180-Gallon Recommendations Needed

[ondria]

I have a 180-Gallon tank. I would like to do a reef tank. Can anyone tell me what equipment I should have? Lighting, skimmer, sump, etc?

Thank you!

 

[jbpig]

Good luck! Your 1st item should be some reading material

..Being that you are just starting off, that woudl be your best investment and tell you everything you need to know, includig what lights to get for what type of life you want to keep. HTH

jb

 

[-JB]

My Equipment list for my 180g tank.

Tank: 180g AGA
Skimmer: Lifereef VS2-24
Skimmer pump: Little Giant 3MD
Sump: Lifereef LF1-200
Return pump: Dolphin AmpMaster 3000
Lighting Ballast: (3) PFO MH Ballast
Lighting Ballast: (1) Icecap 660 VHO Ballast
Lighting Bulb: (2) 140w URI Actinic White
Lighting Bulb: (3) 10000K Hamilton Euro MH Bulbs
Stand and Cap: DIY
Circulation: (2) 3/4 Sea Swirl
Ca reactor: DIY dual stage built by coralhound
Ca Re-circulation Pump: Ehiem 1048
Ca Feeder pump: MaxiJet 1200
Reactor Media: Koralith Media
CO2: 5lbs tank
CO2 Gage: M3 Deluxe gage
Sand: 250 lbs Southdown
Live Sand Activator from IPSF and LS from LFS
Live Rock: 230 lbs Paragon Aquatics
RO/DI: AquaFX 4 Stage 100GPD RO/DI
Heater: 300w Won Titanium
Chiller: Aqua Logic 1/3HP Delta Star In-Line
Temperature Controller: Medusa
pH Monitor: Pin Point
Top-Off Float Switch: Lifereef Float switch
Top-Off Pump: Dolphin DP-800
Salinity Tester: Acquamarine Hand Refractometer
Test Kits: Salifert, Seachem
Misc: GFCI, Grounding probes, float switches, Instant Ocean Salt, lots of books

 

[Big R]

I have the following on my 180 (AGA

) at home:

4ft sump from Advanced Aquaria
G3 skimmer from All Seas Marine
250W Ebo Jager heater
Mag Drive 1800 pump
(3) PFO 150W HQI ballasts
(3) PFO mini-pendents
(3) Ushio 10,000K 150W bulbs
40W Coralife actinic in AGA fixture
(4) IceCap variable speed fans, one pointed at each pendent and one at the ballasts. They are adjusted to run inaudibly.
Cell-Pore bio slabs under a mix of live sand and Carib Sea reef sand (sorry, no SD)
Temp yesterday, even w/ glass tops covering 2/3 of each opening was 76F w/o a chiller!

I also have a medusa colorimeter for testing and a refractometer. I really should use them one of these days.

R

 

[Worm]

this is my 4th, yes 4th, attempt to respond to this topic...dunno why they don't take

anyway, here is my set-up with approx. costs

180 gal reef-ready oceanic tank($700)
furniture quality 36" stand/canopy($700)
300-400 lbs boulder size LR($1000)
pfo dual 400W ballast,bulbs,cords($300)
2 660 icecaps($300)
2 6' actinic vhos, endcaps, cords($100)
4 4' actinic vhos, endcaps, cords($120)
2 rio 3100s for return($80)
75 gal sump/refugium($100)
2 4' shop lites w/4 bulbs for refugium($20)
misc plumbing, etc($80)
4" dsb aragamax($200)southdown unavail. in tx
2 3/4" sea-swirls($300)
geo reactor(not yet set up)

algae for refugium(multiple browns, reds, greens) all free; ask for the tiniest pieces from individuals/LFS and it will grow, i promise

all for about $4k(not including ca reactor setup which would be approx. $300)...not bad, eh?

i'm a k.i.s.s. kinda guy - no skimmer/other gadgets