mountain reefs
New Member
Hey all, im seriously considering upsizing my reef from a 180g to a 269g. My main concern is keeping the front clean. The tank is 72"L x18"W x (48"D top to bottom) any +/- input would be great.
Someone stop me
- Thread starter mountain reefs
- Start date
outatime97
Member
Just get yourself a big Magfloat. at 18" front to back and 48" tall, that will be very hard to aquascape and with those measurements that only comes out to 269 gallons.
mountain reefs
New Member
Thanks for the calc. maybe it'll help lower the price! what about coraline algea etc. Its a used tank for sale at a good price so cant change the size. Pros/Cons anyone.
mountain reefs
New Member
Thanks for the input, same thing I'm thinking. My current hood holds
2-250w 1400k MH
2-48" 40w HO 1800k T10s
2-48" 40w Actinic T10s
My ? is will this be enough light for the first few feet of tank and then becoming dimmer with depth so lower light needers could be attached to the front wall and not so much in the deeper shadows?
2-250w 1400k MH
2-48" 40w HO 1800k T10s
2-48" 40w Actinic T10s
My ? is will this be enough light for the first few feet of tank and then becoming dimmer with depth so lower light needers could be attached to the front wall and not so much in the deeper shadows?
exlfs
New Member
Pro's:
1. Bigger tank=larger volume of water (dillution of solution is good)
2. If you do it right, the 'deeper' tanks can be fun as they allow for lower light corals.....BUT....people tend to try lower light corals in these situations that really should't be kept in a reef tank because they realy so heavily on filter feeding, and getting them enough food is almost impossible (long term) without causing water quality problems (in absence of some SERIOUS refugium feeding). So, while it's a positive, long term this can be hard to maintain.
3. Deep tanks LOOK GREAT!
Con's:
1. If this tank is glass and not acrylic (which is likely given the dimensions), you are talking about a tank which will likely weigh in excess of 600 pounds EMPTY! 48" high glass will be in excess of 1/2 inch, and weigh a LOT! My 300 gallon tanks took 8 people to really maneuver them around safely, and were placed on concrete floors.
2. Length is better for most fish that you would choose for a tank this size eventually (tangs, etc).
3. Deep tanks suck us into purchased of corals like sun polyps, carnations, tubestreas, etc. which are very unlikely to do well long-term. They also are clam-challenging (though you can engineer clam 'pots' if you plan carefully.
4. A Mag Float will likely not help out much except for keeping micro-algaes off the glass (film algae). Coralines will still require scraping, and this is MUCH more difficult in deeper tanks. I have a heck of a time keeping the front of my 250 clean. I use a Magnavore because the Mag Float has literally no effect through the thickness of my glass (acrylic actually on that tank). My algae magnet runs almost $100 bucks and still won't phase the coralines. Long handled pro-scraper is a pain in the tush! Sigh....
5. Aqua-scaping has to be nearly permanent or you have tumbles that can be catastrophic! Like as in smashed corals or even broken tank! OUCH!
Deep tanks can be amazing! Just be sure you are very serious about it, have lots of time to keep it up, and are more patient and careful in your initial rock placement (acrylic rods in the rock, ties or lots of epoxy).
Best of luck and God bless...
1. Bigger tank=larger volume of water (dillution of solution is good)
2. If you do it right, the 'deeper' tanks can be fun as they allow for lower light corals.....BUT....people tend to try lower light corals in these situations that really should't be kept in a reef tank because they realy so heavily on filter feeding, and getting them enough food is almost impossible (long term) without causing water quality problems (in absence of some SERIOUS refugium feeding). So, while it's a positive, long term this can be hard to maintain.
3. Deep tanks LOOK GREAT!
Con's:
1. If this tank is glass and not acrylic (which is likely given the dimensions), you are talking about a tank which will likely weigh in excess of 600 pounds EMPTY! 48" high glass will be in excess of 1/2 inch, and weigh a LOT! My 300 gallon tanks took 8 people to really maneuver them around safely, and were placed on concrete floors.
2. Length is better for most fish that you would choose for a tank this size eventually (tangs, etc).
3. Deep tanks suck us into purchased of corals like sun polyps, carnations, tubestreas, etc. which are very unlikely to do well long-term. They also are clam-challenging (though you can engineer clam 'pots' if you plan carefully.
4. A Mag Float will likely not help out much except for keeping micro-algaes off the glass (film algae). Coralines will still require scraping, and this is MUCH more difficult in deeper tanks. I have a heck of a time keeping the front of my 250 clean. I use a Magnavore because the Mag Float has literally no effect through the thickness of my glass (acrylic actually on that tank). My algae magnet runs almost $100 bucks and still won't phase the coralines. Long handled pro-scraper is a pain in the tush! Sigh....
5. Aqua-scaping has to be nearly permanent or you have tumbles that can be catastrophic! Like as in smashed corals or even broken tank! OUCH!
Deep tanks can be amazing! Just be sure you are very serious about it, have lots of time to keep it up, and are more patient and careful in your initial rock placement (acrylic rods in the rock, ties or lots of epoxy).
Best of luck and God bless...
T
tiberius
Guest
It would be a great tank for African Cichlids!
mountain reefs
New Member
Thanks for the awesome reply! The tank is acrylic, and i have already modified my flooring with 8"x8" beams under the house. Believe it or not I actually prefer small fish to large ones. I am probably going with the 180g as a fuge. As for the wall of LR, I am considering using an eggcrate structure secured to the back wall with a 1" set off, the LR would then be attached to this with zip ties and epoxied together. The wall would be 16"+/- from the surface. I am still in negotiations with this purchase and am not yet commited. Any recomendations on low light corals etc. Thanks again.
lesleybird
Active Member
What are you going to do to put in and re-arange the rocks? Put on diving gear?
mountain reefs
New Member
knew that was comming. same thing i asked current owner. I'm unable to find any merfolk to do it so actually I "plan" LOL! on filling it as I go with the wall stucture.