Thoughts in Progress: My Big Tank

[ReefParadox]

Whatever size you think you want, go 25 to 35 percent bigger or you will be doing another build later. Just speaking from experience. Another thought to consider since you have the perfect room for it is that a peninsula is so much more satisfying because you have three sides to view the tank versus one on a regular tank. You have so many more options for rockscaping with a peninsula also. And go as wide as possible, your fish will thank you for it and honestly theres no need to vacuum the sand bed so don't worry about having to clean it, as long as you don't overstock you never have to disturb the sand bed it will take care of itself and be much more like what you would find in a natural coral reef. Regular water changes will keep your reef healthy with no need to disturb the sand bed. Just my 2 cents worth, have fun!

 

[Bleigh]

No worries, large sheet of plexiglass to block off that opening, few buckets of salt and she'll be right as rain!

I would move the furniture out first though. That's just me.

Haha!!! That would be amazing!

Me: See my modified "wet room"?

Them: You know that doesn't mean-

Me: shhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[Bleigh]

I think I know where you went, did it start with a N, or there was also a 300 DD at the place starting with an A. I am guessing it was the N and one of the owners was not the one giving the advice.

The 180 I have is 6 foot which I like, the 220 also runs 6 feet.

And stop posting pix that make everyone jelly. I live in a van down by the river and you don’t see me bragging;Smuggrin

N. It really is beautiful. They have so many employees in there. I haven't been in there enough to know who knows stuff and who doesn't. It's a lot further away than I was anticipating too - like I asked one about a ro/di system and he didn't know what that was, which is fine. I'm sure he's knew and will learn all the ins and outs soon enough. Their coral selection is amazing though!

I want to see how you fit that 180 gallon in your van! Must be a nice custom job! did you have to add extra support to the undercarriage?

 

[Bleigh]

Whatever size you think you want, go 25 to 35 percent bigger or you will be doing another build later. Just speaking from experience. Another thought to consider since you have the perfect room for it is that a peninsula is so much more satisfying because you have three sides to view the tank versus one on a regular tank. You have so many more options for rockscaping with a peninsula also. And go as wide as possible, your fish will thank you for it and honestly theres no need to vacuum the sand bed so don't worry about having to clean it, as long as you don't overstock you never have to disturb the sand bed it will take care of itself and be much more like what you would find in a natural coral reef. Regular water changes will keep your reef healthy with no need to disturb the sand bed. Just my 2 cents worth, have fun!

That's not a bad idea either. I've seen two peninsula tanks put side by side. I'll look at pricing a larger peninsula tank too.

 

[DanConnor]

Hey the new issue of Coral magazine has some moray articles and in one they profile a variety of smaller-sized species- you should check it out.

 

[Bleigh]

Hey the new issue of Coral magazine has some moray articles and in one they profile a variety of smaller-sized species- you should check it out.

Oh cool! Thanks for letting me know! I'll look into getting a subscription to it.

 

[jschultzbass]

Yeah it looks like some of the angelfish and triggerfish that I envy need upwards of a 200 or 300 gallon tank.

I had someone tell me that an eel would be perfect in my biocube because they prefer small spaces.... I was like, don't you think it be disgusting though?

I found these for a dimension of a 300 gallon tank: 30"H x 96"L x 24"D. I imagine that is the limit of how large I would want to go. The desk that's there is 133 inches long and 24 inches wide, so I know it would fit (and it actually gives me some idea of how big the tank would be since it's already here.). It might would even be the perfect size for the space. I think I could get away with wider if I didn't want it to be so long, but I'd imagine cleaning it would become impossible.

This is the wall opposite of where I'd like the super big one that I think could accommodate another tank, should I choose to do that. It's a 9 foot span.

I actually really like the size you mentioned in this post but swap the H and D dimensions so you would have 24H x 96L x 30D. That extra 6 inches front to back gives you a lot more aquascaping possibilities and the 8 foot length looks really nice. At 24" height you can still reach the bottom as well. This is my dream size tank. I have a 77L x 30D x 30H right now (only because I couldn't fit anything longer) and wish I would have stuck with 24" height.

 

[jschultzbass]

Also, my tank progress went: 75 gallon for 1 year, upgrade to standard 180 for 2 years and then my custom 300 I listed above. Always (almost) go as big as you can because you'll end wanting bigger in short order.

 

[Lukas75]

Love the ideas and there is nothing wrong with a slow, well thought out project. As an idea, by far your choice though is to blend the ideas into a less invertebrate friendly reef. Some triggers, Xanthichthys species (blue-throat, etc.), some nigers and others can work; some butterfly species can work; my understanding of harlequin tusks is that they'll leave coral alone but eat crabs, shrimp, etc.; large angels can work with the right corals. Can you tell I've put a bit of thought into just such a tank? ;Hilarious Good luck with the build!!

 

[Goodair]

Is the wall between the office and other room load bearing? I've always loved tanks used as a divider.

 

[Lowell Lemon]

I have experience building large tanks up to 16' long so no problem there! If you are going to maintain the tank yourself I would recommend staying around 24" tall for ease of maintenance. I am about 6'2" and a 30" tall tank is doable but my arm pits get wet everytime I clean a tank that deep.

You could do a 10' tank for the large fish and a 6' for the reef. With the right filtration design you could filter both tanks and provide nutrients for the reef.

