First Large Aquarium

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

ReefSoldier

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Mar 4, 2009
Messages
11
Location
Graham, WA
Ok, I am in the middle of converting from a FOWL 45 Gallon tall (hyperlink) to a 180 6x2x2 (hyperlink). Would like to have soft corals, BTA and fish. Looking for suggestions from lighting, water flow to whatever. Closed loop? Power Heads? Wavemaker? What steps do you wish you had taken when you had an empty tank?

Also building my sump / fuge. Considering having a seperate fuge, how will I get the water from the tank, to the fuge, to the sump and back?


http://web.me.com/gdickman/Site_2/Gavins_Project.html , Photo tab at the top of page
 
If this were my tank I'd do the following:

Sump: 50g-75g
*Assuming a dual-overflow = protein skimmer->return->refugium
Return pump: Reeflo Snapper Gold
Protein skimmer: Octopus Extreme/MSX 200-250, Vertex 250, or Bubble King Mini 180-200
Lighting: Either 2 T5 IceCap 36" 8x39W high-output retrofit kit (over-drive 4 rows if you want any sps, clam, or anemone), 2 ATI 8x39w fixtures, or create a mixture of metal halide and T5
Sand: 4" sandbed of 360lbs, give or take, of sand depending on type
Live Rock: 2-3lbs/gallon (Premium Fiji)

As for water flow, I prefer a closed-loop with 4-6 outlet using an OceansMotions and a Reeflo Barracuda Gold.
 
Last edited:
If this were my tank I'd do the following:

Sump: 50g-75g
*Assuming a dual-overflow = protein skimmer->return->refugium
Return pump: Reeflo Snapper Gold
Protein skimmer: Octopus Extreme/MSX 200-250, Vertex 250, or Bubble King Mini 180-200
Lighting: Either 2 T5 IceCap 36" 8x39W high-output retrofit kit (over-drive 4 rows if you want any sps, clam, or anemone), 2 ATI 8x39w fixtures, or create a mixture of metal halide and T5
Sand: 4" sandbed of 360lbs, give or take, of sand depending on type
Live Rock: 2-3lbs/gallon (Premium Fiji)

As for water flow, I prefer a closed-loop with 4-6 outlet using an OceansMotions and a Reeflo Barracuda Gold.

Tank will have two 1 1/2" bulkheads once I install the internal overflow.
I am using a 55 Gallon for the sump
I have a Octopus NW 200 Skimmer already
Picked up a 2000 GPH return pump yesterday
Lighting is to be determined, thank you for the advice, lights are confusing!
I have 160 pounds of live sand already, going to get more
Live rock will be ordered this week

Thank you for taking your time to respond.
 
Lighting does not have to be confusing. James really gave you some good ideas. As far as the lighting it really depends on what you have in mind as far as corals. Good luck on the upgrade.
 
I agree with everything James mentioned. As far as lighting goes if you are wanting to have anemones and some of the more light demanding LPS corals I would go with 3 250w MHs and then add T5s for actinic supplement. At 2' tall anything less then 250w MHs isn't going to get enough PAR to the bottom to keep everything happy. They will also give you more options for corals, clams and anemones. I have a 120 that is 4'x2'x2' and have recently upgraded to dual 250w MHs. I had 175w MHs and they just weren't doing the job.

All of your lighting needs are going to be based on the corals and anemones you want to keep. If you research a particular coral and it says it needs moderate to strong lighting, I would suggest going the MH with T5s route. Anemones are going to need strong lighting and MHs will give you that. There are lots or retro kits out there so don't think you have to spend tons on a fixture. I recently switched from a PFO magnetic ballast to an IceCap electronic ballast. I'm very happy with the Icecaps so far. The PFO did a great job for 2 years. Do a little online searching before you make your decision. Lighting can be expensive, and you don't want to find out 6 months in that you have to upgrade.
 
Back
Top Bottom