# 180 Gal. Ideas?



## gvrayman

Hey guys, I am picking up a dual reef ready 180 gallon tank with a 400 wet/dry filter next week. Definitely going to fill it with base rock and top off with live rock to get the coralline algae started, but until then, my pad of lined paper will be taking down possible stocking ideas. I would like to get a decent reef going again with fish and inverts. Lots of light, if any of you know of any cheaper (between $1-$300), but bright enough to sustain coralline algae and corals, light fixtures, t5, metal halide, whatever... let me know. As soon as I get it home, next Saturday/Sunday, I'll start the process of getting the water flowing, work out all the powerhead needs, heating, cooling, filtration. It is coming with a wet/dry, but should I have another filter, preferably canister, to run alongside it?

I am new to plumbed tanks and wet/dry filters. Is a wet/dry the same as a refugium?

Here's a pic of the wet/dry


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## CLUSTER ONE

gvrayman said:


> Hey guys, I am picking up a dual reef ready 180 gallon tank with a 400 wet/dry filter next week. Definitely going to fill it with base rock and top off with live rock to get the coralline algae started, but until then, my pad of lined paper will be taking down possible stocking ideas.With a 180g you will habe plenty of options. I would like to get a decent reef going again with fish and inverts. Lots of light, if any of you know of any cheaper (between $1-$300), but bright enough to sustain coralline algae and corals,If your on a budget id look for some used MH lights as thats probably the cheapest option if you want corals in a tank that size. light fixtures, t5, metal halide, whatever... let me know. As soon as I get it home, next Saturday/Sunday, I'll start the process of getting the water flowing, work out all the powerhead needs, heating, cooling, filtration. It is coming with a wet/dry, but should I have another filter, preferably canister, to run alongside it? Wetdry is fine. Some people are against bio balls but as long as they stay clean its fine
> 
> I am new to plumbed tanks and wet/dry filters. Is a wet/dry the same as a refugium?  a regugium is used a a "refuge" for certain inhabitants from the main tank. In this refuge it usually houses live rock, macro algae, pods,sand bed... and other things to aid in natural filtration. With a wetdry its more artificial then natural with the water being cleaned by plastics rather then natural things like algae and rock. You will deffinity want a good skimmer though
> 
> Here's a pic of the wet/dry


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## Ægir

With that sump, depending on what you want to stock exactly, there are tons of routes you could go. For a reef tank, i would gut the thing out and fill it with rock rubble, and make a huge skimmer the primary filtration... with rock rubble it wont be as much of a wet dry, because you would run it 3/4 full, or wherever your MAX capacity is once its running (talk about that later!) ABSOLUTELY NO canister filters, filter pads, floss, or anything that you dont plan on changing, cleaning, replacing weekly... The main difference in saltwater and freshwater is EXPORTING (skimmer, water changes) not trapping waste to break down.

You would match your return pump GPH (AFTER head loss), to your skimmers (or something close, slightly more if anything) and be on the right track. And a skimmer rated for 180 gals, might not be enough for a reef tank... dont hesitate to go BIGGER.

you say "lots of light" on a budget... either Metal halide retrofit (3 175w or 150w?) or a killing on a used T5 fixture... If we are talking reef, its worth putting that 300$ into a jar, and cycling/maturing your tank for a few months and adding $$ to that. a light is only going to grow algae during your cycle, and is basically worthless in the first stages, and burn power.

ALSO keep in mind when going the MH route you are going to have lots of HEAT to deal with... you are going to need fans, a chiller, AC in your house or some method of keeping the tank temp stable. The number one thing is stability in a reef tank.. the less "swing" you have in parameters (Temp, PH, Alk, CA, MG etc) the better.

Your main expences, that really help not to skimp on or just save up and wait for are skimmer, lighting, and powerheads/pumps, water (ro/di unit), rock and salt. I cant stress enough how important it is to have a 0TDS RO/DI water supply... you will just be setting your self up for disaster and algae farm using tap water or anything otherwise.

Keep us updated and ask any questions you have... also READ as much as you can, knowledge is power (and cost saving) in this hobby!


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## Inflade

are you prepared for the costs of a 180 gallon reef? a tank that size, i would do FOWL


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## gvrayman

I am prepared for the costs. I've run saltwater setups before, so I know how expensive it can get,especially in the beginning stages, but the end result is so much worth the work.


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## gvrayman

I need to plumb a sink over to where I will settle the tank, I figure that will make some things a lot simpler.


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## CLUSTER ONE

For the cost aspect id just start it a a FOWLR and slowly turn it into a reef so that way its not costing a ton initially and you have a more stable tank when adding corals.

Sinks are awsome to have near any tank. I have one beside 125 fw and it makes cleaning filters... and anything else really easy to clean. For sw it will give you a close spot to hook up a ro unit and ro holding tank.


