New House/New tank

[RobbAdams]

OK, my wife and I have purchased a new home and i am looking at upgrading my set up now that I actually have more room.

My current setup is a 28gallon bow front, with 2x65 PC's, a remora skimmer, and a few powerheads. No sump/refuge Etc.

For my new setup I am looking at perhaps going to a 48 inch long by 24 inch footprint, and probably only 14" or so high. I don't really want to go with Metal Halide. The heat, Startup cost and Hydro bill just don't work for me. I am not really into the Fuzzy sticks. I am into leathers mushrooms and other "wavey" stuff. The new house is a split level, and I could easily place a Sump and whatnot in the Basement. I am also considering making this a "In-wall" type setup.

I have no experience with closed loops or any of this other seemingly complicated stuff I hear you folks talking about. I could really use some help in determining how to go about setting something like this up. Sump would probably be a 30 or 33 gallon tank (What ever is cheap in the Bargain Finder)

I think from what I sort of know and have seen I would be looking at an internal type overflow in each of the rear corners. I would also like to consider one of those 4 way "Wave maker" devices that you hook up to your return (Oceanmotions or something like that)

This is all really preliminary perhaps still even in the daydreaming stage, but any input suggestions would really be appreciated.

[trilinearmipmap]

I would consider T5 lighting, it works for me on 48" x 24" x 24" LPS/softie tank.

I would consider making your tank deeper eg. a standard 120 with dimensions as above.

You need to look at whether your floor will hold the load of your tank.

Good luck.

[medican]

hello......

A new tank is always a fun and yes stressful time........

by the looks of it you are building (or thinking of building) the same type of tank that I am building now, right down to the 4 way. My first thought is the hight of your tank only 14 in. I think I see where your going with this, shallow for the lights you dont want to buy? but in the big picture you still need to see in it and I dont think if you kick it up to 24 in will change the lighting much. Your lighting (not MH) will limit you in what you can stock in your tank but from what you said your idea with no MH will work but what about if you change your mind? The one thing I have learned is that upgrading is very costly(I have done it for the last 2 years) and you will kick yourself you dident go in that direction in the first place. I run x2 150 mh I can keep most things just fine. If you get corals from under high lights put in under lower light is where I have had problems so now I get most of my stuff from other reefers and it has semed to help. What I think Im trying to say is spend a little extra now will save big $$$$$ later (wish list for me is x2 250 W )TRUST ME on that. Now with the duel overflows I was going to go this way but changed my mind to 1 overflow, to have more tank be tank. x2 1in overflows will handle less water than X1 2in. If I were to have 30in. wide I would then do x2 overflow. Sump 30gal sure mine will be a 36 gal custom made for me your size sounds good. Your drilling your tank thats good. When I get mine(coulpe of weeks) and start building it please feel free to come and see it might not be what you want but it may give you ideas for your own. When you think you have done planning your tank STOP and plan again.

This board is full of great ideas and most will love to help you. Most would love to have you over (you bring the beer) and talk about there tanks. there are hundreds of ways to put a tank together dont believe there is only 1 at the end of it all YOU need to be happy with your setup.

put all you learn from people put it into a blender and see what you come up with. :lol:

hope this helps.......
good luck

[TANGOMAN]

I too would opt for a taller tank. The 120g is a good dimension. 24" width will give you room for decent rock-work, more open space as well... :cool: . Also agree with only one overflow! Though none of my tanks utilize an external overflow, I thinks it's the way to go.
I don't feel an remote, basement, sump is a necessity for this size either. Nice, but not necessary. Pump size will need to be increased dramatically if it's a big lift, and that'll affect power consumption. A remote location does allow for big sumps, big skimmers, :cool: , but units can located beneath a cabinet as well, right Bob...? :lol: . It's unlikely you have plans for a Ca reactor if you just plan on keeping soft Corals...?
Purchase a new tank for your sump. The extra cost is worth the "security".

Planning is good..."Dare to dream Arnold, dare to dream..." :wink:

[RobbAdams]

How about 48 x 18 x 18 This is a standard 75 gallon size right? could I get away with a single bulb halide system if I went to a 36 x 24 x 18 high?

I deffinately want a drilled tank this time around. I am looking forward to being able to do most of the maintenance away from the Family room, and without my wife watching so carfully to make sure no water splashes around! :mrgreen: Also looking forward to being able to have some sort of auto top off type set up.

My wife works for an electrical contractor so I will see what kind of MH ballasts she may be able to source for me through work. I belive this is really the biggest cost for this set up, no?

[Bob I]

48X18X18 is 67 gallons. I have a 48X20WX18H on order. I am planning to light it with two 175W halides. Of course I already have the halides, so there is no startup cost. I would very much advise against the 24" high tank, simply because it takes much more light to travel through water you are probably not using anyway. :eek:

[RobbAdams]

Sump would only be about 6-8 feet of head, as it is a Split level, the Floor of the basement, and the floor of the room I am planning on putting the tank in are only 4.5 feet apart. It is more of an in wall tank, with the closet being a bit lower than the display.

My only issue with a taller tank is I would have a hard time reaching the bottom of it!

[trilinearmipmap]

Actually there are some advantages to the deeper tank. A larger water volume providing more stability of water conditions for one. More room for fish to swim and more room for aquascaping also.

