Moving to a bigger tank

NoxAeternus

New member
Hello all,

I currently have a 29 gallon BioCube and am looking to move to a larger tank (not sure what size). Obviously since the BioCube is an all-in-one sort of device, I'd need to pretty much buy everything from scratch.

First off, what size of a tank is decent? I'm looking to do mostly corals, but would like to have a variety of smaller fish (perhaps slightly larger than a clownfish) angelfish, lionfish and maybe seahorses. I'd like to have a large enough tank to not be limited, but not an outrageously huge tank due to money and size. I'm thinking of something between 125 and 200g. Obviously the dimensions of a tank probably have a large bit to do with what I can and can't have.

Secondly, what sort of equipment would be the minimum I would need, and what would be good ideas? I would guess pumps (maybe a sump, I don't know what's "best"), a skimmer, and lighting. I have seen larger filters (carbon, etc) and other sorts of reactors (calcium, phosphate). Don't know if I need these right away.

What is a good design for a tank? I would prefer to have 3 sides "viewable", with one of the short sides being the overflow and the one up against the wall. Is having the tank drilled from the bottom the best choice here?

Is a refugium necessary on a tank like this? Could I make a refuguim show-quality so that I could have more docile creatures (such as the seahorses) there, or do they tend to be 'ugly' by their nature?

Thanks for your advice!
 
Like Ziggy said, the type of livestock you decide on will dictate your equipment needs.

If you're looking at lionfish, you will be dealing with an aggressive/predator type tank and most small fish and invertabrates will be out.

You are correct though... the larger the tank, the more options you will have. I don't think you'll find any fish that a tank is "too large" for... :p

Refugiums are great because they provide added volume to your system, and they are also a great place for natural filtration and breeding of invertabrates. I would definately recommend one, whether it is viewable or not.

Refugiums can also be viewable, I've seen them as strictly cheato, sand, and LR stores housed in rubbermaid bins... and also in nice aquariums used as a place for more docile fsh and invertabrates. As far as their looks... that's controlled by you, and the amount of maintenace you decide to perform.
 
hi. i'll take a stab at it.

lionfish get about 5" long. and that's the smaller species of lion.. however, anything from 125 gallons and up is plenty big for something that size, with their swimming habits.

angelfish can be coral nippers.


most stock tanks aren't going to have a single overflow at the short end. you'll probably have to get something made(as stated above). also, alot of stock tanks have tempered glass bottoms, and can't be drilled.

you don't need a refugium, but alot of people have them and like the benefits of one.
i've seen some really awesome refugiums with seahorses in them. check this one out:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/10/aquarium


again, ziggy is right. you need to decide what corals you will want to have in your tank before you choose things like lighting, and you'll need to choose the size tank before you can decide what skimmer/sump/pumps you are going to need.

and lastly, you need to research every animal you want to keep, because their behavior and care requirements are so much different.
lionfish for example are carnivores. they will eat any small fish and shrimp you have.
angels can be coral nippers. it's not unheard of to have a piece of coral in your tank that put you out two or three hundred dollars, and suddenly watch in awe as your angel is taking bites out of it.

it really makes for a bad day!

you won't need a calcium reactor for a while, unless you end up purchasing very large sps colonies and big clams early on.

a phosphate reactor is a good idea, but not mandatory. i don't use one. i don't have phosphate problems.

if you don't already have one, an R.O.D.I. unit is a mandatory piece of equiptment.

i would like to suggest to you, to choose a tank that's not super tall, but is very deep from front to back.
my tank is 25" deep, and i bruise my underarms trying to pick up things off of the sand bed.
also, the deper the tank, the more powerful the lighting will have to be, in order to reach the bottom effectively.

my tank is 30" from front to back though, and not a person who comes to see it, doesn't love that aspect. in hindsight, i wish i would have made the tank 36" from front to back and perhaps 24" deep.
also, see if you can have the overflows external. my overflow(s) take up too much space. i thought with a 200 gallon tank i'd never run out of room, but it happened fast.


good luck!
 
I think a good size is a standard 120 (4'x2'x2'). Many would say go as large as you can afford. That being said

I think a "mixed reef" like you described will automatically eliminate the lionfish. They like to eat the tasty critters that make a reef interesting and possible. Angels and SPS are also a bad idea as state above.

A couple of questions:
What do you want to keep specifically?
What kind of budget do you have?

One thing you must realize with a large tank is that they also cost $$$ to run. My 120 puts about 60 bucks a month on my powerbill not to mention salt for weekly water changes, food and additives.
 
Wow, thanks for all the great advice.

I'm not really sure what I'd like to keep as I haven't researched much, since i never really had the ability to keep anything. This is now obvious since I really didn't know about angels gobbling up coral or lionfish being extremely aggressive. I do plan on doing a lot of research on the tank, which is why I came here for advice.

Browsing the forums, looking at tank pictures, and looking at a few LFSs in the area; I'd really like to get into SPS, but I do like some of the soft corals as well.

As far as fish go, I liked a lionfish because of its look, but if it's incompatible with cool reef fish, then I won't persue one. Ideally, I would like a bunch of smaller, colorful fish. I'd want a reef with a bunch of life that would always seem like it's changing. Looking at HammerDude33's link to the refugium with seahorses, making something like that would be perfect in my opinion.

As far as a budget goes, I'd probably add to the tank a little at a time, although I do know that I'll take an initial hit in purchasing everything with the tank setup. I could probably deal with $60 or so in electric bills. I live in San Diego, CA and am lucky enough to be able to use free filtered sea water from Scripps (oceanography institute) pier.

Again, thanks for all your advice. I greatly appreciate it.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12045930#post12045930 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NoxAeternus
Wow, thanks for all the great advice.

I'm not really sure what I'd like to keep as I haven't researched much, since i never really had the ability to keep anything. This is now obvious since I really didn't know about angels gobbling up coral or lionfish being extremely aggressive. I do plan on doing a lot of research on the tank, which is why I came here for advice.

Browsing the forums, looking at tank pictures, and looking at a few LFSs in the area; I'd really like to get into SPS, but I do like some of the soft corals as well.

As far as fish go, I liked a lionfish because of its look, but if it's incompatible with cool reef fish, then I won't persue one. Ideally, I would like a bunch of smaller, colorful fish. I'd want a reef with a bunch of life that would always seem like it's changing. Looking at HammerDude33's link to the refugium with seahorses, making something like that would be perfect in my opinion.

As far as a budget goes, I'd probably add to the tank a little at a time, although I do know that I'll take an initial hit in purchasing everything with the tank setup. I could probably deal with $60 or so in electric bills. I live in San Diego, CA and am lucky enough to be able to use free filtered sea water from Scripps (oceanography institute) pier.

Again, thanks for all your advice. I greatly appreciate it.

I have provided some links on this thread for you to browse for ideas:


http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1340268
 
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