Super Big Tanks ... very interested in learning about them

Thought I'd start a new thread instead of muddying up someones great picture thread about their big tanks. I really only have smaller tanks (125G and smaller) and am curious about big tanks and how they work.

I know many of you on this forum have bigger tanks 200+ gallons or more so I thought for those of us that don't maybe we could accumulate some information on how big tanks are set up, equipment, aquascaping, maintenance, etc. etc. I have a bunch of questions as the wheels are churning in my head about them.

I have been lucky enough to obtain one bigger tank (165G bowfront from JimA...thank you very much) but it still is not as big as many of yours so I was hoping you guys and gals would share some information on these monster tanks.

First, I'd like to know what is a reasonable cost for a tank sized 200+ gallons...standard sizes like 200, 240, 300?

What filtration is recommended...I assume sump but what sizes are appropriate for which tanks?

How do you heat these monsters?

How often do you have to do water changes on these tanks? Do you have holding tanks for your water or do you use dechlorinator...is that expensive? And what about cleaning the tanks? How do you accomplish that...standard equipment or special equipment?

How do you aquascape a tank this big without breaking the bank?

How do you ever catch fish in a tank this size? I have trouble catching fish in my 125G tanks

Anyway...that's a start. Thanks for your input and guidance.

I use seachem Safe as a water conditioner. I gravel vac about a third of the tank every day. I will adjust the water change schedule to keep nitrates at 15 or below. No readings yet but checking daily. I gather rocks and wood locally and clean them. I have to go down to the river and sieve up some gravel. I plan to run an fx5 and sump on the 480. I am still researching sumps so someone else can give info. I try to make open areas and areas of vertical and horizontal cover to base territories on.

To catch fish I use a divider and trap the intended victim in a small area to be netted with ease....in theory....fish are always hard to catch. I do it at night with a red light. They never wake up till it is too late.

A kilo of safe is like 23.00 bucks a hundred gallon tank takes half a teaspoon, very affordable. It is basically the dry form of prime.

I got the 480 and the 770 for six bills, just the tanks.

I have heard you can overdose Safe ... so I still use Prime. How do you measure for partial water changes? Have you ever had any problems?

$600 is an unbelievable deal for two tanks...great craigslisting...really. Now you have Craigslist all the extras...whew...that will be fun.

And the divider in the big tank...I want a picture of you doing it...LOL...I use a divider to catch also and still have trouble...never easy although my husband says I am getting better. Recently I've had luck just putting the net in and waiting until the right moment comes...slow and easy and not as stressful for the fish either

With a pond setup I was possibly interested in fish that could tolerate some of the cooler temps...I've seen some posts recently about them but forgot to do my bookmarks so will have to research them again. Anyway...just thinking about some things for future ideas...

And I'm still not sure what I'll be doing with the 165G tank but was thinking something different than Africans. Just not sure what yet.

First, I'd like to know what is a reasonable cost for a tank sized 200+ gallons...standard sizes like 200, 240, 300?
That really depends on if it comes as a whole setup, or just tank or what. For my 300 i paid $700 and at the time was a screaming deal. That was just tank, stand, hood, and 1 sump.

What filtration is recommended...I assume sump but what sizes are appropriate for which tanks?
You will get lots of different answers on this one.. For me i like canisters.. I have 2 FX5's, fluidized bed filter, and a sump on my 300.

How do you heat these monsters?
I always use 2-3x 300 watt heaters, that way of one fails you're still good to go until you grab another heater.

How often do you have to do water changes on these tanks? Do you have holding tanks for your water or do you use dechlorinator...is that expensive? And what about cleaning the tanks? How do you accomplish that...standard equipment or special equipment?
Depending on your stock and water perams..
I do 1-2x 50-60% water changes a week and dose with Prime.. Never done the whole holding tank thing. But i've been wanting to do a drip system for years, just haven't got off my butt and done it..lol

How do you aquascape a tank this big without breaking the bank?
I don't have a bunch in my tank, just 2-3 hundred pounds of sand, and one huge piece of drift wood.. Some go all out but for me i never did. Plus when i had rays the only aquascape i could have is sand, so the rays didn't mess up their discs.

