Thanks for welcome

[frauleinmm]

Hi,
just wanted to say thanks for the warm welcome. Wow all this sounds like a brand new language, so much to learn. Well I better get with it. Sure am going to need lots of advise. Thanks ahead of time for all your help, to each and everyone of you. So lets get started, I have been told not to start a tank smaller than 50 gallons, true? whats better glass or acrylic?

[Anselth]

Not necessarily true, you just have to be very diligent keeping up with the water quality in a small tank. Bad things happen faster with the smaller volume. Depends on your preference. Acrylic is lighter, but scratches more easily than a glass tank.

[meandean45]

Hi Frauleinmm !

The size of the tank depends as much on money, space, willingness to work on it and what you want to keep in it as anything else. The common wisdom used to be that you didn't start a reef smaller than 55 gallons, but an awful lot of people start a Nano reef and suceed with as little as 10 gallons.

I guess that the first question would be "Do you have room for a large tank"? I you have room for a 55 (4 feet of wall space) then you most likely have room for a 90 or 120 (still 4 feet long, just taller and deeper). If you have 6 feet of available space, a 125, 180, or 240 will fit in that space, and If you don't live on a tight budget, I'd recommend getting the biggest tank that you can afford, even if it means that you might have to wait awhile to save up for the bigger tank and equipment that it needs. The more water volume that you have, the easier it is to keep the water quality balanced, and more importantly (to me) the more room you have in your' tank, the better.

When you first set-up a big tank, it looks awful empty, but as things grow you find yourself trying to make room for just the things that you have, much less new aquisitions. Once you get a big tank set-up, it's a major undertaking to move/replace it. You can't just pick up a 90 and move it aside while a new 180 cycles to replace it!

As far as the Glass/Acrylic thing goes, I've always had glass, so can't really give you a good opinion. My Acrylic sump has been great, but then all a sump need do is contain water and equipment. Some that I know will swear by acrylic, others glass. The lighter weight of a truly large acrylic tank seems to make sense, until you consider that 240 gallons of salt water at 8 lbs. per gallon + or -, weighs 1920 lbs. al by itself. If your floor will hold that much weight plus the acrylic tank, most likely it will hold the glass tank as well.
Hope that this will help.

Regards,
Dean

[lcstorc]

Originally Posted by meandean45

Hi Frauleinmm !

The size of the tank depends as much on money, space, willingness to work on it and what you want to keep in it as anything else. The common wisdom used to be that you didn't start a reef smaller than 55 gallons, but an awful lot of people start a Nano reef and suceed with as little as 10 gallons.

I guess that the first question would be "Do you have room for a large tank"? I you have room for a 55 (4 feet of wall space) then you most likely have room for a 90 or 120 (still 4 feet long, just taller and deeper). If you have 6 feet of available space, a 125, 180, or 240 will fit in that space, and If you don't live on a tight budget, I'd recommend getting the biggest tank that you can afford, even if it means that you might have to wait awhile to save up for the bigger tank and equipment that it needs. The more water volume that you have, the easier it is to keep the water quality balanced, and more importantly (to me) the more room you have in your' tank, the better.

When you first set-up a big tank, it looks awful empty, but as things grow you find yourself trying to make room for just the things that you have, much less new aquisitions. Once you get a big tank set-up, it's a major undertaking to move/replace it. You can't just pick up a 90 and move it aside while a new 180 cycles to replace it!

As far as the Glass/Acrylic thing goes, I've always had glass, so can't really give you a good opinion. My Acrylic sump has been great, but then all a sump need do is contain water and equipment. Some that I know will swear by acrylic, others glass. The lighter weight of a truly large acrylic tank seems to make sense, until you consider that 240 gallons of salt water at 8 lbs. per gallon + or -, weighs 1920 lbs. al by itself. If your floor will hold that much weight plus the acrylic tank, most likely it will hold the glass tank as well.
Hope that this will help.

Regards,
Dean

Dean is exactly correct. Also if you are considering one of the larger tanks you many need to look at the floor support in the room. These things are HEAVY when filled. Aso I would highly recommend getting a pre-drilled tank with sump (not bio-balls just a sump) if at all possible. It just makes so many things easier,

[Techno-Vicki]

Yes you need to consider floor support, but I live in a mobile and have added support. As far as glass or acrylic, every time I go to Jack's shop and look at the damage done to some of the acrylic tanks because of family or friends moving the magnet to 'help clean' the tank and the nasty scratches it leaves, I vow never to have acrylic. If you are very, very, careful and don't let anyone else touch the tank to clean it, you will be fine.

As far as tank size, the water is easier to keep stable on the larger tanks. I have a 12 gal, a 24 gal, a 90 gal, a 125, a 175, and a 75 propagation tank. Hands down, I have much less trouble with consistant water quality the bigger I go. But as was said earlier, it can be done - I do it.

[frauleinmm]

thanks taht all makes sense, would love to have a larger tank, but what about weight. how will i know my floor will hold it. its directly over the garage? any ideas? thanks again.

[frauleinmm]

Thanks Lynn,
so glass it is. Now my next problem is floor support. The room I want to use to set up the tank is directly over the garage?
How do I know if this will hold? Any suggestions? Thanks so much for your help, Marion

[lcstorc]

What size of tank are you considering and how new/old is the building?
Hopefully someone with a clue will be aong soon, I am no good at that stuff but I could probably find the thread where it was reently discussed. In short, the smaller tanks (<125 ish) should be just fine, but if you want a big tank then definigtlty investugate,
Sorry but my laptop died so I lost all of my links.

[frauleinmm]

Thanks Dean

ok so I get glass. But what about the weight. If I want to get a 90 gallon tank, and the room is directly over the garage, will that work? Thanks Marion

[Anselth]

Depends on the construction of your home. You'll want to have someone look at the construction to ensure it will support the weight. two hints: Ensure you set the tank up on a load-bearing wall. That would be the wall in the house where the floor joists are attached. It's generally the longer wall in the building, as the joists don't have to go as far. You also want to try to cover as many joists as possible in order to distribute the weight.

[AQTCJAK]

Welcome Aboard. I would say glass only Acrylic is only needed when larger the 450 Gallons in my opinion.

[lcstorc]

I knew I would find it somewhere.
Here is a link to a recent discussion. Hopefully it will be helpful for you.
Sub floors & preparing for your new aquarium

[prow]

above the garage, no problem on the wieght. use a stand that is "flat" on the bottom. doesnt need to be totally flat on the bottom, just not with legs so the weight is distributed accross the floor. and of course level the tank. the framing should be more than enough to hold up the tank my car your car, even a extra story filled with 300lb guys. the only thing i would worry about is termite damage if there is any. all this is of course assuming the place was built to specs.