Help me decide on New tank

This will be a lengthy post....

Im trying to make the right decision so try to take in all aspects of the situation and dont automatically choose the larger tank. I currenty have
a 90 gallon tank that has a hippo and sohal tang, everyone gets along. Problem is while they are ok now they will need to a. get an upgrade or b. find new homes. I thought of letting the the fish outgrow the tank and move up to a 180 but my problem with that is its still in the basment and the tank will look like a bigger version of my 90....a mad scientist project with hoses and wires and probes everywhere. I wanted to have the tank as a gorgeous display appealing to the eye including the stand arrangement of equipment (hidden) with easy access. If i go the mad scientist route and do the 180 it will be a mixed reef with t5 lighting and ill keep my current fish. The tank is in the basement where there isnt much time spent either.

Other option was to part ways with fish and have aquarium obsessed build me a 24x24x20 cube (50 gallons) to put in my bedroom and plumb everything into a small room i would build in the basment. The tank would have the best of everything cause its small and would cost less to run plus i already have most of what i need for a smaller tank. Spectrapure litermeter 3 with top off and automatic water changer, vortech, would build custom oak stand and canopy and than could afford to go with either a 250 or 400watt retrofit mh with icecap t5s. I would turn this tank into an sps tank cause i have had alot of fun and success keeping them in the past few months. I like the idea of having a gorgous sps reef in my room to stare at with the moonlite on as i sleep but dont like the idea of giving up my fish....but i have to make a choice. Anyone else have pros and cons they can think of between the 2 and why they would choose what they choose?

 

You can put more stuff in a 180. Yes it is more expensive but there is more to look at. Maybe it will promt you to spend more time in the basement than your room. You don't have to fill it all at once just little by little when you have the $$$. If I had the room I would do the 180.

 

180 mixed. You already like fish. You already like corals. Heck, your user name is luvsreefs. If you're anything like me, any tank you touch is going to become a mixed reef down the road anyways.
Get a big tank. Make sure its a "long", with a height of say 21". You will need less powerful lights, your fish/corals will have a lot more room, and everything in the tank will be easy to access. Also with a long you'll have more room in the stand/canopy to frankenstein all sorts of equipment and still keep it hidden. JMHO

 

I would do the 180 because more room also. I wouldn't want to put a fish tank in my bedroom but that is just me.

 

i voted 180 because it has a mixed reef i find sps dominated tanks boring, to many people have the now, and they love to make sure we know they have them. no offense to any sps reefers out there. i would find a beautiful show quality soft coral tank more impressive, even if the corals are less demanding, its more difficult to find alot of good vibrant colors(zoas and mushrooms excluded). but that JMO

 

I would also go with the mixed reef. You can have alot more variety to see and look at. You can make all of your stuff hidden in a large tank stand so why not just go for it.

 

I vote a 180 with soft carols and lps

 

Heres my 2 pennies...

You really have to look at your budget first, if your not hurting for money than a 180 would be an incredible tank IF you can afford it, the equipment needed and lights are going to play a huge part in your electric bill, not to mention it will be in the basement(?). Maybe look at how much time you spend down there now and think on it for a while. They say bigger is allways better, but its usually more expensive. BUT on the other hand if you get the 50 cube you might get bored with hardly any fish and only sps's down the road. Maybe think about which you like better, corals or fish, or both. I dont think we can make this decision for you, you have to weigh out the pros and cons and make the best decision for you, and your wallet .

 

Wow, yeah ive began to lean towards the 180 thru the course of the day before i even read everyones reasoning. I have almost all the equipment to run a 180 already, i would sell my maristar mh/t5 combo for this:
Aquactinics Constellation T5 High Output Fixtures - Salty Critter - Your Saltwater Specialists
the 14 lamp 72" model. It would be a little less light than my 90 has but its a sacrifice im willing to make to cut down on the watts used cause with the 180 i gotta add another heater. I would run the same skimmer that on my 90 on the 180....a euro reef rs135. I know its kinda skimping but system would also have an automatic 2 gallon a day water change done plus i dont mind keeping nitrates around 10-20ppm....softies seem to do much better. My nitrates in my 90 are 0 all the time and it takes a zoanthid a month to sprout a new one. My gf's tank has 10-20 nitrate and mushrooms and leathers a growing like mad, 3 times as fast as mine....shes making me look bad, but my acros love my water. So besides the lites all i need is a 100lbs of sand and a return pump oh and a 75 gallon sump, maybe a 50 gallon. Plus some rock but picking out rock is like picking out coral, dont wanna buy all u see at once and settle....gotta find them unique pieces. I got about 75-100lbs of live rock already. Oh, id build my own stand too, nothing fancy...functional and nice but not over the top. Hows that for a plan?

 

;DI think you've made the right choice......you really like your fish. But..............I think you need to buy yourself a deluxe biocube for your bedroom also;D.

Sue