Buying a new tank - need suggestions from current owners.

[Anonymous]

I am in the market for getting a new large tank. Hoping to make this one last me through at least grad school but who knows. After kicking around several ideas I wanted to get some feedback on the following footprints - if you own them, problems with size/location, lighting issues , maintenance issues:

the Cube , this was going to be it before I thought about not being to keep any larger free swimming fish. It would be a 36x36x36 cube made of 3/4" acrylic. Originally I was going to go with a centrally located overflow and put a 6" edge around the top of the tank for bracing. Problems with this obviously would be wierd lighting (36" maybe 30ish after sand bed) configurations , aforementioned restrictions on species kept and maintenance would be a royal pain especially if I go with the 30" stand I was going to build. Was going to go with central overflow and build rockwork around it. Water flow might be an issue so was thinking of plumbing a few smaller return lines in lieu of dangling a bunch of powerheads down the center of the tank. I think it would look great for a reef tank but woudl have some real limitations on livestock.

Standard 180 - 72 x 24 x24. Was going to have this possibly made locally from acrylic also or just buy and oceanic or AGA. 2 corner overflows best? I have seen this many times of course but the only reason I wouldn't commit to it is I may end up going FOWLR instead and keep some type of Pomacanthus sp or go reef and make a sohal tang the last fish I add. In both cases the tang and angel not sure it would give them the swimming room (more worried about sohal having little space to turn at ends of tank - granted this may be years off where size is an issue but don't want to cramp him or buy a new tank).

Standard 300? - 96 x 30 x 24 . I really like the dimensions on this but have no clue as to what I would need for circulation on this. Thinking a tank this size if I choose the rockwork to leave lots of swimming room I could definitely give either the tang or the angel sufficient swimming room. How many / location of overflows do current 300g owners have? Any reccomendations on circulation? I looked into getting a couple of the new Tunze Stream pumps but even being powerful I'm not sure I could get good flow across the tank. Might put them on a wavemaker and drill back for a closed loop too? Drawbacks to doing acrylic this size other than cost or chance of bowing? Guy who was going to make the cube wanted to go 3/4" over the standard 1/2". Would 3/4" be ok here for acrylic - if I had to move up to 1" acrylic it would go out of my price range. Maybe will just do glass just not crazy about the additional weight though Im sure moving the acrylic 300g would be no picnic either.

Other than the aforementioned fish would likely be a mixed LPS / SPS tank on the 180/300 if I go reef, possibly softies if I go with the cube and reef.

Any feedback appreciated before I end up dropping 1k on a new tank.

 

[Will C1]

i would suggest getting the biggest tank you can afford, the bigger the better you will have more options of fish and can put more fish in it, the down fall is bigger tank way more lighting 300 gal you will need 3 or more 400watt mh's depending on what you want to keep, also depending on what you keep will vary how much flow you need in the tank, so first decide what you want to keep and then you can make a better decision an what you will need for extras.

 

[Anonymous]

Will thanks for feedback. As for what I was going to keep it was listed in original message 180 or 300 Sohal Tang or Imperator , sps/lps if reef. If the cube going soft coral and a few LPS. Lighting I am not concerned about on anything but the 200 cube since it's a wierd footprint. The others are standard as far as figuring out fixture placement.

For acrylic these would set me back about the following for prices:

200 gallon cube 36x36x36 3/4" cel cast - $850

180 gallon 72x24x24 3/4" acrylic plus a 60 gallon fuge - $1200

300 gallon 96x30x24 1" cel cast acrylic plus 90 gallon sump/fuge - $2300

This guy does really nice work but thinking may end up being a lot cheaper on the 180 or 300 if I go with glass.

 

[Will C1]

if you want the nice corals you need a really good turn over rate in the tank say mabe 10x tank capacity per hour for fish only mabe half of that.as for lighting the cube i have seen and i know this seems wrong but a 1000watt HPS bulb mixed with a 250 20k bulb it makes a good color match and it seemed to work really good i have never seen studies on this but it will light it up brightly.

 

[clk2609]

i second that, go with biggest tank you can afford!!

i started with a 10g long ago and then had 30g, then 75g and was sure i would stay there!! 4 years later i setup a 110g! I am stopping now... but wait, just picked up a 233g acrlyic.... this has to be it until i find a real job and get out of school!!
good luck

 

[steve F]

One thing you might want to think about changing.

I have a 300g Acrylic, but I flip flopped the normal 96x24x30 to 96 x 30 deep x 24 high 3/4".

That give you a much greater area for aquascaping.

Here are a few pics of my beast.

