- What what volume tank does this really change start to change? 300g?
It starts to change based on the hobbyist, their support system, and tools. This will be a personal opinion sort of thing but it can vary based on the age of the hobbyist, age of the tank, and so on. What started out today as a 210 gallon with 30" depth and hight is now a difficult tank for me to manage. However, this wasn't the case 2 years ago when it started this journey.
- For those of you with large tanks, what are the things you need to do differently and how do you do them?
I'm not sure 210 is large but as I stated above I think it is going to vary person to person based on their situation. My tank is 54" W x 30" H and 30" D. Stand is 30". Top of tank puts it right around 60" add lighting, cabinets, etc putting it close to 72" 'ish... You basically plan for it. Some things to have on hand:
1. Painter / small ladder
2. Shoulder length gloves
3. Heavy duty tongs
4. Long feeding basters, vary sizes
5. Various maintenance tools for corals, pruning, bone cutters, saws
You mentioned fish and what not and does it change. No, I don't think it does. I think at the end of the day it is all about planning and preparation. Corals you want to keep, substrate, tank, cover, lighting, fish, etc. They all work together and once you are done will fulfill the required roles. Same thing I would do for a 5 gallon tank. Maybe just less.
Larger tank just means you may have more, or larger, fish of some types. Maybe not because not everyone likes tangs. So back to planning and preparation. I guess my point is that you can look at your vision, your plan, and add things that will help your biotype by adding known, natural, predators for some things. Nutrient control be it tang, butterfly, blenny, or wrasse.
Planning will guide you through the compatibility challenges and hopefully prevent mistakes of this type. Anyway I need to wrap this up and I apologize if it isn't really clear but more or less was no different than smaller tanks I've owned.