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## redbellyman21

a sink would be the coolest thing to have near my tanks, so that is a great idea. egir and cluster have good ideas and i second the idea of starting it off and letting it cycle and not buy the lights till you saved some nice money. Skimmer always go larger, an idea of what I am talking about I just setup a 135 with a large sump and got a skimmer rated for 350 gallons. OVERKILL? sure but it was 50 more than the one rated at 200gallon. Craigslist sometimes has awesome killer deals on salt lighting, but typically not so much. I get crap from people on the forums for using odyssea lights, but personally have never had a problem, and they are lighting 11 of my 12 tanks. from MH to t5 to PC all odyssea. I find them at aquatraders, but they are for sale everywhere online. Definitely stay away from canister filters, go with socks filters, and I would gut the bio balls as well, cause they have huge potential for cons if not setup properly. If it doesnt have filtersocks than prefilter than balls it will get detritus all in there, not to mention with them you need to swap out multiple filters daily or every other day.

sum up
get the live rock, let it cycle, whilst cycling save money for awesome lights and skimmer, dont skimp out on skimmer DO RESEARCH, I did 3 months of research before I bought my skimmers for my tanks, and I highly recommend the super reef ocotpus bubble blaster skimmer, but I did weeks of youtube skimmer videos looking at other peoples skim, I felt like it became a new fetish for jerk off material I looked at so much skim. AWFUL. anyway I am saying buy the better skimmer since I have multiple skimmers in my garage that are useless and a waste of money. So get ur head up, start planning and get some more advice and start executing awesome tank you have and HUGE potential!


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## gvrayman

redbellyman21 said:


> a sink would be the coolest thing to have near my tanks, so that is a great idea. egir and cluster have good ideas and i second the idea of starting it off and letting it cycle and not buy the lights till you saved some nice money. Skimmer always go larger, an idea of what I am talking about I just setup a 135 with a large sump and got a skimmer rated for 350 gallons. OVERKILL? sure but it was 50 more than the one rated at 200gallon. Craigslist sometimes has awesome killer deals on salt lighting, but typically not so much. I get crap from people on the forums for using odyssea lights, but personally have never had a problem, and they are lighting 11 of my 12 tanks. from MH to t5 to PC all odyssea. I find them at aquatraders, but they are for sale everywhere online. Definitely stay away from canister filters, go with socks filters, and I would gut the bio balls as well, cause they have huge potential for cons if not setup properly. If it doesnt have filtersocks than prefilter than balls it will get detritus all in there, not to mention with them you need to swap out multiple filters daily or every other day.
> 
> sum up
> get the live rock, let it cycle, whilst cycling save money for awesome lights and skimmer, dont skimp out on skimmer DO RESEARCH, I did 3 months of research before I bought my skimmers for my tanks, and I highly recommend the super reef ocotpus bubble blaster skimmer, but I did weeks of youtube skimmer videos looking at other peoples skim, I felt like it became a new fetish for jerk off material I looked at so much skim. AWFUL. anyway I am saying buy the better skimmer since I have multiple skimmers in my garage that are useless and a waste of money. So get ur head up, start planning and get some more advice and start executing awesome tank you have and HUGE potential!


Well I just picked up about 500 lbs of sand today; the total cost being under $40, and a nice 50 gallon storage container. Figure that will come in handy as either a sump (I want to have the sump and refug seperate) or place to store ro/di water for water changes.

The sink will be awesome, I'm used to hooking my python up to the other sink which is at least 40 feet away from all my tanks.


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## gvrayman

The 50 gal container is plenty big for a skimmer, heater, and whatever else I need to run the water through


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## redbellyman21

500 lbs of sand? wow what the hell are you making a playground? ROFL that seems like a lot, but I dunno. I mean my 135 has similar footprint to your 180 and it took a 40lb bag to make an inch substrate level. A lot of my tanks have multiple tanks hooked up to them. I use 3 tanks in my 33 reef, theres pictures in here or in picture section for ideas, but off to good start Id say.


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## Ægir

400lbs of sand will fill a 125(6x2x2)gal tank to about 6 or 7 inches deep...

Keep up the good work man


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## gvrayman

The sand will be going in the 180, refugium, and I would like to put a good 3 inches in my currently empty 125.


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## Sylar_92

You ever buy a striped nurse shark for your aquarium? Or you can try a small coral reef with a dragon eel or moray eel.


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## redbellyman21

Sylar_92 said:


> You ever buy a striped nurse shark for your aquarium? Or you can try a small coral reef with a dragon eel or moray eel.


Big tank yes, shark tank no.... LOL he would need a 500G tank to consider a shark and a 1000G tank to keep it happy for a while. A small coral reef? aint no small reef in a 180G thats hard to do. I have seen really cool setups where the owner had a 250Gallon tank with three pillars spread out evenly in tank so on the walls and in the middle. I would venture to say 50-75lbs of home made LR and pvc structures for stability per pillar and than had 3 MH bulbs covering the pillars and actinics over the pillars and the rest of tank. VERY VERY VERY COOL TANK, however some of the uber nice things about large tanks is stocking them with fish, most not all but most large fish are border reef safe so you have to really stock wisely. The guy in question had some very large tangs and a sugar load of anthias. very nice


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## Sylar_92

redbellyman21 said:


> You ever buy a striped nurse shark for your aquarium? Or you can try a small coral reef with a dragon eel or moray eel.


