Starting over!

[Swanwillow]

Howdy, long time no see RC people!

I'm starting from absolute 0. No tank, no lights, nothing.

So if you were going to start from scratch what would you get to make an amazing LPS tank? I'm thinking of doing a tank in the 120-180 gal range.

:bounce3:

 

[Tweaked]

More on the shallow side and t5s with some serious LEDs for night time pop. Low flow and not so much filtration like bio pellets gfo carbon etc. let the tank cycle through the algae woes for about 4-6 months however. Just a couple thoughts.

 

[Swanwillow]

Oh, I know ALLLLLLLL about cycling. I usually buy my tanks and rocks 6 months before anything else. Its been a while but I do remember that

 

[Reef Frog]

I agree 100% with Tweaked's ideas. Super flexible lighting is key.

The 6 foot tank & stand will be sleek & modern, with minimal visual distractions.

I would also do an ATS from the start. Also an Apex controller with dosing pumps, ATO & high end controllable pumps for customized flow patterns. I'll plan out & implement everything I can to handle emergencies like power outages & temperature events. I might want a dedicated refugium optimized for copepod production (this is more about supporting mandarins).

I would also carefully map out a plan for aquascapimg with rock. I want the best aesthetics I can get combined with plenty of real estate to mount a lot of different corals. I think I have enough practical experience now to know how to create the best areas for acans, chalices, favias, hammers etc plus some SPS right off the bat.

Hopefully I can do it in such a way as I can plan for the growth of large impressive colonies that are spaced in a way that color combinations are optimized & stinging is minimized. The design would also feature plenty of sand bed (which my current tank doesn't have) since I found I really like scolys, tune anenomies, plates & other bottom dwellers. In other words I intend to proceed with a mostly long term finished picture in my mind. I've even considered modeling my ideas somehow on a computer or maybe even in clay, paper mâché or something like that. I'm probably going to have to buy some hand picked pieces, some very large, or buy WYSIWYG pieces on line.

 

[Swanwillow]

Where are you looking at tanks at? Custom locally or are you ordering one? Where I'm at if I'm going big I'll have to order, the biggest I can find around here is a 55

 

[Ocean envy]

The petsmarts near me have a wider range of tanks in stock, such as 75's 125's ect.. So if you're interested in some of these common sizes you might want to see if there is one not too far from you.

 

[Budman422]

I would do a 120 or a 180. Especially with lps. The wider the better. As most lps do better in sand bed. On lights I like leds I use Diy from rapid myself so I can make them how I want. I would also incorporate a large refugium in the sump.

 

[lpsfan]

long wide and shallow with two or three hydra 52s over the top, and a big fat fuge underneath... job done!!