Various Question for New Tank

[twisted]

I am in the process of building a new house and I wanted to add a saltwater tank some where in the house. The current location is going to be in between the eat in kitchen area and the living. So it will be used to break up the two areas. I am going to have the builder build a base for the tank and cut a hole in the floor under the base so I can run all the piping into the basement.
So here are my questions.
The local Fish store suggested a tank my Oceanic System are they a good tank maker?
Do I want Glass or Acrylic? I am not doing a reef setup, I am more interested in the fish.
The current tank size is going to be between 75 and 125 gallons. What should I considered?
The attached picture is from a similar house and is where the tank would be going.
I have not had a saltwater tank in almost 12 years, so I have been out of touch and things have changed a lot. So what are some of the questions I should be asking myself and my local store to make sure I get the right products.
Thanks for the help.

 

[jdm_ae86]

The Oceanic Reef Ready system(basically a tank with an internal overflow box) is really good, I would go with glass, since youre just getting back into saltwater, and I dont think youll want to deal with scratches and acrylic. Get as big of a tank as you can, a lot of people always overstock their tank and wish they got a bigger one.. Buy the best filtration!!!,
protein skimmer, maybe a DIY sump..etc.

 

[big911dog]

Oceanic is great. I also recommend their reef ready system. It comes pre-drilled with one or two overflow boxes depending on the size of the tank. Even if you dont want a reef tank, the way they are set up will make it easier and cleaner to plumb down into the basement. I'm pretty sure they only make glass tanks.
MAKE SURE you check the flooring. A tank that size will be VERY heavy. The last thing you want to deal with is an unintentional, immediate replacement of ur tank from ur living room to the basement...
Go with the largest tank u can. More water=more stability. Of course you may have a temperature issue with the plumbing going to the basement. Not many are heated and that could cause a problem. Specific temperatures are not as important as temperature stability. Going into the basement also gives you the latitude of LOTS of cool stuff like sumps, refugiums, external pumps for closed lines, etc.
Last of all, this board is a GREAT tool for research and learning. Many have done what ur talking about, so don't think u have to re-invent the wheel. Learn how to use the search function.
HTH....and WELCOME TO THE BOARDS! :jumping:

 

[twisted]

Cool thanks for the information.
So are you saying people normally don't heat their tanks anymore? 12 years ago we did, but I guess things have changed.
Are people now more worried about keeping the tanks cool? IE chillers?
thanks

 

[kablamo]

yeah these days, if you have a reef, you almost have to have either a chiller, or a good fan at least blowing the hot air out from your canopy, But you said you are going fish only, so you can get away with NO lights and then you may need a heater, but I doubt it, even before i got my lights, my tank stayed at about 78 degrees.
HTH
I just started myself, and the best advise I can give you, is GO SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!
and
NEVER TRUST THE LFS!!!!!!!!!!
There are 8 in my city and they will all LIE to make money from you. I have yet to find one that i can even REMOTELY trust!
Ask one if a blue hippo tang could fit in a 40 gallon tank, and if they say yes (they always will) You cannot trust them!

 

[twisted]

If you don't mind me asking, how do you know the prices are going up? I will place my order if that is the case.
I was originally going to go with a 125 tank, but I just don't have room. So I think I am going to go with either a 75 or 90 @ 4 ft and then build up the sides so it looks built in.
I guess before I say I am not doing a reef tank, perhaps I should ask exactly what defines a reef tank. I mean if I have some feather dusters and sea anemones, does it make it a reef tank?

 

[dskidmore]

Originally posted by twisted
I guess before I say I am not doing a reef tank, perhaps I should ask exactly what defines a reef tank. I mean if I have some feather dusters and sea anemones, does it make it a reef tank?
The anemones would qualify you as a reef tank. They need really high water quality and lighting. Even if you keep no corals, you'll need to look at the same kind of filtration and lighting for anemones. Anemones are notoriously short-lived in captivity, although advanced aquarists can sometimes get them to grow and reproduce.
The feather dusters are less picky, but you want to look into reef-safe fish if you don't want them getting eaten.

 

[twisted]

Let me ask another question...
How many fish can you put into a 75 gal? I know they will tend to grow to their environment, but I was expecting to be able to put 7inchs of fish for every 10 gallons....(That was what I was told almost 15 years ago) Is that not still correct? What I expect to be able to put in the tank include
2 Small yellow tangs
1 Blue Tang
2 Clowns
1 golby
1 Dwarf Lion fish
2 red fish of some kind just to balance color.
couple of snails for cleaning
Do I have unresonable expectations?
Thanks

 

[twisted]

This is the example I gave the builder, Don't laugh it was a quick job

 

[osufarker]

Originally posted by twisted
Let me ask another question...
How many fish can you put into a 75 gal? I know they will tend to grow to their environment, but I was expecting to be able to put 7inchs of fish for every 10 gallons....(That was what I was told almost 15 years ago) Is that not still correct? What I expect to be able to put in the tank include

Most will tell you 1" of fish per 5 gallons. That is quite a bit less than 7" to 10 gallons. I don't think that would work even with great filtration. Also a 75 is going to be to small for almost any of the tangs. Most will say they need a 6ft tank as the minimum. They are open swimmers.

 

[dskidmore]

Originally posted by twisted
How many fish can you put into a 75 gal? I know they will tend to grow to their environment, but I was expecting to be able to put 7inchs of fish for every 10 gallons
...1 Dwarf Lion fish
couple of snails for cleaning
Do I have unresonable expectations?

I'm not an expert on fish, but that sounds a bit packed. I've heard one inch of fish per 5 gallons. (When the tank is mature, if you have really good filtration you might be able to push that, but you'd want stable water parameters for 6 months or so before trying.) I believe that goldfish are the only fish that limit thier growth by tank size. Lion fish are preadators, and anything smaller than it will eventually get eaten. If by blue tang you mean blue hippo tang, they get very large, I'm not sure if they would work in 75 gallon or not.
One thing I would have more of is snails. Maybe only one of the big conches, but dozens of turbo or artisia (sp?) snails would not be out of the question. They don't add too much to bioload since they pick up everyone else's leftovers, and they make keeping up with the algae on the glass a bit easier.
Any real experts want to chime in?

 

[dskidmore]

Originally posted by osufarker
Also a 75 is going to be to small for almost any of the tangs. Most will say they need a 6ft tank as the minimum. They are open swimmers.
I've heard the yellows can get by with 4ft. He might be able to keep them on his list.
For color balance you could make the clowns your red fish. Once again I appeal to the experts around here to name for Twisted which clowns would fit in his tank.

 

[twisted]

Well I will have to play it by ear....I have seen some tangs as small as about 1.5 inchs, so I thought if I stay with smaller ones to start off with, I might be able to go a couple of years before I would need to trade with someone. But I don't know how fast they grow.
Thanks for all the information

 

[jdm_ae86]

2 Small yellow tangs
1 Blue Tang
2 Clowns
1 golby
1 Dwarf Lion fish
2 red fish of some kind just to balance color.
couple of snails for cleaning
to me, those are too much fish altogether already, even though they will be bought "small". FYI You cant put two yellow tangs together, they will fight for territory till' one dies(unless yo got a really big tank). One thing to remember is.. you need to take into account the max. size they will attain as your inch of fish per gallon ratio, and not the size they are now.