I need help stocking a 2000 gallon tank

[PIMPALA]

On thing you really want to keep in mind is water changes, I'm planing on doing two around that size custom built, and two fw that size also. but im still in the planning stages being i havn't built my house yet and im just introducing my self to the reef, I'm really hoping that all your equipment is in a separate room if not and you have the room i would suggest moving it. making it easier to mess with and such. so if you do a 10% water change thats 250 gals or so which i'm sure you dont want to go to the lfs to get every time you do so, so if you can i would have the ro / salt water on hand at least 500 gals that you can pump into the tank when you do a water change, and and i would have another of just ro just for top offs, oh and i hope you can get in the tank easily which im sure you'll want or need to do time to time. but thats just my opinion and i wish you luck in your adventure and i too will be following your success cant wait for the pics

Pretty sure all of this will be moot, as a system this size will likely have an ATO, and he wont be "running down to the LFS" for 200+ gallons of water every couple of weeks. VERY likely that someone will be coming by every so often with a big truck full of fresh SW and do his WC for him.

 

[BigJay]

Just my opinion but worrying about the speed he puts the fish in is largely moot. A system that large won't have the typical toxic ammonia problem that a system 200g or less will have. Unless he's dumping 30-40 fish at a time in the tank. Water changes will also be less of an important issue in a tank that size. A few large water changes a year would probably be more then plenty. It wouldn't have to be done with a seawater pump truck but it definitely would make life easier.
The only thing I would worry about is as mentioned the rock and sand has been laid dry for a long period of time and probably is going to be pretty darn nasty when filled. Letting it sit fallow (just seawater and no inhabitants) for a few months as the OP stated he planned to do would probably be prudent and provide enough decaying organics to provide enough of a healthy bacteria population.
Really the big deal will be quarantining. If any disease gets into that system trying to correct it post introduction would be a logistical nightmare.

 

[DaveK]

i kinda agree with dave on this one but i also disagree....see it depends more on how impatient you and your wife are......
...

......if ya take it slow and i mean a freaking snails speed then ya can pull it off.....some will say dont like dave does and some will say go for it like me,it comes down to how impatient the two of you are

This is a hobby where you must be patient to have any success at all, but there is a much larger factor. SW systems don't forgive mistakes, and beginners are going to make mistakes. Now someone with some experience with reef systems might, and I do mean might, be able to pull it off by going slow. A beginner will not be able to do this. if you make a mistake on a smaller tank, you can do major water changes, filter with carbon and so on. On large systems this can still be done but it's a lot more difficult, especially when it's an emergency.

 

[Eric]

What are the dimensions of this tank? Just curious it's a monster

 

[PIMPALA]

What are the dimensions of this tank? Just curious it's a monster

My wife and I purchased a foreclosed home that has an approximately 2200 gallon (12x5x5) tank

 

[BigJay]

don't feel bad I missed where it listed the dimensions as well.

 

[nightfire76]

well i still stant with the rock sand and preparing the fish for this.....take months to prepare the tank cycling it and testing it and such any as far as stocking it,if ya have the money for it then stick ya fish in there,ya dont need to just put 2 in at a time but dont put 50 in at a time either lol just the usual bioload thing ..........and PICS lol

 

[ddinox64]

Where's that "THIS THREAD IS USELESS WITHOUT PICTURES" guy at?

 

[Msigler]

Pics or it didn't happen.

 

[Val]

They have posted pics will be taken this weekend. : )

 

[SFSwimmer]

Ok ok I will get pictures up. With no water and tons of dead rock it's not going to be a pretty picture though. Hope no one is disappointed.

 

[SFSwimmer]

My concern is having aggressive fish with peaceful fish, can you do that in a monster tank? Will the smaller peaceful fish just be food or at best stay hidden? A fish only tank would be easiest, I can't imagine a tank this size without some coral, it might be something to keep in mind when choosing fish also.

That is my concern too. I don't want anyone to end up as dinner.

We will be adding coral of some sort but the type will depend on the fish we choose.

