I'm new... first of many questions I'm sure.

[chasekwe]

When I was younger I used to keep a small freshwater tank which died out during a huge storm several years ago when I was without power for a week and the water reached near freezing levels.

I have since moved so no power outages and am now financially capable so I'm looking into getting into the SW tank game. I know next to nothing about the process and am having a hard time picking much up here as there is a fair amount of terminology that I guess I'm not familiar with. LFS took me a good two hours of board trolling to figure out of meaning of, for example. Maybe I'm just slow.

Anyways, one thing I have learned for myself is that mixing fish and creating environments with a variety of species is an art and a science unto itself. Just the same I would like to be able to keep a variety of fish, plants (if thats the proper term) and inverts (I think the shrimp are really neat).

What I'm thinking is that I'd buy something around the area of a 100 gallonish tank. Then I thought I'd take some sort of plexi glass or something with holes drilled and use it as a divider between a more passive and a more aggresive set of communities (so I don't need to buy two sets of filters and all that and because I don't want two seperate tanks). Effectivly giving me two 50ish gallon tanks.

Is this possible and if so are there any advantages/disadvantages to the notion? Also, is plexiglass with drilled holes the right choice for material? Is there a size hole that will possibly allow cleaning type creatures to cross over but not the majority of the tank or would I need two seperate cleaning teams?

Thank you for your help.

[kreblak]

I have seen aquarium set ups with a pair of 125 gallon tanks linked by PVC pipe to a 55 gallon which housed all of the live rock. It involves a lot of plumbing and pumps, though, and I don't feel it is worth the effort.

Anyway, as for a divider, that shouldn't be a problem, so long as you make the fit nice and tight. Fish can get in and out of the strangest places, and the last thing you would want is for the more agressive critters to find their way into the other side of the tank. You will need adequate water movement in between the two sides, though. It might actually be better if you used wire mesh. Just my thoughts...

[chasekwe]

Thanks for the tip, I wasn't sure I was going to get an answer on this. My one question is.. I've heard about some fish being injured during capture etc. because the nets that are used scratch them (their lips were mentioned most often). Wouldn't wire mesh be a similar risk? Also, what kind of wire would I have to get to not have rust problems... maybe some form of plastic substitute?

[kreblak]

In saltwater, anything metal will rust in no time. You might be better served using plastic mesh, if you can find it. Otherwise, using wire mesh may require replacing the rusted mesh on a regular basis. You might post this in DIY and try to get Slipknottin's attention. He is really good with things like this.

[TKOS]

You can buy pre made plexi dividers for most standard tanks. You should be able to get them at most petstores or if not then probably on line at a place like Big Als. These arte good as they come with attachments and are thick enough to withstand possible assualts from meaner fish that just want to get through. They have plenty of tiny holes that only small things like guppy fry could get through. A lot of inverts like snails and crabs would be able to tunnel under. So just make sure the fish you keep aren't the kind that like to dig alot and you should be fine.

[OrionGirl]

Or, get 2 tanks, set them up next to each other, and plumb the filtration together inot one massive sump. This is what we did--2 65's and 1 50 gallon tank. One is a reef, one for inverts, one is aggressives. Works very well, very stable in such a large volume, and you don't have to worry about a divider.

Of course--you could divide a tank with eggcrate (no rust, inert, etc), but small critter will go through, this will just keep fish apart. And, some fish are smart enough to realize they can jump over barriers...Our trigger got into the reef a while back. Now, there's a divider between the top of the 2 tanks as well.

[mogurnda]

Yet another possibility is to divide with glass, as you had planned, and drill several 1.5-2" holes at the top to act as overflows from one tank to the next. Have water flow from one end to the other, either via a sump or closed loop. You could use bulkhead fittings with screens to keep inhabitants where they belong. To increase the flow in each compartment, use powerheads or, again, closed loop.