New Custom Aquarium

reefinusa · Dec 4, 2021

Hey all!

Im building a new house and in the basement I’m going to build a custom, in wall aquarium. Right now, I’m thinking 5’ deep by 12’ wide by 8’ tall. It will have one viewing pane that I’m guessing will be about 6’x10’. I know, it’s big. Let’s assume I can manage this beast…

This will be used mostly for SPS and some fish.

I’d like your opinions on the following:
1) Lighting - brand and how many
2) Equipment - Reactors, filtration, etc
3) Flow - ideas on flow
3) Size - Specifically, the height. I’m worried that it might be too tall - I want to make sure I’ll be able to get enough light to the bottom of the tank for lower light SPS without burning the SPS at the top - or put into a situation where I can’t have many up top because there is too much light

I will be bringing in a consultant from Colorado who specializes in custom tanks, but I wanted to get the community’s ideas/thoughts!

Thanks in advance!

reefinusa · Dec 4, 2021

I should note that I expect to have to get into the tank to clean it… that’s a thing, right?

blaxsun · Dec 4, 2021

This isn't so much an aquarium as it is a swimming pool...! Here's a video series you might find helpful, as I believe your tank will be similar. They go into a fair amount of detail with what they went with for equipment, lighting, maintenance and how things were setup.

Lowell Lemon · Dec 4, 2021

reefinusa said:
Hey all!

Im building a new house and in the basement I’m going to build a custom, in wall aquarium. Right now, I’m thinking 5’ deep by 12’ wide by 8’ tall. It will have one viewing pane that I’m guessing will be about 6’x10’. I know, it’s big. Let’s assume I can manage this beast…

This will be used mostly for SPS and some fish.

I’d like your opinions on the following:
1) Lighting - brand and how many
2) Equipment - Reactors, filtration, etc
3) Flow - ideas on flow
3) Size - Specifically, the height. I’m worried that it might be too tall - I want to make sure I’ll be able to get enough light to the bottom of the tank for lower light SPS without burning the SPS at the top - or put into a situation where I can’t have many up top because there is too much light

I will be bringing in a consultant from Colorado who specializes in custom tanks, but I wanted to get the community’s ideas/thoughts!

Thanks in advance!

Let me guess Reynolds Polymer is building the tank or it is a concrete vault with acrylic viewing panel? How high is the ceiling? Will you be using Aquarium Engineering for the filtration? You might check out RK2 Systems if they are still around for filtration. I would assume your consultant will have filtration or lighting suggestions if not you might get a second opinion from someone who has been down that road.
Check out @Hedgedrew and his 17000 gallon build here on the forum. He might have some good advise.