Dream Tank

[bradberkshire]

When I first Started in this fantastic Hobby I was 14 years old with a 30 Gallon fish only tank with no money and then slowly evolved it into a beautiful reef tank . Now that I’m older and have the money to build my dream tank I Figured id ask the people hear for your opinions.
I want to build a 75-100 Gallon Bow Front Tank along with a sump.
What do you guys/girl think I should use in terms of equipment, size of sump, skimmer ex........
In this Hobby nothing is more important than experience and learning from past mistakes.
Let’s see what we can come up with for the ultimate Reef tank set up

 

[cedarreef]

Go as big as you can afford. This will open up a lot more options for stocking later. Also, welcome to the boards! I can definitely relate to your earlier situation. I started this hobby when I was in 5th grade... about 10. Now, I'm a sophomore at 15 with a 46g mixed reef that's really coming together. Here are some of my opinions on equipment.
Lighting- 20k Radium Metal Halides
Sump- As big as you can fit under the stand... only suggestion is to have a built in fuge.
Skimmer- Reef Octopus, Red Sea C-Skim, BubbleKing
Powerheads- Koralia or if you can afford the VorTech wavemakers
Salt Mix- Oceanic all the way. Amazing calcium, magnesium, iodine, trace elements, everything for a great reef.
That's about all I have as of now. Hope this helps and Merry Christmas! =]

 

[number1gsxxr]

I'm not trying to dissuade you from getting a bowfront but if I had to do mine over again I wouldn't get one. It can be a pain to scrape the coralline off. Because of the shape you have to go side-to-side instead of up and down and you end up having to really get your arm in the tank to do it. It also distorts the view IMO.
My advice, get the best equipment you can afford. Even if that means you can't set the tank up right away. It's so true what everyone says that you will just want to upgrade it later.
Also get stuff that makes your life easier if you can afford it. Aquarium controllers, top-off units, dosing pumps, etc.

 

[cedarreef]

Originally Posted by number1Gsxxr
http:///forum/post/3195730
I'm not trying to dissuade you from getting a bowfront but if I had to do mine over again I wouldn't get one. It can be a pain to scrape the coralline off. Because of the shape you have to go side-to-side instead of up and down and you end up having to really get your arm in the tank to do it. It also distorts the view IMO.
My advice, get the best equipment you can afford. Even if that means you can't set the tank up right away. It's so true what everyone says that you will just want to upgrade it later.
Also get stuff that makes your life easier if you can afford it. Aquarium controllers, top-off units, dosing pumps, etc.
+1 If I could re-do it now, I would've gotten a 55g, but since it wasn't in my price range at the time, I settled for a 46g bowfront. Don't get me wrong, I love it and the slight curve allows for some nice corals or a clam in the front, but it does distort viewing slightly. I have no problems with the curve. I don't have any problems scraping the algae because of my magfloat. I can't get to some places, but that's just because my rockwork is in the way. Definitely get the best equipment. Here's a few good examples. At first, I decided to get Maxi-Jet powerheads. This wasn't enough flow so I bought the mods for them. This was too much flow and moved the sand. Finally, I broke down and bought Koralias. Couldn't be happier and should've just bought these to begin with. Another example is that when my heater broke, I went out to buy another crappy one which gave out in a few months. Now I went out to buy better replacements. They work perfectly. Get the best rated out there. You won't regret it in the future.