so I saw a perfect sized big tank. need some help on parts

[m0nkie]

Hi everyone. I want to ask folks with bigger tanks about equipment!!!

I was shopping around and saw a used tank perfect for my house. It's pretty much THE perfect sized tank for me.. 10x3x3 3 side starphire. dual herbie overflow. euro braced. 10 holes drilled on top for return. around 650gals + sump.

price is the same as building a brand new same sized acrylic tank..

so.. having some thoughts on getting it home. First I want to ask for recommendations on parts. I want to use all my current parts. It's not going to be pretty, but it should be enough till I can replace them with nicer things.

here's how my room sits right now. the gap is 14 x 3.5.. I can put that tank in perfectly flush with about 2 ft on both sides and half ft in the back.

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1) Return Pump: What return pump should I get? I've been using Fluval6. Don't think it's enough. are external pumps better for large tanks? I will have lot of sump space. the return holes are all drilled into the euro brace. 10 of them. each around 2 inche

2) Lighting: I have 1 AP700 and 3 360E... I can probably light up half the tank to grow my current corals. Plan is to have 3 AP700 and T5 bars.

3) Flow: I have 2 Gyre 150, 1 Gyre 130, 2 WP40, and 1 MP10. enough for this size?? I really don't have a clue.

4) Skimmer: I have Bubble King DC180 and 2 crappy CADS skimmer rated for 200gals each. I think do-able for my current bio-load Any recommendation on future skimmer for these tanks?

other things will be hooked on too. APEX, 1/2hp chiller (prob not needed), ARID, Calcium Reactor rated for 300gal, 2 Part dosing if needed..

Anything I'm missing??? do you guys think these equipment are do-able for a year? keeping bio-load light.

thanks

 

[bozoreefer]

Please... With a tank that large, there is no such thing as "light bio load" hahahah. Jk. I think u should be fine. I'm starting a large tank too, 225. Not large as yours, but im re using all my equipment. Aquamaxx q3 skimmer, dct12000return. 2 stenner peristaltic pumps. 1 for ATO and one dual head for AWC.

I just need to upgrade lights.

 

[m0nkie]

 

[m0nkie]

Please... With a tank that large, there is no such thing as "light bio load" hahahah. Jk. I think u should be fine. I'm starting a large tank too, 225. Not large as yours, but im re using all my equipment. Aquamaxx q3 skimmer, dct12000return. 2 stenner peristaltic pumps. 1 for ATO and one dual head for AWC.

I just need to upgrade lights.

hahaha.. true.. cause the first thing I'm going to do is set up these 100gal as QT and start buying tangs...

but I really don't want to start running this and realize my skimming is not enough and facing a $5000 skimmer or something..

if it cost way too much to start up, I'll just sit back for a few more years and save $$$

monthly expense shouldn't be too bad.. I got solar panels for electricity. water is cheap.. salt may be an issue too

 

[bobbychullo]

that looks like the inside of unique corals

 

[bozoreefer]

hahaha.. true.. cause the first thing I'm going to do is set up these 100gal as QT and start buying tangs...

but I really don't want to start running this and realize my skimming is not enough and facing a $5000 skimmer or something..

if it cost way too much to start up, I'll just sit back for a few more years and save $$$

monthly expense shouldn't be too bad.. I got solar panels for electricity. water is cheap.. salt may be an issue too

Wait til the next half off instant ocean sale.. I picked up the last 6 buckets in South OC hahah. Unless you use special salt. If so, pm me I got the low low.

 

[m0nkie]

that looks like the inside of unique corals

Indeed. Dave got me good

 

[bobafet1]

where you putting that tank? In the same room as your other ones? That thing is going to weigh at least a ton. What are you doing for a stand?

 

[dodgerblew]

Indeed. Dave got me good

Why don't you ask Dave these questions. No one better to answer questions on large tanks, equipment and large tank equipment.

 

[acesq]

Trade up to the 500g DaStaCo before you set up your current one. The price difference is minimal since the only difference is the size of the vessels.

 

[Jetsetter57]

I would think with dual overflows you'd have the champ to setup dual return pumps. Good backup and a chance to really have great flow with a minimal investment.

 

[m0nkie]

where you putting that tank? In the same room as your other ones? That thing is going to weigh at least a ton. What are you doing for a stand?

It comes with a super big steel stand. It will fitwhere the 2 tanks are sitting at

Why don't you ask Dave these questions. No one better to answer questions on large tanks, equipment and large tank equipment.

Yup. Im going to visit him today

 

[pciscott]

Get ready to double up on your solar panels, Tier 4 is where my tank lives and in CA the electricity to run this size system is a car payment. How many Radions would you need to cover it? Skimmers, huge sump to handle volume, extensive quarantine, back up power, salt, Rodi filters, space for everything, and huge amounts of food. Now you need coral and fish and a bunch of it. In a tank that size you can't even see a frag, so you always need more. Now on to the time factor. You have now taken on a second job as a Marine Biologist and the hours are rewarding, but the pay stinks. Now if this still sounds fun, you can afford both time and money, and most importantly that you have the support of your family. Go for it

I saw your post about your new toys, and a Dastaco reactor is on my short list of new equipment, but my wife has me on tank money lock down. You can do everything cheaper of course, but the reality is a tank this size will average over $1000 a month for the next 3 years(conservative in my opinion), and one mistake or failure and the contents are soup. I came very close to that this week.

