Planning 150G or 140G want advice

[Matt Wilkie]

I'm planning on getting a tank in the next month or so but I'm having trouble deciding. These are my options

- Oceanic Ultimate 140G 48.5x24x29 reef ready- $1200
- Perfecto 150G 48x24x30 reef ready- $850
- Perfecto 150G non reef ready and DIY overflow-$530 tank alone

4 the stand I might buy a Mission series, custom made or DIY. Really depends on which tank I buy.

Oceanic:
- Higher Quality
- Starphire fnt
- two overflows - More flow but take up more room + placed in center too
- Large glass center brace (heard it was 12")
- Polished beveled edges
- Expensive!
- Probally go with mission stand 4 the Warranty

Perfecto Reef Ready:
- Cheaper
- Only one overflow in the corner ( I think it looks weird )
- Overflow only flows 700GPH is that enough 4 a 150?
- comes with some plumbing
- slightly larger than oceanic

Perfecto Non Reef Ready:
- Cheapest- save enough money this route to buy a sweet skimmer
- Have too DIY my own overflow- maybe CALFO style
- No experience building overflows
- Don't know how much the overflows will cost me
- Might have a guy drill and build the overflows 4 me along with a stand.

The tank is going to be mainly a SPS tank, I know its not going to be cheap so I don't need to cheap out on the tank. I just want your opinion on what you would go with to build a sweet SPS tank.

[Matt Wilkie]

bump

[crvz]

Well if you're chasing a high-end SPS setup, get the oceanic. The middle brace should really impact you if you get a pair of MHs for lighting. I wouldnt think twice about the lesser volume compared to the others, it's pretty negligible.

[Matt Wilkie]

are you saying the glass will impact me or not? Ive heard it gets salt on it all the time and it blocks the light, I wasn't planning on having aquascape in the middle, more like a pillar and a cliff.

[Matt Wilkie]

Has anyone seen or used one of these tanks

http://www.marineland.com/sites/Marineland/products/productdetail.aspx?id=2054&cid=3600&mid=3228

48x36x27 would be sweet in starphire. I think I saw the 300G once and it only had plastic center braces

[bsagecko]

ok not to be like the 'cheap guy' but why dont you just buy a used tank from someone and get like the whole system with liverock corals and everything for like $1000-$2500 and then put like another $1000 in it to make it how you like it and you will have like awesome setup for like $3500. If you lived in florida i would just sell you my 150g with every but you in BC and i aint shipping............lol

anyways if you dont like that idea i would go with the Oceanic best tank there is and it will look really sharp.

IMO skimmer is a lil overrated....you could get a really solid skimmer for your tank for life $300

[crvz]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13075920#post13075920 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Matt Wilkie
are you saying the glass will impact me or not? Ive heard it gets salt on it all the time and it blocks the light, I wasn't planning on having aquascape in the middle, more like a pillar and a cliff.

Oops, sorry. Typo. the middle brace would NOT affect you if you have two MHs for lighting. You'd avoid it with the positioning of the bulbs and the salt creep wouldnt be too much of an issue.

[Hornet]

Keeping SPS, what are your plans for flow? Closed loop or power heads?

I just purchased a perfecto non-reef ready 150H tank. I drilled it myself for a closed loop system so I can get enough flow and not utilize power heads.

Seems like your working with a budget so if you don't mind a little DIY, I'd go for the non reef ready and drill the tank yourself or get somebody to do it for you. But it all depends on if you really don't mind spending the $ on the oceanic. Either way you should not plan on skimping on the skimmer.

[Matt Wilkie]

No I don't wanna skimp on the skimmer I was thinking of getting a bubble king, there pretty tough to beat. Yeah I would buy used and I have been looking locally for 6 months now I just haven't seen the tank size I like. I like deep and high tanks, that perfecto extra deep tank would be sweet but you couldn't get the stand thru the door without taking it apart. If I went with the perfecto bare tank I might do a CL system cause I'd be drilling it but I'm not sure if I like the look of CL systems. I'll probally be running tunze's with a wavebox. I kind of want a custom stand cause I wanna run 400W HQI's with nice reflectors and I don't think those fit under the basic stands. I think i'm going to get a price on the perfecto 48x36x27 in starphire, it would be sweet to have a tank that deep it's probally out of my budget but worth a check.

[bsagecko]

Wow...........

You must have alot of money to spend on this tank (which is good since it is going to be expensive).......................

tunze's are better IMO then a closed loop because they are random and controlable........

I dont know about you but if i am spending that kinda of money i wouldnt want to drill my own holes and risk the chance of breaking (eventhough it is extremely low if you have to buy another tank because this one chips it is going to suck)

I didnt mean to skimp on the skimmer i just meant you could DIY your own skimmer that could handle like a 300g tank for only like $300~$700 which is still cheaper than a bubble king (kinda a waste of money IMO)

I would go with an algae turf scrubber with a series of fuges before i bought a huge skimmer like a bubble king

[SantaMonica]

And if you want to try a scrubber easily, here is a DIY one I made in a bucket... brought N and P to zero in a week. Is basically free to build, would take you two or three hours...

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=12931276#post12931276

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/578/148489CleanedAndReady.JPG

[PaulieWalnuts]

yeah so it sounds like you have a few bucks, if you want to go all out, you should go with the starfire tank, and that bubble king and vortech for flow. I myself run an octopus skimmer and love it, about 1/10 the price of bubble king, but i know a few people that have them and love them to death. if you want to drill it for a CL, i would used a Ocean motion set up for the random flow and all. Not to get personal but do you have a set budget because that would help us be able to give you the best advice on which set up is best. And with the bubble king and wanted SPS and halides it will get pricey but i am sure your aware of that already. Can't wait to follow your build!

-matt

[cayenne]

Matt,

I have this exact tank (Oceanic Ultimate 140G 48.5x24x29 reef ready)... It is a very nice tank with good dimensions. The glass brace will not effect your lighting if you have a pair of MHs, since they will be offset from the center.

The brace does get in the way when you are trying to work in the tank directly underneath it, but that is the only downside of it.

[Matt Wilkie]

I can get the Perfecto 200G 48x36x27 with a starphire fnt panel and reef ready for $1900. I'm going to see the stand guy today to get some quotes. I wouldn't say I have a huge budget, I just don't have huge bills and I don't plan on becoming a home owner for a few years so I might aswell do it now. I like bang for my buck but I don't wanna have to upgrade down the line. I know the whole system is going to be expensize and I won't be buying everything in a heartbeat, it will take me a while to get everything. With the extra deep tank I might have some different lighting issues that will up the cost, unless a large reflector will do. The deep tank sounds sweet but I don't think I'm experienced enough to pull something like that off, maybe when I own my house I can get into the extremly large setups. The Oceanic Ultimate 140 seems the way to go, I'll see about a stand today and let you guys know.

[PaulieWalnuts]

i like they way you said that. Sounds good man!

[Matt Wilkie]

I called the LFS where I can get stands made and they are under new ownership, sounds like more or less the same people so I hope they still do stands. All the used setups out my way are not deals at all, some LFS must of really took these people to the cleaners. I'm glad I know where the best deals are in vancouver.

[PaulieWalnuts]

lol yeah some will do that to you, so be careful