Reef nutrition

How big is too big!?!

Vhuang168

Vhuang168

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I've been contemplating my next tank for a while now. Currently running a custom 40g aio. I had purchased and started this tank for the sole purpose of learning the hobby and I have definitely learned a lot. I also used the opportunity to figure out what I like/dislike about the equipment and how the tank looks.

So on the next tank, I have the chance to go big. I've already purchased a used Lee Mar 125 48/30/24. I thought that was the perfect size when I bought it because I didn't want to go too big. But as I did more research and did more looking and did more pricing, I found that I can go much bigger. All the way to 225g 72/30/24.

So the issue is, my initial reservations about going too big are still there. But is there really such a thing as too big? I keep hearing people wishing they had gone with the bigger tank when they had the chance. I do hear of people going smaller but that's usually due to moving, room restrictions etc. None of which really apply as I have the room and I'm not moving anytime soon (I hope!).

I would like to know, from people who have 200+g tanks that are mixed reef or sps dominant, esp if you went to the big tank after a small tank. How much more maintenance is there?

As far as I can tell, its only the water changes that are going to be any significant difference. That and there is more glass to clean!

I already have a doser, so I'm familiar with doing that and I can mix batches of supplements easily. How much 2 part do you dose on a large system? I'm prepared to go with a Ca and/or kalk reactor if the need calls for it.

Thoughts?
 
I had been thinking along the same lines and decided the smallest I would go would be dictated by the fish I want to house but I had the same concerns about how big to go.
 
I started the hobby with a 29G & no sump, then I added a 20G sump. Next I upgraded to a 50G + 20G sump. After that I upgraded again to a 135G + 40G sump.
My main reason for upgrade from 50G to 135G was to be able to keep a couple tangs that I really liked at that time.
Having a bigger tank proved to be less maintenance in my case. My tank is not heavily stocked. The extra water volume, & extra rocks can absorb mistakes better. Specially if I compare with my first 29G setup.

One downside was that I had to upgrade most equipment: pumps, powerheads, skimmer, heater, lights. That meant a much larger electricity bill, and the difference was not linear since it pushed me into PG&E's 3rd and 4th tier.

I would consider going up to 150-200G. Above that, I would have to upgrade most equipment again, the electricity cost will skyrocket and I might run into other issues such as the need for too much water for WCs, too big of an ATO or extra noise from the larger pumps & powerheads.

I also changed my taste over time. While I really wanted a long tank (latest one being 6ft long), I came to appreciate the look of the squarer tanks, such as the Lee Mar you got or ELOS 120 & similar. Somehow they're seem more roomier & easier to aquascape than my long shaped tank. That's just a personal preference though.

As for dosing, I do not think that the dosing amount is directly related to the tank size, IMO it is more related to the livestock amount. A heavily stocked 120G tank will require more dosing than a lightly/regular stocked 220G tank. When I switched from my 50G to the 135G, I reduced the kalk dosing because I kept the same amount of livestock in double the amount of water.
 
sjbro said:
One downside was that I had to upgrade most equipment: pumps, powerheads, skimmer, heater, lights. That meant a much larger electricity bill, and the difference was not linear since it pushed me into PG&E's 3rd and 4th tier.

I would consider going up to 150-200G. Above that, I would have to upgrade most equipment again, the electricity cost will skyrocket and I might run into other issues such as the need for too much water for WCs, too big of an ATO or extra noise from the larger pumps & powerheads.
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I would be buying new equipment anyway. Going from equipment necessary for a 125g to a 225g wasn't a whole lot more. The only expensive item were the lights, which depending on which I pick could be a significant chunk. I'm already on solar so the electricity costs wash out for me. Water could be an issue. Maybe I can stop taking showers! Tank will be in the garage (a shame I know!) so noise will not be an issue though I plan on making it as quiet as possible!

I also changed my taste over time. While I really wanted a long tank (latest one being 6ft long), I came to appreciate the look of the squarer tanks, such as the Lee Mar you got or ELOS 120 & similar. Somehow they're seem more roomier & easier to aquascape than my long shaped tank. That's just a personal preference though.
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I too like the deeper (front to back) tank, which is why I'm sticking with a 30" depth. The 60/30/24 is such a nice looking tank dimension wise. But like you, I want to have some bigger tangs and part of the reason I'm thinking 72 since I can fit it.
 
