New Construction tank setup Need Opinions

[jerejohnson]

here it is i am finishing my basement and i currently have a 220 gallon rr (running upstairs for about 2 years so i have been in the game a while )and a 240 gallon rr that is sitting in my garage. i want to frame both into the middle wall of my basement and have a fish tank room and a laundry room all in one. so the questions are
1. will having the laundry room and fish room have any adverse affects?
2. is there anything special i need to do to frame a fish tank in ( figured i would use the drywall for bathroom(green board or something like that) )
3. will having a door next to the fish tanks hurt? its an interior door no draft
4. other idea i had was 240 gallon framed in and a 220 gallon sump or is that just letting a good tank go bad? as in not seeing it.
5. any other thoughts on finishing the outside would be great, like trim and all that jazz.
6. if anyone has done something like this it would be helpfull with pictures or just help. thanks everyone

 

[greenmaji]

I would recoment 100 gallons min. for your sump with that much main tank volume..
what are the demetions of the tanks.. only one MH per tank would likely not be enough units (they cover a 2'X2' area well)..

 

[jerejohnson]

the 220 gallon is 6 foot X 2 X 30 inches and the 240 is 7 foot X 2 x 30 inches and i have 3 400 w Mh and 4 55 w attinc, i have a 12 inch sand bed that i will split with the 2 tanks and about 350 lbs of live rock that will be split, the sump/fug that i have right now is a 40 gallon with 7 inch sand bed and 30lbs of live rock, with cheto

 

[greenmaji]

a 40 gallon sump is a decent size for up to a 200 gallon tank IMO.. ~20%+ main volume or there abouts..
I would try to get a bigger sump.. thats JMO though..
is that amount of lighting over both tanks or just your 220?
a 12 inch sandbed is ALOT of sand IMHO.. but again.. thats your call..
I would add some base rock to the live rock.. to total 1.5-2lb/gallon of system volume..
are you coarls (Im assuming these are reef tanks) compatable chemicaly.. ie do you have SPS corals prodomantely? I would try to avoid softies and SPS in the same system if it was me.. then again if you use plenty of chemical filtration and regular water changes that could be doable..
these are just idea's on my part.. in the "what would you do if this was your's" sort of answers.. I would love to be able to have that kind of tank space.. but I dont trust my current home with that kind of static weight.. good luck with this project..

as far as the laundry room/tank room goes... I would be conserned about the laundry chemicals like bleach being very well controlled (in other words, do you have children that might be in the laundry room? or enough space to give you enough room to keep the laundry and fishtanks good and seperated?)

does the door have a draft? is it an exteriour door?

 

[cowman345]

1. Probably not, especially with such water volume
2. I just wall-mounted a 75gal... framed with drywall (tank comes flush to drywall).

3. I've got a door right next to mine, no problems so far.
4. If you don't want to use the other large tank as a reef tank, consider a species tank for a cuttlefish, or nautilus, or octopus or something cool. Maybe seahorses or some other unusual species!
5. I hand-painted my frame with acrylics. It's made from moulding I picked up at Lowe's and had chopped and joined by a local frame shop for 20 bucks.

6. One thing to remember is the most important factor when doing something like this is a sturdy stand. You'd probably want to use at least 4x4s or something for a tank that size.

-dave-

 

[HoopsGuru]

If it was my choice I would use the other tank as a very large refugium filled with macroalgae/seagrasses, etc. I think it would maximize the health of the total system over having each setup as a display tank. If you figure both will be sharing water volumn, there is a real possibility that if both are setup with bioloads, either both will be attractive or both will be unattractive if there are problems (algae, etc.). A large refugium would stabilize parameters, process nutrients, create food, and probably make for a killer display tank out of the 220g (while also having less total maintenance).

 

[cowman345]

Perhaps Split the tank with a divider and do a refugium on one side, seahorses on the other... You could have it so the refugium is either visible with the other division (side by side) or just orient the tank so it's in the back and not visible. Just some more ideas..

-dave-