How do you ever catch fish in a tank this size? I have trouble catching fish in my 125G tanks
For me it's PAIN !!! I hate trying to get fish out of my tank !! I'm not gonne lie i suck at it..lol

I've found timing a water change with catching fish very helpful. I remove my 50% of water,place a divider in the tank then use 2 nets. One smaller net to corral the fish to a larger"Trap" net. it works very well. Of course if you just did a water change,then need to catch a fish it will be kinda lame. But still it works,and ends up being less frustrating than trying to net the fish without the "set up " process.

Thanks hbluehunter for all the feedback and master chi...that's how I catch em most of the time too but I hate seeing them slamming into the divider. Like I said, I am getting better at just doing things naturally...without so much stress on the fish...more like curiosity...why is she still standing at the tank? Does she have food? Oh...its a net like thing but she's very gentle in chasing me around...maybe I'll just swim into it....LOL...yeah...its happened

First, I'd like to know what is a reasonable cost for a tank sized 200+ gallons...standard sizes like 200, 240, 300?
If I pick up a tank that is glass, if its older than 10 years old I wont pay more than $1/gallon. Acrylic? Its all based on its condition. I just bought a 300 gal for $800, and last Summer I got a 400gal for $200 and a 285gal for $300. So it all depends on where, when and who you get it from.

What filtration is recommended...I assume sump but what sizes are appropriate for which tanks?

I am switching all of my Canisters to wet/dry sumps. I use the Eshopps 300 on my 300's and 250 and 285. I am building one for my 400. There is something about dark, warm, moist areas with crud and un-eaten food that screams issues to me when it comes to canister filters.

How do you heat these monsters?

I use 1 x 300 watt Jager heater in the sump on every tank, plus I heat my fish room to 82 degrees, so my heaters are rarely on. I have 5 tanks where I unplugged my heaters and the temp maintains 78+.

How often do you have to do water changes on these tanks? Do you have holding tanks for your water or do you use dechlorinator...is that expensive? And what about cleaning the tanks? How do you accomplish that...standard equipment or special equipment?

I do 25-30% water changes twice/wk. Gravel vac one of those times. I use straight cold water out of the faucet, and do not use dechlorinator. I have an exterior garden hose that I attach to a 3' siphon tube, and use that for gravel vacs.

How do you aquascape a tank this big without breaking the bank?

I scape with whatever I have. I use river rock, clay pots, pvc pipe, and wood. Substrate is lapis luster sand, about 1lb/gallon of water. I get it 100 lbs for $25.

How do you ever catch fish in a tank this size? I have trouble catching fish in my 125G tanks
I use a large big game fish net. The net has a 4'handle and is apprx 18" in diameter.

I got my 450 with 125g sump for $500
My revised sump system is 217g including a major fuge
I heat it using a corosion resistant labratory grade water bath that packs 3400w into a 28g chamber with a dwel time of 17 seconds.
As I have a reef I do a 12% water change every two weeks.

I am almost finished with my auto waterchange system

Madness:

Great tank buys also for you. You guys are the wheeler dealers of big tanks I can see.

A couple of questions:
Is the Eshopps 300 for drilled tanks or can you run it on non-drilled tanks also?

what type of setup do you have for your fishroom that you can heat it to 82 degrees seperately from the house temps (assuming that)?

Changing 25-30% with cold water doesn't cause a significant temperature change in your tank? Our cold water in the winter is almost ice like...not sure if that would work here.

Naso:

Great buy on your tank too. And reefs are different I know...that is one big reef. Do you have pics somewhere that I have missed? I'd love to see it

and thank you both for your replies....learning lots here

Im so on the same page with Madness about tank pricing.
I have a rock hound family member that likes to share so many of my rocks and petrified wood was free.
When on the hunt for wood or anything else Im searching for ill set my smart phone Craigslist app key word to whatever im searching for (example:bogwood), If a new post comes up Im immediately notified. CL is a good resource if your looking for tanks, stands, sumps, wood, lighting without paying for retail.

I've just installed an autowater changer/drip system to my large tank. I haven't had to bust out my hose for more a month now. Fresh water drips in my tank at a rate of about 1 GPH (no dechlorinator). The tank is planted so gravel vacs are impossible.

Granted my tank is "only" 140 gallons-I would use the general rules on something 200+ gallons.
The bigger the tank, the larger the equipment, the rules are the same...

Catching small fish is a hassle. Its good to try to think it though what your going to put in a large tank especially one like mine. Ive noticed a lot of ppl with large tanks with large fish keep minimal decore. However, my tank is FULL of hiding places and plants. This proves to be extremely difficult to catch fish especially small ones. So dividers, and or a helping hand is essential.