Get th 225. I have that exact dimension. 30 front to back is sweet. If try to get an external overflow if it were me. Hate the irregular shape and wasted space that a traditional overflow(s) entails.
I agree that dosing is more about how much stony coral you got in there, not gallons.
Go big or go home
 
Coral reefer said:
Get th 225. I have that exact dimension. 30 front to back is sweet. If try to get an external overflow if it were me. Hate the irregular shape and wasted space that a traditional overflow(s) entails.
I agree that dosing is more about how much stony coral you got in there, not gallons.
Go big or go home
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The plan is for a coast to coast overflow with an external box running beananimal.

What lighting are you running on it?


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And it's enough!?! I would think you would have shadowing with only 3 sols. I was gonna run 4 Hydra 52s widthwise or 2 AP700s length wise.


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I used to tell my customers to save the money on the small and intermediate sizes and get the largest tank that they could.
" get rid of the sofa. You just sit on it and collect clothes on it"
And I do like the idea of the external overflow box, like Mike said.
 
The cost has been way more over the years than I had expected, or hoped. However, I absolutely love having a big tank. That said, it's been 4 years, and I am looking at having to replace everything in the next few years to keep it going. OUCH!

I do think it can be much easier to keep a stable environment for the corals. I also notice my fish are much more relaxed and happy. I see very little aggression in my tank, even with 4 large tangs. They just slowly cruise back and forth on the reef and it seems very natural.

I can't say the maintenance is less though. I still do water changes (80) gallons every two weeks and when I do, it's an 8 hour day of cleaning, trimming, changing media, etc, etc. You could get away with much less, as I am a bit OCD about the whole thing. But when I don't spend that time with my tank, shit happens. You just start losing touch with how things are doing. If you spend the time with your tank, you will see problems early, and avoid disaster.

Congrats on having the problem of "How big is too big!!" :) It's a good thing, and the planning of a big tank is a BLAST!! Probably worth visiting a few of the larger tanks in the club. I know I have things I might have changed, and others that turned out great. You are always welcome to come check this one out. I'm in Pacifica. Good luck!!


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Kmooresf said:
The cost has been way more over the years than I had expected, or hoped. However, I absolutely love having a big tank. That said, it's been 4 years, and I am looking at having to replace everything in the next few years to keep it going. OUCH!

I do think it can be much easier to keep a stable environment for the corals. I also notice my fish are much more relaxed and happy. I see very little aggression in my tank, even with 4 large tangs. They just slowly cruise back and forth on the reef and it seems very natural.

I can't say the maintenance is less though. I still do water changes (80) gallons every two weeks and when I do, it's an 8 hour day of cleaning, trimming, changing media, etc, etc. You could get away with much less, as I am a bit OCD about the whole thing. But when I don't spend that time with my tank, shit happens. You just start losing touch with how things are doing. If you spend the time with your tank, you will see problems early, and avoid disaster.

Congrats on having the problem of "How big is too big!!" :) It's a good thing, and the planning of a big tank is a BLAST!! Probably worth visiting a few of the larger tanks in the club. I know I have things I might have changed, and others that turned out great. You are always welcome to come check this one out. I'm in Pacifica. Good luck!!


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8 hours every two weeks is a considerable amount of time. I know you said you're ocd about it but what should be expected as normal? Also, how big is your tank that you do 80 gallon water changes?
 
It's a 300 gallon tank, but approx 450-500 gallon total system volume. I make 80 gallons of water, add salt and heat. I clean the glass.......with the magnet, and the scrapers......all the way to the bottom. I move any corals that need moving.....because they are not happy, or they are bothering, or being bothered by other corals. I do aptasia control (via aptasia X). I blow out the sand bed..... I trim the chaeto, change the GFO, and Carbon and then drain the tank, and re-fill the tank. Then. Put everything away. This generally takes about 8 hours total. But I'm not running, and I spend a lot of time looking at the tank to decide what needs to be done.


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Lol thankfully it will be in the garage with a 2 car door so that won't be an issue.

If it did become an issue, I would have to check myself into a psychiatric ward!


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Flagg37 said:
8 hours every two weeks is a considerable amount of time. I know you said you're ocd about it but what should be expected as normal? Also, how big is your tank that you do 80 gallon water changes?
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Having an acropora dominant tank requires a little extra maintenance since they are the most difficult/challenging group of corals to keep alive in aquariums.
 
Ok can you go too big? absolute.

