new to "big" tanks.... need advise

So I am setting up a second tank. I just ordered a drilled 180 AGA from the LFS.

this is my first "big" tank, my first SW tank is 58g and my FW experience was always 10 and 20g tanks and one 55g tank....

I know bigger is better for water stability.... but are there any bits of advice you all can offer on the logistics of a larger tank?

I ordered my lights, a 72" MariStar from Sunlight Supply, (3x250HQI + 4 72" T5) and not sure what I want for bulbs - thinking 10,000ºK on the MH and actinics on the T5's... but would love pics for comparison

My next purchase will be return pumps and a skimmer - Related questions:

Should I go with 2 returns, one on each corner, or plump a single larger pump for returns? Obviously redundancy is a nice thing, right?

What kind of flow rates should I be looking for?

Brands?

My initial searching lead to 2x Iwaki 40RXLT's does that sound like enough?


Skimmers: I have NO idea what I'll need. I am using a SeaStorm 100 in my 58, I'm happy with it, but with no metric to compare them I don't know if a bigger SeaStorm/Seaclone (I forget exact name) would be good, or is there something else I should look at without getting into the ultra advanced (re: $$$) skimmers like the bubbleking stuff. price IS becomming an issue here.

Sump/fuge - What kind of volume should I look at (running volume, not absolute)

...

I guess I can't decide if everything scales linearly or not... do tanks scale well?

Anyways... do what you can for me

-Doug

 

Need lots of jugs for top off... man my 140 drinks some water way more rodi then my 92 did

 

Thinking I'll go with Kold Sterile if my other thread about it pans out in favor of it. Cant beat 5g per minute.

 

If you are getting a 180g All Glass I imagine your getting the built in overflows. I have a 210g All Glass which is the same tank but just 5" higher and I put the Y returns on the back corners. From there you can bend them in any direction. I pointed one down into the reef and the other across the tank. I have 4 koralia's for added flow.
I have all T5's in my tank because I didn't want the cost, noise and hassle of a chiller. I have a Sealife Systems RM300 sump/refugium combo with a deep sand bed with cheato and live rock. I have a 15" high canopy with a 36" high stand by RJaquatics.com. I've got 200 lbs of rock. A sheet of eggcrate under the rock for protection. Three 24" strips of LED moonlights end to end behind the T5's with dawn/dusk/daylight timer. It's a great tank. The 180 has a better height (24") for working inside it. Check out my signature and pictures.

 

I really like the idea of 2 smaller returns, if only like you said, for redundancy. Losing your only return pump is really harsh and AFAIK the only way to prevent an issue is to either have redundant return pumps or to have a controller that can send you temperature alarms to your phone or something and put your temp probe in your return area so you can tell when the return is getting cold, you'll have a pretty good idea your return pump died.
I would maybe look at something like 2 Eheim 1260's on the upper end or maybe 2 Ocean Runner 2500's or 2 Mag 7's for return pumps. You can look at those for energy consumption as another way of deciding which way to go. The less energy consumed the more likely it will be a cooler pump as well, although that's not guaranteed.

For skimmers check out the Octopus Extremes/Cones or Vertexes all have good reviews about quality for the money I think. Just make sure you oversize it IMO, it never hurts to have a little more power than you need.

For sumps get the biggest one you can fit and still fit everything else you want in your stand or sump area. Just decide on a skimmer beforehand so you are sure you can fit the skimmer in. Bigger is always better for sumps IMO.

 

ASM makes great skimmers. A G3 or G4 would be a good fit. For return pumps i would go with 2 rio 3100's the are good pumps just make sure to put some kind of sponge over the intake. for my MH i use 14000k bulbs because they have more blue in them than 10000k.

 

I think you will find 2 returns to be quite challenging. Trying to get then adjusted to not pull too much water out of the sump. But I don't think it is necessary.

It biggest issues with Big tanks is the Big cost. I would look into dosing systems and dose bulk CA, ALK, and MAG this is a great cost saver.

There are a ton of great skimmers out there like Vertex, Bubble King, Bubble magus, Octopus and many more

J

 

You will love that 180....Definately dual returns. It should come with them if it is the tank I am thinking of. I run 2 48" fixtures with 8 54w t-5's. The light reaches the ends, no problem.
It also gives me alot of versatility with color. I run a 10k daylight, blue actinic, white actinic, and purple actinic in each fixture. I get nice mixture that way. Good luck and keep the pics coming.....I want to upgrade to a 210!!!

 

I agree, with a tank that large, your livestock is going to be a big investment. Having two pumps will be cheap insurance against one possible tank crash cause.

That depends some on how your sump will be laid out and what type of skimmer you get. You will want lower flow through your fuge, and you won't want more flow than your skimmer pump pushes going through the other side.

I'm a big fan of Rio pumps. Mine is dead silent and has been running solidly for a year since I got it used.

I think that would be plenty.

Xtreme 200 protein Skimmer
Xtreme 250 Protein Skimmer
Reef Octopus DDNW-150
Reef Octopus Extreme Series EXT-250

As big a tank as you can fit under your stand would be best. With such a huge volume of water you will be losing a lot to evaporation daily, so a good sized return chamber is important. You will also want a good sized fuge and will most likely need a pretty large skimmer compartment.

 

You'll get a gazillion opinions on that stuff. I just broke down my 180 and had one Reeflo dart running 2 reactors, bullet 2 skimmer and the return. I highly recommend the Reeflo dart as it only burns 150W pushing 3600 GPH, and dead silent.
As far as power going out .. my power has been out for 24 hours with no problems (15 fish) I have spare pumps sitting by if I really needed to get a return going... You don't really need two pumps.

Wasn't crazy about the bullet when I set up my next tank I'm looking at an ATB deluxe cone skimmer. They're expensive but it's the heart of filtration with raving reviews. If you want a cheaper clone of the same skimmer check out SWC skimmers.

For lighting. Do you have a pic of where the lights will be mounted?
Maristar is one of the better fixtures but if you want better growth I would go with making my own light system... comprised of high end reflectors.
Lumenbright reflectors
Lumatek dimmable 400W ballast.. can use 250W or 400W bulbs. with 275 W position to overdrive 250W bulbs and a position to overdrive 400W bulbs.
Supplemental I would use VHO retros(to use UVL super actinic) and maybe a T5 mixed in to use the Blue+ bulb. Icecap 660s

Flow:
SPS tank you'll want about 9-10,000 GPH to get 50 X turnover. Depending on your budget a couple of Vortechs combined with some smaller Pheads. I really like my Koralia K6s and K4s. Just not as good looking.