What's your "dream tank"?

[Forjam64]

Happy New Year Everyone!
So for the past few months I have been smitten with the idea of building a reef tank. I keep going back and forth about how I want to put this tank together, but I have come up with a plan. I rent right now so my tank needs to be smaller as I cannot/don'twant to modify the house at all and it will ultimately result in moving the tank and I want no part in moving a large tank. I also want to keep it smaller so that I can somewhat limit how much money I can sink into this project lol. This has led me to the popular IM 25 lagoon. I like the depth to the tank and getting that top down view as well. I definitely want an Apex on the tank, I've watched hours of CJ's Aquariums, Mr. Saltwater Tank, BRStv, and CoralFish12g and they all speak glowingly of the controller, so if it's a big deal for them I guess it should be for me as well. This is about as far as I can go until I have some questions:

I am new to the hobby, obviously, and seeing all the different options for equipment, naturally my eye is drawn to all the fancy and high priced items. For the IM 25 lagoon where do I draw the line for overkill in lighting? I have been reading about the kessil ap700 as well as the radion xr30 pro gen 4, are these just too much light for a small tank? I don't want to be limited in the future for what I can grow, but if I can avoid shelling out a few hundred on lights that are too much it would help.

My ultimate goal is to create a 25 gallon "dream tank". I want it as reasonably low maintenance as possible, and I like all the bells and whistles, I just don't want to go too far into the deep end. So besides my lighting question above, what would you put into an IM 25 lagoon to give someone the best shot of seeing success as a beginner while giving them room to grow?

 

[rayn]

While I’m not best on nano tanks, I’ll give my suggestion on the lights.

Are you going to move and upgrade sooner then later? Then buy your lights that you want. You can always dial them back for a smaller tank and then turn them up for the upgrade.

I do however run a 20L. My choice of lighting over it was a hydra 26. It gives great coverage and wasn’t a killer on the bank account.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Happy New Year Everyone!
So for the past few months I have been smitten with the idea of building a reef tank. I keep going back and forth about how I want to put this tank together, but I have come up with a plan. I rent right now so my tank needs to be smaller as I cannot/don'twant to modify the house at all and it will ultimately result in moving the tank and I want no part in moving a large tank. I also want to keep it smaller so that I can somewhat limit how much money I can sink into this project lol. This has led me to the popular IM 25 lagoon. I like the depth to the tank and getting that top down view as well. I definitely want an Apex on the tank, I've watched hours of CJ's Aquariums, Mr. Saltwater Tank, BRStv, and CoralFish12g and they all speak glowingly of the controller, so if it's a big deal for them I guess it should be for me as well. This is about as far as I can go until I have some questions:

I am new to the hobby, obviously, and seeing all the different options for equipment, naturally my eye is drawn to all the fancy and high priced items. For the IM 25 lagoon where do I draw the line for overkill in lighting? I have been reading about the kessil ap700 as well as the radion xr30 pro gen 4, are these just too much light for a small tank? I don't want to be limited in the future for what I can grow, but if I can avoid shelling out a few hundred on lights that are too much it would help.

My ultimate goal is to create a 25 gallon "dream tank". I want it as reasonably low maintenance as possible, and I like all the bells and whistles, I just don't want to go too far into the deep end. So besides my lighting question above, what would you put into an IM 25 lagoon to give someone the best shot of seeing success as a beginner while giving them room to grow?

My dream tank would be an in wall 125 gallon SPS dominated tank filled with fish and acro and monti running on the full triton method lit by Kessil AP700's and T5 bulbs with a room dedicated to the tank and filtration along with a frag tank to cut back and sell coral out of.

For the lagoon tank, the ap700 would probably be overkill. I'd gear more towards the A360, a pair of them. They can and will grow pretty much anything you put under them, and can be utilized in tank upgrades later on down the road

 

[Forjam64]

While I’m not best on nano tanks, I’ll give my suggestion on the lights.

Are you going to move and upgrade sooner then later? Then buy your lights that you want. You can always dial them back for a smaller tank and then turn them up for the upgrade.

I do however run a 20L. My choice of lighting over it was a hydra 26. It gives great coverage and wasn’t a killer on the bank account.

An upgrade would be 2-3 years down the road. My thought was that when I do upgrade the lagoon would become either a frag tank or a QT.

 

[Forjam64]

My dream tank would be an in wall 125 gallon SPS dominated tank filled with fish and acro and monti running on the full triton method lit by Kessil AP700's and T5 bulbs with a room dedicated to the tank and filtration along with a frag tank to cut back and sell coral out of.

For the lagoon tank, the ap700 would probably be overkill. I'd gear more towards the A360, a pair of them. They can and will grow pretty much anything you put under them, and can be utilized in tank upgrades later on down the road

I could probably draw up the floor plan right now for the 300 and 150 gallon pair of tanks as well as the "fish room" I want when I get to the point we can build a house around them. The thought of being able to do water changes by opening and closing a few valves gives me warm and fuzzies and I don't even have tank yet. I was looking for more of a dream nano tank though, but thanks!

