New version of a water bed!
I've mostly thought about an SPS dominated system since it seems that most fish tend to find SPS distasteful. This applies to some butterflies and large angels and definitely the triggers. I'm still not sold on anythng outside of the Xanthichthys species. I've seen and heard of people keeping other genus' to include clown triggers. I had a clown trigger once, he liked to stack clam shells and rocks. I could see him stacking my frags nice and neat for me... No thanks!! So I guess if you wanted to add corals and fish it might pay to research what corals you are willing to throw in there and if not go with the FOWLR. Nothing wrong with a FOWLR, but I just like my corals
I've mostly thought about an SPS dominated system since it seems that most fish tend to find SPS distasteful. This applies to some butterflies and large angels and definitely the triggers. I'm still not sold on anythng outside of the Xanthichthys species. I've seen and heard of people keeping other genus' to include clown triggers. I had a clown trigger once, he liked to stack clam shells and rocks. I could see him stacking my frags nice and neat for me... No thanks!! So I guess if you wanted to add corals and fish it might pay to research what corals you are willing to throw in there and if not go with the FOWLR. Nothing wrong with a FOWLR, but I just like my corals
I like where this is going! I'm not so sure about the Pakistan Butterfly and corals so I'll let someone speak to that. The Pakistan Butterfly and Clown Trigger though, that makes me nervous. Clown triggers have a way of, how to say this politely, starting off as perfect and angels and then morphing into a hellspawned demon that destroys everything you've ever known and hold dear. Butterflyfish may like our corals but are pretty passive as far as fish go. In my mind the two together would eventually get ugly unless the tank was absolutely massive.I know that I will want a FOWLR at some point. I'm planning on starting this one as a reef tank though. Down the line, I will get a second tank (not as big as I'm considering for this one) and switch that to corals and convert this big one to a FOWLR. I have the same thoughts though. The penninsula tank will be only a reef tank forever and always.
I'm not opposed to anything right now. I know the critters I always go gaga over are the clownfish triggers (listed at 300g min), snowflake eels, and Pakistan butterflies. If I decide I'll never want a clownfish trigger in the tank, then I think I am able to go a bit smaller without a problem.
I'm always of the mind of bigger is better when it comes to tanks. That having been said our pockets are only so deep and the space we have to work with is only so large. That 30,000 gallon shark tank will have to remain in my dreams, LOL. But a 400, a 500, that might be possible. An interesting note on the truly massive builds. I was in the Key West aquarium and had a moment to talk to one of the higher ups about the display that had bamboo sharks and aggressive triggers in it. I was always of the mindset that sharks and triggers are a definite no, the trigger will kill the shark. He advised me that once you start to get into systems 500 and above some of the really aggressive fish seem to lose their aggressive tendencies. I'm not saying you should put something THAT big in, but if it ever happens that's a thought to keep in mind.
I currently have a 29 gallon biocube. To say I've fallen in love with salt water tanks would be an understatement. So I know I am going to upgrade, but am not totally sure to what yet. I'm certain there's all kinds of things that I have not thought about, and I know there are tons of things I have thought about, but still have no clue what to do. I decided to go ahead and start this thread to keep everything in one place. This will be a slow and a long project. There's a lot of other things I have thought about that I did not include here, but the post was already getting long.
What I HAVE decided is that the new tank will go in what is now my office (pictures below). I have decided to move my office upstairs. I have two guests bedrooms, one of which rarely gets used. My thoughts is to put a wall-bed in here for the few times I need a second room, but otherwise, this will be my main office space. My current office is right off the front door on one side (the big opening) and the kitchen on the other, so it tends to be a little loud, so moving my office away from all the excitement seems like a good move either way. (The giant desk is going to go away
I think this is a good spot because the garage is on the other side of the wall. This will allow me to do some direct plumbing for ATO and water changes.
I think I want to tile the room. It is an 11 X 16 space. One issue is that since this room is right off the entry, it need to look really nice, additionally it needs to match the kitchen, which was finished with a remodel about a year ago now (Pictures below). The doorway is into my current office. I like the idea of the fish tank in this room too because it is out of the way, but still very visible.
I know that I want to keep some fish that are not reef safe at some point (harlequin tusks, butterfly fish, trigger fish, etc.). I am not sure if this is the best tank to have has a FOWLR, or if I should plan that adventure for sometime in the future. There's noting to say that I can't add another tank on the opposite wall as a FOWLR at some point. I really love corals, so if I'm going bigger, I feel like it should def be a reef tank initially.
