefing]

That’s a good idea , also taking your time will let you pick up deals on equipment . Bigger is more stable so go with what you feel suits you the best . I have had 10g up to 300 and I now have a 150 5x2x2 . For me water changes are a must but I am old school and I am in the mind set of if it isn’t broken don’t fix it .

I was looking at a 5x2x2 150 gallon as well and do like that footprint as well! Does that extra foot make a huge difference?

 

[me & my baby]

It depends on who you ask . To me no , one less foot to try to get flow right in . One less fixture for light . Does limit some of your tangs but all in all I am very happy with mine . Honestly if you were close to Atlanta there is a local guy selling his 150 peninsula for a freaking steal and I mean a steal .

 

[Lou City Reefing]

It depends on who you ask . To me no , one less foot to try to get flow right in . One less fixture for light . Does limit some of your tangs but all in all I am very happy with mine . Honestly if you were close to Atlanta there is a local guy selling his 150 peninsula for a freaking steal and I mean a steal .

Personally, the two tangs I've been dreaming about are a yellow tang and a whitetail bristletooth tang. I can't stop looking at them every time I go into my LFS

 

[me & my baby]

 

[me & my baby]

It depends on who you ask . To me no , one less foot to try to get flow right in . One less fixture for light . Does limit some of your tangs but all in all I am very happy with mine . Honestly if you were close to Atlanta there is a local guy selling his 150 peninsula for a freaking steal and I mean a steal .

Personally, the two tangs I've been dreaming about are a yellow tang and a whitetail bristletooth tang. I can't stop looking at them every time I go into my LFS

Those would be fine in a 150

 

[ScaredGoat]

It depends on who you ask . To me no , one less foot to try to get flow right in . One less fixture for light . Does limit some of your tangs but all in all I am very happy with mine . Honestly if you were close to Atlanta there is a local guy selling his 150 peninsula for a freaking steal and I mean a steal .

I am south of Atlanta, is he selling anything besides the tank?

edit: you posted right before I sent this...

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Hey everyone! The family and I are looking to upgrade to our *Dream Reef Tank* I currently have a 20 gallon and we are looking to upgrade to a 150-180 gallon tank, because we don't want to upgrade incrementally when the end result will be the same.... A bigger tank!

What tips / advice that you would have liked to have known when you were making an upgrade to such a large system (by my standards this is large lol)

*These are questions for the sake of brainstorming and starting dialog*
Are auto water changes a must have for you?
What costs incurred that you were not expecting when making a large jump? (I know more equipment, more rock, more water = more money).
What would you have done differently when upgrading?
What equipment do you feel is essential for a system of that size?

I plan to piece the equipment out slowly and over the course of several months to a year

After speaking with my local reefing club their advice was "Think about what you want and go bigger!"

I was originally was looking at an Eshopps Mariner M130 or UNS R150, but now we are looking at 6ft x 2ft x 2ft ~180 aquariums.

Good on you for planning it out slowly. As someone else has mentioned, this allows you to grab better deals and not feel rushed to get anything.

I can only vouch for the Mariner 180, as that is what we have, but it is an awesome tank. The build quality is top-notch, and while they aren't cheap, you get what you pay for.

Do you have an idea of what kind of lighting you want to run?

 

[Lou City Reefing]

Hey everyone! The family and I are looking to upgrade to our *Dream Reef Tank* I currently have a 20 gallon and we are looking to upgrade to a 150-180 gallon tank, because we don't want to upgrade incrementally when the end result will be the same.... A bigger tank!

What tips / advice that you would have liked to have known when you were making an upgrade to such a large system (by my standards this is large lol)

*These are questions for the sake of brainstorming and starting dialog*
Are auto water changes a must have for you?
What costs incurred that you were not expecting when making a large jump? (I know more equipment, more rock, more water = more money).
What would you have done differently when upgrading?
What equipment do you feel is essential for a system of that size?

I plan to piece the equipment out slowly and over the course of several months to a year

After speaking with my local reefing club their advice was "Think about what you want and go bigger!"

I was originally was looking at an Eshopps Mariner M130 or UNS R150, but now we are looking at 6ft x 2ft x 2ft ~180 aquariums.

Good on you for planning it out slowly. As someone else has mentioned, this allows you to grab better deals and not feel rushed to get anything.

I can only vouch for the Mariner 180, as that is what we have, but it is an awesome tank. The build quality is top-notch, and while they aren't cheap, you get what you pay for.

Do you have an idea of what kind of lighting you want to run?

I’ve been super interested in the Mariner M180! They look incredibly solid.

I’m not sure the type of lighting. There were some NextGen lights at RAP Orlando that really caught my eye, but I want to see them come out and how they do. I’d also be interested in the Dalua X4s or Ecotech Radion XR30s

 

[Lou City Reefing]

Bump for more advice!

 

[Lou City Reefing]

Bump to see if anyone else has amazing advice and tips/tricks!

 

[Rhetoric]

As the self proclaimed "captain" of team 20 gallons, I say... don't. Its a trap. Wait another year and see if you really want all that smoke (water)