Advice needed

Hello,

I am looking to get back into the hobby but want to go about it a little different this time. I am looking to go fairly large with my tank this time. Mostly I want a sailfin tang as my centerpiece and do not want anything too small for that fish. Then I want to decide where to go with the fish around it. I will add corals along the way as well.

Right now I am in the planning stage so please give me advice on the size of tank/sump that would be the minimum I should use for the sailfin tang. Any idea where I could get something that size for a good price as well? Also, do I do glass or acrylic?

Let's start there. I am planning to build a stand to save money and to make it our style. I have done that before so that is not an issue.

Thanks for your help.

Bob is spot on with getting as long of a tank as will fit. I would think a minimum of 5' but 6' or even 8' is best. Everything else Can Be worked in around the tank you get. Look forward to seeing this cone together.

Sure, a huge tank is good but they can do fine in 75 gal tanks. One special key to keeping Tangs happy and healthy is to grow algae in the display for them to graze on. Tangs are like cattle. They need to be able to graze all day. They need to be fat. The grazing is not just for eating the algae, it's also an activity that is in their genes. It seems to make them happy.

There are cool looking algae that can be grown in the display for a few months prior to introducing the Tangs. Eventually the algae gets pretty much decimated, but by then the Tangs should have gotten accustomed to eating Romaine and Greenleaf lettuce as well as a little bit of Nori now and then. I'll add a picture of this later

Sailfin Tangs don't bother fish at all, even small ones, but they do need to be trained to get along with other similar body shape Tangs. The way to train fish is described in a topic listed in the Reefkeeping Tips linked below in my signature line.

Aloha,
Mark.

In my experience, having a longer tank is better than a taller one as it gives the fish more room to cruise. 150 would be the minimum I would suggest if you want to keep it for a long time. I would suggest larger if you can though. 

I too like glass because it doesn't scratch as easily, but I love Acrylic tanks for a some very good reasons:

I like to look at the forums to when I need inspiration on set up. We have tank threads on this site, you might find someone that had done a similar project to what you would like to do. If you need some more inspiration I will often go to reed central or reeftoreef and look at the tank build threads there as well. As far as advice for what you should get I would make sure to have and RODI filter, especially if you are getting a larger tank. You will need some (or multiple) forms of nutrient export (ie. refugium, skimmer, nitrate reactor, carbon dosing). I would also recommend taking your time. Find some tanks that you like and try to emulate their setup and maintenance practices. There is a lot of talent locally and lots of reefers that love to show off their tanks. sometimes you just have to ask.