New tank, what do you think?

[sandman12]

Nope no pics., just words :)

Just came home with a 78g cube and sump thanks to robert (rjg). It's acrylic with center overflow and 2-1" return, real nice tank. My tank now was never thought out ahead and I just did stuff as I ran into deals. Now that I somewhat know what I'm doing I was thinking about selling the 135 reef and keeping my nicer stuff (14" squammy,blue zoas, etc.). Plus a smaller tank means less electric and water for mom and dad to pay for. Tell me what you think? pro's ad con's.

James

[myakkareef]

Dang it man we need pics...James sounds like a good plan, and I am sure your folks mike like it...So what are the dims of the cube?? If I know you you will not sell the 135, you'll just add this to the system....78g cube 135 g sump??

[sandman12]

If I had a fish room I could use the 135 for a sump :). I was thinking 30x03x20 78g cube with 96x24x12 120g prop tank off to the side, maybe. One thing I'm worried about is that my clam will take up alot of room in the 78g.

Thanks
James

[multi striped 12]

You have to keep the folks happy..you can always trade in the clam and start another?

Sounds like a nice size , the 30 in tanks force you to take advantage of the depth looking back into it IMO. And the pics on RC that looks like the way
the rock work and scaping has led the eye.

[frag master flash]

James:

Had to put in my $.02. I kind of like the idea. As you know I am a fan of smaller tanks. Someday, hopefully, I will be in a position to test my theory of liking smaller tanks by having a large tank. But till then....

The smaller tank means smaller jobs. Smaller water changes, smaller surface area to scrape algae from, smaller doses of expensive additives such as Oceans Blend 2 part, smaller electric bills, etc. The sum of these things also means a time savings.
The smaller tank will also allow you to keep a smaller collection of your true "rare" corals.

The negatives include that smaller tanks are generally regarded as more difficult to keep stable (I have not found this to be especially true), having to add ro water on a more frequent basis, smaller tanks are more difficult to create good flow in (my opinion - most pumps like Tunze are too powerful. This is a deeper tank than mine so it might not be much of a problem. I have had to resort to powersweeps to provide a variable flow. Keeping them working is not an easy proposition), heating is more of a consideration - but you already have a chiller, and of course small tanks lack the visual IMPACT that large tanks provide.

Considerations include - Are you going to be able to use your existing equipment - sump, skimmer, etc due to space restraints under the new stand. Are you going to leave your existing tank running anyway - if so I would give your livestock the room to grow. The consideration that I would give the most thought to is space. When I moved the contents of my 15 tall to the current setup I remember thinking "look at all of the room I have - I will never use all of this space. Many impulse purchases later I am pretty much maxed out. You have a lot of growing room in your 135. Things would be much more crowded in the cube. I have run into many problems with something falling over. When corals fall over in my tank, they always fall onto another coral. This is never a pleasant experience.

Lastly is your clam. That clam was the centerpiece of your tank when I saw it and is absolutely incredible. If the clam is an estimate of 6x12" it would take approximately 8% of your bottom surface area (assuming the clam is a rectangle). This does not factor in the area taken by the center overflow. If the rest of your prized corals would fit and the clam is no longer growing quickly, it could work.

You asked for pros and cons. As for what I would do if I were in your position - I am not sure. If you decide to change, I am sure that your cube will look as good as your 135 does now.:)