What To Consider When Buying A Large Tank

[BPro32]

I pulled the trigger and ordered an 84x30x21 ~220g Crystal Dynamic tank and stand (8ft was a bit too big on the wall).

sfsuphysics, you almost scared me out of it but I went over to talk to a friend with a 250g to look at how he does water changes and top off. He gave me a few ideas and the confidence that I can setup something similar.

Other things to consider is how you're going to service the tank, will you have access on all sides? Will you have a dedicated fishroom (for in wall setup), or are you going to do all the work in your family room making a mess for considerate wives to turn into ranging reef haters If you do have a dedicated area make sure you can do everything you need to from that area, this includes draining of water, getting water, consider having a tiny sink you can use.

How about water make up for the tank? Think long and hard about getting water storage containers, at least in the 100 gallon range, super nice to have ATO water on hand, super nice to have salt water mixed up and on hand a 20-30 watt pump can keep it moving until you're ready too so no worries about stagnant water or breaking the electricity bill.

Then how are you going to get that water to the tank, nothing says it needs to be right next to the tank, but then you got to worry about plumbing, however it can be super sweet. I simply got a couple pipes sticking out the wall with hoses attached when I need to add water, now that's convenience.

Think about reusing equipment as possible, got a 4 foot tank now, then great just get one more copy of that lighting for your 8 foot tank. I'm not really big on LED only setups because that gets viciously expensive when covering a large area, older technology such as T5s are much more effective at covering large amounts of space and regardless of what the LED industry would like you to believe... it's not that much of an energy savings.

That said, ultimately I'd say get a piece of a paper map out where the tank will go, how you'll access things, etc. Then think about everything you do on your current tank, and how to effectively do it on the other tank, how do you do water changes, how do you clean glass, skimmers, filter socks, or whatever. Basically make a plan for how you'll do things and often you'll find a more efficient way of doing those things.

 

[sfdan]

I pulled the trigger and ordered an 84x30x21 ~220g Crystal Dynamic tank and stand (8ft was a bit too big on the wall).

sfsuphysics, you almost scared me out of it but I went over to talk to a friend with a 250g to look at how he does water changes and top off. He gave me a few ideas and the confidence that I can setup something similar.

That is a great size. 30" width gives you so much flexibility for aquascaping, and 21" depth is going to be so convenient for maintenance. My tank is relatively shallow for a big tank at 26" deep, but even still it is annoying to reach down to the bottom and honestly I don't think I gain much from the added depth.

What are your sump plans? I didn't spend enough time thinking about the sump for my former tank and ended up with a cramped sump that constantly caused me problems. For my big tank I really planned it out and had a custom sump built along with the tank and I'm thankful for it everyday.

 

[BPro32]

That is a great size. 30" width gives you so much flexibility for aquascaping, and 21" depth is going to be so convenient for maintenance. My tank is relatively shallow for a big tank at 26" deep, but even still it is annoying to reach down to the bottom and honestly I don't think I gain much from the added depth.

What are your sump plans? I didn't spend enough time thinking about the sump for my former tank and ended up with a cramped sump that constantly caused me problems. For my big tank I really planned it out and had a custom sump built along with the tank and I'm thankful for it everyday.

I'm leaning towards a bashsea 36x18x16 smart series sump. I've always preferred small sumps to leave more room in the stand for the equipment and storage (have to keep my mess contained ). I don't run a fuge and I prefer softies to keep a low maintenance tank so really all I need is room for is filter socks, skimmer, and return plus extra space for water that overflows when I turn off the pump. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this and what equipment you run that made your last sump so cramped. I still have time to change my mind.

 

[sfsuphysics]

I pulled the trigger and ordered an 84x30x21 ~220g Crystal Dynamic tank and stand (8ft was a bit too big on the wall).

sfsuphysics, you almost scared me out of it but I went over to talk to a friend with a 250g to look at how he does water changes and top off. He gave me a few ideas and the confidence that I can setup something similar.

Congrats that looks like a nice size. My purpose wasn't to scare you out of anything but to do exactly what you did, you got some ideas and hopefully made you think about those "simple" things that actually turn into pains in the butt later.

