I Thought I'd go ahead and start my first thread in here since hopefully I will be posting alot more in here coming soon..

I'm about to start working on a 200+ In-Wall set-up and I need some advise,

The Tank! Which brands would you guys recommend, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna stay away from Glass-Cages unless there quality has improved..

I'm definately interested in the Oceanic 215 Gallon Ultimate Reef Ready Tank. It comes with a Starphire front glass.

Any Place you guys know of that has some big tanks like these I can check out in person??

Oceanic, Aqueon (AGA), and Deep Sea Aquatics. I have a Deep Sea Aquatics tank and it is literally built like a tank.

Remember that the tank itself is the easiest part of the whole project...

You're welcome to come see my humble setup...

Like Steve said, those Deep Sea Aquatics tanks are one of my favorite and built to last (it seems). The 180g braceless they have is quite nice.

That's a 185. :tongue:

Ahh even better...haha

Steve- I've never actually seen a Deep Sea Aquatics tank (I'm Headed to Google).

Mojo- Humbel Set-up..... You are right though I can't even get the tank with out help from the ARC. LOL! That reminds me I guess it's time to Join up again huh?

I have an all-glass 210 display that I am very happy with. For $600 brand new, it was hard to beat. Mojo is right though, the tank is the cheap part... :)

The 185 is an awesome tank. It's 60x30x24. I have the older style with the center brace, the new brick style is made out of 3/4" glass and no center brace. It also has a center overflow with 4 holes drilled.

Mine is made of 1/2" glass, and it is still awesome.

Schwaggs- where'd you find a 210 for that Price...??? I'm guessing it's not Drilled...

Steve- I just saw that new Brick style 185 on their website and it looks killer.. I need a 72" tank though.. and their Model 215 sounds good.. What's the Price point on their tanks though, just looking for a range..

DSA is expensive...

Sorry, it was 4 years ago when I got mine. This guy used to sell tanks on ebay but it looks like he doesn't sell there any more. He has them in his on-line store here for $1075 with dual overflows: http://www.empirepets.com/product_info.php/products_id/1360 pickup in Marietta.

The bracaeless 185 is selling for 1100 brand new. Just the glass.

What advantages does a braceless tanks have in an in-wall setup? Especially for a 6 foot long tank with 2 braces typically lit with 2 MH centered over the 3 openings? If you were setting up a hoodless system with pendant lights hanging over it, I could understand the braceless idea, but if you are going in-wall or with a wood canopy, what is the advantage?

if you wanna see a deep sea tank in person go to Aquarium center, it is HUGE 400+ gallons and is like half the size of the store.

Yeah What Schwaggs said....

I really don't see the advantage of the Braceless because this will be an In-Wall with just like he said 3 MH's over each opening..

It's just easier. You don't have to clean a glass brace like on an old DSA tank. I personally would love to trade the 185 I have for a new one with some cash.

Hey if you want to go custom check out Ocea Aquarium Products here (http://www.oceaaquariumproducts.com). They are suppose to be really good

The deep sea 185 is 31.5" deep and 25" tall which make it the ultimate reef at 185 gal. So so deep. The 215 on the other hand is 24.5" deep, although nice depth not as sweet as thier smaller tanks. How about 72x30x24 240 gal with coast to coast overflow for optimal viewing or even external end overflows. Just a thought for the in wall application.

if you wanna see a deep sea tank in person go to Aquarium center, it is HUGE 400+ gallons and is like half the size of the store.

That tank is to DIE for. If I had it to do all over again.... then again, that tank is so deep you would have to scuba clean it... my 210 is as deep as I can reach and even then, if I have to reach the bottom, I am in up to my arm pits....

I really like the Deep Sea 185, but depth wise I really only want to go 24" because the wall the tank will be going into leads to the garage, and I'm already going to have to sacrifice alot of room in the Garage to build in a Fish room..

Well guys I've pretty much narrowed the tank search down to 2 choices.. Sam at Aquabuys pretty much convinced me that the Oceanic Ultimate is the way to go... But now I have to decide weather to go with the 178 or the 215.
the 178 is 60.5" long x 24" deep x 29" tall, and the 215 is 72.5"l x 24"d x 29h

There's about a $500 diffrence in the 2.. So I will probably go with the 178, I just hope I don't regret it later..

Do you have room in your wall for the 6 foot tank? I would get the biggest tank (within reason) that you can fit in your wall. I think you are making the right choice going with the 29" deep tank. When you get to large tanks 5 or 6 feet long, I think 24" isn't high enough.

Also, what is the spacing on the bracing on the 5 foot tank? I bet the 6 foot tank works out much better for the lighting (3 halides on 24" spacing.

Can you tell I'm partial to the 6 foot tank since that is what I have :)

I'm not sure on the bracing yet, I'm going today and check out a 178 in person... I want to see how diffrent the Starphire is on these tanks..

Look at the glass from a side angle. Like look straight down the glass. I did it at work and you can clearly tell the difference from the color of the glass. Starphire is very light green.

Well I was able to actually check out what is supposedly a 178 Ultimate but I'm not sure b ecause when I looked down the side, the glass still seemed Green to me. I'm guessing it wasn't really an Ultimate, but either way I don't like the Bracing used on the top, it's more of a wide piece of glass in the Middle, and since I plan on running 3 MH's I think I'll just go with a Regular 210 with the bracing's at the 2 1/3rds of the tank..

Marineland Deep Dimension 300. 72/36/27. Marine Fish has one for sale and it is SICK. They will also customize the tank for you (placement of overflows, starfire, etc.) over at Marineland. Once you go deep, you'll never go back.

My $0.02 on your decision is go for the 6 foot tank as most Tnags (and I'm sure many others) need a good distance for swimming room and do better in longer tanks. I wish I could fit a 6 foot tank in my office, but, my 4 foot 90gal is the biggest I can go in that space.

FWIW:up: