NEW 200 Gallon tank! what to do now?

[zhida]

Hey guys im fairly new to the saltwater scene but i have a 8 gallon nano reef for about 6 months and know the basics....This is the thing my aunt gave me her 200 gallon tank which use to be a FW for parrot fish...she moved and gave it to me in which she sold all the fish for about 40 a piece(they where rare color and big) so now i want to convert it to saltwater what are the kinds of things i would need for that size aquarium...so should i go foward with it or will it be very expensive and just to give up....i would prolly need alot of hardware becasue it is being converted...and ps its best if i didnt need to drill anything but if you guys think it would be better choice please let me know...i been looking all over crazy coulnt find alot of info about such a big tank..thank you guys for the help!

[cmor1701d]

Read this thread to start.

You need 1½ - 2 pounds per gallon of rock (base and LR)
Sand for a substrate (or bare bottom)
An overflow (or two) to get water down to
A sump
A return pump to bring water from the sump back to the tank
Power heads to increase flow in the tank
Then the standard stuff, lights, heaters, etc.

Come up with a list, post it for review and wait or the responses. You need to do some of the ground work first.

[mandown123]

I have found, even though my new tank has some problems (nuisance algea, LFS has no awesome live rock in stock.. haha etc.) the joy it has brought me already has been worth the money ive spent to get it going.

keep going man, once it's up, its on autopilot (as long as you do your maintenance)

[fijiwigi]

200g tank as a gift I wish I could be so lucky. Freshwater would be a lot cheaper. Saltwater is much more expensive and if your limited on funds it could take a long while to make things happen. Which can be a good thing because it takes a long while for the tank to become established anyway. Here is what I have for my 46g tank. Protein skimmer 200
80# of live rock 280 you would need about 250# or more
40#sugarfine sand 40 You would need over 100#
3 powerheads 80
3 heaters 60
Overflow/Sump/Plumbing
Return pump/light 480
Testing kits 80
Refractometer 45
RO/DI unit 200
Trash cans for mixing 30
Coralife aqualight 220 for a 200gallon reef the light could cost about $1000
New stand to fit sump 100
Pile of stuff I didn't need 100
salt buckets $40 a piece for about 180gallons of mix 200gallon tank the salt cost adds up to your monthly expenses for sure.


Roughly about $2000.00 to get me started for my 46g tank. A 200g would be much more expensive for sand, rock and lighting unless you choose to do FOWLR or FO which the lighting wouldn't have to be as intense. other than that everything else would be similar depending on what you buy. I would definately price everything out for your tank and analyze if you can budget it over a 1 year period I would say go for it.

[mr86mister]

Hey. I'll take the 200g and you can have my 14g BioCube! lol. Yeah, my guestimate on a 200 Gallon Saltwater Reef Aquarium will run you almost $10,000 easily

[zhida]

lol no thanks on the offer i have a bio cube but im willing to trade for a smaller tank with a complete setup.. thanks this will cost to much guess im going fresh then

[Fish Dude]

If I had a 200, I would make it a big fish tank with 5-6 large show fish. It would be a great tank as a reef, but you might as well refi your house and cash out 5-10 grand to get everything you need to have a reliable reefer equation. I would get the biggest skimmer you can afford in a rubber maid 50 gallon sump beneath the tank hooked up to a powerful water pump that dispersed into a closed loop to 2-3 outlets. Throw a nices size bag of carbon in the sump and some filter pads for mechanical filtration. Cheaper regular flourestcent light on top and a light dusting of sand with some great base rock and your set. Use an over flow, no need to drill holes into the tank. I would cycle with a handful of damsels for 5-7 weeks and throw a big trigger in there to test the waters. Angels, Lionfish, harlequin tusks maybe a grouper or map puffer....Man what a great tank for about 500-600 dollar investment.

I would clean the tank real well, and probably re seal the seams for added reasurrance. A tank that size might send you floating in your living room if it blew a seal. Whose to say how long water has been wearing on it.

[cmor1701d]

PLEASE DO NOT use fish to cycle your tank. There are articles in the articles section of this forum on the fishless method of cycling.

[roka64]

I agree, subjecting poor animals to highly toxic ammonia and nitrItes is inhumane. I like to use the 1 raw, unseasoned jumbo shrimp per 30 gallons (cheaper than live fish). Using fish to cycle a tank is now somewhat outdated.