150/180 gallon set up

ok so, as some of you may or may not know... im trying to get a new tank for my fish. i still dont know whether a 180 or a 150gallon. The difference is that the 180 is thiker and a little taller. ( and 200 dollars difference lol)

Soooooooooooooooo

having a yellow tang and two clowns and a goby already what tank should i be best with??

and since with my 29 doesnt require other mechanisms my other questions are: ( please answer in order lol ty)

How much LR?
How much Sand? (live sand or regular?)
what kind of lights support all types of corals?
Filtration system?
Skimmer?
Heater and Salinity testers, as well as Test kit?
anything else that i missed?

they offer me the 150g for about 600, maybe i can get it for 500.
so knowing all that. can you give me a rough estimate of how much money ill need. ( i know its on the thousands)

 

uuuuuups... wrong place for the question....... o well... lol

 

I would take a 180 over a 150 any day. That extra 6" width in the footprint makes a huge difference. I dont honestly see the appeal of 150's over 125's . . . the only thing you get is an extra few inches in height that your light is going to have to penetrate through.

~Will.

 

I have a 150, almost 200 with sump/refugium

How much LR? I have 200, maybe 210
How much Sand? (live sand or regular?) I like a shallow bottom, so I only have 75
what kind of lights support all types of corals? I am running t5 8x80 and couldn't be happier
Filtration system? I have a sump/refugium combo, chaeto, live rock and my nitrates are 0
Skimmer? I have a ASM G3 and it pulls gunk out like nobody's business
Heater and Salinity testers, as well as Test kit? whatever you like

I also am using an aqua controller jr, for temp, ph, lights etc and my tank darn near runs itself. Remember as well, with that big of a tank, evaporation is going to be an issue. I use a tunze osmolator and let it do its thing and only fill the water container once a week with RO/DI

 

I would take a 180 over a 150 any day due to the added 6". Aquascaping is much easier that way.

 

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Well i have a 180 so ill provide some insite! Hopefully it helps

My 180 has about 200 pounds of lr in the dt and another 150 in the sump. 200 sounds like a lot, but it isnt my tank has a more wide open look as to provide ample swimming room for fish. Some one who wont have as many fish as i plan could add more but i want about 20ish fish and plenty of swimming room for them!

For my sand i used High desert play sand from home depot! I used 3 bags and its perfect for me as i like a more shallow sand bed in the tank. For me i only use sand for the looks! I have had no problems ever using this sand! Just make sure to seed it with some old sand and your good to go!


I currently run 3x250 watt mh the two on the end are 12k and the middle is 14k plus! i put all sps on the ends and most lps and zoas in the middle!

i also have 2x110 watt super blue vho atinics and i LOVE the look of my tank! not to blue but not to yellow! Every thing has AMAZING growth and color!

As far as filtration i run a octo mw 200, i have a 100 gallon fuge with 150 pounds lr and a custom made sump with two inlets and two filter socks. In the filter socks are bags of gfo,carbon and phosfate remover!
as far as water movement i have a reeflo pump thats about 5500gph, my head is about 7 feet and its tuned down a but so im recieveing around 2500gph, for water movement i use two modded tunzes 6025 and two mj1200 with sure flow mod.

On mj and tunze sits on either side of the tank(so left side has one tunze and one mj and vice versa) i also run two k2 off the back wall to mix it up a bit!

i already mentioned my skimmer which btw pulls out a TON of stuff im truly impressed with the skimmer it self!

I have one 500 watt titanium heater in the fuge(which the 100 gallon fuge also has cheato and 260 watts of cf light over it!)

im also toying with the idea of running a algea scrubber, have heard so many good things about this!


as far as test kits go i use salifert and test for everything! this might be over kill but o well i also keep a spread chart on my computer and track my weekly/daily test!

I use a marine depot refractometer, best money ive spent so far! DONT USE A SWING ARM!


sorry for being so long but i hope this helps and provides some insite!;D;D;D

 

+1 get a refractometer to measure the salt in your water. They run from $25-$50 and are well worth it. Hydrometers are their cheaper counterpart. They suck. They are very inaccurate.

I would say a 180 too. Might as well get the biggest you can afford. Everyone starts with smaller tanks, then they all want to eventually upgrade. So starting big is going to save you a lot of money in the long run. If you plan on buying everything new, plan on spending well over $2,000. Try to get what you can used. Check craigslist and local reef forums to try to save a buck or 2.

How much LR? 150-200lbs
How much Sand? (live sand or regular?)...100lbs...I would go live sand not play sand as they contain silicates. Diatoms(ugly brown film), which feed off of silicates will be growing on that sand for months and months
what kind of lights support all types of corals?T5s for sure
Filtration system?Get a sump with some chaeto and macroalgae
Skimmer?required yes, need a very large one, maybe someone can recommend some
Heater and Salinity testers, as well as Test kit?go with a 400w titanium heater
anything else that i missed?

 

180... 150 are IME goofy looking.
How much live rock? Well that depends on the locale..fiji is far more dense that most other commonly available rock, pohnpei seems to be the lightest. IF a 10# Fiji rock is slightly larger than a grape fruit but the Pohnpei is almost double the size...how much rock do you need?? I have maybe half way up the tank but I wanted more coral growth less boring rock, just me.
Sand?How deep do you want the sand bed? Deep? Thin layer? Bare bottom
Filtration?Covered...
Skimmer?I like my Octo extreme 200, but would like to upgrade... How much $$ do you want to spend?
Heater?I don't even think mines plugged in...

Weird 3 guys from the WRS all on one post!!

 

I have a 5 ft 150 gallon tank and love it. Just my .02. It's an aquascaping dream. I have plenty of room in my tank for my fish to swim in the front and the back. it's nice.

 

Oh yeah, a 5 foot 150 would be perfect. But most 150's are 6 footers and only 18" deep.

Normally I would say that all hyrdometers are no good, but the one I have is spot on accurate compared to the refractometers I have compared it against.

A few years back at a WRS meeting we all brought in our junky hydrometers, and also our new and used refractometers. We made a test solution according to holmes-farley, and the results were interesting.

Of all the old hydrometers, mine was the only one that was on, the rest were all over the place.