180 GALLON SALTWATER (FOWLR) START UP

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A

ace869

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 12, 2010
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Manitowoc, Wisconsin
Here it goes Picked up 180 gallon tank stand and hood today used for 650 going to start from there. Now I need the advice. Was used as a freshwater now going to convert to saltwater Live rock and fish to begin with.
I would rather buy better equipment that i will be use when I upgrade to a 300 gallon or bigger when I find the right deal.

1. Best Filtration type
2. Skimmer
3. How much sand and rock(best place to buy)
4. how many fish approx. can i fit in this size tank i 5. Anything else i am forgetting
would like it semi aggressive with some triggers, tangs, Lion fish and so on.

Any and all advise is greatly needed and appreciated
 
well im not too familiar with salt so just my $.02, but as far as filtration goes, you can concider a Wet/dry, or look at a couple nice canister filters.
if you have the money, id personally go with an Eheim 2260 (:headbang2), they're beasts, google them if unfamiliar. also in combo with the Eheim id get a rena XP4 so you will be more than fine when u upgrade to a larger tank.
in total the Eheim 2260 and XP4 will probably give you 5-700GPH? but be able to filtrate your 300, and handle the 180 with ease.

best of luck my friend!

-austin
 
hey mate, i am new on here but i have had a 180g salt water FOWLR tank up and running for about 7-8 months now.
all my tank has is wet/dry trickle filter, protein skimmer , uv steriliser.
but the difference with salt vs FW you want your live rock to be your primary bio filtration. i have less than 1cuft of bio balls an i think its a bit much, cos i'm getting some green algae, which is a side effect of nutrient rich water.

i currently have about 45lbs of live rock cost me ~$200aud. but i also have about 60lbs of dead rock and coral skeletons for growth.
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I have a little experience with saltwater and to be honest mechanical filtration performed by sponges, bioballs etc is a thing of the past. They clog up with detritus and become nitrate factories and don't perform your biological filtration half as effectively as live rock. Invest in good quality live rock (I forget the formula for how much, shouldn't be to hard to find) an excellent skimmer (there are a few good brands bubble king, deltec, octopus just to name a few) and maybe a small canister filter for some chemical filtration (carbon or phosphate remover). Honestly keep it simple with filtration.

Nice choice of fish with a tank this size. Just like stocking a freshwater tank there are no hard and fast rules for stocking your tank. Remember that while a FOWLR can be stocked more heavily than a reef you will still need to be careful here. Perhaps find a list of the fish you want and post it in the dedicated saltwater forum for them to critique.

You also did not mention water movement. While this is not a reef tank water movement is still vitally important. Unfortunately I don't remember the rules for this either but your going to want at least a couple large powerheads. I suggest Vortech or Tunze however my preference is Vortech.

You will probably want to invest in a reverse osmosis filter because using tap water in a saltwater tank usually results in lots of algae. Luckily these units are now quite cheap and easy to use. Just don't skimp on the unit.

I hope I havn't forgotten anything if you have anymore questions just ask.

- Sam
 
Ok Started ordering equipment today

1. Fluval Fx 5
2. Aqua Medic turbo floater 1000 Multi SL hang on skimmer
3. the rodi water will be here tomorrow and I ordered 160lb of salt from Dr Foster and smith
4. Now onto lighting and pumps for circulation still trying to determine my substrate and live rock solutions any advice I was thinking of Buying arag alive special grade reef sand. and starting with 200 lbs of live rock any one have any suggestions?

 
Here are my thoughts

So much for a small canister filter lol. Oh well at least if you don't like the mechanical filtration you can pull it later and just have chemical or maybe live rock rubble in there. Plus it will help with water movement.

Nice choice of skimmer, AM have a great name and I'm sure it will do a great job for you however it probably won't be big enough for the 300.

Did you order the RODI unit or just the water because in the long run it will be a lot more economical to have a unit and make your own.

As for lighting this is not critical in a FOWLR aquarium. It is up to you but you would probably either go with a couple of T5's or Metal Halide. The only case I can see for the halides is if you like the shimmer lines. If you ask me the added heat and power usage will make them more trouble than there worth. Go for the T5's.

Wow all that live sand is going to be expensive! If it were me, I would buy a couple bags of the live sand and mostly bags of one of carib seas sands without the microfauna. This will save you a lot of money and you will still end up with a tank full of live sand.

From memory the rule of thumb is 1lb of live rock per gallon so you have the minimum. I'd buy that amount and if you feel confortable adding more I would. The only way you can have to much live rock is if you can't get circulation between it all or your fish have no room to swim. But if you have good circulation and common sense you've got nothing to worry about.

As far as pumps like I said, get a couple of Vortechs on there. Check around to see what other people are using on there 180 gallon FOWLR. Luckily it is a standard sized tank so this should be pretty straight forward.
 
fast_freddy;4632717; said:
Here are my thoughts

So much for a small canister filter lol. Oh well at least if you don't like the mechanical filtration you can pull it later and just have chemical or maybe live rock rubble in there. Plus it will help with water movement.

Nice choice of skimmer, AM have a great name and I'm sure it will do a great job for you however it probably won't be big enough for the 300.

Did you order the RODI unit or just the water because in the long run it will be a lot more economical to have a unit and make your own.

As for lighting this is not critical in a FOWLR aquarium. It is up to you but you would probably either go with a couple of T5's or Metal Halide. The only case I can see for the halides is if you like the shimmer lines. If you ask me the added heat and power usage will make them more trouble than there worth. Go for the T5's.

Wow all that live sand is going to be expensive! If it were me, I would buy a couple bags of the live sand and mostly bags of one of carib seas sands without the microfauna. This will save you a lot of money and you will still end up with a tank full of live sand.

From memory the rule of thumb is 1lb of live rock per gallon so you have the minimum. I'd buy that amount and if you feel confortable adding more I would. The only way you can have to much live rock is if you can't get circulation between it all or your fish have no room to swim. But if you have good circulation and common sense you've got nothing to worry about.

As far as pumps like I said, get a couple of Vortechs on there. Check around to see what other people are using on there 180 gallon FOWLR. Luckily it is a standard sized tank so this should be pretty straight forward.
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We will see Maybe 300 lbs of live rock that will be close to 1000 dollars right not on top of the live sand and equipment I will look into the sad Idea it is pretty good I just like the larger granuals in the agri-sand.
Also I ordered the initial fill from my buddy who owns the water company then in Dec. Having him install a softener and the RODI.

Wow those vortechs are a few hundred dollars apiece what about
2 Hydor Koralia Magnum 5?
 
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