Thoughts in Progress: My Big Tank

[Bleigh]

If you have 16' wall to play with, how about a 6' FOWLR in the center, flanked by two 2'-3' coral tanks-- one on each side. Dream big!!

I think this is actually a really cool idea! Thanks for mentioning it!
That could allow for a sps tank and a softie tank with parameters set for each Instead of a compromise for a mixed tank. I’ll have to think about that.

 

[Fin]

Yes! Im super glad someone suggested I start a planning thread before I was ready to buy the stuff for the tank. It’s still at least a year out. Otherwise I’m sure I would have jumped at it before I was actually ready. I am lucky that I have plenty of space as far as rooms go. I have two rooms in the front of my house that aren’t used.

I put my 60 gallon where I would have put a peninsula. Now that it’s there, I’m not sure if something bigger would work well there.

If you do decide to go with a non-standard size tank, a year wait is not unheard of. Just so you know.

 

[Bleigh]

If you do decide to go with a non-standard size tank, a year wait is not unheard of. Just so you know.

Thanks. Yeah. I’m totally prepared for it to take a while. That’s one of the reasons I did upgrade from the biocube. I’d hate to have ordered something, wait forever for it, and then wish I had done something different.

 

[eea60123]

I took baby steps but always tried to over size and get equipment I knew would work on a larger tank. I started with an 80 gallon which I loved because of the dimensions and then to a 125 which I hated because of the depth, but now I have a 220 with plans to upgrade to something around a 400. IMO your ideal tank is not your ideal tank for long. There’s always another fish or more corals that you want. It’s also about the challenges associated with keeping more that makes this hobby interesting. I love to tinker and try to improve on what I have, but I’m one of the few idiots who enjoys the husbandry aspect, even water changes are fine.

 

[Dubs83]

So, I started out with a similarly sized wall and had the same tank in mind to replace my 6’ 125g. After getting the 180, we ran into some issues with scratches and decided to scrap the entire idea and increased the length to 8’. I have to be honest, I’m very glad we did. It has so much more presence in the room. if you have some time, throw some painters tape on to the floor and see how the dimensions would work in the room. Doesn’t hurt to get a quote

 

[Bleigh]

So, I started out with a similarly sized wall and had the same tank in mind to replace my 6’ 125g. After getting the 180, we ran into some issues with scratches and decided to scrap the entire idea and increased the length to 8’. I have to be honest, I’m very glad we did. It has so much more presence in the room. if you have some time, throw some painters tape on to the floor and see how the dimensions would work in the room. Doesn’t hurt to get a quote

For sure! The entire room is going to be devoted to the tank. So I plan on going a big as makes sense for the space. Right now I have a bunch of old baby stuff in the room that I pulled down and need to donate. ;Happy Funny how when you empty a room for one thing and then decide to wait a bit, you start filling it with other things. Or maybe other people don’t do that lol. Maybe it’s just me.

 

[crusso1993]

I've been MIA... Obviously...

What are the latest thoughts on this big set up?

 

[JumboShrimp]

We are photo-hungry.

 

[Bleigh]

Well my 60 gallon has spring a few leaks (not changing filter pads) I know for sure that I need to get a drain in the room.

Honestly, I haven't had much time to work on my 60 gallon, much less get anywhere with this. Hope to get the 60 all fixed up over the break.

 

[crusso1993]

Well my 60 gallon has spring a few leaks (not changing filter pads) I know for sure that I need to get a drain in the room.

Honestly, I haven't had much time to work on my 60 gallon, much less get anywhere with this. Hope to get the 60 all fixed up over the break.

As it is said, "Life is what happens while we are busy making other plans."

Happy to hear it sounds like you are getting back on top of your 60!

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

Any update?

 

[Bleigh]

Any update?

Nothing with this rona in the air. The room is just holding books and fish gear at the moment. ‍

 

[JumboShrimp]

“Just holding books”

Well, we are still anxiously following and wishing you the best.

 

[Devaji]

Hope you and yours are well. with all this covid going on have you had any time to think about the tank?

 

[Bleigh]

Hope you and yours are well. with all this covid going on have you had any time to think about the tank?

Just purchased the entire apex system.... so it’s moving, not quickly, but we’re moving.

 

[Nanorock1970]

Lol. If I hadn’t redone my kitchen about a year ago, I would go for it! I plan on only having a small desk in the room when it’s renovated. For mail and bills and stuff. Maybe for the boy to do homework where I can watch him.

Ha, Do homework in front of the tank...You will be watching him watch the fish...
I do like your idea photo with the desk in the middle of the room. If you do the tank on both sides, you might want a 2 sided desk...
I love this idea of sharing your dream design with us for some reefer feedback. I am also in the process of going big or going home. Floor is not an issue at my house. Slab on grade. Power will def be on my radar for the short blips of a few hours. I have a generator for the long outages (hurricane fla).

 

[Nanorock1970]

I’m not sure why I wasn’t getting notifications that people had said anything on this build. Lol. Nothing in that direction yet. I sold the guest room bed and moved my desk upstairs. The office is now sitting empty, waiting on me to have time, money, and energy to get to it. I also wanted to figure out all the stuff on the 60 gallon, since that’s my first experience with a sump. Don’t want to make a bad decision about the massive tank out of lack of knowledge/experience.

I saw you might need some sort of murphy bed. I was also looking for my office/spare bedroom and came across this. Safer then the pull down wall unit and looks like a dresser.

 

[Bleigh]

I saw you might need some sort of murphy bed. I was also looking for my office/spare bedroom and came across this. Safer then the pull down wall unit and looks like a dresser.

Thank you! I ended up not doing a guest/office combo. My son really hadn’t been playing in his playroom, so we just moved all of his toys to his bedroom and turned his playroom into a guest room. So there’s still a queen bed available for guests anytime they might would want to pop in.

 

[Bleigh]

Ha, Do homework in front of the tank...You will be watching him watch the fish...
I do like your idea photo with the desk in the middle of the room. If you do the tank on both sides, you might want a 2 sided desk...
I love this idea of sharing your dream design with us for some reefer feedback. I am also in the process of going big or going home. Floor is not an issue at my house. Slab on grade. Power will def be on my radar for the short blips of a few hours. I have a generator for the long outages (hurricane fla).

Hahaha. I think the best thing about it is keeping up with my own ideas. I know this is going to be a very expensive project and I’m definitely a planner. At this point I know o want to run two different UV lights on separate return pumps for Protozoa speeds and algae speeds. And likely just on closed loops from and to the tank. I figure that will give some more variability to the flow as well. Lots of ideas.

 

[KLaRue]

Have you set a “deadline” for yourself to making a decision on a final plan and begin turning the plan into a new tank?