 

[SFSwimmer]

Oh, and that live rock isnt "live rock" anymore. Its been sitting for too long out of water, and all of the "live" stuff is now dead. I'd suggest cooking it and letting it all cycle out before trying to add fish. Then adding more actual live rock to help seed the dead rock.

I know the once live rock will need to cure again and I heard the process is pretty smelly. Is the smell tolerable? How long does it last? Any way to mask it?

 

[Val]

Ok ok I will get pictures up. With no water and tons of dead rock it's not going to be a pretty picture though. Hope no one is disappointed.

No water and dead rock is fine by me! Be sure to get pics of your filtration system too, I'd love to see what it takes to run a tank that size.

 

[Msigler]

It wont be too bad. Your tank is going to go through a cycle. All new aquariums must go through this cycle. Basically your tank needs to build up bacteria. There are a few ways to do it. Adding damsels and feeding them. As they drop deuces the bacteria multiply. There is the deli shrimp method which is the smelliest method. As the shrimp decay the bacteria multiply. And there is the bottle of bacteria that is pretty fast. I think its called nitro bacter. With a tank that big the shrimp might be best to get a real good bacteria population. I have always added the good LR in the middle of my cycle to keep most of the goodies on it.

 

[PIMPALA]

get some water in there. its not really gonna stink the room up or anything. but if you stick your hand in the tank, you will want to wash it. lol

 

[BigJay]

I know the once live rock will need to cure again and I heard the process is pretty smelly. Is the smell tolerable? How long does it last? Any way to mask it?

if it doesn't smell now it probably won't be very bad.

as far as the pics I'm dying to see the skimmer thats on it. The only skimmers I know rated for tanks that large are $5,000 and up. We are all total geeks when it comes to tanks so dirty disgusting tank pics will still be good! :bluenod:

 

[Rhodes19]

Ok ok I will get pictures up. With no water and tons of dead rock it's not going to be a pretty picture though. Hope no one is disappointed.

Na, we're all just a little envious of your tank. Have fun with the open house/house warming.

 

[SFSwimmer]

Is the 5 gallons per inch guideline still a good one to follow? That would give me 440 inches or 40 11 inch fish. Can 40 fish really fit in that thing and be happy? Or am I calculating this wrong? How do you feed 40 fish?

You know it's getting bad when you start having nightmares about this stuff.

 

[Frankie]

Hello SFSwimmer, welcome to RS
I see your getting the warm welcome I figured a thread like this would generate among these degenerates
Normally I would hold off posting on a thread like this one until the tank had some water in it but what the hell!!
First let me say, a 5'x8'x5' aquarium is a big drop of water. (yeah, I read the first post )
Your going to have an interesting cycle because of all the LR this tank came with and it being dry for so long. There are a lot of nutrients locked up inside this rock that will need to be filtered out for several months prior to adding any live stock.
Woodstock hit the nail on the head with calling out for a quarantine. This is going to be the saving grace of success with this system once it is ready for fish. So don't shun the link she provided for you. This was the most professional advice I have seen here yet.
Now with such a water volume your going to find this aquarium pretty easy to care for once it is stable and running for a year or so. The big test will be the first year and achieving maturity.
The first thing that needs to be done is not get a fish list going but completely over haul this systems equipment and make sure it is fully functional prior to adding water. If the equipment has been sitting then you can bet the pumps are frozen up from salt and need to be broken down and cleaned well.
All the plumbing also needs to be reamed with tube cleaners, silicone (is this a glass tank?) checked and overall quality of the equipment. Trust me when I say 2200 gallons of water is a lot and you don't want it coming out of it's confinements.
I'll be interested in going over the fish list later once I see some progress in these areas. Consider doing a fish only for the first year. This will help you get the feel for keeping a large aquarium with less losses financially.
I would not add salt for the first week of test running either. Freshwater is going to help clean this system up. I would run it with fresh tap only for a week and dump it. Then refill with RO and slowly start to add the salt until you reach your desired salinity of 35ppm.
Look forward to the pictures and good luck!
Frank~