New to Reef/Tank Life

[m1kenyc]

Hey All. I've been lurking for a long time and always wanted to add a tank to my house. I'm doing a basement in my house which is over 4,000 square feet and have a chance to get a nice setup to my main open hang out area. See attached of the setup and area. I have a few choices since I have no experience and the build will be pretty large. I have a guy who is local to help with the setup but figured I would come here to see if I can take it on myself with the help of some basic consulting. I sent an email to Glasscages in which I shared about 40 emails and went over some questions and the lack of reviews over the years. They have said they changed. I also sent a email to TankMeUSA but have not got a reply in over 1 week and half.

My ideal tank is either:
72x24x40 (LxWxH) about 300 Gallons
Or
60x24x40 (LxWxH) about 250 Gallons (Prob this one)
I also have the space to increase width to 26 or 28, if you feel it is better?

Based on the attached below, I will have the glass only exposed and the bottom/top framed out. Behind the tank area where the wall goes from floor to ceiling, I will use that room behind to run a sump tank/supply room.

I still got a long way to go, would love to work with someone on this to make it reality. Share some thoughts, I really do appreciate it.

 

[jformani]

If you've never done a saltwater tank before I would suggest you start with something smaller before you spend a small fortune on this build. You can always cut out a wall at a later time. Starting a new SW tank from scratch with no experience and doing a large tank IMO is a challenge. If you still plan on moving forward this forum will help. As far as your ideas so far, I did the same thing twice. First with a 180 then, then same 180 in a new house. I had a few other tanks before that. I now have a 340 from glass cages and the tank is built literally like a tank. Having a dedicated room behind the wall is fantastic.

 

[JoshO]

+1 on above. Even setting up a small aquarium on a budget will likely run up to over 1000! Love the enthusiasm though and I'm definitely not here to dent that! Oh and welcome to R2R!!

 

[New&no clue]

As a new person as well... with little experience, I’d say go big. I wanted a big tank and was talked into going smaller. I was disappointed with the tank and ended up upgrading in 4 months, costing me a lot more than if I had just went with what I wanted initially. Of course mine was a 50 and I upgraded to a 75... so not really comparable. I would say weight the pros and cons of a big tank, and I don’t know all of them but I would think

Pro
More room for equipment
More room for error
More time to catch parameters issues
More options for fish, inverts, and corals

Cons
Higher cost for equipment
More maintenance
Taking on more than your prepared for

Those are just some I could come up with. Good luck with your tank.

 

[Joe Glass Cages]

Hey All. I've been lurking for a long time and always wanted to add a tank to my house. I'm doing a basement in my house which is over 4,000 square feet and have a chance to get a nice setup to my main open hang out area. See attached of the setup and area. I have a few choices since I have no experience and the build will be pretty large. I have a guy who is local to help with the setup but figured I would come here to see if I can take it on myself with the help of some basic consulting. I sent an email to Glasscages in which I shared about 40 emails and went over some questions and the lack of reviews over the years. They have said they changed. I also sent a email to TankMeUSA but have not got a reply in over 1 week and half.

My ideal tank is either:
72x24x40 (LxWxH) about 300 Gallons
Or
60x24x40 (LxWxH) about 250 Gallons (Prob this one)
I also have the space to increase width to 26 or 28, if you feel it is better?

Based on the attached below, I will have the glass only exposed and the bottom/top framed out. Behind the tank area where the wall goes from floor to ceiling, I will use that room behind to run a sump tank/supply room.

I still got a long way to go, would love to work with someone on this to make it reality. Share some thoughts, I really do appreciate it.

@m1kenyc, we look forward to supporting you with your journey should you decide to go with Glass Cages. Let us know how we can do better. Please look at the reviews follow our transition in Oct 2019. Facebook, R2R and Google. We are passionately focused on our customer's experience and product.

That will be a great area for your build!

 

[Joe Glass Cages]

If you've never done a saltwater tank before I would suggest you start with something smaller before you spend a small fortune on this build. You can always cut out a wall at a later time. Starting a new SW tank from scratch with no experience and doing a large tank IMO is a challenge. If you still plan on moving forward this forum will help. As far as your ideas so far, I did the same thing twice. First with a 180 then, then same 180 in a new house. I had a few other tanks before that. I now have a 340 from glass cages and the tank is built literally like a tank. Having a dedicated room behind the wall is fantastic.

@jformani, thank you for choosing Glass Cages for your 340! so appreciated. We look forward to the opportunity to continue to support you on your journey.