175 gal Bowfront

We have the same tank

I have an older version of the tank you have. I think it's been roughly 5 years since I bought it. There are a few things I have learned after having it for a while. If your planning on growing hard coral then you need the 400........14-20k. But if your only planning on doing soft coral then 250 watt MH HQ would be perfect, with some VHO 2 (Actinic) and the 4 MH bulbs would give you the ability to layer your coral a tad and get more variety. I used two RIO quiet ones 6000 before and was very happy with them. I used a few maxi jets with a wave maker and all my coral were ecstatic. I was able to get about 20 fish and about same amount in coral into it and I didn't have any problems with it water quality. I use a 40 gallon sump and gravel bed. I have seen about four different filtration systems work well it all comes down to preference I guess. I know there are a ton of different ways to do that tank you have and allot will depend on your wallet and how much of that wall your tanks against you can mess with.......loll. I would defiantly find a way to get water there with a paddle shutoff and run the output of your RO system into the sump so your investments don't get stressed out. I love my tank and so does everyone else who comes by my house, so much better than a boring square one!! I used to have the 150 square and there isn't any comparison!!
Make sure you got the overflow PVC setup to remove the constant waterfall sound, its quite annoying. I made mine using plans from the internet and 1 inch PVC.

 

His last post is from 08' I don't think he's going to see what you wrote.