These are my inspiration pictures. I know I want to keep a desk space, because I want the room to stay useful and I'm sure I'll enjoy being able to work where I can watch the tank(s). I do like the look of an open top (with crating of something to keep the fish from jumping), so I'm not sure I would want top cabinets. I like the third picture with a hanging light over the tank in lieu of can lights.
I am also planning on tiling the room. That is what I am currently pricing out. I know I want a drain in the room, just in case there's an accident and water goes all over the room. (Hopefully it will never be needed, but I do have a 5 year old boy who is decidedly unaware of his surroundings and even less aware of things that may break around him). I'll update the post later with tile ideas.
Let me know what you think of the ideas!
I guess the space explains how those places can keep pretty aggressive breeds of fish and sharks with some pretty docile fish in places like that. I just think a 600 gallon tank would be a lot.
That place is awesome. $$$$$$$$$$ But awesome
Lol.... I think places like the GA aquarium can be explained by aquarium lovers running out of space for their dream tanks.
As much as I love looking at massive tanks, I honestly know that I would not want to keep one. If I were even considering it, which I'm not, I'd rather have 2 300 gallon tanks than one 600 gallon tank. I have no way to justify my thoughts on this.
My house runs on natural gas so I've been eyeballing a natural gas generator for back-up. That would significantly increase the price of the build, but you could sell it as a household item in case of emergencies. That is of course if you have natural gas hook-ups. Gotta love justifying things!!The sky is not the limit. lol I know it is going to be a hefty build, but I also hate wasting money. I know you can spend as much as you like on anything. I have a number in my head that I'd like to stay under - but that's including room modifications, cabinets, plumbing, electrical (I think I'll need to get a new fuse added to the fuse box, but I already needed as part of the house control system), etc.
The CO2 and CO in the garage is an interesting point as well. I'll have to think about how to get around that. I have been thinking about the climate control of the water and battery backups in case of power failures. There's systems where you can tell it to keep everything online up to 90% battery life then start cutting things as the battery is dieing. The last thing to be cut, I imagine, would be the climate control stuff. I have a system like this in my house, and the last thing to cut in case of power failure is wifi and security system. The tv's and sound will stay operational for about 2 minutes. Which is nice if it's just a quick flicker.
If I were to get some of those species, I would definitely plan around them. I don't think they're in the immediate future though. Maybe a few years down the road.
The house does not have a basement but it does have a decent sized crawl space. That was one thing that surprised me when I moved to the area. Very few homes have basements. Apparently the ground is too hard or something. I'm not sure what you mean about plumbing to the kitchen. I will have to look into that to get an idea about what you are referencing. I already check the tank on breaks! And make breaks to check on it, and it's not in my office! LOL That's why I will only keep a small desk in the room, and move my main office to another room. Plus, I'll have more space for the tank(s) that way!
The sky is not the limit. lol I know it is going to be a hefty build, but I also hate wasting money. I know you can spend as much as you like on anything. I have a number in my head that I'd like to stay under - but that's including room modifications, cabinets, plumbing, electrical (I think I'll need to get a new fuse added to the fuse box, but I already needed as part of the house control system), etc.
The CO2 and CO in the garage is an interesting point as well. I'll have to think about how to get around that. I have been thinking about the climate control of the water and battery backups in case of power failures. There's systems where you can tell it to keep everything online up to 90% battery life then start cutting things as the battery is dieing. The last thing to be cut, I imagine, would be the climate control stuff. I have a system like this in my house, and the last thing to cut in case of power failure is wifi and security system. The tv's and sound will stay operational for about 2 minutes. Which is nice if it's just a quick flicker.
If I were to get some of those species, I would definitely plan around them. I don't think they're in the immediate future though. Maybe a few years down the road.
The house does not have a basement but it does have a decent sized crawl space. That was one thing that surprised me when I moved to the area. Very few homes have basements. Apparently the ground is too hard or something. I'm not sure what you mean about plumbing to the kitchen. I will have to look into that to get an idea about what you are referencing. I already check the tank on breaks! And make breaks to check on it, and it's not in my office! LOL That's why I will only keep a small desk in the room, and move my main office to another room. Plus, I'll have more space for the tank(s) that way!
