First thread, and long term plan

[mnloki]

To make this easy for the tl;dr crowd, I will do sections. Background, current, plan, questions/ideas. I will try not to get too wordy, but feel free to ask anything. The plan is the part I need opinions on, and have questions. I am more concerned with doing this right than I am doing it fast.

Background. I have never had a monster tank. My biggest to date has been a 75. That will soon change. Fishkeeping brought my dad and I together in my teens. That, and classic cars. We had a few 55s, and a few in the 29 to 40 range. We shopped together, maintained, etc. I had a pair of angels that bred, that was an exciting moment. Others did as well, but the angels were the hardest to manage. We spent years on this hobby together. When I moved out, I brought one 55 with me. Got my roommates interested, enjoyed it. Time passed, and other things took priority, wife, kids, career, etc. Post divorce I snagged a 48 corner setup, felt good again. House remodel meant I took that down. Rehomed the fish and sold it.

Current. Fast forward. Kids are grown, I am in a different house. I had planned to do a monster when I got the new house, never did. About two years ago my friend's wife got into fishkeeping. She's graduated a few times as we all did. A month ago, he offered me her old 55. I jumped. It's in my home office and I love it. I am in a position to enjoy, and I knew this would be a gateway.

Plan. My 55 is by a load bearing wall, perfectly safe. Now, the other side of the wall is the living room. Basement is unfinished, this is important. On the living room side, there is a couch backed up to that wall. I want to put a 96x30x24 (300 gal) behind it. Even with load bearing wall, since it is so easy, I will support the joists before tank #2 gets set up. I am considering a 120x30x24 (325...why is the difference so small?) as well. Thoughts? My first thought is going longer than couch means I need to dress up the stand more. Access to water and power easily seems perfect. Some floor jacks and another header is dirt cheap insurance IMO. I've done lots of reading here and elsewhere, but still confused on some things...asking below for thoughts.

Questions/ideas:
Stand needs to be custom to be about 8 inches higher than most to show behind the couch. I'll build it. Would you cut carpet away under the stand? Not a big deal as I would replace carpet to sell. It's two years old now, and I will be here a couple more years at least.
Mechanical room is below. It would be VERY easy to drill the floor and have a drain go to main house floor drain. Drawbacks?
With mechanical room below, I could also have unsoftened water to fill. Problem is, I live in MN. That water may be cold. Should I research drip systems?
Because mechanical room is so accessible, I plan for a separate circuit and a UPS.
For filtration. I could take the easy and known to me route and do two canisters. Or, I could do a sump. Thoughts? It would be pretty easy to set up a 40L or something as a sump after I learn more. Space isn't an issue if it can be on the floor below.
For canister or sump, could they be on the floor below? I'm talking 5-6 feet of lift if I built stands.

 

[Gunfleet]

Welcome to the jungle!

-cutting the carpet wouldn't be necessary. I'd skip it unless you had concrete or tile underneath it (easier to dry than carpet).
-a drain wouldn't be a bad thing. You could run all the dirty water out without too much fuss. Getting water back up from below is the hard part. I would think the head pressure going up from the basement to living room would be the killer for the return pump on most canisters.
-a drip system would be cool, but I don't have a ton of experience with those so hopefully another member will pipe up about them. I would use a Rubbermaid agricultural tub to condition/ heat the water before pumping it up to the tank.
-if you go with a sump, for the 300 (ish) I'd look at a minimum of a 48 inch 75 gallon tank.

I bet others will pop up with better ideas than mine.

 

[twentyleagues]

Sump all the way. Drip system would work well. Run a hot and cold line using a mixing valve to take care of water temp. Check out reefflo pumps for a return pump. For the actual sump a 100g rubbermaid stock tank easily acquired at tractor supply would work great. As for the carpet I'd remove it if possible, drying carpet is terrible.

 

[tlindsey]

Welcome aboard!

The only thing I can suggest is to make sure your floor will definitely hold the estimated weight of the aquarium, water, substrate, ornaments etc. I always recommend to hire a building contractor if you don't know if floor will support the weight.

 

[mnloki]

Welcome to the jungle!

-cutting the carpet wouldn't be necessary. I'd skip it unless you had concrete or tile underneath it (easier to dry than carpet).

It's wood. Only reason to cut would be for 100% level...which I suppose wood won't promise either.

-a drain wouldn't be a bad thing. You could run all the dirty water out without too much fuss. Getting water back up from below is the hard part. I would think the head pressure going up from the basement to living room would be the killer for the return pump on most canisters.

Maybe I am not getting something here. I can shower two floors above the water source, why would moving it up a floor be an issue?

-a drip system would be cool, but I don't have a ton of experience with those so hopefully another member will pipe up about them. I would use a Rubbermaid agricultural tub to condition/ heat the water before pumping it up to the tank.
-if you go with a sump, for the 300 (ish) I'd look at a minimum of a 48 inch 75 gallon tank.

I bet others will pop up with better ideas than mine.

I never even considered rubbermaid till you and the next quoted post. Solid idea.

Sump all the way. Drip system would work well. Run a hot and cold line using a mixing valve to take care of water temp. Check out reefflo pumps for a return pump. For the actual sump a 100g rubbermaid stock tank easily acquired at tractor supply would work great. As for the carpet I'd remove it if possible, drying carpet is terrible.

Current problem, hot water is softened. More on that in my next post. I did see the reeflo elsewhere while I was searching heating solutions actually. The drip system seems like it's worth the time in searching.

Welcome aboard!

The only thing I can suggest is to make sure your floor will definitely hold the estimated weight of the aquarium, water, substrate, ornaments etc. I always recommend to hire a building contractor if you don't know if floor will support the weight.

Thanks! I only have two places this size tank could go where I can get the regular enjoyment I want and not do major changes. Both in the same room. Chosen spot is perpendicular to joists, next to a load bearing wall in a 2 year old house. I still plan to add another header and support about 16 inches from the load bearing wall. I'm 99% sure this is massive overkill, and I am good with that.

 

[tlindsey]

It's wood. Only reason to cut would be for 100% level...which I suppose wood won't promise either.

Maybe I am not getting something here. I can shower two floors above the water source, why would moving it up a floor be an issue?

I never even considered rubbermaid till you and the next quoted post. Solid idea.




Current problem, hot water is softened. More on that in my next post. I did see the reeflo elsewhere while I was searching heating solutions actually. The drip system seems like it's worth the time in searching.



Thanks! I only have two places this size tank could go where I can get the regular enjoyment I want and not do major changes. Both in the same room. Chosen spot is perpendicular to joists, next to a load bearing wall in a 2 year old house. I still plan to add another header and support about 16 inches from the load bearing wall. I'm 99% sure this is massive overkill, and I am good with that.

That's great! Nothing wrong with overkill.

 

[twentyleagues]

My hot water goes through a softener also. No issues. It really only accounts for about a third of the water I use. I use a mixing valve to attain a temp of 76f for water changes. I used to use it at my other house the same way but it was city water I ran the tempered water through a series of carbon filters to remove chlorine.