How Large is Large enough?

[fchidsey]

Upon moving, my wife and I are planning a "large tank" my thought is around 180 gal. after reading some of the post I am starting to think that i might need to goto 250 or so. Any advise? I think the beginning equipment budget will be about 5 G. I am also very handy and have good construction skills so building some of the equipment will be fine.

[motorslave]

That is a loaded question! The farther we get into this obsession...er uh I mean hobby..we generally want larger tanks. The advantage to larger systems is more volume and added stability. The draw backs would be cost and if something does go wrong you have much more volume to deal with. Is this going to be a reef tank? Five grand may not go as far as you think if you spend the money wisely even. There are some things that you shouldnt skimp on like a skimmer. Also if its going to be a reef then you have lighting to consider, if you want a sump or not and there is a whole world out there of support equipment.
Tell us more about what it is you have in mind for the tank!

Robert

[monkeyreefer]

my advice is to look at what you want to keep, and plan accordingly.

[fchidsey]

So far the thoughts are a 180 in the wall with a closet on the back (in the other room) for the filtation system to include a large sump to accomodate a refugium, large skimmer, calcium reactor, uv sterelizer, and chiller, (all of which i am running on my 57 minus the reactor.) lighting I am thinking MH with t-5 for artinic blue. that is the planning so far. some of the aux filter items can be added later and do not need to be present for the initial start but i have found that in florida the chiller, skimmer are a must.

[Geoff]

Welcome to TRT!!



start thinking about which critters you want to keep. see if there are any large tank requirements that may bump you up to another sized tank.

the next thing to do is measure your arm.

do not get a tanks whose diagonal dimension is longer than your arm. this is very important with in-wall tanks where getting to the front glass can be troublesome. a 180 is a good size for this. i prolly would not go any more than a 24X24" cross section due to arm length, but that does not mean that you have to stop at 6' in length.

G~

[Caoineag]

What do you want for fish? Some fish are really only happy at 200+ because of their size and habits. Others are quite happy full grown in much smaller tanks. That should really dictate what you get...

[motorslave]

Many things to consider. As long as youre not thinking of any monster fish youll be fine with the 180. Since youre going to do an in wall, when you make the opening, make it wider to accomidate a longer tank and drywall over the extra space. That way when you want to go bigger your all set, with just some minor work a larger tank will slide right in!!! Decide what type of reef you want to emulate and then build the system to support it.

Robert

[theplatypus]

Originally Posted by motorslave

Many things to consider. As long as youre not thinking of any monster fish youll be fine with the 180. Since youre going to do an in wall, when you make the opening, make it wider to accomidate a longer tank and drywall over the extra space. That way when you want to go bigger your all set, with just some minor work a larger tank will slide right in!!! Decide what type of reef you want to emulate and then build the system to support it.

Robert

Very sound advice

[fchidsey]

Thanks for all the great imput. As I said we are just in the planning mode. until we move then the tank will start after most of the remodling is complete.

as for the type of critters I enjoy a very peaceful reef I like social community animals IE anthis, tangs, so on. I have very little exp with coral and this will be very new teritory for me. but a love to read and i catch on quickly. (my wife shares the same ideas as me about the reef community) we all know that if moma aint happy then nobody happy

[motorslave]

Hahaha! Thats the truth!
Not sure how much you already know but there are three types of coral. SPS, LPS and Soft. SPS (small polyp stony) are high light high flow coral neeeding very clean water and calcium. LPS also need calcium, varying flow and light. Soft coarl (probably the easiest) need less light and like a little more junk in the water (not dirty dirty) It a;ll has to do with where they are found in nature. Its best to build the system around one of these. many people do mixed reefs but this can be a problem due to chemical warfare of sorts as some coral will release toxins to protect themselves.
Find what you like and build around that type of coral to emmulate the demands of that coral. This will save you money and time and frustration! remember, patience is the hardest part and the most important part. Ask here before spending money on a bunch of stuff and read read read!

Robert

[dgasmd]

How big is too big? That is a personal question only answered differently by each one of us. I personally have a line where a tank sits in one side and it is fun to take care of and have it. In the other side is a tank so big that the tasks become work. I hate to do more work than I have to. My tank sits right behind the line of fun/too much work. The day it crosses the line I will get rid of it.

How many gallons or pure dimensions will not say much either. I used to have a 125g reef that was more work than the current 1000g system I have now. Also, a 120"x36"x24" (450g) and a 120"x48"x30" (750g) would use almost the same equipment and cost about the same to run despite the 300g difference.

[Twitterbait]

Nothing is ever big enough!!!

[xtopher]

I definately have to agree, the longer I stay in this hobby my tanks are never big enough

[Chief]

Just be sure to preplan as much as you can. I had a budget of $5000 in mind with my 240 in the beginning. I can honestly tell you that I have more than doubled it. Mostly due to poor planning. Don't skimp on equipment, you will just end up buying better equipment later. It is the little things that add up. Plumbing parts were a suprise to me. I probably have $700.00 in plumbing parts on my tank. Rock is another kicker. 400 lbs of rock at $5.00 a lb is $2000.00 alone. I'm really not trying to discourage you, just trying to prepare you. Don't forget about maintaining your project. With all the halides, chiller, skimmer, pumps, etc. Your electricty bill will go up considerably.

On the plus side, I wouldn't trade my 240 for anything in the world...


Unless we are talking about an upgrade.

Good luck and let us know how it goes. One other thing. Don't forget to have front access to your tank. Another one of my mistakes.

Jay

[fchidsey]

The upgrade thing is funny. I said that to my wife and have learned that we will most likely have two tanks one for softies and one for LPS and SPS. Just some thoughts I am kicking around. As for the equpiment I thought I was going to transfer a bunch but have learned that it is not reasonable to transfer from a 55 to a 200. so this will be from scratch but with a little experience.

Fred