Narrow Column Tanks and New System Advice...

Lechon · Jun 19, 2020

So i decided I'm finally going to try and tackle my dream of having a legit saltwater reef aquarium. Ive had a good amount of experience with freshwater in the last 10 or so years but have never been truly successful in keeping a reef aquarium. The first time i did try was when i tried to be cheap and do a 10 gallon nano reef years ago, it ultimately failed do to the bottom of the tank springing a very bad leak after about a year in..... the tank was very old... RIP...

This time however, I want to aim for success. My biggest challenge is that in my living space there is no place to put a standard size aquarium with reasonable volume to not be considered a nano setup. This is do to a custom made piece of furniture that essentially covers 3 out of the 4 walls in the room from floor to ceiling. My solution to this issue would be to have a Tank(s)that fit into the cumbersome space.here is a image of the space in question.

I want to have a good amount of water volume so i can have more stability in the system. The work around for this issue in my mind is to make 2 Rimless Column tanks measuring 14Lx14Wx27H. Each would have a about a 20 - 22 gallon capacity, where i would then drill the wood panels and route the 2 overflows / returns to a 20 Gallon long sump/ refugium that i can stuff in a cabinet in the corner increasing the total volume to a about 53 to 57 Gallons with the sump filled to 60% or so. I feel this set up would result in a interesting interconnected 2 tank display, however I'm a bit concerned as i have limited knowledge in reef tanks and suspect there are some challenges when it comes to doing aquariums with such odd dimensions. My main goal is to have corals not so much fish. i understand that a 14x14 foot print only allows for maybe 2 or max 3 very small fish.

I'd like to get some advise on what to look out for with a setup like this and how do i effectively scape as space that tall. Examples would be great. The only tank that ive found that is similar in size to this is the Aqueon 15 gallon Column tank. But ive only seen a hand full of reefs done in these. my tanks would be about 7 inches taller then these. Any advise on appropriate lights to grow corals at the depth would also be appreciated..... now that i think about it, any advice would be great. this project will with out a doubt be a price endeavor so i wanna go into it with a good degree of under standing and foresight.

Thanks

Mastiffsrule · Jun 21, 2020

Evening,

If I am following correctly you want to put a column tank on each side of the bookcase? It sounds very challenging. The first thing I think of right off the bat is the limited access around the sides and inside for maintenance. Seems tight. Also a bit complicated to run 2 tanks on 1 sump just starting out.

It is a nice bookshelf. You mentioned custom made. I would look into taking out some of that center divider and building a permanent shelf that runs about the level of the shelf your cd‘s are on. This will open up all that space underneath. You could fit a cube in there depending on the size. You could also build a platform to give some overhang out if needed, but not too much without support. If you every move you can say it was built for a tv.

Hope that make sense.

Lechon · Jun 22, 2020

Mastiffsrule said:
Evening,

If I am following correctly you want to put a column tank on each side of the bookcase? It sounds very challenging. The first thing I think of right off the bat is the limited access around the sides and inside for maintenance. Seems tight. Also a bit complicated to run 2 tanks on 1 sump just starting out.

It is a nice bookshelf. You mentioned custom made. I would look into taking out some of that center divider and building a permanent shelf that runs about the level of the shelf your cd‘s are on. This will open up all that space underneath. You could fit a cube in there depending on the size. You could also build a platform to give some overhang out if needed, but not too much without support. If you every move you can say it was built for a tv.

Hope that make sense.

Unfortunately, the actual space can not be altered. The shelves are part of a much larger piece of furniture that encompasses 3/4 of the room. To cleanly do this and remove the shelf divider, the whole upper support will need to be removed and reassembled. This not something that would be cheap to do. Also note the the shelves them self are removable. The idea is to have only the top shelves present and get rid of the middle ones. leaving ~ 14 inches between the tank and the top shelf.

You mention that running the sump with 2 tanks would be a challenge, how so? Are there any resources i can reference to properly do this?

Understand i am aware that this is by no means a normal setup, and will have its challenges that would need to be over come.

here is a more visual reference, the red line would be the tank height. i can move the top shelf up about 2 more inches.