Freshwater, 337 gallons, Blank Slate, need help with equipment

[Eagle Eyes]

Hi, I am a fish tank addict myself and am experienced with maintaining fish tanks.
We have had several fish tanks before including a 100 gallon tank that had several dozen fish in it ranging from the 2" catfish to striped zebra fish to hand sized angel fish ... just about all the prettiest fish at fish stores we could get in the tank. Never used any Co2 for the plants, and vacuumed the gravel for the water changes. We had the tank for over 5 years and all the fish lived healthy.

Then all of a sudden the tank got a crack in it and started leaking. We got worried that it would grow and the entire tank would shatter. So we gave the fish to friends. Put the gravel in buckets under the house ( Know it was important to keep along with the filters because it has the good bacteria and algae on it) and put all the fake plants away and the heaters ect. We destroyed the tank .... was no good.

Now several years later we want to start again. This time we are gonna go big or go home.

Here are the stats:
-Custom acrylic tank: 36" D by 30" W by 70" L = 337 gallons
- We plan on getting Revers Osmosis also.
-planning on doing a planted tank and fish less cycling.
- need sump filtration?

Not much else is planned other than we will probably use real plants and our old filters and gravel. I Heard that You guys are experts with big projects and SUMP filtration is the best to go.
We are thinking about putting Discus in the tank and I heard that the water has to be perfect, we plan on getting a RO (FYI going in a newly constructed house and is on the top of a hill, atm water psi is like 30-37 we plan on getting a pump to increase pressure).

SO this is where I need help, what would you recommend I get as a Heater, lights, filters, sump setup and build, ect?

This is a blank slate I would like to keep the costs down ,but willing to spend a few bucks if it is essential. I heard that the tank needs to cycle at-least 1,005 gallons of water an hour? What about noise and such? I want to know the tricks of the trade... I'm experienced with fish tanks, but not with one of this size...

Also I don't mind Doing it myself to save money... If you have a pict to help explain what you say it would help.

 

[ptray]

There are so many options!

1. Diy an internal filter- think sump but made out of acrylic on the back few inches of the tank

2. Do a 55g sump.

3. Use 2 large canister filters.

I would probably go with option 2, and use an inline heater. The important thing will be getting big enough overflow tubes for the large pump that will be required. For discuss I would recommend 5x-10x water turnover.

Also your gravel probably lost its bb colony if it hasn't been wet the whole time and had a food source for several years. But you could be lucky and get the old colony to jump start the cycle

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