Downsizing to 50 Gallon - Advice needed?

[FishGuyfromFL]

Hi Everyone,

I used to post under MrFLGuy but I can't login anymore with that name.

Anyway, I currently have a 120 Gallon aquarium that I received from a friend last March who was trying to get rid of it. I recently had a crash and I am now thinking about downsizing to something a little smaller.

In the long run, it just seems like it will be easier to take care of. Since the tank was a friend's for quite a while, the canopy is rotting and I am constanty cleaning mold off the cover.

Does anyone have any suggestions or "dos and donts"? I didn't have much live rock in the 120 but it should be just perfect for a 50.

Should I go wih Glass or Acrylic this time around? What about predrilled? Is it worth it? Will I need a new pump for my wet/dry?

Help Please!

Thanks!

[phases99]

I have a glass 46g bow which is a large enough to keep most people busy yet small enough to manage. I didn't bother drilling mine. I use LR for all biological filtration, a protein skimmer, and a small fuge for pods and macro's. It all comes down to how much $$'s you want to spend and how much space is available. A wet/dry is not necessary or desirable for a reef tank.

[JamesR]

I like glass, acrylic is too easy to scratch. Weight shouldn't be a problem with that size tank so I'd do glass, just my opinion.

Jim

[FishGuyfromFL]

Thanks but I already have the wet/dry on my current tank.

The point is to just downsize the tank and plan on using my current supplies,etc.

[fishfreek]

Technicly the larger tank is easier to take care of. More water stability. Glass tanks of that size will be consiterablly cheaper than acrylic and weight wont be that big of a deal. Two people can easily move a 50gal glass. If you can find one predrilled thats great. I would suggest maybe looking at a 75 gal tank though vs a 50. The 75 has nice dimentions front to back to permit good aquascaping and it should be fairly easy to find in both predrilled and standard formats.

Depending on how big your pump is you may be able to just throttle it back with a ball valve or you could rig it up as a closed loop and then get a smaller pump to drive the wet/dry. Once you know the max flow your new overflows will process then you will know more about if you need a slower pump or can continue to use your existing pump.

[saltwatersmac]

I personally like glass aquariums cause it's harder to scratch. I would go with the pre-drilled. I am switching to a sump and if money allows, pre-drilled seems to be the only way to go. I'm kinda new here to but according to what I've read the wet/dry is good for FOWLR. If you go reef just replace the bio-balls with lr/br.

Stephen

[Wolf]

Are you going to sell the 120?