help me pick out a tank!

[Tickle]

Hey everyone, Im not sure where I should post this thread so I posted it here in general.
I just purchased my 1st home in the middle of october ( go me! ) and I got the ok from the mrs to do a in wall build. I currently have a 40 breeder and am very pleased with it but obviously I want something bigger.
The wall I have to work off of is about 78" wide, I plan on building a stand off of it and then sheetrocking it floor to ceiling with cabinet doors top and bottom to access lights and some of the plumbing. Directly behind the wall is a stairwell leading to the unfinished basement. I will also have a sump located in the basement with a 3 wall fish room to help brace the floor.
My question Im getting at is what size tank does everyone suggest I get? Everyone says bigger is better but I'm concerned about the cost of setting up and maintaining lets say a 120 vs 200 gallon system? I will most likely be buying the tank used so its pretty much whatever comes along at the time but I would like to have somewhat of a game plan.
The lights will be all LED and Solar Tubes and the whole build will be DIY for the most part.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Raffm22]

Max water volume that you can. Makes for a more stable system.

 

[nattydread]

If you are going to do it right, the cost between maintaining a 180 vs. 120 is negligible.

I would go with a stock 180, oceanic or something. Starphire in the front is all you need.

 

[buckeyereefer1]

definitely something at least 24" front to back. more is better. length depends on livestock choices an how much light you want to pay for. how bout depth of sand or bare bottom ? if going with much sand i would look for a 210G tank same foot print as 180 just little taller.

 

[hobbzz]

I agree with everyone else. Not sure where you are but 180's don't come up very often around here. Last one sold for $1k, 120's sell for $3-400.

 

[BigCountry74]

go big or go home

 

[Bernie21]

ITs what your wallet can allow, but if youre looking used, Im sure the difference between a large tank & a smaller one is negligible. Plus its only the upfront cost that is significant . SO if you cant afford the difference , just wait alil longer, Im sure you'll be happier!

 

[Tickle]

I'm going with a sand bed but not a deep one. I'm located in central Wisconsin and I'm hoping that the solar tubes will do most the lighting and I'll supplement actinic and white for those cloudy days. If the maintenance cost is minimal and its not all that harder to keep a very large tank than I will get the biggest possible when I decide I'm ready.

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[CenterConsole]

If the choice is between a 120g and 180g definitely go 180g. That extra 2ft of length will open up the livestock options immensely (especially for tangs).

 

[gone fishin]

I agree if you are stuck between a 120 or 180 then I would go with the 180. When you get time come by the house and I will let you know what it cost me to setup mine up to give you an idea. How is the house coming along.

 

[sponger0]

go big or go home

Agreed. But if it isnt big and it's in your home....then where do you go? lmao

 

[Fizz71]

I have to admit I know NOTHING about solar tubes so I could be way off here, but I personally would consider size more then volume...What I mean is do some research on the solar tubes you're looking to use because if the tank is too tall and the surface to sand distance is too much your par down low might be too low for corals. And if your tank is too "deep" (front to back) you may not get the coverage you need without doubling up. Your length is wallet dependent.

 

[Tickle]

I agree if you are stuck between a 120 or 180 then I would go with the 180. When you get time come by the house and I will let you know what it cost me to setup mine up to give you an idea. How is the house coming along.

Hey thanks I'll definitely swing over your way, depending on how it goes I actually have a coral for you. House is going great except for the $500 septic backup that occurred Saturday lol

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[Tickle]

I have to admit I know NOTHING about solar tubes so I could be way off here, but I personally would consider size more then volume...What I mean is do some research on the solar tubes you're looking to use because if the tank is too tall and the surface to sand distance is too much your par down low might be too low for corals. And if your tank is too "deep" (front to back) you may not get the coverage you need without doubling up. Your length is wallet dependent.

I dont know a whole heap about the solar tubes either just that a couple people have used them, I think it will definitely penetrate to the bottom of the tank seeing as the power of the sun isn't reduced too much as it comes through the tube ( from what I understand ). When I recently started researching them I had noticed they have a range of lenses. I'm probably still going to run a main daylight but for a shorter period of time than if it was the sole source.

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[gone fishin]

I am off on the weekends until the end of the year. Welcome to home ownership LOL. It is always something

 

[Fizz71]

I dont know a whole heap about the solar tubes either just that a couple people have used them, I think it will definitely penetrate to the bottom of the tank seeing as the power of the sun isn't reduced too much as it comes through the tube ( from what I understand ). When I recently started researching them I had noticed they have a range of lenses. I'm probably still going to run a main daylight but for a shorter period of time than if it was the sole source.

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I had done some quick reading when you posted just because I was curious and I saw a WIDE range of "how to use it" including many that said "as supplemental only"...I'm curious what you find out as I only spent about 10 minutes reading.

 

[Tickle]

I had done some quick reading when you posted just because I was curious and I saw a WIDE range of "how to use it" including many that said "as supplemental only"...I'm curious what you find out as I only spent about 10 minutes reading.