I haven't taken any pics yet. There is fish and rock in the tank for 2 weeks and I have 40 corals in a frag tank waiting to be put in. Its going to be an agressive reef for my triggers.

cichlid-gal wrote:Madness:

Great tank buys also for you. You guys are the wheeler dealers of big tanks I can see.

A couple of questions:
Is the Eshopps 300 for drilled tanks or can you run it on non-drilled tanks also?

what type of setup do you have for your fishroom that you can heat it to 82 degrees seperately from the house temps (assuming that)?

Changing 25-30% with cold water doesn't cause a significant temperature change in your tank? Our cold water in the winter is almost ice like...not sure if that would work here.

If you purchase the Eshopps WD300 CS, it comes complete with a HOB overflow box. This hangs on the back of your tank with U tubes going from the tank into the overflow. You get the siphon started and the water runs continuous into the overflow and down the tubes into your wet/dry.

I have a large dehumidifier in my fish room, so instead of venting the hot air outside, I vent it into the room. This maintains the temp around 84.

The temp in the water drops around 6 degrees. In the warmer months I do larger changes, but evrytime I drop the temp about 6 degrees, sometimes more. What happens in the lakes where they are located when the rains come, or when the snow melts on the mountains. This has NO affect on the fish, it does not harm them in fact my fish swim through the stream in every tank. If you have time to cruise some of my past threads you will come across why I and everyone should be doing water changes that dont involve using water from your hot water tank. If I come across it, I will post a link.

Hob overflows are a pain and may not restart ithe power goes out. Glass holes has good overflows and any halfway decent fish store will drill your tank for free. Ornyouncan make your ovn for $25 in acrylic

Naso2 wrote:Hob overflows are a pain and may not restart ithe power goes out. Glass holes has good overflows and any halfway decent fish store will drill your tank for free. Ornyouncan make your ovn for $25 in acrylic

7 years I've never had this issue... If the system is set up correctly HOB overflow will continue once power resumes. This last 6 months I've installed AQUA LIFTERS to the HOB OFs I'm using. Love them! Aqua lifters are a small air/water pump that provides continuous 3GPH suction within the siphon tubes when the water return pumps are on. Turn pumps off for water change, turn pumps back on-instant start...

HOB Over Flow siphon is a closed system. When installed correctly siphon will stop when water level drops below the pickup. The HOB should remain primed until water level rises back up to the pick up and restart instantly. Aqua lifters suck out airbubbles that can accumulate in over flow tubes over time and slow down the system... I used to have to reprime the overflows about once a week without the aqualifters.
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Madness was talking about utube overflows which do not utalize the aqualifter or tripple pass overflows that the newer ones have

Naso2 wrote:Madness was talking about utube overflows which do not utalize the aqualifter or tripple pass overflows that the newer ones have

Before installation of this CPR I was using duel overflow boxes that had 2 Utubes per box. At the top of the Utubes I installed airlines in which I would prime by sucking the air out. I used these for 5 years and never lost prime in a power outage.

I'd have to second madness and thechad on most of what they say. Filtration, you simply can't beat the simplicity and pure effectiveness of wet/dry filtration. I have two tanks with HOB overflows, one is DIY and they work GREAT, despite the myths out there. The 230 is drilled with a sump. These setups are incredibly simple and require very little intervention on my part once setup.

If you can, go with an auto water changer. I have the 160 getting 1gph/168gals a week, and the 235 gets 2gph/336gals per week. With this my maintenance time has gone down even more, I do not touch the tanks during the week. To set both of them up cost me about $50, well worth it!

I recently bought an overflow off thechad that looks exactly like the one he posted pictures of and it is very reliable. I have it setup to run without the aqualifter as that piece of equipment is one more thing to wrong. To avoid bubbles I installed a 3"-4" standpipe in the overflow that kept the main tank water level high enough so that the skimmer never sucks air. I then installed a small piece of airline and a check valve where the aqualifter goes and have had to issues for months now.

Quick vid of the homemade system:

I'm intitled to my own oppinion however cautious it may be. I'm just saying there is stuff that can go wrong. Siphon not starting, air pump going out, something falls over and hits it causing it to leak. There may only be a 1% chance of this happening but in my case we have hard wood floors with maple milled from our own property they are priceless and that 1% may happen.

@addicted2ca, very nice! This is why I totally dig these forums!

