Building a Large Saltwater Aquarium -T
There are many reasons to that one would like to own a large saltwater aquarium :
- You would like a large number of fish in one tank
- Tou love the idea to own large fish
- Maybe you like to have aggressive fish in one tank
- Maybe fish relax you
Whaterver you reason is, you have to do a lot of thinking before you make a decission regarding the purchase of a large aquarium.
One important think is that you have to take in consideration is the ability of your floor to sustain a large aquarium. This is important if you live on the upper floor of an apartment building.
As an example, a 200 gallon aquarium filled with water, without anything else, weights about 1700 pounds. If you add other things like the weight of the gravel, s.o. you can reach over a ton.
Probably you would find in any pet store, tanks with a size up to 180 gallons. Beyond that, probably you would have to build it yourself or custom order one. You can choose from 2 types : glass or acrylic. Acrylic is a better choice of the two. It is lighter and clearer than glass. The downside is that it does scratch easily.
A taller tank is a good choice, but the depth and the height will twice as long. Yhe depth and the height of a tank should be about equal.If a tank is too deep, you will have problems cleaning it.
If you choose a larger tank you will have to choose a larger equipment to keep it clean and aerated. The filter is the most important piece of equipment. The filter is responsible for the purification of the water and to keep the fish alive. Marine fish are more sensitive to clean water than the freshwater ones. It is important to choose a good filtration system. This system will perform three basic opreations :
- Biological – where specific types of bacteria detoxify toxic nitrogen compunds in the water to less harmful compunds
- Mechanical – particle matter is removed from the water
- Chemical – from which dissolved organic compounds are removed from the water.
You can place a bunch of filters outside the tank but is adviced to order the tank “reef ready”. This means that the tank comes with several predrilled holes and an overflow box. Wtare is pumped into the sump tank where the water is filtered. After this process the clean water can return into the tank on its own. . It allows you to be able to place heaters and filters out of sight and out of reach of large fish. Plus, without any filters hanging off of the back of the tank, the aquarium can be placed flush against the wall. They are good for supporting coral, algae and fish in a community but, they are every expensive costing sometimes into the thousands.
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