New tank help please

[ibill1971]

Hi all, I have a 450 Gallon Reef in my living room and we got the blue prints for the basement we are finishing. The wife is allowing me to have room for a 2nd tank there. Here is what I have got approved on the prints.

1. I get a room behind the tank that will be 12ft x 3ft. They will be putting in a drain and water lines in there as well as HVAC.

2. The tank will be about 8 or 10Ft long, if we go 10, the price goes way up, so might cut back as they said the 10ft sheets are much more costly. at the end it will have a 45 degree angle and go about 2.5ft there. The back will be 2 pieces toghter as it will be the back and colored, it don't matter. You will only see the front side not the sides as they will be behind the wall.

I got the pricing from ATM in Vegas

I can go 3ft or 4ft high. If I go 3ft high, I will build the frame out of 4x8 wood as that is what I did for my tank up in the living room.

My goal is to make it as big as i can without paying the 9K for 10ft sheets, if I can stay around the 8ft sheets, the cost is 6K.

Any ideas? would you go 4ft tall? or keep it 3ft or smaller?

Thanks,

 

[username in use]

4ft is an impressive height, and can give you a ton of options in terms of your scape. If you have the height in the basement to do it and still have easy access then I would be down for it. (assuming you've considered the extra costs in terms of lights and the difficulty in cleaning and are cool with all that)

 

[dzfish17]

Sounds like what I did. I wanted the biggest tank (600g 96x36x46) I could get without going to 10'. It was a little over 5k 2yrs. ago. If you're going reef than you might want to go 36". Like the above post states the cost of lighting, ect. is what helped me decide to go FOWLR for a couple of years until I have the resources to do a proper reef tank.

Dave

 

[ibill1971]

ok my tank in the front room I have 3 400 MH on it. that is 36 inches deep. I here there is some new t5's that can go up to 5ft deep is this correct? even if not, MH should hit the 4ft mark correct?

 

[srusso]

ok my tank in the front room I have 3 400 MH on it. that is 36 inches deep. I here there is some new t5's that can go up to 5ft deep is this correct? even if not, MH should hit the 4ft mark correct?

MH is only effective 3ft deep, from what I remember. I haven't heard anything about T5's that can 5ft deep... Unless there is a new type I thought T5VHO was the best type of T5 made... My 2cents is go with a 36" deep tank, it's hard enough to reach the bottom of already, 4ft and you'll need some scuba gear! Lol! What about 9ft long?

 

[username in use]

MH is only effective 3ft deep,

I know of a 6ft deep tank with metal halides. Of course they are 1000w but it can be done.

He also doesn't need sps on the bottom of the tank, so 400w should be fine.

 

[srusso]

I know of a 6ft deep tank with metal halides. Of course they are 1000w but it can be done.

He also doesn't need sps on the bottom of the tank, so 400w should be fine.

That is true...

 

[dave.m]

Three foot deep is a happy compromise between showtank quality views and reasonable maintenance costs. I would, however go for four feet wide to give you the room to do some proper aquascaping. Just for fun, ask them how much it would cost for twelve feet long.

Dave.M