A few things to keep in mind with large tanks
Lighting - Probably the most straight forward of things to worry about, you get more lights if you want even coverage or you devise a plan to concentrate your light at certain key locations (i.e. where the more light loving corals are). In addition to the extra equipment expense there will be extra electrical expense.
Flow - More volume means more flow necessary, now if you have a nifty DC return pump and you're pumping a bit on the low side then this would work perfect, use the same pump and simply ramp up flow rate. The in tank stuff though is where the issues can occur, first and foremost with a larger tank do you have thicker glass? One issue I ran into was that I could no longer use my Vortech MP-40 pumps because they max out at 3/4" (and they're a bit weak at that thickness), using Tunze stream pumps? Do note they went the cheap route and their magnets no longer are as strong so you'll need to buy upgrade kits to put them on thicker tanks. Then there's the actual flow in the tank, with a 4 foot long tank you can easily put a pump on either side of the tank and water is still really strong all throughout, as you go longer the actual strength of flow decreases, as you go wider then that simply side to side flow pattern starts to become more problematic and you might need pumps along the back as well. Then whatever additional rock structure you have adds to the problem as well.
Rocks - You going to go for a bare minimalist look? Then you're fine, you want a similar rock density then you'll need more. I will say though wider tanks gives so much more room to set up some neat rock structures, with really long & slender tanks you're really trying to fight hard against the rock wall look.
Water storage - Bigger tank, so if you want to still do that 15% monthly change (or whatever you go want) you're going to need more water on hand. Now if you have a fish room/garage where all this storage & equipment can go you're golden, if this is all in the living room, then some thought about where to put it, if you were doing water changes with old salt buckets that just isn't going to work too well with a large tank. Then there's top off, you're going to evaporate more so you're going to need more storage.
Water production - If you get your water from a store then that price is going to increase, if you make your water with a 50GPD RO unit, you're probably going to want more output.
Humidity - Larger volume means more evaporation, depending upon the size you could probably see 2-3 gallons lost per day, now imagine 2 milk jugs worth of water that is in the air. If humidity gets too high it could cause mold problems. There was one infamous tank "Mr4000" over at ReefCentral, who found out the hard way what humidity issues a 4000 gallon aquarium produces on the house.
Electrical - In addition to the obvious "higher electrical bills" aspect, is your wiring up to snuff? All those lights and pumps are going to put more strain on the system, did you have a 250watt heater now you have 500+watts? A single 15amp circuit more than likely is not going to be enough. Are you handy enough to pull a new line on a different circuit? If not is additional expense there.
Sump - How much larger is your sump going to get? Now with a larger tank you don't need the same sump volume, the idea of more volume = more stable starts to give you diminishing returns. However with a larger tank you'll probably want a larger skimmer, now will that fit under the stand in the sump? If your sump is remote then will that end up physically fitting in the sump? I've made chambers that were way too small on more than one occasion.
Stability - now this can be a double edged sword, most people think stability they think it's a good thing, however if your tank goes south then it'll take that much more to actually fix the problem. And unlike a smaller tank, doing an absolutely massive water change (50%+) probably is not going to be viable
Size - Where is the tank going to go? Will it make the room too small? A 4'x2' tank in a 12x12 room is fine, but 6x3' Might make the room a little too cramped, plus where are the openings in the room(doors, windows), how are you going to access everything? Sometimes having a plan for just how you're going to get to the tank is absolutely necessary.

That said, not trying to scare you off from a large tank, but it is a bit more complicated than a bit more maintenance and more water changes.
 
I have a 240G DT, so about 350G total.
I sometimes wish it was smaller.
Maintenance is a hassle. Water changes and all the other issues.
Expense is a bit of an issue, especially electricity.

Good flow is also a problem in large tanks. Especially my 8' long one.
Fine for softies and fish, but a pain for SPS.

However, large tanks allow fish that are impossible in a smaller tank.
Since I am mixed reef/fish, that is very important to me.
Although be careful of large carnivores ... might have goofed there.

So my OPINION is this:
If you are into difficult SPS, around 120G would be ideal.
A good mix. Big enough to be stable and hold enough coral,
yet small enough that you will stay on top of maintenance,
which is key for difficult SPS.

If you want mixed corals and a few fish, decide based on budget, spare time,
and available space. Almost any size will be fine. Just go for it.

If you are really into fish, go huge. Bigger is a LOT better.
 
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