First Post

[sdkfz]

Good Day!, I have ben reading here for a while and I am at a point whre I need some advice......

First some Background.. I am now in the Minneapolis /St Paul area
and I have been into fish for 30 years. I did have a SW tank in the late 1970's, UG filter and a small power filter with water changes every two weeks, wter was Sierra Nevada snow melt (EBMUD) right out of teh tap. It worked though, I kept a powder blue tang for over two years (till tank breakdown when I left for college) it grew to almost double the size and this was in a 26 gallon tank! Spouse it helped that I worked at a local fish store in Albany CA so I could keep myself in supplies.....


Since then it has been South American tanks, mainly discus and dwarf cichlid community......my wife is also a fish tank enthusiast, in fact this was one of the things that brought us together.

Now, my wife and I will be setting up a 120 gallon tank (48 x 24 x 24). All Glass is the manufacturer and they have a version with two back corners pre drilled for the over flows, good idea?

Second, the tank is being set up as an 'in the wall' tank. We are having the builder make a small room for the tank. In looking at retail fish tank stands thay are all about 28-30 inches high, do I want this same height?

We will be using a guttted amiracle 250 or 350 (I do not remember which it was as everything is in storage waiting for construction... we moved from Boston) as the sump for the skimmer etc. , do I want this under the tank thus needing more height under? It is preferable to gain a little hieght for teh tank over making the room bigger as the bigger this room gets the smaller an adjoining room gets.

All of this is on the ground floor with a concrete slab beneath so weight is not a problem, the two rooms I am juggling around the fish room are a laundry and bathroom so drains and water are not an issue, I know I will need vantilation as I expect to go with either soft or hard corals, probably soft as from what I can gather so far they are somewhat easier.

Thank you, long post I know...

[OrionGirl]

Overflows are great if you're using a sump or refugium. You can set these at whatever height you can, but the lower you go, the more work it is to get the water pushed uphill to the return.

When you're building your own, you can go with any height that you want. Considerations: how are you going to view the tank? If it's meant to be sat in front of, get it at a good height for the chairs in the room. What other activities are in the room? Anything that will pose a threat to a lower tank (such as children/pets, indoor football...) Of primary consideration: Cleaning! Deep tanks raised high are a RPITA to clean--it's bad enough that you're going shoulder deep, but to do so from a chair, with a ceiling hitting the other shoulder, is terrible indeed.

Not sure what you mean by ventilation for corals--or do you mean for the heat from the higher watt lights that the corals need?

[sdkfz]

Yes, The ventilation was meant for the light heat, as the room will be as small as possible to accomodate the tank and equipment. I was thinking we will run a separate heat activated exhaust line up with the line from the bathroom's wihich will be an adjoining room.

As to the rest, it sounds like lower will be better (for gettingn the arms in the tank when neccesary) so it sounds like the 28 to 30 inch height it is. I suppose the appropriate question would be, what is a reccomended skimmer for a 120 tank? and then I can determine the final heights....

[OrionGirl]

Pick a good brand, and then verify that the skimmer will turn your tank over about 2ce an hour (skimmers are not always run 24/7, so this is just a general guideline).

Yeah--I built a stair stepped stand for 2 55's, and the bottom tank is about 2 inches off the ground, and the top tank requires a stool for work on the bottom of the tank. I'm 6'1, so can't imagine what a pain it would be for someone shorter than me. The room has a vaulted ceiling, so no big deal, but we had some problems with the tanks on the bottom level--8 foot ceilings, and the combined height of the stand, tank and canopy is right at 6'6. The doors in the canopy open and leave about 4 inches clearance--no room to really work. Serious changes require removing the canopy.

For the ventilation--make sure there's a good vent to cool, clean air. Pulling in the cooler, dry air is better than just pushing away the hotter, wetter air. You'll need to make sure the outgoing water doesn't cause mildew--it can be very humid, depending on your climate. In wyoming, high humidity days are those that break 50--though my house stays at about 60% every day, thanks to the tanks.