Ready to upgrade...time for: Dumb ?s by the newbie!

[reese1906]

OK...not a new to maintaining reef aquariums (although I'm still learning) but I'm ready to step up to a 220+ tank. Seems that all glass aquarium only manufactures up to 210. I'm thinking dimensions like: 96" or 72" X 24" or 30" X 24"

So round one of "Dumb Newbie Questions": (all opinions will be accepted)


1) Glass or acrylic?
2) What are the pro's and con's of the different dimensions i.e. difficult to find lighting? Difficult to find hoods? etc....or is it just preference
2) Overflow Question: 2 Corner? or 2 MegaFlow (back wall)?
3) Where can I find a tank like this (obviously not AGA)
4) Any other thing I need to consider prior to purchasing large tank?

Sorry for the newbie questions...but I'd rather deal with the wrath from you guys vs my wife...if she finds out I made expensive mistakes!

Reese

 

[WDLV]

I'm running a 210 AGA [72x24x29]. Perfecto makes a 220 if you really have to have that extra inch of height. I'd do glass for this size tank.

I drilled 2" elbow type overflows, two 2" CL intakes and six 1" CL outputs. My holes are all on the side for easy rear access. If this were not an in-wall tank I'd buy a RR tank and do six CL returns 20" high across the back of the tank and two CL intakes 10" high across the back and run a single Sequence reeflo Barracuda in conjunction with an Oceans Motions 4 way with two outputs on each. I prefer the Closed Loops over powerheads because they take up less real estate inside the tank.

If you're ready to spend the bucks for a custom tank I'd do a 72x36x25 Glass Cages tank with two corner overflows... unless you have a better vendor that will ship for cheap. Mine is ugly from inside the tank room but functional. I'm sure the same configuration could be beautified for a traditional tank.

When you get into the tanks this size and larger, the world is your oyster in terms of lighting. Most anything will fit.

Here's a few shots to give you some ideas of what you can do with this size tank. If you don't like it, it can be an example of what not to do too.

Here's how I configured my plumbing.

This is three Mini Lumen Arc III reflectors with VHOs You can fit regular lumen Arcs over this tank but if you want the VHOs you'll have to get more creative.

Here's an example of how much power you can get out of one Barracuda. I found that it was too powerful so I removed the 3/4" Loc Line and opened it up to one inch outputs.

This is at the 7 month mark. Just to give an Idea of how much Real Estate I saved in doing it this way.

 

[reese1906]

With these large tanks, which is preferred Glass or Acrylic?

 

[WDLV]

With tanks in this size range I'd say the overwhelming majority are glass. When you start getting into the 400 gallon range that starts to change.