Steve
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[Anonymous]

great tank Steve. How big of a drain is that one overflow and are those other six holes for closed loop circulation? I agree the one reason aside from flexibility in fish keeping the 30" depth would offer a lot of room to aquascape without just resorting to rock piles. What did you pay for that tank if you don't mind me asking and you think 3/4" is sufficienton a tank that big? The one bigcost factor on the 300 I was pricing is that he reccomended 1" acrylic over 3/4".

 

[steve F]

Hi Tech,

3/4" is fine for a 300 like this. 1" would be IMHO over kill.

The tank was $1950 shipped to my door from tenecor. They have great craftsmenship. The overflows are 2 --1" drains and 2--3/4" returns. I may change that in the future.

The six holes (1 1/2" sch 80 Bulkheads)on the back are for 2 criss crossing closed loops. 1 intake on each side and will return on 2 holes on the other with a motorized ball valve to change the return hole every 2 mins.

I will have about 6 ports on each return in various location hidden(hopefully by the Lr). So that will be 24 ports all together changing from 12 to the other 12 every 2 mins. No powerheads in this tank. They will be powered by 2 amp 3000's.

I will also have a 150g rubbermaid sump and a 100g refugium. I changed it from 100 and 50 to a 150 and 100.

I also put in a 60amp sub panel with up to 12 curcuits just for the tank. It been a fun project.
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[JohnRogan]

maybe a good book would help. I just bought a good book and it has a lot of info on different fish and tanks. I hear that live rock is a good thing to put in a new tank if you do get one. I just bought a bunch of live rock for my 50 gallon tank. Don't start off with fish because they will just die, go with live rock first. Good luck on tank selection.

 

[Anonymous]

maybe a good book would help. I just bought a good book and it has a lot of info on different fish and tanks. I hear that live rock is a good thing to put in a new tank if you do get one. I just bought a bunch of live rock for my 50 gallon tank. Don't start off with fish because they will just die, go with live rock first. Good luck on tank selection.

Appreciate the info John but I'm a bit past that point. I have a 18 gallon nano, 6 gallon nano, 5 gallon mantis shrimp tank, 46 gallon reef and 75 gallon FOWLR. This is going to combine whats in my FOWLR and reef (niger and 2 plotinus cats in 75 gallon) plus whats in my reef tank or maybe turn into a giant FOWLR.

Steve - thanks for the feedback on that tank. I'll talk to this guy and see what 3/4 " would run, would probably drop price considerably and I could just have an extra brace added or make the inside lip a bit wider?

 

[JRF]

Hi,
I also have a 300 gallon tank from tenecor ( non-standard dimensions of 96/28/30 ,LWH, with one end shaved off; it would have been a 350 gallon tank but I needed it to fit beside a stairway ). It is made from 3/4" acrylic with a 1" top plate and there is no bowing at all. I also feel that 1" side walls would be way overkill, unless you went to a 34" or taller tank.
JRF

 

[JRF]

Forgot to add the pic.
Here it is
JRF

 

[King Jason]

My website has all the setup information on my 190. I also agree with the statement "go as big as you can fit/afford/take care of." It will keep your mind off upgrading for a while. But if your like me you will already be planning your next tank the day after you put water in your present tank! :wink:

 

[King Jason]

I'd also like to add that you should be careful on the height of the tank. I think 24" is pretty high. I'm 6' tall and can just reach the bottom of the tank to move stuff around/place corals/etc. If you go 36" tall you will have to go snorkeling to move things in the bottom of the tank.

 

[Anonymous]

JRF - awesome tank. I could see that being a really nice clam tank is that what the slanted pane of glass is for?

Jason - yeah I am really bad about that I always am cooking up ideas for some new tank or kooky ecosystem to try replicating. I checked out your 190 it's impressive. Good point on the height. I'm about 6-4" but a 24" stand, 24" tank and 12" canopy would still be me climbing on a stool to work on it. One thing I do not like about many acrylic tanks is the lip on the inside for bracing seems to make it really hard to move stuff around/clean. I don't want to make my stand too short either as I plan on sticking a fair sized sump, top off and maybe the fuge or I might go above main tank with that and do it right.

Appreciate the suggestions folks

 

[ReefLion]

I agree with Jason on the height. The difference between 24" and 30" high is substantial when it comes to cleaning the glass/acrylic. I would highly recommend staying at 24" or less unless you are really willing to work hard during cleaning from time to time.

Tim

 

[Mac1]

I just received my 220/230 from Inter-American this weekend! 6-foot x 2-foot, 30-Inches tall. 3-panels were starphire (front and 2 sides), I got it Euro-braced (w/ Starphire), and drilled six ways-to-Sunday, for $1,000.00 USD. Shipping isn't cheap, but I got a steal on it through my employer.
Very happy with the way the tank looks. The Starphire is very nice, also.

- Mac

 

[dattack]

I like the Cube tank. It's probably the cheapest in terms of lighting configuration.