SPS dominated dream reef

The first thing I'd do is make sure my landlord was cool with it. Second thing is make sure his floors were.
 
My first consideration besides what was mentioned above is how long will you be planning to stay there? A tank that size is a huge investment and moving it is no easy task. I just got done moving my 80g from an apartment to my new house and it was one of the most stressful things I have ever done.

As far as equipment, some will depend on the dimensions of your setup, for lighting for instance.
 
James404 said:
My first consideration besides what was mentioned above is how long will you be planning to stay there? A tank that size is a huge investment and moving it is no easy task. I just got done moving my 80g from an apartment to my new house and it was one of the most stressful things I have ever done.

As far as equipment, some will depend on the dimensions of your setup, for lighting for instance.
Click to expand...

This is my Manhattan home and have no plans on moving in the near future. As for size, I definitely want a tank at least 10 ft long and 3 ft wide, prob 3 ft high as well, but that is up for discussion I guess.

You can understand, I'm tired of only seeing my fish once a month in Florida and would like a nice setup up north. Because I obviously do not have a basement everything needs to be located below the tank and for a system this size I have never seen anything underneath. The only way I could do a fish room is by buying the place up stairs labeled Penthouse... but talk about a big investment just for fish :)
 
Stanley-Reefer said:
3 feet tall is too tall to really move, place, retrieve, service ANYTHING without it being a royal pain!
Click to expand...

never really thought about that.... considering it's Manhattan I don't want anyone diving in the tank and splashing water everywhere. What height would you recommend?
 
My 100g is 24" tall and I wouldn't want a taller tank. While I can reach the back corners from the front, if I'm doing a lot of work on the tank, I often end up with sore arm pits from reaching over the rim.

If I were to win the lottery, my custom built tank would be 20" tall. 36" front to back is awesome. 36" tall would be difficult. Also, it would be harder to get adequate par on the bottom of the tank. Would require more powerful lights, more electrical consumption, higher utility bills.
 
^^+1..you dont want a tank deeper than 25"...I'd say 30" tops. fish swim horizontally not vertically. the added height would be redundant. u normally see 36" on very large tanks, ~1000+ gallons.
 
I just helped move a 400g (plus) tank (glass) and its estimated weight was 1400lbs empty. Its length was 8ft and 3ft wide and i think 30 to 36" tall, or something like that. It took a very long time and alot of people to move it, but then again I'm sooo jealous
 
t4zalews said:
^^+1..you dont want a tank deeper than 25"...I'd say 30" tops. fish swim horizontally not vertically. the added height would be redundant. u normally see 36" on very large tanks, ~1000+ gallons.
Click to expand...

Ok. So let's say 30" tall.. I agree now that I think about it I don't want it to deep... What about filtration? Everything needs to sit under the tank unfortunately.
 
That much volume and having to have equipment fit under it will be a challenge come skimmer time too. You may end up running multiple units, but a tank that size has loads of room underneath.

I agree with Reef Bass about 20" deep would be great. lost of swim room, easy to get into, easier on lighting needs and opens alot of wiggle room on cabinet height too in order to fit your equipment underneath:
Sump
Skimmers
heater
Ca Reactor
ballasts
etc.
 
36" is too tall. 30' would look good aesthetically, but, you will need metal halid for sps. 24" if you are going with T5s. Anything less than 24" will not look right proportioned.
I would design your stand and sump carefully. Height is most important to accomadate a skimmer (your limiting factor). I would start and look at the Super Reef Oct the internal models. Next decide if you are getting a ca reactor or dosing. For tank this size, the larger the sump the better. I would go with steel with powder coating to minimize the cross support needed.
There are not alot of corners to cut in the system this big. All the equipment are very expansive.
Good luck.
 
What about making a wall on the two sides and front of the tank? This way it's "in wall". How tall are the ceilings? It doesn't seem too far fetched to fit everything you need under the tank. Just the planning will be key. I'm sure there's several tank system builders in your area. You've just got to find one with the skills you require.
 
It's been my dream to have a huge tank (someday Ill get there :) ) and as far as lighting goes heres my 2 cents...

Id have a 30" tall tank with 'islands' of LR and coral, that way you can keep the lighting above these islands intense enough for stony corals annd the rest could be free swimming space for fish that doesnt need to be lit as intensely. Ive seen this executed on smaller 100-300 gal tanks and its awesome, I'd love to try it myself on a biiiig system. Similar to the 'spotlight' lighting on those Japanese tanks. This would cut down on costs to actually maintain a huge reef and would look pretty awesome as well, not to mention it would give plenty of room for flow and circulation to get around the tank. The added bonus would be that your reef would fill in very nice like a real reef and you would have a 'rock wall' look.

Of course this is just what Id experiment with :P good luck!
 
I might even go 36" and go a little wider than long on the tank in the lighting senario I mentioned above.
 
It sounds as thou your ready to invest into this tank, 500-700gl is a large tank that will reshape any appartment, I would suggest that you consider your living space and work it in a fasion were you can create a wet room behind,beside or even, a room over as you know tanks this size have substantial plumbing/reactors/controls and maintanance to go with them
A space designed for the "behind the sceans" will at the end of the day be your favourite part of the tank ,unless you like crawling around on the old hands and knees under the tank. JM2C
 
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