 

[sfdan]

I'm leaning towards a bashsea 36x18x16 smart series sump. I've always preferred small sumps to leave more room in the stand for the equipment and storage (have to keep my mess contained ). I don't run a fuge and I prefer softies to keep a low maintenance tank so really all I need is room for is filter socks, skimmer, and return plus extra space for water that overflows when I turn off the pump. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this and what equipment you run that made your last sump so cramped. I still have time to change my mind.

My former tank was a 120 gallon with a 30 gallon sump. By the time the sump had 2 filter socks, a skimmer, a heater, a return pump, a manifold pump it was already completely packed. Then I wanted to add an ATS, and I managed to fit it in there but it was not pretty. Routine maintenance became very difficult because nothing was easy to access. The thing about sumps is by the time you realize you want a bigger one it is waaay too late.

In your case my feeling is the sump you are planning is too small. First just from a water volume perspective, you've got 45 gallons in that sump at max volume. Each inch of your tank is 11 gallons. In case of a power outage, your tank level is probably going to drop somewhere between 1.5-2" depending on where you siphon breaks are (remember: the water level height of your aquarium is actually higher than the overflow in the steady state). Even assuming the optimistic case, that is 16 gallons of water, so you'd have to run the sump at 30 gallons or 10" in height with no margin for error. In my old tank I also had a terrible time with bubbles because I was running pretty high flow through my sump and there was no time for them to get out. At a low 3x tank turnover rate, you'd be running 660gph through a 30 gallon sump. And just remember, everything is bigger in big tanks. Bigger skimmers, bigger pumps, bigger heaters, bigger pipes, bigger valves. This all takes up more space.

This is the trouble with big tanks though, as just browsing around I don't see any sumps that immediately strike me as a better fit for you. Since your tank is unusually wide, a good space saving sump size to me might be something like 40" long x 24" wide x 18" high, which you could only get custom built. If it were me, I'd at least price out custom options. Since you use filter socks I'd also highly recommend a dedicated filter sock section, like on this sump, as opposed to the filter socks that are on pipes. Much easier to change out. And on a custom sump that were 24" wide, you could easily fit 4 filter sock holders, which would give you more time in between changing them out. You don't necessarily need to get a super complicated sump if you are going custom, and in fact could get a much simpler design one than those pre-fab sumps.

 

[BPro32]

My former tank was a 120 gallon with a 30 gallon sump. By the time the sump had 2 filter socks, a skimmer, a heater, a return pump, a manifold pump it was already completely packed. Then I wanted to add an ATS, and I managed to fit it in there but it was not pretty. Routine maintenance became very difficult because nothing was easy to access. The thing about sumps is by the time you realize you want a bigger one it is waaay too late.

In your case my feeling is the sump you are planning is too small. First just from a water volume perspective, you've got 45 gallons in that sump at max volume. Each inch of your tank is 11 gallons. In case of a power outage, your tank level is probably going to drop somewhere between 1.5-2" depending on where you siphon breaks are (remember: the water level height of your aquarium is actually higher than the overflow in the steady state). Even assuming the optimistic case, that is 16 gallons of water, so you'd have to run the sump at 30 gallons or 10" in height with no margin for error. In my old tank I also had a terrible time with bubbles because I was running pretty high flow through my sump and there was no time for them to get out. At a low 3x tank turnover rate, you'd be running 660gph through a 30 gallon sump. And just remember, everything is bigger in big tanks. Bigger skimmers, bigger pumps, bigger heaters, bigger pipes, bigger valves. This all takes up more space.

This is the trouble with big tanks though, as just browsing around I don't see any sumps that immediately strike me as a better fit for you. Since your tank is unusually wide, a good space saving sump size to me might be something like 40" long x 24" wide x 18" high, which you could only get custom built. If it were me, I'd at least price out custom options. Since you use filter socks I'd also highly recommend a dedicated filter sock section, like on this sump, as opposed to the filter socks that are on pipes. Much easier to change out. And on a custom sump that were 24" wide, you could easily fit 4 filter sock holders, which would give you more time in between changing them out. You don't necessarily need to get a super complicated sump if you are going custom, and in fact could get a much simpler design one than those pre-fab sumps.

I really appreciate the feedback. My gut feeling was originally telling me it was too small, but CD talked me into it. I reached out to ask pricing on a custom CD sump, and I'll reach out to Advanced Acrylics as well. Are there any other reputable places to get a quote from?

