So my wife bought a 500 gallon tank......

[legionofdoon]

Honestly Halides would probably be the most cost effective for lighting such a large tank. At least the tang police won't come knocking.

 

[legionofdoon]

Three 400 watt halides with reflectors should cover the entire tank. Some T5s for pop, although you might need a chiller. It'll be way cheaper than LEDs in the short term but it'll cost you in the electric bill long term.

 

[twentyleagues]

Welcome!
I would make a build thread you will probably get more advice from that.
What are you interested in? Predators, angels, tangs?
Regardless of corals you will need rocks, skimmer, sump, return pump, Possibly a refugium or algae turf scrubber. Lighting will be expensive for corals you can use cheap freshwater lights or shop lights for fish.
Personally, I would go reef. I am not that big of a fan of most fish that are not coral friendly. But I have been doing fish tanks my whole life and have worked in lfs so I have had my fix of big or aggressive fish, they kind of bore me now.

If you are thinking reef at all look into Reefi lighting I think 6-8 would be perfect. They are not cheap in terms of real money but bang for buck they really blow other options out of the water. Halides and t5 are great but they are becoming harder to find and led is the way this is all going. My previous reef life was all halide or t5 or a combo of both they absolutely work but when I came back after 15 years they are not as easy to find.

 

[Bj’s Reef]

Welcome to the forum. My head would be spinning with all the possibilities you have before you. You are going to love this project. Please keep the pictures and updates coming.

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

just climb in it to clean the glass. you could due triggers

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

so this guy walks into a bar

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

just wait 6 months. Youll be asking about starter corals. It just happens.

 

[rhitee93]

Wow, that's quite a tank.

Since you are familiar with industrial plumbing, I would strongly suggest you set the system up yourself. Saltwater systems seem more complex from the outside than fresh, but it really isn't all that much more to get familiar with. If you build your system, you'll be a lot more familiar with it when you inevitably get faced with fixing/adjusting something while the service people aren't available.

I'd love to follow a build thread as you set this moster up (Hint hint)

 

[Bruttall]

Best advice I can give, and sorry to argue with ya Vetteguy I do not think a 48inch sump is big enough, I'd put a 200g sump minimum together for that tank running at 30 to 40% capacity.

Start clicking on the Build Thread Badges, or MY TANK THREAD buttons under peoples names and start looking at what some others have done. Vetteguy has a big beautiful tank, 400+ I believe, I'm working with around 360g total system volume. You are going to wanna check out the LARGE 300g and MONSTER 400g+ build pages.

Browsing what others have done and seeing what works and what doesn't should give you a ton of idea's about how to do what you want to do with your system.

Welcome to R2R!

 

[IKD]

So my wife bought this (used): Just over 500 gallons. Just the tank and cabinets, nothing else included, so basically starting from scratch. Big step up from our 2 35 gallon freshwater tanks. I think the acrylic tank weighs 700 ish pounds. It is on a slab. While I am versed in industrial pumps and valves, the initial plan is to have it set up and maintained by a local company for salt water. I am, however, very open to suggestions as to reliable pumps and filtration systems, and any other advice. Probably not going to have coral. I don't even know the terminology or extent of required equipment. I am a big fan of forums and will be reading what I can. No immediate timeline, and pretty good budget; I saw the post about this not being cheap, and we knew that "diving" in.
Gary

First of all, you have a supportive spouse so your half way to success! Welcome to R2R!

Lots of awesome possibilities for you. Create a build thread so we can follow along

 

[Buckster]

Hello Gary and Welcome to R2R! Yes you will have to devote time to the system unless you pay someone as you mentioned to maintain the system. Better that you set up a RODI system nearby to take care of the water changes (some here don't do water changes and dose the necessary items)

 

[kevgib67]

Welcome Gary, glad you are here! My guess is it was someone else’s wife who put it up for sale.

 

[zheka757]

Does your wife knows about ugly stages of the tank?

 

[AlyciaMarie]

Welcome to R2R! Don't forget to set up your build thread so we can follow along! Link in my signature

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

 

[Serpentman2024]

Welcome. You wife solidified herself as a 'keeper'! Lucky man!

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

Wow, that's quite a tank.

Since you are familiar with industrial plumbing, I would strongly suggest you set the system up yourself. Saltwater systems seem more complex from the outside than fresh, but it really isn't all that much more to get familiar with. If you build your system, you'll be a lot more familiar with it when you inevitably get faced with fixing/adjusting something while the service people aren't available.

I'd love to follow a build thread as you set this moster up (Hint hint)

not complex but just 3x as expensive, especially if stocked with coral.

 

[nickng]

Welcome to the reef. I think you can fit one or two fish in there maybe.

Something different keep a congealment of cuttlefish , coral/marbled shark, dwarf sting-ray?, eel?

 

[Brisk]

Welcome!

 

[cdemoss01]

So my wife bought this (used): Just over 500 gallons. Just the tank and cabinets, nothing else included, so basically starting from scratch. Big step up from our 2 35 gallon freshwater tanks. I think the acrylic tank weighs 700 ish pounds. It is on a slab. While I am versed in industrial pumps and valves, the initial plan is to have it set up and maintained by a local company for salt water. I am, however, very open to suggestions as to reliable pumps and filtration systems, and any other advice. Probably not going to have coral. I don't even know the terminology or extent of required equipment. I am a big fan of forums and will be reading what I can. No immediate timeline, and pretty good budget; I saw the post about this not being cheap, and we knew that "diving" in.
Gary

Welcome to Reef2Reef and good luck!