Tank upgrade in your future? Here are some tips for going bigger!

[SaltwaterandLime]

Just made me think what terrible distracted Realtors we would be! "Oohh look!.. this closet is huge and the main living room wall is right on the other side! Do you reef?.. what do mean what do I mean?!.. WHAT?.. NOO NOT Pot.. Fish! & CORALS! ... forget it.. you wouldn't like this place anyway... i think i saw a rat... hold on.. I have to call my wife...

I will eventually inherit a house from my parents, who currently live right next door to me. My husband and I have already discussed remodel plans involving where tanks and sumps can go and I feel like a horrible child for always thinking about her house that way.

 

[StPatrick89]

Future plans in the next 6 months is for an 180G from a 75G (FOWLR)

 

[torombolo]

Looking to upgrade in the far future to 180 or 210 from my 75, but thats is just in due time. This hooby is just like boating, I want a bigger boat LOL

 

[X-37B]

I would not be thinking of an upgrade if my 120 was a peninsula, lol.
I do wish I would habe made my aquascape about 6" taller across the tank. It is not up against the back wall so it does have excellent flow with 5 powerheads now.
I am looking at upgrading to a 84x36x20 peninsula with coast external overflow.
My standard 120 is 25 months old and there is not much room left except to let it grow out.
I am starting to take frags of the ones I want to put in the upgrade.
The new tank will be 95% acropora with some of the nicer ones I have seen online.
I have done ok with what was available in my area.

 

[Gup]

I just don't see an upgrade in my future. At 70 years old Karma I'm extremely happy having my seven-month-old 55 high Reef. And I waited 35 years for this. 40 years ago I had a standard 55 gallon FOSW

 

[James_O]

Started with a 55 went to a 125 long then a 150 tall added another 150 halfmoon then combined those 2 to a custom 400

You need a build thread!!

 

[arussellnsg]

Only if I win the lottery yes, I do play

 

[Dedicated Reefer]

MOST of us at some point in time will go bigger or want to go bigger with our saltwater reef aquariums. When it comes to aquariums it's hard not to get sucked in to the belief that bigger is better. Is it better? Not always! That's why it's important to understand and plan before making the jump UP in gallons. So let's talk about it today!

1. When upgrading to a new tank what are some important things to plan for? Share a tip or two!

2. Do you have plans to go bigger and if so what size are you going up to?


Chingchai's 1000gal SPS Tank (Thailand)

Def

MOST of us at some point in time will go bigger or want to go bigger with our saltwater reef aquariums. When it comes to aquariums it's hard not to get sucked in to the belief that bigger is better. Is it better? Not always! That's why it's important to understand and plan before making the jump UP in gallons. So let's talk about it today!

1. When upgrading to a new tank what are some important things to plan for? Share a tip or two!

2. Do you have plans to go bigger and if so what size are you going up to?


Chingchai's 1000gal SPS Tank (Thailand)

no question in the future I plan to upgrade. Not quite set on size. I just want it to be three feet front to back. And either five or six feet side to side.

 

[G Santana]

If I bought a new tank my wife would have me sleeping with the fishes lol
130 gallon is good enough

 

[punchy7080]

Yes, just got back in the hobby a few months ago and started with a Red Sea Reefer 350. Added a 40g breeder in my home office and am now planning a 360g to replace the 350. Anyone close to Indiana want to upgrade to a RSR 350 so I can upgrade to my 360g?

 

[Timfish]

Bigger and smaller.

 

[Karen00]

Yeah i have plans for bigger! I love this hobby and my tank now cant support all the fish ans coral i want! (Not need hahaha).

1800 litres min whatever that is in gallons!

Thimgs to consider, well oh the corals taking up all that calc mag and kh. Like danm hmmm do i buy groceries or more KH sup? (Obviousy kh sup, i can starve).

Higher risk of the tank breaking through poor design. Consider how it will be re-inforced.

Hmmm how much food my 50 plus fish will eat. Ouch!!!

Aquascape, "hmmm i like my scape now but danm how do i add another 300kg of rock and make it looke pretty" lol.

She'll be right mate, no worries!

I love your priorities!! You'll starve first to ensure your tanks have the best!!! My fish eat better than I do. Haha!!

