my 400gal work in progress!!!!!!

[sniper87]

I want to apologize now because this is going to be a slow build from me due to time and money constraints as we all know are a problem in this hobby. Well to get started I am slowly working on a new to me 400gal acrylic tank that I just couldn't pass on. Being that it is a previously used tank it does have scratches so I am in the process of buffing those out. I do not currently have any pics of the tank at my house since I got it home, but below is a link to the tank from its previous owner:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1209693

My wife and I both agreed we didn't like the color of the stand so I am in the process of sanding the stand and hood down so that we can restain it to match our current 140 we already have. I plan on taking as many pictures and documenting as much of the build as I can. I have been lurking in the shadows for a couple of months and have learned many things from all of these large tank builds. I hope that I will be able to get input from everyone as well give what I can back to everyone. As things progress I will be asking for opinions on things like fish lists, equipment ideas, and lighting as well as any other thing I might have a problem with. So please feel free to ask me anything or point out anything that might be helpful or otherwise. Once I get more pics I will add to the build thread. Thanks to everyone that follows along.

 

[plyr58]

Welcome! Can't wait to see what you have up your sleeve.

 

[sniper87]

Thanks!! I am still trying to decide if I want to go fowlr because of some of the fish I WANT, but don't really have to have or if I want to do a large reef wall or something similar.

 

[sniper87]

I am really thinking I want to go semi-aggressive to aggressive with this tank. I would love to have a few tangs in here but because it isn't a long tank , but a tall tank I think aggressive would be better. Any ideas on what I should look at as far as a fish list. I really want a Lionfish, but I'm not really sure what else I would be interested in. Also can you guys give me a few ideas on skimmers. I'm in the dark as to what are good ones and what aren't. Are downdraft skimmers good? Should I go internal or external on the skimmer? Also, what type of flow should I be looking at since it is more than likely going to be a fowlr tank?