What are you skills you're willing to barter with?

Are you sure you want to go that large? I'm by no means trying to imply anything ... but to setup a large tank is more expensive that you think .. trust me ... just got done! ( might have just been my fault for not thinking about a few expensive items)
There is always something else, and just one more ... the LR alone is as much as it would be to setup an entire 90g tank.... if you have to buy all new LR.

when trying to calculate rough water size of a aquarium ... the folowing is the way to do it.

L x W x H / 231 = gallons

but you have to convert each dimention into INCHES

so your tank was:
48 x 24 x 24 / 231 = 120g

the tank you're describing would be:
72 x 30 x 30 / 231 = 280g

here is one i found on RC:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1105319

it 24 deep, instead of 30 ... makes for ~50g difference.

Would be cool to see another large tank locally!

"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat all day and drink beer."

Thinking back now ... i believe concretereefer (jeff) told me his sale of his 265g fell through. he was selling it for ... $600 i think?! send him a PM/email, or contact me for his phone number.

"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat all day and drink beer."

Hey Marco, thanks for the input and help. The one tank is in Gainsville so its a little far. Im about to PM concretereefer to see what he has. The only 2 things I will need for a 265-280 gallon tank are,

1. More lights

2. Bigger Skimmer

Everything else that I have should be enough to get me going. I have a 30 gallon sump/fuge, 1/4 hp Current Chiller, appx. 160lbs LR, about 8 Power Heads, a Red Sea Wave Maker, 2 Large Mag drives that I believe are both 18's, And actually my current lights might be okay for a while as long as i keep my corals towards the middle of the tank. I have the Coralife setup with 2 250watt HQI Metal Halides, and 4x96 watt actinics.

With that equipment what do you think?

BTW: If you know John who works at Glass Ocean, its his old system.

Oh OK.

I know MY upgrade list right off the bat would be:

lights
skimmer
return pump
Live Rock - once you put that 160 lbs in there ... you will fill about 1/4 of the tank
chiller ... 1/4 HP chiller is NOT sufficient for a 200-300g tank ... it would run for too long, making yoru electric bill jump. I ran a 1/2HP on my 150g/220g total system ... and it ran for about 3-5minutes every 20-30 minutes or so. (preferably i'd try to make it work w/out a chiller!!!)
Plumbing parts ($$$)

maybe:
ATO
Calcium Reactor
Controller

My current system is very efficient in terms of power - but also cost a little bit of money to setup.

Sequence/Reeflo Dart - Return Pump - 150w
2 x Tunze Streams 6100 - Flow - 45w/ MAX = 90w MAX
T5 lighting ~760w
Protein Skimmer - 3 x 38w / MAX = 114w MAX
1 x 36w Turbo Twist UV
1 x MJ1200 UV Feed Pump
1 x MJ900 Fuge Circulation
1 x RIO 3100 Filter Cylinder Feed Pump
1 x RIO 1700 Skimmer Feed Pump

All in all this system draws about 1,200-1,300w with EVERYTHING ON, at night ... about 350w

don't get me wrong ... with the list of equipment you have its doable ... would i do it? probvably not - but i like doing things.... not necessarily the right way - but setting things up for efficiency, and ease of use in the long term, and lower maintenance. I had the money .. so i figured i'd set it up the way i liked it. Only item i saved on was the calcium reactor - i bought the one that was on sale @ the glass ocean .. instead of waiting & buying the schuran jetstream that was priced @ about 4 time of what i paid @ the glass ocean.

If you can make it run on the list of equipment that you have - more power to you! I'd love to see another large tank locally ... and if you need a helping hand for something ... i wouldn't mind giving it to you!

take care,

marco

"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat all day and drink beer."

Did you ever get with Jeff/ConcreteReefer?

here is another tank for sale .. this is a whole setup in lauderdale:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1107339

tare care,

marco

"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat all day and drink beer."

Hey Marco,

I came with troy lytell to the frag swap and signed up. What a a great idea.
looking foward to the next one when i can stay longer. I saw your post about another big tank setup locally and i have a 250g setup and am just down the road from you. We will have to hook up sometime and have you come see it.

Mark W.

Mark,

Awesome. Just give me a ring sometimes ... i'd love to check out your 250g.
It was nice meeting you.

Take care,

marco

"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat all day and drink beer."

Hey Marco. Ya, I PMed Jeff but havent heard back from him. I im in the middle of negotiating a tank build with the guys at Buy Fish Now. They are pricing an acrylic tank with the following dimensions 96w x 30D x 30H If the price comes in right, then thats the way im goin. We shall see.

WOW! Thats a 375g ... thats HUGE!
Good Luck ... i Hope it works out for you .. but remember .. the tank itself is the least of the $.

I'd love a tank that large ... but in all honesty .. i couldn't afford to set it up the way i'd like it, and the way it should be setup. (unless i go FOWdeadROCK.

Post up how you make out with them ... & Good Luck .. would love to see another large tank around here.

--marco

"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat all day and drink beer."

Well they called me today with a price and its within reach. Now im having them check into rounded corners, and a clear overflow box. Does anyone know if there are any drawbacks to rounded corners???

I wouldn't do rounded corners ... My 150g had them ... it looked pretty decent .. but the distortion was a PITA, and even worse ... cleaning in them is hard ... you have to manually go in & wipe them down ... and if you get the rounded corners scratched ... it gets really hard to polish them out.

I would just do the overflow same color as the background ... keeps light from showing in & growing algae .. which could potentially clog a drain ... JMO though..

"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat all day and drink beer."

Have you thought about running an external overflow? one that is built into the tank - but on the outside of the back? you could run that the entire length of the tanks backside.... or just 1/2 ...

"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat all day and drink beer."

Thanks for the info on the corners... And, i hadnt thought about an external overflow... Sounds interesting. Do they just cut slots out along the top back of the tank ?? Not sure how those work.