Are you thinking SPS corals or Soft corals for the reef tank?

I have done sharks and rays and they are difficult and require very large tanks just to house them for a few years! Better to build a saltwater pool with a viewing windows than a traditional tank.

You have a lovely home....why not just buy a store and let the employees keep the fish display for you?

 

[Captain Quint]

That's a very good point! Cleaning may be difficult independent of the width. How often did you do that 6 hour clean? I guess I need to also consider the cost of having one of the aquarium companies coming in for maintenance if it does get to be too time consuming. Or perhaps I could have one of those companies come in a few times a year to do the deep cleaning if I can keep up with regular maintenance. I will def have an ATO and a system to automate water changes and such, plus one of the dosing systems, I forget the name of the one I was looking at. I feel like all of that will make it a little easier. *Hopefully* *Fingers crossed*

(Thank you! Also, thanks for inserting the correct name of the bed. )

I generally did the 6 to 8-hour thingy when I did my water changes every 3 weeks (120g) given it was a 300g and 75g sump.

I used a MagFloat 500 in between deep cleanings.

A maintenance company would charge a small fortune for keeping it up to snuff.

 

[Captain Quint]

Hey @Captain Quint - happy all went swimmingly with your daughter's surgery!

Was your 300 a FOWLR? Also, if so, what fish did you home and how often did you perform the "6 hour cleanings"? What did the 6 hour cleanings entail?

Thank you so much.

It was her second one on her dominant wrist and pretty invasive.

Sorry to go off topic.

 

[Captain Quint]

I actually really like the size you mentioned in this post but swap the H and D dimensions so you would have 24H x 96L x 30D. That extra 6 inches front to back gives you a lot more aquascaping possibilities and the 8 foot length looks really nice. At 24" height you can still reach the bottom as well. This is my dream size tank. I have a 77L x 30D x 30H right now (only because I couldn't fit anything longer) and wish I would have stuck with 24" height.

I agree.

I had a 300 Tall (96 x 24 x 31 Tall) and should have gotten the 300 Wide (96 x 30 x 25 Tall) which would have been easier to clean.

When I bought my 3 oldest children each a 180g (actually ends up at ~187g) being 96 x 18 x 25 Tall which gave plenty of room and much easier upkeep.

 

[carbene]

Woah!!! Is it the frame for your bed? That would be amazing! It kinda reminds me of the cartoon caption contest for last month. [emoji1]

Unfortunately, the whole system is in the room

 

[Bleigh]

I actually really like the size you mentioned in this post but swap the H and D dimensions so you would have 24H x 96L x 30D. That extra 6 inches front to back gives you a lot more aquascaping possibilities and the 8 foot length looks really nice. At 24" height you can still reach the bottom as well. This is my dream size tank. I have a 77L x 30D x 30H right now (only because I couldn't fit anything longer) and wish I would have stuck with 24" height.

Also, my tank progress went: 75 gallon for 1 year, upgrade to standard 180 for 2 years and then my custom 300 I listed above. Always (almost) go as big as you can because you'll end wanting bigger in short order.

Thanks for the input! The 30 inch deep and 24 inch high makes a lot of sense too!

 

[Bleigh]

Love the ideas and there is nothing wrong with a slow, well thought out project. As an idea, by far your choice though is to blend the ideas into a less invertebrate friendly reef. Some triggers, Xanthichthys species (blue-throat, etc.), some nigers and others can work; some butterfly species can work; my understanding of harlequin tusks is that they'll leave coral alone but eat crabs, shrimp, etc.; large angels can work with the right corals. Can you tell I've put a bit of thought into just such a tank? ;Hilarious Good luck with the build!!

Lol! That is something I should consider. I am glad you mentioned it! Feel free to share more of the thoughts you've put into it!

 

[Bleigh]

Is the wall between the office and other room load bearing? I've always loved tanks used as a divider.

That's a good question. I have considered putting a tan in the arch way. Though, this room extends past the front door, so I think that would close off access to the room. Plus I wouldn't have an entire wall to work with, so that would limit my length options.. There is a door on the other side from the kitchen, so it's not totally out of the question.

 

[Bleigh]

I have experience building large tanks up to 16' long so no problem there! If you are going to maintain the tank yourself I would recommend staying around 24" tall for ease of maintenance. I am about 6'2" and a 30" tall tank is doable but my arm pits get wet everytime I clean a tank that deep.

You could do a 10' tank for the large fish and a 6' for the reef. With the right filtration design you could filter both tanks and provide nutrients for the reef.

Are you thinking SPS corals or Soft corals for the reef tank?

I have done sharks and rays and they are difficult and require very large tanks just to house them for a few years! Better to build a saltwater pool with a viewing windows than a traditional tank.

You have a lovely home....why not just buy a store and let the employees keep the fish display for you?

I think the 24 inch is a good recommendation. I hadn't thought about filtering two at the same time. I have a pretty decent sized crawl space, so there should be plenty of room to plumb two tanks.

I'd like to do a bit of a mix.

Yeah, I don't think I want those species, which means I don't think I'd regret not having built it bigger still, but who knows? lol

And thank you! I have jokingly said, I should just buy a store and then I can have all the fish!

 

[Bleigh]

Thank you so much.

It was her second one on her dominant wrist and pretty invasive.

Sorry to go off topic.

That stinks! Hopefully they were able to fix whatever the issue was!