 

[sfdan]

My tank and sump were both built by Envision Acrylics, who is located in Oregon. I'm not exactly sure how much volume they do in smaller custom sumps, but I'm quite happy with the 175g mega-sump they built for me (design picture). If you want you can see my build thread here where I go over all the past mistakes I tried to avoid with my big tank build. Sump size is certainly one of those areas that I really went from one extreme to the other. I wouldn't necessarily advocate that everybody should have a sump 50% of the size of their aquarium, but I can say when my sump was too small I had all sorts of issues, and I have no problems with my sump being too big.

 

[BPro32]

My tank and sump were both built by Envision Acrylics, who is located in Oregon. I'm not exactly sure how much volume they do in smaller custom sumps, but I'm quite happy with the 175g mega-sump they built for me (design picture). If you want you can see my build thread here where I go over all the past mistakes I tried to avoid with my big tank build. Sump size is certainly one of those areas that I really went from one extreme to the other. I wouldn't necessarily advocate that everybody should have a sump 50% of the size of their aquarium, but I can say when my sump was too small I had all sorts of issues, and I have no problems with my sump being too big.

Good read, thanks for posting! I'll report back my final decision once the quotes come in.


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[gorillach]

I have a 240G (8'x2'x2') acrylic, bought used last year. It has been up for one year. My saltwater experience is also a little over one year.

I too had the anxiety as you have now and have learned a lot from other reefers. That's why I would like to share my limited 1-year experience.

My observations so far:
1. stand must be tall: I don't have a choice as it comes with the tank.
2. big tank is VERY stable: I had a 10G for a few months and messed it up big time. Now the big tank is a breeze to maintain.
3. TO reservoir must be big: I cover the 4 top openings with acrylic plates (they will warp and have gap for air exchange), and use a 36G tank as reservoir. I fill it up 2/3 each time I do water change, and it lasts for 1+ months.
4. I change water once 1+ month. I exchange 30G, all from the 36G sump tank under the stand. So the DT is not disturbed. When you have 2 rubbermaid garbage bins and a pump for water change, depending on your situation, I usu. spend 30 mins to do it, again, once 1+ month.
5. Tons of LR: I was luck to get 300+Lb from a closed LFS at the time. I believe the LR is a big factor to stabilize the tank.
6. I use 4 x A80 as I keep only a few softies and mostly fish. 4 Rossmont Powerheads with 50x of water volume, 1 Ehim circulation pump, 1 Tunze Protein skimmer. The utility bill is not much bigger than before. Same goes to the water bill.
7. The blue tang is the most active and naughty fish in the tank. I also have 1 sailfin, 1 yellow, 1 scopas, 1 foxface, 1 coral beauty, a few other smaller fish, total ~20. As other said, big tank gives you room for variety easily.
8. plan the order to put which fish carefully. One of my regrets was to put too many damsel fish as I thought the tank was too empty, and put 3 naso, 1 by 1 of different size, long after other tangs were settled - they all died in less than a week.

My point is you don't need to empty your wallet or spend too much effort to maintain a big tank. Enjoy

 

[gorillach]

Forgot to add: I had a handyman install 2 jack posts and 1 long lumber to support the area below the tank, material+labor total ~$500 . My house is single-level and has crawl space. It's simple, inexpensive and give you a peace of mind.

 

[BPro32]

I have a 240G (8'x2'x2') acrylic, bought used last year. It has been up for one year. My saltwater experience is also a little over one year.

I too had the anxiety as you have now and have learned a lot from other reefers. That's why I would like to share my limited 1-year experience.

