24" or 27" depth and basic plan, opinions please

[Tigers]

Hello all,

I have decided to upgrade to a larger tank

during my upcoming move and would like opinions regarding tank depth. I am going to have the tank custom made by inter-american and have read that the price is the same whether you go with 22", 24" or 27" starphire. I know that I want the tank to be 72"L and 24"W, but I am not sure whether I want a depth of 27" or 24".

Lighting, specs and inhabts.:

The tank will house predominately SPS and clams. Lighting will consist of 2 x 250 10K HQI, 2 X .03 72" uri actinics, and 2 X 72" actinic white uri's. I would like to add a third 250 HQI but I would like a different temp (20k or 65K) than 10K and don't know if this is available. If new bulbs are not available by September (time of the move) I might wait for them and not add the third light or go with a mogul base 250W 6500K or 20K for the center of the tank.
My thoughts are to have the center of the aquascape as an open swim through where most of the clams will be placed due to the slower currents that I can creat there. Return will be from a Mag 18 and 2 X 3/4" sea swirls. Ampmaster 3000 for closed loop. Canopy will be 15" tall with four 4" fans and open back.

Questions:
1)With this plan would you go with the extra depth? (taking into account that the clams will be placed on the sand bed)
2) what would you do about the center light? I am worried about too much heat if I go with anything higher than 250 watt.
3) Any other thoughts would be helpful.

TIA

 

[aakks]

Are you going to run a DSB on this tank? For me, that would be the deciding factor on tank height. If so, I'd go 27" for sure.

Peter

 

[Tigers]

I forgot to include that info. I am getting away from the dsb in the main tank so the sand bed will only be as deep as the trim that interamerican uses on a tank of this size.

 

[Bodine]

Is this a glass or acrylic tank?
The reason I ask is why worry about heat over center brace?
As to 24 vs 27.....can you still reach the bottom of the tank with your arm? If so I would get 27.

Three inches is probably not much to worry about
when considering the lost intesity of lighting.

 

[Tigers]

The tank will be starphire glass with perimeter bracing and two top braces 24" from each side so no center brace. The heat I was refering to was to the surrounding room and tank from 400W MH bulbs.

 

[SPC]

Posted by Tigers:
Questions:
1)With this plan would you go with the extra depth? (taking into account that the clams will be placed on the sand bed)

-I have a 180, 72"x24"x24'. Including the stand the total height is 56" to the top trim of the tank. The sand bed is 5". I am 6'-2" and I can reach the top of the sand at the front and maybe about 8" back. If the tank were 27" I think I would have difficulty reaching the top of the sand, so my vote would be to go with 24".

2) what would you do about the center light? I am worried about too much heat if I go with anything higher than 250 watt.

-If you are talking about the heat in the room I can tell you that you will definately notice it. If I were going to run 250 or 400 watt halides I would duct the hood either out the attic or in the crawl space using an exhaust fan.
Steve

 

[Tigers]

Thanks

 

[esmithiii]

Do not go with the 27" IMO. I have a 24" deep tank w/ 6" sand bed and reaching the bottom is an issue. Also, 250W MH may not be strong enough for good growth on SPS and clams placed low in the tank

Ernie

 

[D.Digler]

Hey Tiger, how much is that tank gonna run you brand new, if you don't mind me asking. I'm also currently debating btwn a 180 (72x24x24) and a 220 (72x24x30). Personally, I'd rather have the tank be 72x28x28, but I don't want to pay the extra dough for custom. All Glass makes the 180 standard, which is gonna cost me about $600 predrilled. Perfecto makes the 220 which will be around $720 predrilled (Ohio prices). One of my concerns with the Perfecto tank is that its made with 1/2'' glass, while other companies (Lee Mar & Oceanic I think) would use 3/4'' glass for those dimensions. Is that a tank to be avoided? 220 gallons of saltwater might not look as nice soaked into the carpet!

 

[D.Digler]

Also, for the lighting, wouldn't the HQI 250's rival the mogul 400's in terms of intensity. Have you considered any pendant lighting systems like the Aquaspacelight that comes in a 72'' with 3 HQI 10K's (either 175, 250, or 400 watt) and PC actincs (Check out www.championlighting.com) You could hang this above your tank and build a 3 sided 'faux-canopy' around it to direct the light down. Then heat could escape the top too. This probably won't help the whole room heating situation, but can be done for the same price as retro-fitting a hood (by the time you upgrade bulbs to 10K's and by fans, etc).

I thinking about do that so I thought I'd throw it out there.

 

[SPC]

Posted by Mr Miltz:
I mean, once you set the tank up, why would you need to reach the back/bottom of the tank?

I don't know about you Mike, but I have things get pushed over by my urchins on occasion. Oh yea I forgot, you can't have urchins with the fish you have

.
Steve

 

[M.E.Milz]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr> I don't know about you Mike, but I have things get pushed over by my urchins on occasion. Oh yea I forgot, you can't have urchins with the fish you have.
Steve <hr></blockquote>

Well the new tank, the 36" tall tank, will be replacing my 200g mostly sps reef tank, not the tank with my triggers and morays. Anyways, I have rarely had a problem with things getting knocked over in either of my tanks. But I tend to use large pieces of live rock, with each piece being placed in a bomber position. If I have any doubt about a piece of live rock getting knocked over, I glue it in with 2-part epoxy/putty.

I do the same thing when it comes to corals. WRT sps, I either buy frags that I can glue directly to the live rock already in the tank, or I buy colonies anchored to pieces of rock that are big enough to glue/epoxy the reef structure. For the same reason, I don't buy/add soft corals unless they are anchored to rocks.

The point is that once you place a piece of rock or coral in the tank, that should be the last time you mess with it. Although I use to have the bad habit of moving corals around every couple of weeks, I have really learned to just let things be (unless a coral is obviously suffering).

 

[SPC]

Well thats just fine for someone old and set in their ways like you Mike

. I also have a slight Y branch problem that I can't train to grow towards the front of the tank, darn stuff has a mind of its own. For the snails that can't right themselves I use a gripper tool.
Steve

 

[M.E.Milz]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr> For the snails that can't right themselves I use a gripper tool.
Steve <hr></blockquote>

I use rigid airline tubing to right the little guys. But I really should get me one of them fancy gripper jobs.

 

[Tigers]

I looked at the AB fixtures but don't want the weight in the canopy. I am going with three 250 HQI's either all 10K or two 10K with 20K in the middle. That is if the 20K DE bulbs ever make it to the U.S. I have not ordered the tank yet so I don't have a final cost on it but I am figuring it should be about $1000 incl. shipping. The heat problem will hopfully be dealt with by an exhaust fan or duct work to the actic but that depends on the house I decide to buy and its layout.

 

[M.E.Milz]

I would vote for the deeper tank. I have a 200g that is 24" tall and a 175g that is 28" tall, and I have not had any probelems with maintaining either of them. Of course, I am running DSB's in boht of these tanks, so the effective depth is a little less.

In any event, I really don't think the maintanence issue is that big of a deal. I mean, once you set the tank up, why would you need to reach the back/bottom of the tank? Any corals you add will either be on the bottom near the front of the tank or higher up on the rock.

By the way, my new tank from Inter-American is on the way, and it will be 36" tall. So don't be worried about the extra 3".