Planning my next setup....

moorea2

moorea2

Member
Hi All,
Well my 120 gallon reef system is doing great! I am now thinking about planning my next setup. Very shortly I will be adding an addition to my home and I am planning on setting up an agressive tank in there. I will most likely have them setup plumbing where the tank will go so any ideas on that will be welcomed. I do need to do some planning now as I want to make sure that the tank fits in with the building plans. It will be in the center of the room and viewable from both sides.
Right now all my knowledge is based on the 120 gallon reef w/ 75 gallon sump fuge I just setup so any information or ideas are welcomed. I know I need a good skimmer for what I plan to stock but that is about it.
I am thinking this tank will be a 300 gallon display tank. I know I want a shark and a ray (will they get along or must I choose one) I have a bunch of questions?
Is 300 gallons good for these guys?
What should the dimensions of the tank be?
Do I want live rock, if so how much is good?
What about a fuge?
What else can I stock with a shark and a ray (again assuming I can have both)?
 
lobstergrabber

lobstergrabber

Member
Are you going to use alot of live rock in the process? A LFS a town or two over has a square tank I love that is about 4'x4'x30 tall that has a center overflow and can be viewed from all four sides. They piled the rock up the overflow so you can't even see it. Very nice set up. I think it could be done with alot of the area open for the aggressives but enough rock to simulate life on a ledge type reef. Just an idea.
Rich
 
psusocr1

psusocr1

Active Member
i have a 300 aggressive so ill try to give you some ideas
I am thinking this tank will be a 300 gallon display tank. I know I want a shark and a ray (will they get along or must I choose one) I have a bunch of questions?
i have a shark and two rays
What should the dimensions of the tank be?
at least 96" long and as wide as you can go,, 30" or so
Do I want live rock, if so how much is good?
i have about 150 pounds maybe more in my setup,, i have it all in the middle in the back and iun one corner i have a large open cave... i have two huge caves total for my shark, and the rest is wide open for my rays to cruise around in
What about a fuge?
i run a 45 gallon sump inline with a 55 gallon refugium(imo i wouldnt go any smaller)
your gunna need a very big protien skimmer.. mine is for tanks up to 520 gallons..
What else can I stock with a shark and a ray (again assuming I can have both)?
i have
grey bamboo shark
(2) cali rays
5 very large tangs
one large gold striped maroon clownfish
and two big lionfish
heres an older picture without the canopy

mt tankmates for my shark and rays

male and female cali's

stingray and shark "playing"

my rays again


last one of my shark
 
psusocr1

psusocr1

Active Member
SHLovell16 To my knowledge, NO shark can be housed in anything close to 300 gallons, they need ALOT bigger thanks.
the grey bamboo i have can def. live in my tank since its max. length is only 28"
and the smaller coral cat shark can also be housed ina 300 gallon only reaching a max length of 24"
 
shlovell16

shlovell16

Member
I thought there were no sharks that were small enough to be in a 300 gallon tank?
I thought they would out grow them? What kind of shark is that?
BTW, AWSOME AWSOME tank!
 
shlovell16

shlovell16

Member
Answered me before I posted the question! haha
Wow, I didn't know that. I stand corrected!
Sorry for my false information, I really had no idea. That's really cool.
 
psusocr1

psusocr1

Active Member
no big deal...i beleive those are the only two that could live in a 300 gal. system for a good amount of time,, by the time i move into my new house i will be upgrading to a 500 gallon or so and i plan on keeping this shark for a very long time!
thanks for the compliments
 
moorea2

moorea2

Member
psusocr1 thanks for the info... Looks like I dont need to plan a system I can just copy yours :hilarious that is exactly what I had in mind!
I was a little unsure of the live rock as I know the ray need room to swim. That is less live rock then I have in my 120 gallon so at least I have an idea of price on that.
What about an eel will he get along in there?
 
psusocr1

psusocr1

Active Member
yes he would but it all depends on what kind... you cane easily throw a snowflake in that mix
but i personally like the look of the morays species.. i like the goldentail moray...BUT i dont have that much experience with eels so you would have to consult someone on what the best species for your tank would be.. there are alot of people on here that can chime in about eels such as AWx2 , Dme lurks aroudn here as well along with many others
i find that with the amount of fish i have right now and their sizes i wouldnt throw anythign else in my tank ,, i think my bioload is perfect as are my low levels
 
moorea2

moorea2

Member
rs1831 I sure will but it will be a while... I just wanted to get some ideas now before we start construction so if there was a need to change anything in my addition plans I could.
The room the tank is going in is in the upstairs part of the addition and I wanted to make sure of gallons as the floor will need to support it.
Also the tank is going in the middle of the room so I wanted to get an idea if there would be any different needs with the aggressive setup so I can have them install enough electric in the floor next to the tank.
I'm also bringing plumbing over there. I did not get any good feed back there so I will probably just have them bring water there for a DI system and then a pipe that goes back to the drain for water changes as well as DI waste.
I am submitting my plans to my contractor on Monday and then I find out when we break ground... so pictures are pretty far off!
Here are some pics of the 120 I just finished (nothing aggressive, just a lonely tang)




 
moorea2

moorea2

Member
Thanks psusocr1, I am very proud of it. It actually took more time to plan and build the stand then it did the setup of the tank. I am planning something even nicer for the new tank. I will have log benches around it for sitting and viewing!
 
mrducks

mrducks

Member
A bamboo shark may very well do fine for quite a while. With rays a small one maybe but in my opinion live rock/decorations should be kept minimal as rays need much open bottom space. Similar situation with the shark also.
 
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