Suggestions on new build

Murica · Jun 16, 2019

I'm getting an addition done to my house and need a few suggestions on what to get... I simply can't wrap my mind around it. The tanks will be in wall with a fish room behind it.

1. One 10 foot long x 4 feet wide x 3 feet tall fowlr and my current 6x2x30" reef right next to it.

2. Two identical 7x4x3 side by side, one fowlr and one reef.

3. One 6x3x3 reef and a 10x3x3 fowlr.

4. One 7x4x3 fowlr and a 7x3x3 reef

Also...

Should I tie in the reef and fowlr to the same sump or have them independent. I'm not an sps fan and I was planning on having a very large sump with a ton of rock and nutrient export. If I don't use my current six foot tank in the design, I'm going to use it as part of the sump.

I know four foot wide tanks will be tricky, more so for the reef, but I can create some pretty awesome aqua scapes with that room. Also, all tanks with be bare bottom.

Suggestions and thoughts??

Luno · Jun 16, 2019

As someone who's had a 3ft tall tank I would never have one again. Especially when you have a wide tank like your talking. I've literally had to get in a 12x4x3 to do basic things. And a 6x3x3 I didn't get in but I had to put my torso in the water to reach things. I would talk to more people with similar sized tanks and ask their opinions and how they did things in such size tanks before really getting set on it.

Murica · Jun 16, 2019

Luno said:
As someone who's had a 3ft tall tank I would never have one again. Especially when you have a wide tank like your talking. I've literally had to get in a 12x4x3 to do basic things. And a 6x3x3 I didn't get in but I had to put my torso in the water to reach things. I would talk to more people with similar sized tanks and ask their opinions and how they did things in such size tanks before really getting set on it.

Definitely a concern, but I feel the size project that I will be doing, the larger tank would look amazing. I'll have to master the art of the grabber.

Luno · Jun 16, 2019

Maybe consider even dropping the height by a little even down to 2.5 but I won't go over 2ft tall on a wide tank anymore. If it's what your heart is set on good luck to you!

A big tank can be a real statement, and simply awesome to see done to reality, many set out for it but few finally achieve it. That is if you haven't gone to this size before!

Either way make sure you start a thread when you decide what to do will be keen to follow along.

mtraylor · Jun 16, 2019

Well for the fish room. I reccomend having several things.

1. At least 1 200-300 gallon ro/di water storage container.

2. 1 200-300 gallon premixed salt storage container.

3. Both systems hooked up with multiple valves to perform water changes and auto top offs. Automated.

4. Drains in floor and plumbed into system for ease of water changes.

5. Fish qt system plumbed with valves where you can take water from display into system and drain it to drains when needed.

6. Reactor station.

7. I would personally run the systems together for ease of use. Maybe one huge fuge rubbermaid industrial with all the trimmings.

8. Frag tang grow out.

9. Kohler battery backup outside of house.

10. Exhaust in fish room and air intake in case you want to feed skimmer with outside air.

Yep thats about it.

Murica · Jun 16, 2019

mtraylor said:
Well for the fish room. I reccomend having several things.

1. At least 1 200-300 gallon ro/di water storage container.

2. 1 200-300 gallon premixed salt storage container.

3. Both systems hooked up with multiple valves to perform water changes and auto top offs. Automated.

4. Drains in floor and plumbed into system for ease of water changes.

5. Fish qt system plumbed with valves where you can take water from display into system and drain it to drains when needed.

6. Reactor station.

7. I would personally run the systems together for ease of use. Maybe one huge fuge rubbermaid industrial with all the trimmings.

8. Frag tang grow out.

9. Kohler battery backup outside of house.

10. Exhaust in fish room and air intake in case you want to feed skimmer with outside air.

Yep thats about it.

Check check check lol. Minus a few things I have all that planned. I'm going to hopefully make this as quality/ user friendly as possible

mtraylor · Jun 16, 2019

Awesome. Im living my dream build through you. Lol

Murica · Jun 16, 2019

mtraylor said:
Awesome. Im living my dream build through you. Lol

Unfortunately won't start the addition till later next year, but I'll definitely start a build thread!

Murica · Jun 16, 2019

Anyone have suggestions?

Murica · Jun 17, 2019

Think my final will be a 10x3x3 reef and my current 6x2x30" fowlr side by side in a wall.. Pretty excited to get going on this!

Luno · Jun 17, 2019

Murica said:
Think my final will be a 10x3x3 reef and my current 6x2x30" fowlr side by side in a wall.. Pretty excited to get going on this!

I think if that's the size you want go for it. Also I would reuse your current tank as your saying. Instead of using it as a sump and making one sump system that runs both tanks would be my preferences if it was me

Murica · Jun 18, 2019

Luno said:
I think if that's the size you want go for it. Also I would reuse your current tank as your saying. Instead of using it as a sump and making one sump system that runs both tanks would be my preferences if it was me

Boy people don't respond to threads like they used to lol but thanks for your input. I figured if I used my current tank as a fuge would be a waste of money, just may look a little off with the slight size difference on height between tanks. I'll also be saving a lot of money with only buying the one tank, so I'll be able to buy better equipment for the reef.

As for the 3 foot height.. It may be a pain in the butt sometimes but I'm going bare bottom which will make less maintenance at the bottom of the tank. Also with my current 30" high, I used a grabber for most of the stuff on the bottom. Wasn't terrible, few curse words and a couple attempts to move big rocks but I managed to get through it. With the new setup I was planning on cementing the aquascape together so I will hopefully never have to worry about re arranging things. I've always dreamed of having a tall tank too, but anything above three feet is just ridiculous on price. I was actually thinking of doing a cement aquarium to get the height I want, but I didn't want something permanent like that sitting in my living room. Three feet will also allow me to put low light corals at the bottom.