@Nasu2, Your opinion is always appreciated!
There's just the same chance as your return hose popping. I have more fear of a drilled glass tank than I would ever have of lossing siphone or my box breaking. My cat knocked off my lifter and it didnt loose siphon. It slowed a bit that's all. No matter if any component fails within there are check valves in place, and a 30 gallon sump to fill. And if that isn't enough i have an over flow drain in the sump if the check valves fail!!

Sorry for the brief thread hijack.... DOH

Naso2 wrote:I'm intitled to my own oppinion however cautious it may be. I'm just saying there is stuff that can go wrong. Siphon not starting, air pump going out, something falls over and hits it causing it to leak. There may only be a 1% chance of this happening but in my case we have hard wood floors with maple milled from our own property they are priceless and that 1% may happen.

That is certainly understandable and I don't blame you! I do alot of DIY because I like learning new things and doing stuff for cheap. It does help that the tanks are in the garage so I can experiment! If they where in the house I most likely wouldn't do much experimenting. I would go with a pre-drilled tank in your situation, a lot easier to sleep at night with those types.

Thanks Chad! A lot of ideas came from your setup!

Thanks everyone...and the DIY stuff is what is confusing to me as most of the terminology for these big tanks and their equipment is new to me also. But, great ideas and input here.

And my planning is long term as I'm still a ways out from getting to my 165G tank and then maybe a bigger tank after that one.

We have a 125G (giving us 3 125's) that is waiting for a stand. That tank will absorb two of the small tanks (the 39G and 90G tank) occupants...freeing up some space there. In a couple of weeks we will be moving a group from a 55G to a 75G tank. So over the next couple of months we will eliminate 3 smaller tanks ... hopefully (just keep me away from the internet and looking at other fish).

We have the 165G tank that we will start working on after the above changes and as I said, I was thinking I wanted to do something different with that tank other than African cichlids but maybe I'll end up moving some of my groups to the bigger tank and eliminating more of the smaller tanks. Currently the 165G tank is not drilled but based on the above it sounds like I could go with a wet/dry system with an HOB box, correct? And then DIY it as I see fit (or understand...that's the complicated part). Or on a 165G would you just recommend running a few bigger canisters?

After the 165G then we are thinking we would be interested in the larger tank, over 200 gallons. So just looking ahead on that size.

Madness...at what point is a dehumidifier needed? We tend to run on the dry side over here but our garage is getting to the high 30%'s on humidity at times. It doesn't seem to be all the time but just sometimes. We really noticed it during the winter, colder months...not sure why that was. Does that have something to do with the heat/cold/moisture combinations?

As long as you understand the concepts of how the wet/dry, sumps and overflows work the DIY part should follow easily.

Since all my tanks are in the garage I do run a small dehumidifier. In the colder weather the garage door was "sweating" meaning heavy condensation. Being it is a rental I don't want to risk any damage to the house. It keeps the garage between 40-50% humidity at about 70degrees, that is with two tanks at 82* and one at 85*. I don't have near enough tanks to know what madness deals with humidity wise though!

madness wrote:

cichlid-gal wrote:Madness:

Great tank buys also for you.  You guys are the wheeler dealers of big tanks I can see.

A couple of questions:
Is the Eshopps 300 for drilled tanks or can you run it on non-drilled tanks also?

what type of setup do you have for your fishroom that you can heat it to 82 degrees seperately from the house temps (assuming that)?

Changing 25-30% with cold water doesn't cause a significant temperature change in your tank?  Our cold water in the winter is almost ice like...not sure if that would work here.

If you purchase the Eshopps WD300 CS, it comes complete with a HOB overflow box.  This hangs on the back of your tank with U tubes going from the tank into the overflow. You get the siphon started and the water runs continuous into the overflow and down the tubes into your wet/dry.

I have a large dehumidifier in my fish room, so instead of venting the hot air outside, I vent it into the room.  This maintains the temp around 84.

The temp in the water drops around 6 degrees.  In the warmer months I do larger changes, but evrytime I drop the temp about 6 degrees, sometimes more.  What happens in the lakes where they are located when the rains come, or when the snow melts on the mountains.  This has NO affect on the fish, it does not harm them in fact my fish swim through the stream in every tank.  If you have time to cruise some of my past threads you will come across why I and everyone should be doing water changes that dont involve using water from your hot water tank.  If I come across it, I will post a link.

Do you ever give tours of your fish room?

Always enjoy showing off the stock and talking fish.