300g+tank questions/suggestions

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ikkie78

ikkie78

Candiru
MFK Member
Jan 28, 2010
103
1
48
Neenah, WI USA
Hey everyone...we will finally be buying a house this coming spring so I can finally get my big tank setup next year so i'm kind of starting to look at my options and figure out what I want to do. I'm looking at a 300g as a minimum but possibly a little larger. My plans as of now are to build a room in the basement and have the tank built into a wall so everything is accessible in a room behind the tank.

I was looking at ordering from Midwest Custom Aquariums but I wanted to get everyone's opinions/suggestions who have ordered a new acrylic tank as to what options you were glad you got or wish you would have gotten when you ordered....or obviously things you wish you didn't do.

It'll be a freshwater setup if that helps and I've never run a sump before but would like to use a sump for this tank...how many gallons would you recommend for the sump size?

Thanks for any help or suggestions you can give me!
 
Get less holes in the top but make them larger. My 300g has 3 holes but they are not very large (8x16 maybe) so it makes it hard to access the floor of the tank for setup and maintenance. My 720g has two very large holes large enough for me to climb through which, when set up, will make very easy acess for maintenance. Also if you have the room get a tank that is deeper from front to back for a larger swimming area rather than getting a taller tank. Makes for being able to fit larger fish and more of them easily.
 
ruggwood said:
Get less holes in the top but make them larger. My 300g has 3 holes but they are not very large (8x16 maybe) so it makes it hard to access the floor of the tank for setup and maintenance. My 720g has two very large holes large enough for me to climb through which, when set up, will make very easy acess for maintenance. Also if you have the room get a tank that is deeper from front to back for a larger swimming area rather than getting a taller tank. Makes for being able to fit larger fish and more of them easily.
Click to expand...

Thanks...didn't think about the top openings...i'll definitely go with two larger openings. I think a couple of dimensions I was looking at was 96x30x30 or 96x36x30.
 
one thing if i was getting a custom made tank would be to get external overflows. easier to maintain plus you wont see the overflow boxes inside the tank for a cleaner look. for your sump i would go as large as you can fit under there. my current 240 has a 125 under and my 400 im working on will have a 240 and 3-6 35gal drums under it.
 
jeffers said:
one thing if i was getting a custom made tank would be to get external overflows. easier to maintain plus you wont see the overflow boxes inside the tank for a cleaner look. for your sump i would go as large as you can fit under there. my current 240 has a 125 under and my 400 im working on will have a 240 and 3-6 35gal drums under it.
Click to expand...

This was one of the options that I was seriously considering...I figure with the tank being built into a wall as I am planning right now it may be my best option since you won't see the back of the aquarium anyway.
 
There is a lot more to a sump than the overall gallons. Figure out what you're going to do for mechanical and biological filtration, how much media you want to have, anything else you'd like to incorporate (refugium/fry/planted area, drains for water changes or drip system etc), how much space you'll need for heaters and pump, and most importantly how much space you'll need spare after all that stuff to hold the "skim" when the pump switches off and the water drains back to the sump. Then you'll know how many gallons (and what shape) it needs to be. There is certainly more than one way to skin a cat when it comes to sumps!

Also, if you're going for an in-wall set up with the tank and gear contained in a room behind it consider putting the sump beside the tank in the room, rather than directly under it. This makes it a hell of a lot easier to get to the sump for maintenance and cleaning, and allows you to build the stand how you want and to what ever height you want your tank without having to give consideration to how much space is under the stand. IMO I see too many big tanks too high off the ground, my personal preference is for the stand to be about 450-600mm high so the tank is at eye level when you're reclined in a comfy armchair, rather than when you're standing in front of it.
 
If you go with Midwest, keep us posted. I'm hopeful on ordering a 225 wide with external overflows from the this fall.
 
My 300 Midwest is by far the nicest and highest quality tank I ever owned. Great folks to deal with, built it exactly the way I wanted and delivered early.

Tank has a 75 gallon sump and they put the overflows pretty much wherever you want.

Tank in my sig....


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