noob in need of help... 730 gallons

[ethnics]

still dreaming? fun isn't it?

 

[tunerX]

Mine has the same footprint. I use two 4 bulb fixtures from HD and use the 6500k bulbs. I was running all 8 and it is pretty bright. I made a box and have them suspended above the tank. I use reflective egg crate to direct the light straight down.

For heating I use 4 1000 watt heaters tied to two temp controlled relays. I use cheapo heaters. I had an expensive aquarium temp system that went bad and didn't want to spend the money to replace it. The relay and temp sensors were bought out of a grainger catalog and were almost free when compared to the commercial unit.

I keep two different 15 amp circuits and split up my lights pumps and heaters between them. The tank is at 84 degrees and has been since Christmas.

 

[DasArab]

im probably gonna say what every1 is thinking with this,

if you are spending the time and money to build a 730gal tank dont cheap out on the accessories..... mainly because you will probably have to redo it all agian very soon.... filtration you might be able to use like a large pond or above ground swimming pool filter but will probably need other items to help filter, heating you could also probably use a small pond or pool heater... i have seen a few DIY heating systems.... and lighting i would guess you could find on Ebay or Craigslist......

thats just my .02

Almost. I was think there is no cheap way of doing it.

 

[ceeej31]

does anybody else have anything helpful to add?

 

[ceeej31]

bump

 

[bluefish]

Even better, maybe scale back the size if the cost is too much for good filtration, heating and lighting.

I would rather simplify and do something really, really well, than go off and do something on a grand scale but not that well....

I agree on the scaling back a little--quality over quantity. A 200 to 400 gal tank is still a very big tank by most standards. I am building a 96" x 30" x 30" and it is turning out be huge once I started. Much larger than it seems in one's imagination during the planning stage.

 

[ceeej31]

bump