What would be an appropriate size tank?

emperor11

emperor11

Active Member
Well..due to some recent family problems, I am being forced to downsize my current saltwater aquarium, which I am pretty down about. Anyway, I figured NOW would be the proper time to start designing the way I want my dream tank to be, and I am curious how large of a tank it would take to house all this. I want these fish to be happy!! I figure if I work on a small tank now, that allows me to save money for a bigger tank, and finally do what I want. Thats why I want to start dreaming/planning now. Here are the fish I want(havent decided on specific species for dwarf angel):
3 green chromis
1 dwarf angel
1 yellow tang
1 radiant wrasse
4 bartlett anthias
1 copperband butterflyfish
2 percula clownfish
1 sleeper gold head goby
1 spotted mandarin
2 helfrichi firefish
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
I would say a 210 would be an appropriate tank size for those fish.
I'm sorry to hear you are going through family problems. I did the same thing as you though. I had a small tank for quite a while and this allowed me to save the $4500 for my 210.
 
emperor11

emperor11

Active Member
Originally Posted by lion_crazz
I would say a 210 would be an appropriate tank size for those fish.
I'm sorry to hear you are going through family problems. I did the same thing as you though. I had a small tank for quite a while and this allowed me to save the $4500 for my 210.
Great! A 210 is a really nice size tank! Do you have any shots of your 210 that I can see? Ya know, for some ideas? Oh, and thanks for the support...ya know...divorce.
~Adam :happyfish
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
I hate taking pictures of my tank (because my photography stinks), but here's a shot of my 210 and 20 gallon fuge.
I love 210's. They are a great size. They are tall, wide, and long as well.

 
emperor11

emperor11

Active Member
WOW! Thats really neat! Is that a batfish? Also, how much do you think a 210 All-Glass drilled with dual overflows would run me? Without the stand or lights or any of that..just the tank. And trust me..your photography is much better than mine.
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
Yep, that's my bat (hence my avatar and nickname, "bat" man, lol).
The tank will run you about $800-$900.
Like I said though, with my tank, stand, PC lights for main tank and fuge, refuge tank, sump, top of the line skimmer and 2 strong pumps (one for return and one for closed loop), plumbing, and 260 lbs. of rock, I spent about $4500.
 
maxalmon

maxalmon

Active Member
125 would be the min with the tang, 180 would be a great tank, 240 would be super nice tank, 360 would be really, really super nice tank, 480 would be "oh my god, I'm broke tank"
 
emperor11

emperor11

Active Member
Lion, since you have a 210, what do you use for filtration? I would like to make my own refugium, but what should I use as a return pump? I want LPS, SPS, and softies, so I need about a 20-30x turnover rate, but none seem to go that big, at least that I can find. I don't want any ugly powerheads in my tank, I want the gph to come from the return pump. Could you try to help me out with that? Also, what are you using for a protein skimmer? FYI..this tank is a ways off, these are just the very beginning planning stages. :jumping:
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
I use a GenX external pump for return, and I also drilled my tank to run a closed loop in the middle of the tank. I don't have any powerheads in my tank either. Here is a pic of when the tank was set-up. You can see the closed loop outlets here. I hid them very well with live rock though.
The skimmer I use is a large ETSS skimmer. It works wonderfully.
I also built my refuge myself as well. My refuge sits outside of my display tank and has its own stand and all. It makes it look like there is 2 display tanks.

 
jdinger29

jdinger29

Member
Can you explain "closed loop"? Does this mean that water is pumped through the tank without going through any filtration? So in the tank above the intake is in the middle and the output is on either side? Is this just for water movement?
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
Yes, a closed loop is just for water movement. Water gets drained from the middle, down to a pump, and does not go through anything but the pump. It gets pumpted back to the tank and comes out of the two side outlets.
 
emperor11

emperor11

Active Member
WAIT..so there's the overflows that lead down to a sump or refugium where the water will eventually get pumped through a return pump and go through a return tube and then there's a SEPERATE deal where the water gets sucked through the middle goes down to a pump and comes back? Would you mind posting some more pics of this? And maybe a couple of inside your stand, if it isn't too much of a hassle? Now, I'm confused..LOL! I've always used the cheapy Aquaclear HOB filters and the Lees Counter Current Skimmers (yeah..its cheap, but it works well). But, when I do the 210, I want it all out with all the works..I hate the look of the HOB filters and heaters in the tank and what not.
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
Well, the moonlights have come on for the evening, so I do not want to startle the fish with the flash of the camera. I will describe it for you for now though.
My main tank is a 210 gallon tank. There is 2 overflow boxes, one on the left, and one on the right. Both of these overflow boxes drain to a 30 gallon sump sitting under the display tank. The sump has 3 holes drilled in it. One of the holes is for the protein skimmer to pump water back into the sump, the other hole is to pump water into the protein skimmer (GenX pump) and the last hole is for my big Gen X pump to pump water up to my display tank.
Then, in the middle of the tank, there are 3 holes. The hole in the middle drains water to a pump that is inside the back of the stand. This pump pumps water to the 2 holes to the side of the drain.
On top of all that, right next to my display tank, on a stand of its own, there is my 20 gallon refugium. Inside the sump, there is a mag drive pump that pumps water up to the refuge. The water comes in from the right. In the refuge, there are 2 drains. There are 2 drains just in case one gets clogged, my refuge does not overflow. This has never happened, but is a nice precaution. The refuge drains water back to the sump via gravity.
 
emperor11

emperor11

Active Member
Originally Posted by lion_crazz
Well, the moonlights have come on for the evening, so I do not want to startle the fish with the flash of the camera. I will describe it for you for now though.
My main tank is a 210 gallon tank. There is 2 overflow boxes, one on the left, and one on the right. Both of these overflow boxes drain to a 30 gallon sump sitting under the display tank. The sump has 3 holes drilled in it. One of the holes is for the protein skimmer to pump water back into the sump, the other hole is to pump water into the protein skimmer (GenX pump) and the last hole is for my big Gen X pump to pump water up to my display tank.
Then, in the middle of the tank, there are 3 holes. The hole in the middle drains water to a pump that is inside the back of the stand. This pump pumps water to the 2 holes to the side of the drain.
On top of all that, right next to my display tank, on a stand of its own, there is my 20 gallon refugium. Inside the sump, there is a mag drive pump that pumps water up to the refuge. The water comes in from the right. In the refuge, there are 2 drains. There are 2 drains just in case one gets clogged, my refuge does not overflow. This has never happened, but is a nice precaution. The refuge drains water back to the sump via gravity.
I understand most of that..but I'm not sure I understand the middle. I understand your not wanting to stress the fish. Maybe you could get some pics tomorrow, if its not too much of a hassle?
 
emperor11

emperor11

Active Member
Originally Posted by lion_crazz
Think of the middle as two strong powerheads, without actually having any pumps inside the tank.
Yeah..I get that, but what does it drain to? Another sump? Or does it just go right down to a pump which shoots it right back out? Is it really THAT simple?
 
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