I have seen a couple instances of people using it as their sole lighting but haven't had alot of time to research it in depth myself. I do know that there are a couple threads on here that dig pretty deep into it perhaps I'll try to look them up this evening.

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[Tickle]

So this is kind of what I was thinking, I most likely wont go bigger than a 180 due to the availability of things such as skimmers and the cost of the equipment once you cross the 180 mark and the availability for a 180 seems to be alright in my area. I currently have a 50 gallon stock tank but may decide on a 100 gallon one and I also have the 40 as my main display now.
Also depending on the tank I purchase most are RR with corner overflows, If I find a undrilled one I may do a C2C overflow and that may change the plumbing to the sump but not from it. Im unsure of what size pvc to use. I was thinking 1 1/2 from the sump to a T and then build the manifold out of 1" to help maintain head pressure.
The drawing I threw up there would be the back wall of my 3 wall fish room and its viewed as if you were looking through the wall.
Any thoughts on that layout? Yay/Nay?

EDIT: Looking at the drawing again the overflow that comes all the way from the left Id probably just run diagonal across the wall till it hit the sump instead of running all the way over and angling back.

 

[moab]

I dont know a whole heap about the solar tubes either just that a couple people have used them, I think it will definitely penetrate to the bottom of the tank seeing as the power of the sun isn't reduced too much as it comes through the tube ( from what I understand ). When I recently started researching them I had noticed they have a range of lenses. I'm probably still going to run a main daylight but for a shorter period of time than if it was the sole source.

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I think Solar Tubes would be my ultimate setup. I am not using them right now because they really would not work in the spot where I prefer to keep my tank on the third level down from the top level of my house. I chose this level of my house due to this part of the house stays cooler and there is no need for a chiller on my tank in the summer. I can not run Solar Tubes on this level. Top level would work, but that level get's hotter and would require a chiller.

Some people say to not have sunlight shining on a tank at all. Most of the reason they say this is due to algae will grow more. I have my Red Sea 34 gallon reef tank in a corner right next to a window(south east side corner of the house). I let the sun shine in the room by adjusting the window blind being open. The sunlight does hit the tank directly for about three hours in this location and then it is indirect sunlight for the rest of daylight hours. No problem with the tank ever getting much hotter than what I have my heaters set at which is 79.3 degrees fahrenheit. I use two 26 gallon tank rated Eheim Jager heaters together on this tank. I spent several days getting each heater set on 79.3 degrees. I was shooting for 79 degrees, but each one wanted to run at 79.3 which is fine. My tank does not fluctuate much from 79.3 using both heaters together. If the sun is hitting the tank the highest it ever get's is 79.7 degrees. The idea was if one heater ever failed and stuck on it would not have enough wattage to fry the tank. Using a controller on one heater is another option.

I am not using RO water. Just plain tap water. I do use GFO to reduce phosphates in this tank since I am using tap water. When I do test the tank water for phosphates it reads zero using the GFO. Algae is growing fine on the back wall of the tank that I never clean and is growing fine on the reef rock also(I do not have any hair algae in my tank) even though the phosphates are reading zero with my Hanna phosphate checker. My snails do a great job of cleaning the algae off of the reef rock. I have to clean the glass off in my tank every two days. It always looks great when I clean it every two days.

Hope this info helps you with your plan of using Solar Tubes.

 

[moab]

If I was going to setup a 180 with a refugium. I would do the quiet overflow which is talked about on this forum and Bulk Reef Supply posted a video about on You tube. You have two PVC lines as drains out of the tank. One line has a gated valve to adjust the water flowing out of the tank to match the flow of what your water pump is pumping into the tank and the other line is an emergency drain without a valve if the tank ever did start to overflow. This type of drain is quiet and eliminates water ever overflowing onto your floor. My friend runs this drain system on his tank and he loves it because it is quiet and it has eliminated his tanks overflowing ever.

I would use a UV sterilizer like the powerful one's Bulk Reef Supply sells on a tank of this size for two reasons. #1 reason is it will keep your water looking crystal clear. #2 it will kill parasites when you use one that is powerful enough. My 34 gallon Red Sea looks great when looking at it from the front on it's dirtiest day, but when looking at the tank water from the side of the tank that shows through to the white wall it looks slightly greenish on the 30th day after my last water change. A water change clears this right up however and I have been doing water changes every 30 days on this tank which needs to be done maybe every 20 days on my reef tank system. I am not using a UV sterilizer on this tank(just a skimmer, both stock water flow pumps, one hydor circulation pump for extra water flow, Rox carbon and GFO). You can read about all of these products and people's reviews of these products on the Bulk Reef Supply website.

I would also read the book The Reef Aquarium by Delbeek and Sprung before building this system and spending a ton of money. This book is considered one of the bibles on reef tanks and will help you decide on exactly how you should set up your tank. I bought a used mint copy of this book off of Amazon.