Is it worth upgrading? Differences in costs associated with 50g vs 90/120g?

[duijver]

I was wondering if anyone ever crunched the numbers on costs associated with certain tank sizes? I was planning on upgrading (?) my non-RR 47g tall to a 46g bow that I will be putting a coast-to-coast, internal, overflow on. But, as I am researching it just seems like a lot of work for a minimal gain - especially since the largest sump I can have is 10g in the stand.

My thought was.. to pick up a used 90-120g and drop a 30g sump below. If I get a 90g RR I would probably plug up the bottom port and still drill the back for coast-to-coast. I'm guessing that it's OK / possible to close up the bottom holes?

Anyway, the main point is besides needing more water per week for evap and more salt for WC's I think most of the other items I can get away with using for Softies?

Right now.. I have the following:

Tek 36" - 4x39 T5 (can I get by with this?)
EHEIM 1260 (600gph)
250w heater (would probably want another 150 or so for redundancy)
tunze nano skimmer (would probably not be enough, but maybe enough for softies liking)
~40-50lbs LR (would need more)


So far, I've gotten off without dealing with any reactors, uv, or anything really special on my 47g. As annoying as it is I'm also still filling the tank manually each day ( RO/DI water - about 1/2 gal a day of evap). One of my biggest concerns is if I go larger I may need to get into these areas and spend a significant amount of money.. more money ? To be honest, I'd rather not jump into anything new (expensive) at this point so that may also be a reason to stick with the 46 bow. I'm looking for honest answers for long term enjoyment. If I stick with the 46g I'm going to end up putting 3 - 1" bulkheads in the thing to follow the silent coast-to-coast setup designed by BeanAnimal.

 

[onefish2fish]

a standard 90 is the same dementions as a standard 75 except the 90 is taller. i think only keeping softies with your lights now on a 90 should be fine but its something you'll want to consider.
the 46 bow is def. a nice tank except it can be a pain to clean at times and building your own stand can be alittle tricky too. i say do what fits your budget. if your not looking to spend any more money any time soon then it may be best to stick with what your going with. put it this way, you would have to buy a new tank, more live rock, live stock, the tank for the sump, and so on. a larger tank is always nice but i personally would first consider options before jumping into something.

 

[ricwilli]

a standard 90 is the same dementions as a standard 75 except the 90 is taller. i think only keeping softies with your lights now on a 90 should be fine but its something you'll want to consider.
the 46 bow is def. a nice tank except it can be a pain to clean at times and building your own stand can be alittle tricky too. i say do what fits your budget. if your not looking to spend any more money any time soon then it may be best to stick with what your going with. put it this way, you would have to buy a new tank, more live rock, live stock, the tank for the sump, and so on. a larger tank is always nice but i personally would first consider options before jumping into something.

You said it all......

 

[calaxa]

I think onefish already gave very good advice but I'll address some specifics with the 90G/120G since I have both.

There's no reason for "needing" a reactor just because you went to a different size. Reactors are supposed to simplify things for you (maintain Ca, Mg, etc levels automatically). You will have more room down below to add ATO, larger sump, etc.

The 90 is a 2' tall tank and T5's are sufficient for growing everything. However, it is a 48" long vs. your 36" fixture. You won't get the lighting at the ends if you stick with this fixture. I would choose the 120G over the 90G if you can stomach the footprint (48Lx24Wx24T vs 48Lx18Wx24T) That extra 6" wide allows for easier aquacaping but with the 120, I'm almost certain you will need a larger fixture.

The flow is probably fine for a softie tank but a couple of maxijetcs/koralias are cheap enough to add. If you want controllable, well that's more $$$.

The eheim 1260 is enough for a return but again, might need to upgrade just to be safe.

I don't run heaters anymore. Everything generates enough heat to keep my "night" temp at 75. Still a 250W is sufficient for either a 90/120

LR.....you'll want a lot more than what you got cause you'll probably double your bioload.

I wouldn't say it's a direct result of upgrading that costs more. It's more like, because you upgraded to a larger tank, you want more things and more automation which costs more. Also, if you want to build your own coast to coast overflow, why bother buying a RR since you want to plug up the hole anyway? That prebuilt overflow will become a dead space/detritus trap once you plug it up. Besides a non drilled will be cheaper for you anyway. Maybe I'm not understanding this.

 

[sur4die]

there are cheaper ways to go to a larger tank, but it normally means slowing down, A LOT.

you could buy dry rock and let it seed itself over time.

you could buy used.

you would have to budget things and NOT buy livestock until you have all the environment you need to support them.



unfortunately this requires a lot of discipline and also normally means having an ugly tank for a while.


may i ask, why do you want a coast to coast overflow???

 

[duijver]

Thanks guys for all of the feedback. I actually have a friend that is willing to sell me his 90/120g RR tank with a 30g sump that he does not want anymore for really cheap. So, the tank is not really the expensive part and that is my real motivation for even asking for suggestions on how I, or others, should/would move forward.

I know that the lighting would be minimal, but considering I just spent about $400 on the 36" tek, during the group buy, I'm not willing to invest any more in lighting for awhile. If I couldn't skate by with the 36" T5's then that would obviously be the biggest reason to keep w/ the 46 bow.


onefish2fish: I'm guessing that the cleaning point is that a flat surface is easier to clean than a bow? Any other loopholes? I figured at the very least, having the 46g bow would be better than the 47g tall since there is more surface area. I bought the tank from Bill so it already has a stand, but I've already looked at the time it's going to take me to build a canopy.

Sur4die: I'm pretty disciplined.. however my wife is not, but she has lost a few hundred dollars in fish already so at this point it's my call. She refused to allow me to QT the fish, the tank got ich, we lost all of the fish. I think she's ready to listen to me..

As far as coast-to-coast is concerned.. From doing a bunch of research it seems like a three pipe setup (2 active, 1 failsafe) is the quietest and most reliable. It also seems to maximize surface skimming capabilities. I'm so fed up with my u-tube overflow getting a huge bubble in it weekly and nearly flooding out my tank. Granted, this is partially my fault for having a HOB skimmer that releases too many bubbles.


calaxa: I agree that the cheap(er) K3/K4 powerheads are not a big deal cost wise. My concern is really the lights, skimmer and the need for reactors (and anything I forgot about?). Everyone has always pointed to the fact that larger tanks are traditionally easier to maintain - due to the volume. However, a lot of people that have tank, at least in this club, seems to have it plumbed into a basement or some other nook and cranny with lots of "extra" equipment attached. I was just curious if bigger can still be better with a modest budget. Of course, modest is relative in this hobby. I've easily dropped over 2k on my 47g tank (lights, RO, skimmers, etc) and I bought it used with 1-2k of investment.

 

[calaxa]

duijver,

Sounds like you already know the pros/cons. I don't have my systems plumbed to the basement (though I wish I did). I also wish I could buy some of the extra equipment as well. There's no reason for you to do all the upgrades all at once. I think you can skate by with the 36" for awhile since it's only softies. I have a spare 48" 8x54 that I use as a backup if you are interested in that (it will not be as much as your 36" tek). You can skate by with your current skimmer as well. I think the problem was what I said earlier. Once you upgrade, you'll find you want so many more things. Exercising that self control is the hard part. I constantly have to tell myself not to buy this and that. If all you are doing is getting the 90+30 sump, there's no immediate need to get any additional equipment in my opinion until you really want to. I run no reactors (yet) but believe me, I think about it all the time. I also think about plumbing all the systems together too. Maybe one day when I get around to it.

I like coast to coast overflows too. Just wish I had time to do that.