Dorfman
Supporting Member
Greetings All
Its been a while since I posted but to be as brief as possible, I began a 55 gal acrylic "Rock Wall" tank at the beginning of COVID. I thought (think) it looks cool as the entire back of the tank is rocks and gravel embedded in epoxy. My vision was to have corals attached to an growing all over that back wall but it has not turned out that way thus far. I am still relatively new to the hobby and not as disciplined as many of you in your tank maintenance so instead of growing corals on that wall, I have grown nothing by algae due to the challenges getting water to flow into all those nooks and crannies and wash away all the detritus and junk that accumulates on the rocks. Additionally, the acrylic is less than crystal-clear and has developed these weird little micro-cracks as the face of the tank flexes with water pressure. In short, I am chalking this tank up to a learning experience and want to move on to a slightly larger, glass tank with better flow and easier to maintain.
This is where y'all come in:
1. What are some of the pros and cons of the various tanks (~80-90 gal) you all have worked with from Red Sea (Reefer 425?), Waterbox Marine X (110.4?), Aquaforest (OceanGuard 435?), Glasscages, Nyos, Innovative Marine... I would say I'm in the medium price range and looking for something between plug and play and custom. I already have a full suite of Apex tank monitoring gear, and ATO system... but need a well thought out sump with enough flexibility that I can maybe convert from filter socks to filter floss in the future without too much hassle. Hope this makes sense.
2. Second, what do I need to know about using or NOT using live rock, sand and other materials from my existing tank into the new one. I thought I read that live sand is only good for a few years then should be swapped out but that may have been from a sand mfg. Should I use old tanks water mixed with new water for stability for my livestock or make all new water? Any thoughts or suggestions from your own successes and failures are welcome here.
Existing Tank (4 years ago):
Its been a while since I posted but to be as brief as possible, I began a 55 gal acrylic "Rock Wall" tank at the beginning of COVID. I thought (think) it looks cool as the entire back of the tank is rocks and gravel embedded in epoxy. My vision was to have corals attached to an growing all over that back wall but it has not turned out that way thus far. I am still relatively new to the hobby and not as disciplined as many of you in your tank maintenance so instead of growing corals on that wall, I have grown nothing by algae due to the challenges getting water to flow into all those nooks and crannies and wash away all the detritus and junk that accumulates on the rocks. Additionally, the acrylic is less than crystal-clear and has developed these weird little micro-cracks as the face of the tank flexes with water pressure. In short, I am chalking this tank up to a learning experience and want to move on to a slightly larger, glass tank with better flow and easier to maintain.
This is where y'all come in:
1. What are some of the pros and cons of the various tanks (~80-90 gal) you all have worked with from Red Sea (Reefer 425?), Waterbox Marine X (110.4?), Aquaforest (OceanGuard 435?), Glasscages, Nyos, Innovative Marine... I would say I'm in the medium price range and looking for something between plug and play and custom. I already have a full suite of Apex tank monitoring gear, and ATO system... but need a well thought out sump with enough flexibility that I can maybe convert from filter socks to filter floss in the future without too much hassle. Hope this makes sense.
2. Second, what do I need to know about using or NOT using live rock, sand and other materials from my existing tank into the new one. I thought I read that live sand is only good for a few years then should be swapped out but that may have been from a sand mfg. Should I use old tanks water mixed with new water for stability for my livestock or make all new water? Any thoughts or suggestions from your own successes and failures are welcome here.
Existing Tank (4 years ago):
