180 gal tank?

zippyjr123

Reefing newb
hi
We are thinking about putting together 180 gal tank, but we need some input on how to go about doing so. Need info. on lighting, skimmers, sump/refugiums,powerheads. Drilled vs. not drilled anything that is needed for a tank that big. What to avoid,look for,and where to find things.
Thank you,
Rose
 
first off welcome to the BTC big tank club and for a skimmer iwould get a coralife,drilled is better,what do you want to keep in it.
 
Rose,I could fill six pages of information on what I would do.I'll start with the basis than let you give us some more info.

Budget?
Its going to be hard to give advice on equipment without it.For example a skimmer could run from $200 upwards of $600 plus.

Lights?
What are you looking to do....fish only with live rock or reef?What corals will determine what lights would work best.

The only advice now is to go pre-drilled or what they call a reef ready tank.Those are ones with the overflows built in.The best place to start is at the LFS.If your wanting to go used than the local newspaper and craigslist is where I would start.
 
I would like it to be a reef tank fish and corals ect.. examples of corals I'd like to have mushrooms, sun coral, leathers,frogspawn,hammer,polyps,brain,etc.... list can go on forever. We have been looking at glass and acrylic tanks on line. I really don't have a budget at this time looking for good quality products. Thinking of putting it in the wall.
 
On a 180 reef tank, prepare to spend at least $1000 on lights. You should go with either metal halides or T5s for a tank that size. Take a look at Champion Lighting & Supply and Aquarium supplies for your tropical fish tank, saltwater fish tank, saltwater aquarium fish, freshwater aquarium fish & reef aquarium. Aquarium filters, aquarium lighting, aquarium tanks, protein skimmers & more for your reef tank. for lights of the correct length. Or you can always try to find used lights online. For a tank that size, definitely get a drilled tank. This will be slightly more expensive than an un-drilled tank, but soooo worth it. Come to think of it, it may actually be hard to find a tank that size that's NOT drilled! Definitely plan for a sump/fuge. You want to get as much equipment as possible out of the tank. A good size sump for that tank would be 55g. But if space is an issue, you could always go smaller.
 
Staying with your choice of corals and that it sounds like you want to be unlimited on corals than get a good T5 fixture with individual reflectors.The Aquactinic Constellation would be perfect for your tank and won't give you the heat issues of MH.Maybe we are getting ahead of ourself a little.

The least expensive way to go with a sump/fuge is to build your own.All you have to add is baffles to an existing fish tank,of course the larger the better.You can check Lifereef.com and My Reef Creations for sumps as well as other equipment like skimmers.Many online vendors sells sumps and fuges,check some of these sites...Marinedepot.com and Premium Aquatics.com.

I like all these skimmer companies....ASM,Octopus,Euroreef,MRC.Lifereef and more.
 
I do have a 55 gal fresh water tank which does not have many fish in it. I was thinking of using it for the sump/refugium. Good idea?
 
Somewhere on this site is an article on how to DIY your own sump.. A lil bit of acrylic, some aquarium silicone, a few cuts and your ready..

sump.gif

top view....

Melevsreef.com | A simple sump project

hope this helps.. You can modify what this guy has and make the measurments fit your 55gallon..
 
Clean the tank out with a dilute vinegar solution and rinse it well. Then go to Lowe's and have 1/4" plexiglass cut to fit the dimensions of your tank for the baffles. Then you silicone the baffles in to make the different sections. It doesn't even need to be as complicated as the picture posted above.
 
Ok we decided to go with a glass tank. We were thinking of going acrylic but glass sounds easier to keep glass clean and you don't have to worry about scratching it all up, that would be my luck.
 
I live in a earthquake area, socal, and I have seen what happens to 150+ all glass out here....talk about total disaster.. Thats why I went with a 125 acrylic....
 
Sorry to hear that. The only thing we have to worry about over here is the flooding, we are in flood zone area. Which if that is to happen it would be a total loss here also.Last time we flooded there was almost 4 ft of water in the house. It was the no name storm.
 
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