I am having problems with some LPS (open brain) being burned by too much light on the bottom of my 24" deep tank with T5 lighting. I don't agree with the light/depth argument unless an SPS/clam tank is planned.

[Bob I]

I am having problems with some LPS (open brain) being burned by too much light on the bottom of my 24" deep tank with T5 lighting. I don't agree with the light/depth argument unless an SPS/clam tank is planned.

You are of course welcome to your opinion, as I am to mine. I am however very surprised to hear about an Open Brain burning under T5 lighting. I have an open brain under a 175W halide on a 18" deep tank. I have never seen any evidence of burning. :biggrin:

[BMW Rider]

Deep tanks are nice for visual appeal. They are also a bit more af a pain to work in due to the depth. My reef tank is 32" deep and I quite like how it looks. Despite the need for using tongs to reach the bottom all the time, I would do a deep tank again. I have 2 - 250 W MHs and 2 - 96 w PCs, and have no trouble with LPS or SPS anywhere I place them.

[medican]

18 is better than 14 but 24 is easy to look at and a little more hight is better. 6-8 feet is not bad just make sure you account for it when getting a pump I would go a little bit bigger of a pump than you think you need you can loose head in all sorts of places and it adds up....safe than sorry thing. In my mind the width is important as well galons fade to the background as I have seen 200gal tanks look smaller than 90s (sort of) go look at the different sizes tanks as to look at all the sizes you are thinking of, then look at them again..........you can deal with a tank thats a little bigger than you wanted but once its to small :evil:

as you can see from just a few posts.......its blender time

I have seen this burning from t5 and it is a factor in the tank hight.

[trilinearmipmap]

Well I am assuming it is burning from the light, I should have said bleaching.

I got the open brain about two months ago, it is a Trachyphyllia species which is supposed to require less light than other species. The colors faded out to a very pale color, I had it on the front sandbed with no shading. Then I read on RC about this type of brain being a lower-light coral, so I moved it under an overhang a few days ago.

Unfortunately all along the brain would not feed and today it completely disintegrated, not sure if this was due to light shock, starvation, or perhaps proximity to a leather in its new location.

[danny zubot]

I would say its a combo of all of those reasons. I've never had a problem with softies and lps at the bottom of my 24 inch high tank. But I did shock a couple of acros at the top when I first got my MH lights.

Robb, a 24 inch high tank is cool because it gives you the diversity to arrange your corals vertically as well as horizontally. You can put anything requiring higher light up high, its that simple.

[RobbAdams]

OK, What are the main differences as well as the Pro's and Con's of an External/Internal overflow?

[Stasher]

How much in power costs are you actually worried about?
I have 24" deep 60" long tank. I am running 2 110w actinic vhos and 2 250w MH bulbs. The vho are on for 14hrs and the mh for 10hrs a day. I utilized this power calculator and input my kw cost off my power bill and calculated that it costs $20/month for my lights. Is this too much for you?

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/calcs2.php?type=electric

[RobbAdams]

Probably not, I am mainly conscerned about the big bill to buy the lights more than the cost of operating them! I am working on getting my wife to source me a pair of 150 watt ballasts for a potential DE set up.

[Stasher]

Ok, ya...definatelt bigger worry buying them than pauying power bill.
I picked up my entire setup with bulbs, ballasts, reflectors, fans and wiring for 960 including taxes and shipping.

http://ist234.sasktelwebsite.net/light1.JPG

http://ist234.sasktelwebsite.net/light2.JPG

http://ist234.sasktelwebsite.net/ballast.JPG

http://ist234.sasktelwebsite.net/timer.JPG

[christyf5]

Hehe, its your tank, do what you want with it!! :wink:

Personally, I have a 90 gal (48x18x24). The height of the tank is incredibly annoying as I can't reach the bottom with my arm unless I'm practically in the tank. As soon as financially possible, I'm gettin me a 75g tank (48x18x20), it just works better for me.

There is nothing wrong with just using PC or what have you for lighting if you're into softies, but if you're thinking you may get hooked on sps/clams down the road you may want to sink your money into MH now instead of having to buy both PC and MH down the road. If I wasn't into having SPS I would have gone with PC lighting as the bulbs are so much cheaper (it practically kills me to buy new MH bulbs :razz:).

Internal vs external overflows, well I like my internal overflow. I used to have a external on my 48g tank. I had no problems with it but algae used to grow in the U tube and I had to clean it alot, I'm not sure whether the algae created the air pocket in the tube or what but there were a few times where just a bit more air and the siphon would have been lost probably (this case scenario is probably just mine as I seem to have a knack for growing algae as anyone here will surely tell you). When I upgraded to the 90 I figured what the heck and got the tank drilled. I still have to worry about the algae situation, now it just takes longer as it tries to clog up my overflow pipe (I'm sure again, I am the only one with this problem).

Definitely meet up with some other reefers, see what they wished they had done or what they have done to make their setups better, check out their setups, equipment and livestock and see what you are really interested in. Then take it from there. I know I wished I had done that when I first started out, you can get way more ideas by doing it that way.

just my two cents.

Christy :)

[RobbAdams]

Well I have PM'd Alan about his set up that he is looking to get rid of so I will have to see what his is set up like and then work from there.