48x48x18, what would you do with it?

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Conner

Conner

Piranha
MFK Member
Dec 27, 2008
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Kentucky
Hey guys, I'm a salt newbie. I've never kept a salt tank before, and don't currently either. However, I'll be breaking some fresh tanks down over the next couple weeks, and was thinking about setting up a 20g just as a trial tank to get my feet wet. Do something really simple with live rock, powerheads, some inverts, and maybe a couple small fish.

If it goes well, I was thinking I'd like to try something larger. This is where my question above comes in.

I have the glass pieces (already cut) for a 48"x48.5"x18" (I think, might be 16" tall, I'll check when I get home) size tank. I was planning on making it a fw stingray tank, but I'm not sure I'll be going that direction any more.

The tank can be drilled, and I'd plan on drilling it and doing a sump, although I guess it could be setup without a sump.

So what I want to know is, if YOU had that size tank, and were going to do salt, what would YOU do?
 
Yah, I was definitely thinking it lends itself to a more peaceful community. The only predators I'd be interested in would be sharks or eels, and I think they'd probably outgrow it pretty quickly. Plus I have enough freshwater predators that I'd probably want to do something different.
 
A reef would fit nice in that. It would be a nice round shape and you could fit a lot more corals on there than your usual "rocky wall-scape" type reefs.
 
I was kind of thinking build a "mountain" of coral in the center, which falls down to bare sand around the edges. That would provide a lot of swimming space around the perimeter, plus a ton of surface area at every level to grow corals, and plenty of room for caves for secretive fish and gobies.

Plus I could probably get away with a single light above the middle of the tank (halide pendant), or maybe a pair of 4' T5HO...
 
You mite be able to get away with 2 MH but i think one wouldn't be enough for high light corals. I would recomend building a square overflow in the center of the tank, so the rockwork could be piled against that to hide the setup.
 
Kevin8888;4387711; said:
You mite be able to get away with 2 MH but i think one wouldn't be enough for high light corals. I would recomend building a square overflow in the center of the tank, so the rockwork could be piled against that to hide the setup.
Click to expand...

Yah, this is still a ways away, so I've got plenty of time to plan it still. Heck, I haven't even put the tank together yet!

As far as overflow, I figured I'd drill a single hole for a standpipe drain, and then drill one or two holes for return line standpipes. Probably just one hole, and then have a manifold at the top to split the flow into different directions...

No need to do an actual overflow. Means more room for live rock!
 
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