Proper Planning means no wasted money!

[apocalypso]

So we will be moving to a new home in the spring.
We will be moving our 3 (12,15,18) micro-reefs, but the most important thing is in the new home we will have space for that AFOWLR that weve been dreaming about for 12 years. Taking into account we are experienced reefkeepers and know the basics and most of the intermediates, we are always open to advice.
The dream is a tank large enough for 6-7 large fish, say... 2 triggers, 2 angels (Or one angel one wrass), an eel, and a lion or puffer, or both. Live rock reef in the back with plenty of room to swim, and soft sandbed as opposed to crushed/puka.
Keeping that in mind...
Glass or acrylic?
Is 200 big enough? 250?
Suggestions for sump setup? skimmers? Is MiracleMud still available?
Fish to avoid? (via MO or LFS)
Helpfull advice always welcome! :help:

 

[greenwolf52]

bigger is better! good luck

 

[babyb]

i could be wrong but i think that triggers and puffers get to curious and nip at the frilly fins of lions, but i could have my fish mixed up
personaly i like the lions
welcome to the board

 

[surfinusa]

how about this list
golden puffer
volitan lion
pinktail trigger
harleqiun tusk
emperor angel
sohal tang
naso tang
jeweled moray it sounds nice doesnt it :thinking:

 

[geridoc]

BabyB is right about puffers and lions, but you cannot predict. I have had puffers, triggers and a lionfish in the same tank, and they did fine, and years later tried the same combination again with no luck and I ended up with a lion with no fins (I also had the same problem with a lion and a large maroon clown, go figger). I would also be careful about two tangs in the same tank - lots of opportunity for fighting there, same for two angels. I like Surfin's list, except for the two tangs. One potential problem is that these are large fish as adults, and you will need a very large tank, but now is the time to go big, while you are building and installing, rather than later when you try to retrofit.

 

[psusocr1]

you can ut alot of tangs in one tank , General rule of thumb with figthig is only that of which states dont add tangs with the same bodys hape i.e yellows and purples

 

[apocalypso]

So.
Nobody is going to comment on useing live rock vs base rock?
The question is why pay $6/lb for live rock if you end up killing it the first time you need to treat the tank?
Is it worth it?
Can a guy get away with starting with 70% base and 30% live and let it seed from there?
Comments?

 

[psusocr1]

The question is why pay $6/lb for live rock if you end up killing it the first time you need to treat the tank?
treat the tank with what? if you mean ich medications etc. well you should have the proper environment or QT so that you never have to treat your tank for anything, thus not killing live rock
also ive never heard of treatments killing liverock.
as far as base rock theres no reason why you cant use it and seed it with liverock.. alot of people do.. i have added base rock to my tank as well and you cant tell the difference between that and live rock sometimes.
it is however more benificial to your tank to add live rock because of all of the bacteria and organisms in the live rock which cant be found in base rock..

 

[apocalypso]

Ok so the list is looking like this - All prices rounded up by 10's, so this is a generous estimate. Projected Tank setup is early June 2007.
$700 - 210 gallon all glass Oceanic aquarium with double overflows.
$700+450=$1150 - Mission Style all pine cherrywood stained stand and front opening canopy.
$240 - Lighting for AFOWLR - Nothing specatular, just flouescents to bring out the color in the fish, with a day/night timer.
$450 - Custom 55 gallon acrylic sump with Magdrive12 (1200gph) pump.
$500 - 100 pounds live rock, large show, trophy pieces hand picked.
$80 - 100 pounds base rock
$250 - One unopened 60 pound box semi cured live rock (to seed the base rock)
$80 - 4 (40 pound) bags course dry sand
$80 - 4 (40 pound) bags fine dry sand
$50 - 2 (20 pound) bags live sand feeder/culture

[hr]
$3500 plus livestock
unknowns still
$??? - Heaters - at tank setup - didnt discuss
$??? - Mechanical filter??
$??? - Coralife skimmer for upto 220 gal tanks - not immediate, cycle+6months later
$??? - UV Sterilizer - not immediate, cycle+6months later
$??? - Chiller? Dont know if necessary yet, in a home with central air
================================================================
*** Custom sump is a 55 gallon acrylic with 4 partitions (in, under, over, through, out). It includes all hardware, 2 overflow kits, lighting, the return pump, and in-home setup.
The idea is water comes into the box through the overflows, the first chamber is a hardware area, where the heaters and future skimmer will go. Water then gets pulled under a wall into a partition filled with live rock and rubble. Water flows from bottom to top here through the live rock. It then flows over the top of the next partition into the refugeum area with a mud substrate and the calurpa and/or mangroves. From there its pulled through a wall with holes in it into the pump chamber, where there is nothing but the pump, in order to prevent pickup of stuff by the pump.
================================================================
So the questions I still have for you guys are:
1> What am I missing?
2> Mechanical filtration was never brought up. Is it necessary? some type of charcoal and felt pad thing?
3> Heaters - how big, and always 2 of them. I always want twice the heating I need, as this is the piece that dies the most in my reefs, So ive learned to have redundent heaters.
4> This will be my first UV Sterilizer, what preparations do I need to make in the sump to prepare for it down the road?
5> Do these prices look right? Outrageous in some thigns dirt cheap in others? I know the rock is a good price, this place gives it to me at their price, the other LFS charges $8 a pound.
As always, you guys rock and TIA!