 

[BlackGoldReefs]

MOST of us at some point in time will go bigger or want to go bigger with our saltwater reef aquariums. When it comes to aquariums it's hard not to get sucked in to the belief that bigger is better. Is it better? Not always! That's why it's important to understand and plan before making the jump UP in gallons. So let's talk about it today!

1. When upgrading to a new tank what are some important things to plan for? Share a tip or two!

2. Do you have plans to go bigger and if so what size are you going up to?


Chingchai's 1000gal SPS Tank (Thailand)

One day I would like to have at least a 250 gallon peninsula style tank. I currently have a 100 gallon, and would love more room to enjoy a more realistic reef.

 

[Karen00]

I currently have a DSA 155 (72x24x21) and an IM Fusion 25 Lagoon. I would love to upgrade the 155 to a 10' tank one day. I actually have plenty of room where the present tank sits. I have to decide if we're going to stay in this house long term first!

Present tank location.

Beautiful room and beautiful tanks!! I'm jealous of both. Haha.

 

[MamaP]

Yes, I definitely want a bigger tank. I currently have a 75g (my first SW tank) that's been up and running for just over 2 years. I want more fish options (and more fish!), so I'd definitely upgrade if I had the money! Planning on designing plenty of space in our next house for a larger tank and fish room.

 

[SY2932]

Will have a year in the hobby next week, my friend gave us his 55G FOWLR last August. I have been setting up a 125G but the dimensions are similar the the 55G which is like a cigarette carton. The tank is 60 X 18 X 30 and I can barely touch the bottom. My dream tank would be a 240G. My wife says that I should forgo setting up the 125G and just get what I want and buy a 240G LOL !

But we are currently dealing with dinoflagellates; ostreopsis, amphidinium and cyano . Got a microscope, UV sterilizer and carbon reactor recently for them... Very happy to have a *small* tank, it's more manageable. In a larger tank it would be no fun, I might be content with the 125G. Don't want a setup so big that the trials and tribulations in the hobby don't make it enjoyable anymore.

 

[Karen00]

I've had a 55G, 10G, 13.5G, and currently running a 20G. The 10 and 13.5 were both way too small, and even the 20 is starting to feel too cramped. But the 55G was more work and a bigger footprint than I was really happy with. I think my Goldilocks size is probably around 36-40G, but don't have plans to upgrade any time soon.

The 55 to 10 transfer was super easy. The 13.5 was a new build and then got transferred to the 20, and that was a serious pain because the 20 had to go exactly where the 13.5 was. Both relatively small tanks, but getting everything moved over took around 6 hours. I did not have a great plan for what to don with my stock mid-transfer, because I had to drain most of the 13.5 to move it out from the wall, and couldn't just dump it into the 20 because then I wouldn't be able to move that (was doing the transfer by myself). Everyone got to chill in hardware store buckets for a few hours and came through just fine. Worst part of it was sifting through all of my old sand (did not reuse it) to find all of my nassarius.

This is my problem. I would like to go bigger (currently I have a 5g) but the bigger tank would have to go where my current 15g freshwater tank is and then I would have to find room for the freshwater tank because I have no plans to dismantle it. Suddenly it all seems too complicated with a lot of hocus pocus manoeuvring so I'll stick with the 5g for now. Haha.

 

[Travis Warren]

Right now I have a 140 gallon but buying house in December this year. So I bought a used 240 gallon but had some scratches on the ends so going to make that my garage tank and going to upgrade to 300 gallon. In house shopping it was looking at where the tank was going first. Settle on a new build that has 9 ft length and the wall is the garage. So all plumbing apex gear etc in garage. It is going to be a hard move. 1 hour away.

 

[Spj0928]

My first saltwater tank was a 28 gallon simple setup that I enjoyed. Then bought a house and built in a 150 tall that I never had any luck with. It was expensive and I kept sinking $$$ into it trying to get a mixed reef setup. I have moved again and downsized to a 60 gallon. This tank has been very easy I basically do biweekly water changes and it takes very little maintenance. Eventually I will upgrade to either a 75 or 90 but will never go bigger than that.

 

[Acros]

25 gallon(current) -> 100 gallon(4 ft) -> 225 gallon(6ft). That’s my plan.