Big tank yes, shark tank no.... LOL he would need a 500G tank to consider a shark and a 1000G tank to keep it happy for a while. A small coral reef? aint no small reef in a 180G thats hard to do. I have seen really cool setups where the owner had a 250Gallon tank with three pillars spread out evenly in tank so on the walls and in the middle. I would venture to say 50-75lbs of home made LR and pvc structures for stability per pillar and than had 3 MH bulbs covering the pillars and actinics over the pillars and the rest of tank. VERY VERY VERY COOL TANK, however some of the uber nice things about large tanks is stocking them with fish, most not all but most large fish are border reef safe so you have to really stock wisely. The guy in question had some very large tangs and a sugar load of anthias. very nice
[/quote]

1000gals? My bad not a nurse shark, I use to go to this Petstore by my house and they had this really small stripped shark in a 50gal tank. I don't remember the real name but remember it being a buttom dweller and the max size was a foot and a half. My other suggestions were just random suggestions without thinking throughly. But it be cool to have a lion fish tank or even a octopus setup.


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## redbellyman21

almost all sharks is wrong to keep in small aquariums.. but to each their own


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## gvrayman

Alright, I have the wet/dry filter cleared of all bio-balls, but I am seeing a problem with using it as a refugium. The water level line for when it is running is only 3 inches above the bottom.

I will add some pictures when I get everything cleaned.


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## gvrayman

Alright, with the addition of a sheet of acrylic the water won't just trickle down, it will collect in both compartments 'til full. The return pump will be situated in the right most section, along with the protein skimmer.

Finally, some pictures


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## gvrayman

As far as lighting is concerned, the previous owner gave me his set-up, just needs a new ballast

Link


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## gvrayman

Here's what I've been looking at for the in-sump protein skimmer

Anyone have luck with Tunze skimmers?

My link

If not, what would you recommend?


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## Ægir

I have heard good things and bad things about them but never used one myself...

If you want to be on the leading edge, look into a cone body skimmer... ATB Cones are supposed to be great, as well as the other companies going that route.

My next skimmer will be a cone, or a bubbleking


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## gvrayman

Did you check out the pics on the previous page? I added some with the tank and more on the wet/dry


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## shiver905

I personally would not go that routw for the skimmer,
But with tat said, Iv never had experence with one.

Id go

Bubble magus or octopus, swc
All great skimmers with a great price tag.


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## redbellyman21

Super reef octopus


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## Ægir

shiver905 said:


> I personally would not go that routw for the skimmer,
> But with tat said, Iv never had experence with one.
> 
> Id go
> 
> Bubble magus or octopus, swc
> All great skimmers with a great price tag.


Why would you not go with a cone skimmer? Or were you talking about the price tag?


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## gvrayman

I've been looking into diy skimmers, mainly the e.a.p. (easy as pie) skimmer design. Very cheap and most say it out-performs top dollar skimmers...this tank will be a while before I have it running, so anywhere I can save $500+ will help a lot. The price tag on skimmers for 200+ gallon tanks is outrageous, but then again, people pay for convenience.

I really want to get my hands on that plasma lighting technology though, that would be worth the $600


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## Ægir

gvrayman said:


> I've been looking into diy skimmers, mainly the e.a.p. (easy as pie) skimmer design. Very cheap and most say it out-performs top dollar skimmers...this tank will be a while before I have it running, so anywhere I can save $500+ will help a lot. The price tag on skimmers for 200+ gallon tanks is outrageous, but then again, people pay for convenience.
> 
> I really want to get my hands on that plasma lighting technology though, that would be worth the $600


If you are comfortable theres no reason not to make your own... you can get cone skimmer bodies and all the parts almost and glue them together. you could replicate any high end skimmers. It all comes down to time...

In my opinion if you are going to go DIY, you would have better luck with a beckett injected setup... Granted they use tons more power and require a larger pump to push them. With a re-circ or venturi injected setup there are so many fine points you can screw up, like where the input is located, height of the neck, size of the riser etc is all a variable depending on what pump you use and all the other factors listed.

People pay for convenience and performance... I will tell you my Precision Marine Bullet 3 was worth EVERY dollar in initial cost, and the gobs of power it ate. The reason i suggested the skimmers above was the pumps they use, and the gnarly things i have seen in the collection cups.

For 600$ build your own LED setup... it will be far less hassle. I am pulling my hair out dealing with lighting right now for the 155bow install


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## gvrayman

I'm still waiting for some parts I ordered to come in; I ordered a new bulkhead fitting and mag18 pump that will be used as the return pump. And I still need to draw out a plan for the tank - refug - sump - back to tank plumbing. But...there's a monster dirt-bike repair bill that I need to take care of first...


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