Large tank recommendations?

[Vincerama2]

By the way, will this tank sit on floor supported directly by a concrete slab foundation? Or is it on a floor on joists on a perimeter foundation?

I mean, water is heavy and even if your tank can withstand it, make sure your floor can too!

V

 

[Benaminh]

By the way, will this tank sit on floor supported directly by a concrete slab foundation? Or is it on a floor on joists on a perimeter foundation?

I mean, water is heavy and even if your tank can withstand it, make sure your floor can too!

V

It's on concrete slab, hence the big swing in tank sizes.

 

[rygh]

Got two quotes back, while waiting for others.

135g 72L X 18W X 24H Starphire = $860

260g 72x24x36 1" regular glass & custom overflow = $1,300

Weighing pros/cons, the difference is between a $400 non-SP tank versus $1,300 for twice the water volume. It's also crossing a threshold or two on the size and cost of equipment. <sigh> Methinks going with the larger tank will double or triple the present budget just to set it up, but it makes the most fish sense .

Pretty simple in my mind:
If you want a lot of coral, especially SPS, go with 135G.
If you want a lot of fish, and mostly softies, go with 260G.

That 36" height will be a real pain for corals, especially lighting.
The fish will love the extra swimming room at 260G, so it opens up a wider variety that you can put in.

 

[Vhuang168]

You can add Mg supplement in together with your Ca media and the CaRx will dissolve it and add it to the tank.

This stuff.

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[Benaminh]

Pretty simple in my mind:
If you want a lot of coral, especially SPS, go with 135G.
If you want a lot of fish, and mostly softies, go with 260G.

That 36" height will be a real pain for corals, especially lighting.
The fish will love the extra swimming room at 260G, so it opens up a wider variety that you can put in.

It will mostly be SPS, maybe a couple pieces of LPS, very little palys, rhodactis and Yuma mushrooms. No other zoas or softies because they will be eaten. Seems counterintuitive that the SPS would do better in 135 vs 260 if water parameter stability is the key? I'm curious about your reasoning.

I'm pretty much maxed out on fish at this point. I'm upgrading specifically for them. Albeit still small juveniles, a melanurus wrasse, three regal tangs, five large Angels and a pair of Flames will grow quickly to fill up the tank. You asked earlier why my fish would need more than 24" tank height, because a fully mature Imperator Angel looks cramped in anything smaller. Love that fish, raised it from 1.5" to present 3" size in only a few months. So far they have all left the SPS alone which is a relief, in my present tank I added the corals after the fish and built the reef around them.

I already have a 400w Radium MH magnetic ballast with Lumenarc reflector fixture here for the SPS which would compensate for the deeper tank height.

In another thread you were concerned about angelfish sensitivity to copper, they do fine at a low therapeutic dose versus full strength copper. 10 days of full strength praziquantel didn't faze them either, nor did methylene blue and freshwater dips. The methylene blue dip is more to offset any possible cyanide poisoning. Of course, this was all done in a separate hospital tank. The refugium I had the Queen angel was also a stand alone system.

 

[Benaminh]

You can add Mg supplement in together with your Ca media and the CaRx will dissolve it and add it to the tank.

This stuff.

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That's really convenient! What possible fail-safes can be put in place in the event of CaRx malfunction? That's my greatest fear and it seems to eventually happen to everyone, even the gigantic main display tank from the ZeoVit company?

 

[Vhuang168]

That's really convenient! What possible fail-safes can be put in place in the event of CaRx malfunction? That's my greatest fear and it seems to eventually happen to everyone, even the gigantic main display tank from the ZeoVit company?

My fail safe is my tank ph. I have it set to shut off my CaRx if it drops below 7.8 ph.


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[Benaminh]

My fail safe is my tank ph. I have it set to shut off my CaRx if it drops below 7.8 ph.


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I figured that would be a common controller setting, but don't understand how so many people suffer ph crashes. <shrug>

Do you use Kalkwasser for top off & Alk?

 

[Vhuang168]

I figured that would be a common controller setting, but don't understand how so many people suffer ph crashes. <shrug>

Do you use Kalkwasser for top off & Alk?

No. Solely on CaRx.


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[Vhuang168]

Using the CaRx. I adjust the ph n flow through the rx until alk stays stable.


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[Benaminh]

You brought up some very convincing points. I guess I need to read up on CaRx, since I haven't considered running one before. I'm already half way there, still have my CO2 tank and solenoid from the defunct planted tank.

Thanks Vincent.

 

[Vincerama2]

The counterintuitive idea that a smaller volume is better for sps (aside from height from lights to coral) may indirectly be also because it's easier to change a larger percentage of water in a smaller volume... yes, of course a larger volume can absorb more stuff. (The solution to pollution is dillution!)

With the CaRx, I think it's still good to use Kalk as top-off water, it's a balanced additive.

Man, I need to set up my reactor again.

V

 

[rygh]

Opinions on SPS corals and larger tanks:

For water stability, medium size tanks are way easier than nano tanks, but beyond 100G, diminishing returns.
So no major difference between 135G and 260G

For large tanks, the additives and water changes become a real issue though.
It means more and more automation, more and more chemicals, which gets tricky and can be prone to failure.
Remember : 260 * 20% water change = 52G.

Coral maintenance is also a really big deal.
You need to carefully tend to each coral, sometimes hand feed, kill aptasia, prune, and so on.
That can get overwhelming if tank is too large.

Water flow can be a pain.
SPS need a lot of random flow.
As tanks get larger, that gets a lot more complicated.
You need increased flow for the volume, but you cannot simply get larger pumps
or you get high velocity spots, which blows around sand bed and damages corals.

 

[rygh]

FYI: My setup is a bit different from many in the club, so take opinions with a grain of salt.

I have a 240G "fish centric" reef. Lots of fish, a few hard corals, mostly softies, and endless majanos.
Interestingly, I have been thinking of making my Fuge (100G) into a SPS zone, largely because
lighting, flow, and maintenance is such a pain in the big main tank.

 

[Vhuang168]

With the CaRx, I think it's still good to use Kalk as top-off water, it's a balanced additive.

Man, I need to set up my reactor again.

V

What can kalk offer that a CaRx cannot?

In a CaRx, you are breaking apart coral skeleton and replenishing the water with what the corals take out as they grow new skeleton. Doesn't get more balanced than that!


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[rygh]

What can kalk offer that a CaRx cannot?

Do you want high PH or low PH?

Other than that, the difference is more in what you prefer on the equipment and the way it is dosed.
Same goes with dosing 2 part.

 

[Flagg37]

What can kalk offer that a CaRx cannot?

In a CaRx, you are breaking apart coral skeleton and replenishing the water with what the corals take out as they grow new skeleton. Doesn't get more balanced than that!


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Some have recommended using kalkwasser to increase the pH. If it's acceptable then there's no need.

 

[Vhuang168]

If your levels are where you want them, the tank ph will take care of itself. If the ph is lower than where it should be, something else is off. Usually gas exchange issues.


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[iani]

You can add Mg supplement in together with your Ca media and the CaRx will dissolve it and add it to the tank.

This stuff.

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You are going to find out that you still need to dose mag. Also the zeomag will be mostly there as your normal calcium reactor media dissolves. The zeomag typically needs a lower pH to dissolve.

 

[Vhuang168]

I actually don't use zeomag. I dose mg manually.


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