Jestersix

What would be your dream tank?

rygh

rygh

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Just for a fun topic....

Assuming money and space were not really an issue, and no huge distractions like kids,
what sort of tank or tanks do you dream about?

The only caveat - this is your home tank, so you have to stock, scape, maintain, and so on.

Some giant thing?
A whole wall of different biotope pico tanks?
What you have now?
 
See there's "money is no object" and then there's "No seriously, you're Bill Gates"

And that said why do I have to maintain it? Money is no object, I'm hiring someone to clean that sucker :D

That said one of my favorite tanks I've seen (that isn't Steinhart big) is this outdoor "pond" tank that I've seen at the Maui Ocean center as well as the Waikiki Aquarium. Basically is about 3.5-4 feet tall acrylic panel from the ground up (it's been a while so I may be misremembering size) it had some angles in it and the rock structure was absolutely huge with plenty of spots to move around etc, it really makes the idea of "piece of the reef" seem a bit more realistic compared to what we have in our tanks which is a sliver of the reefs at most... and then a really weird reef at that :D, but I always thought that was a super cool idea. Steinhart actually has something similar to that when you come down from the rain forest dome except it has freshwater rays in it instead so obviously different scape. Even thought about doing something like that at one point, except inside instead of outside, but quickly dismissed the idea as the evaporation from something that would be big enough to be worth building (not the same if it was just a 100g tank on the ground) would be pretty substantial combined with the heating required (and freshwater top off required) would make that quite expensive in this area, maybe I lived elsewhere where electricity is reasonable... sure, but until then. No.

The crazy insane, no seriously I have no issues with money, tank would be something like I saw on a Youtube channel Ohio Fish rescue where he converted an indoor pool into a huge tank. Granted it was freshwater, and there probably would be quite a few issues involved with getting it salt water ready "Yeah Marco rocks? What if I needed 50 tons of rock... no seriously, 50 tons" but I think having a diving reef would be kind of fun (This is less deep version of the Steinhart reef tank).

That said the "Free tank available" dream tank, probably would want to stay under 500 gallons, maybe closer to 300 gallons, but I'd want it long (8 feet at least) width 30" inches at least unless I can find some of that super awesome rockscape stuff that goes on the back wall (not a wall of rocks, but the back wall is just a solid rock formation), then I could do with 24" width possibly. Having a look down shallow tank could work nice... although with LEDs it's often a pain to look through the top I find.
 
So my (not crazy insane) dream tank...

I was thinking a long peninsula style tank, 4' wide x 10' long x 3' deep, but using two tanks stuck together.

The outer end, where you can see all 3 sides, would be a mixed reef. Mostly coral. Just housekeeping fish.
Perhaps 4' W x 3' L x 3' D. Roughly 220 G.
The inner part, between that and wall, would be fish only with live rock. Tons of fish.
Perhaps 4' W x 7' L x 3' D. Roughly 600 G.

I have always wanted all those non reef safe fish. But also always wanted a reef.
I have also wanted a LOT of fish, but that is a pain for nutrient controls with corals.
Two tanks allows for all of that.
But stuck together, to make it mostly seem like one system.
Separate water systems, to keep heavy nutrients on fish side away from corals.
I also like peninsula style where you can look at more than just one side, and you don't end up
with some ugly back wall.
That is big, but still reasonable to deal with myself. Especially as mostly FOWLR.
 
10’x30”x30” starphire glass display with external overflow, and separate seahorse and carpet anemone tanks plumbed in and several frag flats.
 
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Honestly if I had the room I would love the tank that California reef has but in glass. Put it in the middle of a large room to walk around with a basement sump. All 4 sides viewable would be awesome
 
Forget Vortech pumps, otherwise it'll look "lazy" with them on the viewing panes. In fact all your pumps would need to be on the center overflow which might make things a bit ... awkward unless you also has a massive closed loop too.
 
sfsuphysics said:
Forget Vortech pumps, otherwise it'll look "lazy" with them on the viewing panes. In fact all your pumps would need to be on the center overflow which might make things a bit ... awkward unless you also has a massive closed loop too.
Click to expand...


4 Gyres on the overflow...problem solved


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Would be curious to know if Gyres would really be that effective. I mean it is a really beefy tank. Someone should buy it, fill it with water, and then dump in a bunch of those translucent beads that you see in all the MACNA pump demos :D
 
I’m in the process of designing my “dream tank”. Right now The plan is it’s 96”x27”x27” and sits in the wall between my office and living room.

0C8EBDB8-709E-40D4-AF04-2EC9996FA088.jpeg


I plan on the ghost overflow to be on the right side inside the door of the cabinet. The right side under the cabinet will be the dry side with all the electrical and dry goods storage with the right side having all the wet stuff. The plumbing for the return would be inside the door of the cabinet. So much is still up in the air but this is what I’ve got so far.
 
sfsuphysics said:
Would be curious to know if Gyres would really be that effective. I mean it is a really beefy tank. Someone should buy it, fill it with water, and then dump in a bunch of those translucent beads that you see in all the MACNA pump demos :D
Click to expand...
We're probably talking a while, but remind me whenever my big tank goes back up out here and we can try that. You provide the beads though.
 
<firstworldproblem>
Honestly, I think I have mine, or something really close to it. Not because it's large enough (it's never large enough), but because if it was much bigger I wouldn't be able to keep up with it, it's already hard to reach the bottom, etc. The month after I set up my tank (126"L, 32"H, 34"D) a friend and I were moving in corals from other places envisioning how they would look grown out. Something to remember is that you can't add types of coral as fast as you expand the system. When I had everything packed in a 14 gallon cube I had my nice little 2" green stylo colony, a 3" inch tall green slimer, a frogspawn that I kept at 3-4 heads, an island of xenia I trimmed monthly, some zoas, etc. You can't really do that as the tank grows. A huge tank full of 3" tall SPS frags packed in to each other both looks funny and is probably moving towards some sticks overgrowing others in short order. We very rapidly discovered that we were out of space to put things despite large open spaces between frags. A year of growth later it actually looked pretty good other than the trench lines where one coral was fighting with another.

All of this said, I wouldn't mind another foot or 2 front to back so I could have a larger front sandbed space, but only on the condition that I also had enough space to walk on a platform behind the tank for access purposes.
I'm happy with the height. I like the look of tall tanks, but unless you have a huge sump that lets you drop the display volume 12" it's annoying working on a tank taller than your arms.

I'm happy with the length. The only benefit I see to a longer tank would be the ability to keep an adult sohal or clown tang without lower odds of them being homicidal. I knew someone with a moderately large Sohal in a 210, but it also somewhat routinely killed something expensive, and honestly needed to go. I'd love to have one, but am not willing to accept the risk to my other livestock.


</firstworldproblem>
 
If money (and wife's anger) weren't a concern, I have this fantasy of of building an outdoor tank that would span the floor to ceiling windows that run the length my master bed....so when I wake up, I see nothing but reef and fish.

So that wound translate to about 12' x 16' x however deep. :D
 
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