Building a Big Boy 220G Well Big For Us

[tprize]

My best friends father, has fallen in love with my 55g reef tank. So since he is building a new house he wants to build a 220g tank into the wall. Unfortunatly he has assigned me to find out what needs to be done to do this. So I have some basic questions on how to take care of a big boy.

1) I suggested to him he pays someone to service the tank for the first 6 months so that he learns how to care for a reef tank do you think this is a good idea? He would like to be as hands off as possible, he is getting into the hobby to enjoy the tank, not so much to grow corals or anything like that.
2) He plans on running his filtration system into his basement, where do you guys get your large sumps, and massive skimmers that I see in all your utility rooms?
3) Should he use a chemical dose method or calcium reactor?
4) Are there any articles I could read on how to start a built in fish tank?

Thanks for taking the time to read this, I am hopeing that by setting him up with a really nice tank that he will fall in love with the hobby just as much as we have.

 

[nyvp]

you first have to come up with the type of system you want.
hard,soft, mix tank (corals) mostly fish with a few pcs?
bare bottom,shallow,deep sand bed?
drip kalc,calc reactor,both?
Closed loop? powerheads?

The idea of getting a service for a while is a good one.

you can get a big pump from any of the regular stores like marine depot or any of the sponsors here on RC seq make a nice line.

If you go into the first forum the newbie area, there are some great articles there. Great place to blast with questions.

 

[tprize]

Ok which forum should I look in to learn about bare bottom, shallow deep sand bed etc..

 

[Shnabbles]

I would suggest you tell him to get a profile here and read read read... If he is going to rely on you to tell him whatever he needs and your arent exactly sure what he needs you'll be playing the learning game with someone elses money... which could make that person very mad lol

 

[tprize]

I really wish I could help him more, but my reef tank is only 56 Gallons and consists of only minor corals. I will set him up with an account, and have him start to explore here. The only reason I haven't already, is the house is about to start to go up, so I needed to know more basics of what requirments are needed for building it in, how to plumb it etc.

 

[Fiziksgeek]

Where are you located?? Hopefully there is a local reef club...great source of info! Might be able to visit someone else tank to get an idea of whats involved.

 

[rockwyld]

if the house is being built, have the builder run a water supply and drain where tank will be located and where the sump will be located. Also run 2-4 dedicated 20amp. electrial lines to tank area. If its not to late, have a floor drain installed where sump will be.

 

[JoeyK@OCMD]

I strongly suggest purchasing THE REEF AQUARIUM, SCIENCE, ART, AND TECHNOLOGY VOL 3 by J.Charles Delbeek and Julian Sprung. Your buddy should read this book. I think it can answer alot of your basic questions. It contains a lot of usefull info on plumbing and tank setup. I would also explain to your friend that it is very unlikely his tank will be hands off, even using a company to maintain it