Going Bigger......maybe?

[craigybaby37]

In my room atm i have got a 20G tropical and 20G marine tank. For a while now i havent been interested in my tropical tank and i am thinking of shutting it down and i will give the tank to my sister along with the fish. This will then make way for a possible tank upgrade for my marines which i am far more interested in.

Ime looking at various tank at around 40 uk gallons and using my rekord 60 tank which my sister is currently using as a sump of some sort. I may get the tank custon buils to around 54" x 12" x 18" unless anyone knows of a tank already made to around this size to save me some pennys.

As for the sump i dont know to much about them so would a 60 litre be good enough for the job or would it be best to just get a bigger external filter like a fluval 305 or something similar??

 

[craigybaby37]

anyone??

 

[1234-fishy-freind]

Well the larger the better, especially with marines because the bigger the tank is the easier it is to maintain.
I have a sump on my tank, depending on what size tank you went to, a 60 litre could work.

 

[craigybaby37]

The only thing that concerns me is if i got for a 40 gallon tank it will be the same weight as the 2 20 gallon tanks i have on the cabinate atm and this is all in my bedroom upstairs so gotta be carefull with the weight of it all.

Though the sump being 12 gallons may seem a little small surely its better than an external filter like a fluval 305 or something like that??? as that way i can house most of my equipment in the sump aswell.

 

[SkiFletch]

54" x 12" x 18"

IMO these are very poor dimensions for most marine tanks. The thin front-to-back width of 12" will make it a BEAR to aquascape. I had exceptional difficulty aquascaping my old 45g tank which was only 36" x 12"... Couldn't even imagine doing it on a tank that was longer and just as wide. When you start getting over 24" in length its very important to have at least 18" front to back IMO

 

[craigybaby37]

oh damn thing is i would like to go deeped as the tank atm is sitting on a shelf/cabinate ive build and can only be 12" deep as if the shelf/cabinate is any deeped the door wont open.

Is it a definate thing to be 18" deep as i cant say ive had any probs aquascaping my current tank which is 12" deep and is just under 3ft wide.

 

[SkiFletch]

Well, if it has to be only 12" front-to-back, try and keep it short top-to-bottom. 12" would be ideal, but 18" might be do-able

 

[craigybaby37]

well i was planning on having it somewhere around 54" x 12" x 12" and gettind an arcadia overtank light with 3 x 150watt metal halide bulbs.

This is all rough figures and measurments as ive got to see if i can find a suitable light fixture for reasonable money, and if its all looking to cost me rediculious money ide rather do it properly when i have my own place where ime not limited for space etc etc

 

[craigybaby37]

so ive had a look around for lights all night and if ime after a 3 x 150watt matal halide unit its lookin to be seriouosly expensive so ime concidering going for an arcadia overtank unit with 4 x 54watt t5 lights would this be ok lighting for the tank???

And i dont think ime going to do the sump idea with the 12 gallon tank as i aint got the room for it so instead i think ime gunna try go for 2 larger external filters.


If this does all go ahead will i be right in saying that if i tranfere the tank into another room and set up the new tank with the new liverock and let that cycle can i then add the liverock and water from the current tank without having any problems and not cause any stress to the existing livestock when i put them into the new tank???

 

[SkiFletch]

You can use an arcadia or similar luminaire. Just be prepared that some modifications may be needed to get it to fit over a tank as long as yours... Something tells me the standard legs for the fixture won't fit . Hanging/suspending it from the cieling would prolly be the best option.

As for the transfer, yeah that's pretty much the way to do it. Have lots of bins, water, and towels, you'll need them

 

[craigybaby37]

well img going to phone my LFS today and get some measurments and prices on there T5 overtank luminaires and ime going to speak to them about getting the tank built aswell.

i was looking at filtration last night and worked out if i got another fluval 105 it should be ok as each one is reccomended for aquariums of a maximum of 100L......or would u reccomend a single larger unit like a fluval 205 which is reccomended for a maximum of 200L???

Main reason i fort of having 2 filters was because of the length of the tank being 4.5 or 5 foot long i would know if the filtration would be ok as the pipes that take the water in and out of the tank are so far appart??

 

[SkiFletch]

Marine tanks should have enough circulation/turnover in them so that filter placement means very little . Part of the reason we reccomend such high flowrates is that it really stabilizes the chemistry across the aquarium

 

[craigybaby37]

so as long as the water turnover is ok it meens thats the filter wont be taking water from only 1 place in the tank as its allways getting moved around by powerheads etc........i should of fort of that realy o well.

Ive phoned my LFS today about T5 luminaires and they do a 1200mm which has 4 x 54watt bulbs for £179.99 and then they do a 1500mm which has 4 x 80watt bulbs for £249.99

i must say the 1500mm unit it tempting however i can get a 1500mm arcadia unit for £210 from an internet website.........decisions decisions lol

 

[craigybaby37]

Well things are definatly going ahead with the upgrade.

Got a quote from my LFS of £197.30 for a 60" x 12" x 14" which i fort was an alright price so ime going to put down a deposite at the weekend and then it will take between 2 and 3 weeks to build which gives me plenty of time to get the rest of the equipment needed and move the current tank so that when the new 1 is here i can put it straight on the cainate.

Still not sure weather to spend £210 on a 4 x 54watt T5 light unit by arcadia or spend £250 on a 4 x 80watt unit so and extra 104 watts for £40 i spose that will be best if i can afford it?

And for the filtration side of things ime going to get a fluval 205 and sell me 105 ime currently using, And ive been looking at TMC v2 skim 400 skimmers but they are rated for aquariums of 400L and mine will be around 160 so will it be a bit overkill having a that skimmer on a 160L tank???

 

[craigybaby37]

little change in plan i had a phone call from another fish supplier saying they can do the tank for £198 all in 10mm glass and £125 with a 10mm base and 6mm side with 10mm straps all around the tank and 1 across the middle so ive gone for the £125 tanks and tomorow ime going to get the 4 x 80watt T5 luminaire as ive saved money on the tank.