 

[Crabs McJones]

I could probably draw up the floor plan right now for the 300 and 150 gallon pair of tanks as well as the "fish room" I want when I get to the point we can build a house around them. The thought of being able to do water changes by opening and closing a few valves gives me warm and fuzzies and I don't even have tank yet. I was looking for more of a dream nano tank though, but thanks!

I know, i was kind of fantasizing about my dream tank, but my advice below that on your lighting applies to your 25 lagoon tank

My dream tank would be an in wall 125 gallon SPS dominated tank filled with fish and acro and monti running on the full triton method lit by Kessil AP700's and T5 bulbs with a room dedicated to the tank and filtration along with a frag tank to cut back and sell coral out of.

For the lagoon tank, the ap700 would probably be overkill. I'd gear more towards the A360, a pair of them. They can and will grow pretty much anything you put under them, and can be utilized in tank upgrades later on down the road

 

[Mandelstam]

My dream tank?

Slowly watching an old beetle get overgrown by corals while sitting on my couch in my livingroom... (I know it's not really possible due to metals etc, etc, etc... But one can dream! )

I'm also just starting out and the only real advice I can give is to plan ahead for future upgrades. Maybe set your 25g up with a little oversized support system so you can more easily upgrade your display tank down the road. Like sump size, skimmer size, etc, etc.

 

[Crabs McJones]

I also saw that you just joined and this was your first thread, so welcome to R2R!!

 

[rayn]

I also saw that you just joined and this was your first thread, so welcome to R2R!!

It is? I missed that.

Welcome to R2R!

 

[Forjam64]

Thanks everybody!

 

[Mandelstam]

Maybe better question @Forjam64, what is YOUR dream tank? Guys and girls on here will help you realize it be sure of that.

And yes, welcome to la famiglia!

 

[oneilwiz]

Hey welcome to the club, glad to see a new member, one piece of advice I can give you is to select a stand that looks good and most importantly makes doing maintenance super easy such as cleaning skinner cup or replacing filter socks. Those lagoon 25 are very nice.

As for me I have a 75 G reef ready for which I hate the stand due to the middle brace which hinders my maintenance.

 

[Daltrey]

My dream tank.

 

[McMullen]

@Daltrey, yes plz!

Anyone remember this, https://reefbuilders.com/2013/10/07/tales-thailand-chingchais-incredible-dsps-tank/

 

[Greybeard]

I was out of the hobby for over a decade. When I got back in, I carefully considered my options, and selected a 60g cube. Why? I'd done big tanks in the past, and didn't want the maintenance or cost. So... 2 years later, I sold the cube, and built what I really wanted... A short, fat, wide 140g tank. That tank is ~6 months in. So far so good.

Small is an attractive idea, until you live with all of the restrictions it brings with it for a while.

A floating home with a sunken living room over a natural reef? Yeah, but that's just a dream. Not many natural reefs in Missouri

 

[Daltrey]

@Daltrey, yes plz!

Anyone remember this, https://reefbuilders.com/2013/10/07/tales-thailand-chingchais-incredible-dsps-tank/

Wow, Really like how the rockwork makes it look like trees growing.

 

[Forjam64]

Maybe better question @Forjam64, what is YOUR dream tank? Guys and girls on here will help you realize it be sure of that.

And yes, welcome to la famiglia!

I do know that from a live stock view, I want 2 black clowns, a nem for hosting, a gobie and trigger, and a clam. Haven't planned out any specific corals yet

 

[Daltrey]

Trigger will get way to big. I wouldn't put one in my 200 gallon tank. Do lots of research and ask questions about your livestock list before purchasing. Happy Reefing!

 

[Greybeard]

I do know that from a live stock view, I want 2 black clowns, a nem for hosting, a gobie and trigger, and a clam. Haven't planned out any specific corals yet

Two black (ocellaris) clowns and a gobie, fine. Most triggers get far too large for a 25g tank, in a big hurry. The smallest of the Tridacnid clams gets to what, a foot across? You might get away with a baby for a while, I guess.

See above, where I said "Small is an attractive idea, until you live with all of the restrictions it brings with it for a while."

Yup. This is why I went to what most around here would call a 'mid sized' tank.

 

[Forjam64]

Two black (ocellaris) clowns and a gobie, fine. Most triggers get far too large for a 25g tank, in a big hurry. The smallest of the Tridacnid clams gets to what, a foot across? You might get away with a baby for a while, I guess.

See above, where I said "Small is an attractive idea, until you live with all of the restrictions it brings with it for a while."

Yup. This is why I went to what most around here would call a 'mid sized' tank.

I got trigger and pistol mixed up [emoji37]