Tank size

jlcrandall

New member
Hello all,

I've been reading for months and learning all I can before the big jump. When we, my wife also, went to the LFS and got a quote, we had planned a certain amount of money to spend. Now that I've been doing my homework, I realize that there's a whole lot more out there than a 90 or a 120.

Everyone says start as big as you can afford, but is there a "too big" for a first tank? I've costed everything I can possibly think of and then added 15% and I come out about 1000 less than the quote we were planning on, so I'm thinking about going with a 240 gallon cube to start with.

As far as fish go, is a 240 cube not such a hot "fish" tank? Would a 240 long be better/worse? Our first interest is the fish in the tank. For example, a blue throat trigger.

Thanks for everything,

Elvis
 
Not sure of the dimensions of the cube, but if you are interested in tangs it is best to have the largest amount of swimming space possible.
 
You mean 240g cube, or 24g?

Why don't you list out how you planned on setting up the smaller tank. Use the 90g and show the $quotes on everything, and lets make sure you're configuration is sensible.

Also mention what floor its going on, and if there's a basement or utility room next to it.
 
[welcome]

A 240 would be a pretty large size but if you do your research then you should be fine. Many people here on RC would be more then willing to help set up the tank and give you advise. Please do note a 240 gallon tank will cost you more then $1,000 if you get the right equipment.
 
If your going for a 240 gallon reef. I would put aside at least 4-5K on a setup like that. I have a 75 gallon that I setup and shoped for deals for about 6 months and it still cost me about 2K to setup. Just thought I would throw that out there. Cheers

Sean
 
Ok, here goes.

1. It's not really a cube; my mistake. It'd be 48x48x24H. Two Eheim 1250's as returns. One Calfo overflow with two drains/returns; one directly to an H&S A200 2x2001, one dirictly through a fuge. Deciding on Zeovit; still reading - don't need to decide now, three sides viewable, all T-5 lighting with gradually reducing lengths to prevent color banding. Stand and canopy I'd build myself. I put the build including sand and live rock around 4500-5000$.

Have seen so cool fish that need this kinda room. I don't want to start out and have a full tank with a few fish; Anthias need room, tangs need room, trigger needs room, etc... I'm not saying that there are not great fish that don't need this size of a tank.

Hence the question: is there too big of a tank to start with. I'm not talking about endless money here either. If you all tell me it's going to be 5 minutes per gallon of maintenance every week, I'll understand that, and it'll put that tank outta my reach just in time. If you say just make sure you have 1-2000 backup i'll understand that also.

Thanks all for the help.
One out there already helped alot. You know who you are.
 
That's a pretty tank -

Can you give some specifics about the water system? Like total gallons. Sump or sump and refugium and how big? And where it will be?

Also, the two Eheims are very much two small, even if you only had 240 gallons. A hint on pumps - the gph ratings published are for when its going down hill and the winds at its back. So figure out the gph you want, and then multiply it by 1.5, and then match that number to the to the gph (while considering the head also) of any pump(s) you're looking at.

Even if you have only a 100g sump and refugium combined, to make 340 gallons total, you'd need the pumping power of at least a Mag 24's worth of gph.

. . . Dave
 
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Just FYI, I'm in the school of thought that the display tank should be less than half of total system water, relying heavily on diverse fuges.
 
Size of the sump/fuge would be dependant on room under the tank; both could probably be in the 40-50 gallon range. I might want to go to Eheim 1260's but not more. I'd augment flow inside the tank with Tunze nano's; should have mentioned that before. It was hy understading that Eheim markets there pump pretty accurately. A 1250 with 3.5 feet would give around 200 GPH, and a 1260 would be double that. Why would I want to put more water through a skimmer than the skimmer can handle or the fuge can uptake in nutrients?
 
Heh, I'm just trying to give the benefit of some experience. I don't know where you're going with your system - but under any stocking scenario, that seems insufficient to me. And especially if you want to stock heavy eaters like triggers. But, I'm sure other folks will have different opinions.
 
No tank is to big to start off with...I would go as big as you can cause once you set up your first tank your only going to want to go bigger. If your more into the fish i would look at something longer instead of cubed. Either 96x24x24 standard 240 or might as well bite the bullet and go as big as you can 96x30-48x24 would be awsome set up.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7488738#post7488738 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jlcrandall
Size of the sump/fuge would be dependant on room under the tank; both could probably be in the 40-50 gallon range. I might want to go to Eheim 1260's but not more. I'd augment flow inside the tank with Tunze nano's; should have mentioned that before. It was hy understading that Eheim markets there pump pretty accurately. A 1250 with 3.5 feet would give around 200 GPH, and a 1260 would be double that. Why would I want to put more water through a skimmer than the skimmer can handle or the fuge can uptake in nutrients?

I also don't think that would be enough flow you want to shoot for 3-5x trunover so for a 240 i think just one mag 18 would be enough or something aslong those lines. As for the tunze nano's those are made for smaller tanks and wouldn't be enough flow. I would get a pair of 6100's.
 
Just an FYI on the pump flow - when the manufacturer says 200gph at 3.5 feet, that's assuming, for the 1250, that you use an arrow straight 1" I.D. tube from the pressure connection on the pump, and have no turns whatsover. If you use a smaller tube, or add any bends, it starts creating head friction, and the gph drops quite a bit. That's what I meant by wind at your back, etc, and that you should multiply the gph you think you need by 1.5 and then match it to the pump specs.
 
i have a 75 g and i have over 3000 in it all ready and have only had it for about 8 months this includes lr fish inverts equipment 7 asorted corals base lighting is were the money comes into play especially if your going to have invers and corals
 
dppitone it's cool. Didn't mean to sound harsh just inquisitive. Part of the quote the LFS gave me was for two monster pumps so I could move 20x through the sump with an incredibly elaborate return system. The whole thing totalled out at like 650 watts/dollars worth of pumps and about 5-600 worth of plumbing. I'm much more into the low power consumption methods the europeans have been using for years with great success. I didn't adapt the Eheims to a larger system, so you are correct there; I do need more flow through the sump/fuge. The Tunze nanos were an idea because I figured on using six or seven of them on all three sides to try to break up the flow as much as possible without having a whirlpool.

Everyone answered with such great enthusiasm. I also forgot that tanks are very three dimensional, and without as much info as possible, answers are not easy to provide. I didn't really intend on this being a setup/suggestion thread. Just a hypothetical question. Can a first tank be too big? What I'm wondering about are serious mistakes that get made due to the shear size of the system. For example, are larger systems way more prone to crashing due to insufficient inputs? Does the maintenance become so overwhelming that just keeping up with the tank consumes all time. These kinds of things. I intend on starting whatever size tank with water only for as long as it takes me to keep the water correctly. Then I'll add LR/LS and repeat the process of keeping the water at SPS levels. Then I'll add some really neat fish. And when I'm able to keep the water where it needs to be, I'll add the corals. I know I know nothing, so thats why I'm asking?

So let me hear your opinions everyone. Can a first tank be too big?

Elvis
 
I think there is no "too big" tank. If you can afford it then go for it. Bigger is better because you will have more stabile water parameters. Go long, wide and about 24-30, up to 36 tall. Good Luck!
 
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