3 years down the road you can sell some frags to help cover expenses, but I see that as tank money and there is always a shiny new reactor, crazy rare Fish, or Jaw Dropping Acro!

 

[OG Reefs]

OH SMACK! that's close to the dimensions I would like to end up with. Can't wait to see this thing come alive.

 

[phatsonate]

Seems like all of the big tanks are plumbed into the garage or dedicated fish room. Any plan of this? That is the only way I would go after having had a moderate sized 215 that was not next to a garage. PIA to do water changes.

 

[m0nkie]

Seems like all of the big tanks are plumbed into the garage or dedicated fish room. Any plan of this? That is the only way I would go after having had a moderate sized 215 that was not next to a garage. PIA to do water changes.

I think my livingroom will turn into the fish room haha.. every new reef toy I buy, I sell some furniture to make space.. garage is already slowly being transformed into a QT center.

 

[m0nkie]

Get ready to double up on your solar panels, Tier 4 is where my tank lives and in CA the electricity to run this size system is a car payment. How many Radions would you need to cover it? Skimmers, huge sump to handle volume, extensive quarantine, back up power, salt, Rodi filters, space for everything, and huge amounts of food. Now you need coral and fish and a bunch of it. In a tank that size you can't even see a frag, so you always need more. Now on to the time factor. You have now taken on a second job as a Marine Biologist and the hours are rewarding, but the pay stinks. Now if this still sounds fun, you can afford both time and money, and most importantly that you have the support of your family. Go for it

I saw your post about your new toys, and a Dastaco reactor is on my short list of new equipment, but my wife has me on tank money lock down. You can do everything cheaper of course, but the reality is a tank this size will average over $1000 a month for the next 3 years(conservative in my opinion), and one mistake or failure and the contents are soup. I came very close to that this week.

3 years down the road you can sell some frags to help cover expenses, but I see that as tank money and there is always a shiny new reactor, crazy rare Fish, or Jaw Dropping Acro!

thank you! very helpful post. I'm running ~400gallon total right now. Middle of Tier3, around 550kWh. How many kWh do you use average?

and what large skimmer do you use? I haven't seen your tank but based on your coral list, it must be top top notch!

 

[m0nkie]

Trade up to the 500g DaStaCo before you set up your current one. The price difference is minimal since the only difference is the size of the vessels.

thanks! going to talk with Unique today...

Dave is going to try talk me into putting a deposit down. debating if I should go.. :lmao:

I would think with dual overflows you'd have the champ to setup dual return pumps. Good backup and a chance to really have great flow with a minimal investment.

good idea! I'm looking at the Red Dragon 3 pump. Having a 2nd one as back up is smart

 

[o2manyfish]

Tony,

Don't get too overwhelmed by what you need to upgrade.

Think about what's going to be in your sump with your new tank... Skimmer, maybe some reactors, but these days we don't keep much else in there. If now or later you buy a big skimmer suitable for this size tank... Reef Octopus, ATB, etc etc Look at the flow rate through these skimmers... at most it's maybe 1500g an hour.

So you only need to move 1500g /hour through your sump. Anything else is just water flowing in a circle. Moving water from the sump to the tank is much more expensive than moving water already in the tank. So rather than paying to pump 4000-10000 gph through your sump -- Use internal pumps - Tunze, Ecotech, WAV and move more water, with more control for alot less electricity.

You are going to need more lighting. But if you want to get up and running, you start with the lights you have and the corals you have, on one side of the tank. You put something inexpensive that just makes light on the other side of the tank so you can see the fish.As budget allows you just keep adding lights and moving across the tank adding more lights and corals along the way.

You have the Calcium Reactor. The ratings on a Calcium reactor is meaning less. The smallest calcium reactor can run the largest aquarium. It's all about melting media. The larger calcium reactor just determines how frequently you have to open the reactor to add media.

My previous Calcium Reactor (for 12+ years) was HawkDll reactor made by a local reefer. It was a single 4" by 18" chamber. It kept my 1000g of SPS at a dkh 14. And with Reborn media I had to add media maybe 2x a year. And when I started using the Dastaco media, which is much harder and burns much slower, I doubt I would have had to open it to add media more that once every 18months. You don't need to worry about upgrading the calcium reactor you bought until you are up to maybe 6000 gallons, and even then you probably would only have to add media every 6 months.

Your ARID reactor is a good starting point, as long as you don't setup the tank and then drop in 100 large tangs. As your bio-load grows when budget allows pickup a second Arid reactor somewhere along the way.

With the Dastaco Calc Rx and Media - Thats all your calcium and alk needs. So you don't have to do 2 part dosing. Depending on your topoff and water changing regiment you might need to use your old dosing pump to dose trace elements and acro power.

Dave B

 

[m0nkie]

awesome Dave! thanks..

getting more hopeful on this as I'm researching more.. It seems like my biggest invest right now beside the tank itself is a decent return pump and a couple more lights.

I may need a few more internal pumps too, but I can go cheap with WPs..

I really like FOWLR tanks so I may keep it FOWLR for now.. add corals from 1 side to the other slowly as Dave suggested.

keeping bioload down is tough.. I know I'll be tempted to buy all the fish.. but I understand what I'm getting into. catching them is too hard. so strict QT procedures.

I need to ask a few more folks about their total electrical cost.. this kinda scares me. roof has no more space for extra panels