How to work an actual Monster Fish tank?

[ichthyogeek]

So...I don't really know that much about monster fish tanks/pools/ponds/water containers. The only thing I know for certain, is that they're big, and that they hold big things. That being said...how do you work one? Since I'm focused more on large saltwater tanks at the moment, I'm going to go at that angle right now.
1) How do you get so much salt, and how do you get it cheaply? WC's in saltwater are a must, and how often/what percentage are you supposed to keep it at to keep the fish healthy? Do you use regular water? or do you use tons upon tons of RO/DI water?
2) How do you filter everything? wet-dry filtration, protein skimming, what else?
3) Where do you put it? Is it okay to keep it in a garage where cars spew their fumes?
4) How do you heat it? Do you need an industrial heater? Or is it a lot of insulation?
5) I know this isn't really a setup question, but do your fish need hiding places? How do you provide it?

 

[tomojsg]

1. buy it wholesale prices or closest you can get it to wholesale prices. some wholesalers are
open to the general publicm just gotta look for em.
2. most people will op towards a sump/wet-dry, canisters, bog or diy drip system.
3. where u put it would be up to you.
4. depends on the size, theres a lot of methods to which u can use to heat a large tank/pond.
manageable sizes most people will opt for the titanium 1000w heaters with controllers.
5. depends on stock. you can use driftwood, diy, pvc pipes, buy em from lfs.

 

[ragin_cajun]

If it's saltwater, you'd build a reef in the tank I would think? That'd be the cover for fish. As for salt, all I can say is that's the reason I have freshwater tanks. To do a WC on a saltwater tank, you have to put the right amount, of the right kind, of salt in some water. Can't be tap water, has to be RO water. And you have to mix the salt and water and "have it ready" to do your water change.

On the other hand, with a freshwater tank, to do a WC, I just turn on the spigot, pour a shot of dechlorinator in the tank.

with freshwater tanks, although it doesn't solve EVERY problem, it solves most of them--just do a large water change. So, I really like just turning on the tap and doing a WC. I'm staying away from marine tanks.

 

[Oddball]

If you want to build a large rock work feature, smaller rocks can be epoxied to each other. There are several types offered that can be used and cured under water with no ill effects to the fish in the system.

 

[Oddball]

This also becomes one of your most valuable tools. All plastic:

 

[ichthyogeek]

Huh...I hadn't thought about cleaning the tank...thanks Oddball !

I'm still wondering about the whole tap vs RO in saltwater kinda thing.

 

[ragin_cajun]

I've never kept a saltwater tank, but everything I've read about them says "do NOT use tap water". Reading that so many times, I figured if I went saltwater, I'd have to have my own RO unit. No way I'm driving across town to the LFS to buy water, haul it back to my house, then lug it around back to pump it into the tank.

 

[bacon]

I use ro water in my freshwater (300 & 75) and my 125 saltwater. It's simple to run the ro water right to a storage container, perfect for when you need it.

 

[welsher7]

Most reefers use ro/di for water. The killer with ro/di is for every 1 gallon of good water you produce and you also produce 3-4 gallons of watse water. So make 5g of usable ro/di water and produce 15-20g of watse that goes down the drain. That is a big reason I left SW, I couldn't stand just wasting that water.