My observations so far:
1. stand must be tall: I don't have a choice as it comes with the tank.
2. big tank is VERY stable: I had a 10G for a few months and messed it up big time. Now the big tank is a breeze to maintain.
3. TO reservoir must be big: I cover the 4 top openings with acrylic plates (they will warp and have gap for air exchange), and use a 36G tank as reservoir. I fill it up 2/3 each time I do water change, and it lasts for 1+ months.
4. I change water once 1+ month. I exchange 30G, all from the 36G sump tank under the stand. So the DT is not disturbed. When you have 2 rubbermaid garbage bins and a pump for water change, depending on your situation, I usu. spend 30 mins to do it, again, once 1+ month.
5. Tons of LR: I was luck to get 300+Lb from a closed LFS at the time. I believe the LR is a big factor to stabilize the tank.
6. I use 4 x A80 as I keep only a few softies and mostly fish. 4 Rossmont Powerheads with 50x of water volume, 1 Ehim circulation pump, 1 Tunze Protein skimmer. The utility bill is not much bigger than before. Same goes to the water bill.
7. The blue tang is the most active and naughty fish in the tank. I also have 1 sailfin, 1 yellow, 1 scopas, 1 foxface, 1 coral beauty, a few other smaller fish, total ~20. As other said, big tank gives you room for variety easily.
8. plan the order to put which fish carefully. One of my regrets was to put too many damsel fish as I thought the tank was too empty, and put 3 naso, 1 by 1 of different size, long after other tangs were settled - they all died in less than a week.

My point is you don't need to empty your wallet or spend too much effort to maintain a big tank. Enjoy

4 Kessil A80's? Do you have a lot of shadowing in the tank?

 

[BPro32]

Forgot to add: I had a handyman install 2 jack posts and 1 long lumber to support the area below the tank, material+labor total ~$500 . My house is single-level and has crawl space. It's simple, inexpensive and give you a peace of mind.

I actually think the room where I'm going to put it is on top of a concrete slab. I'm going to look into it to verify (pull blueprints?), but it's only about 3" higher than my concrete garage, so I don't think it could fit a crawlspace.

 

[gorillach]

4 Kessil A80's? Do you have a lot of shadowing in the tank?

Yes. No, depending on the height you set. A80 spec says 24"x24" coverage. In my case, good enough together with a spectral controller.

I am not civil engineer, can't help you with the structure support

 

[DrDNA]

I have two tanks that share a common 165g sump. One is 300g and the other is 540g. The 540 is on a raised foundation in our sunroom and I put some bottlejacks and 6x6s under it. I've found with a large system that automating your water changes makes a big difference. When i do water changes, i use a piece of airline tubing to siphon water out of the sump as it refills from either the RODI directly and then add salt to the sump or you could refill from a 50g mixing container.

Anyway good luck and have fun! We also went solar this past year to offset our $$$ PGE bills

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[BPro32]

Ok so I have a couple designs that I'm considering for the sump. The CD quote is $700 for glass which is $300 less than what advanced acrylics is asking so I'll save some money there. I don't think I need adjustable baffles and I never move the sump outside of initial setup so I don't need the weight savings of acrylic.

 

[BPro32]

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[BPro32]

Tapatalk friendly images as well

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[sfdan]

My thoughts on the designs:

First I'd like to see the heights, because I think that is very relevant when it comes to how much water volume is in each of the sections and accounting for how much safety buffer you'll have if your return pump loses power.

Earlier you said you don't want a fuge. I think having the option for a fuge is great, but at the same time having a bigger return pump section also has advantages. For example, if you ditched the fuge and had a return pump section that were 24" (wide) x 15" long x 12" high (estimated water height), that is about ~19 gallons. Depending on how low your pumps can run, this means you could remove somewhere between 10-15 gallons of water without having to turn off any pumps, the only thing that would change would be the water level in the return pump section. Pump out 10 gallons, pump in 10 gallons. You just did a ~5% water change. To do a 10% water change, just do it twice. The smaller the return pump section is, the less water you can pump out before your return pump runs dry. This also is fine, but I think it makes water changes a little more annoying. Just something to think about when considering the fuge section.

I'd also check out the size of your "inlet" area. If you are going to run a beananimal style overflow, which I highly recommend, that means you are going to have 3 pipes coming in (or at minimum 2 if you have the emergency drain going elsewhere). In that 2nd design in particular the inlet area looks very cramped to me. The first one might be OK if you have a glass sump that has no bracing, but if there is any bracing then it is going to be really hard to access. Stuff will fall down there from time to time so you want to make sure you can reach to the bottom of the section, when it is pull of pipes, if necessary.

 

[DrDNA]

Based on personal experience, I like the 7" socks way better than the 4". Much easier IMO to turn inside out for cleaning. I throw mine in the washing machine when my wife isn't home

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[sfdan]

I can attest that turning the 4" socks inside out is a giant pain. And IME if they get really dirty, you need to turn them inside out to get them clean enough.