07FocusST
Well-known member
Hey everyone,
I recently came upon an awesome deal for a 180 Gallon TruVu Acrylic Aquarium for very cheap money (<$200). It is 72"x24"24". I was told that this tank has been up for roughly 14 years and is obviously been established.
I currently have 2 aquariums up and running. One is a 55G with 10G sump that is supporting my corals that I own plus smaller fish and inverts. The other tank is an older 100G that is roughly 60"x18"x24". It houses about 4 Tangs, 1 Angel, 2 Wrasses, 1 Goby and some inverts.
I am running into an issue with maintaining 2 aquariums and a set of newborn twins which is whats leading me into merging both tanks. I am very knowledgeable about reef setups and all that jazz but I would like to get some outside opinions instead of just buying the first thing I see that I think would support the new 180G.
So here we go:
1. Is there any recommendations on how to move both tanks into the 180G?
2. Could using some old water from a water change help speed up the tank setup?
3. I plan on polishing the Acrylic before setting up the tank, should I clean the tank with bleach or vinegar to get a complete clean? or just a quick enough clean to get the polish to work?
4. Since I will need money in other areas (lighting, skimmer, etc...) I will be building the stand and canopy with my buddy using Garf.Org instructions. Anyone have any objections to their instructions? or have anything better?
5. The canopy with be tall enough to mount 3 MH's and Actinic CF's or T5's. This will require to have an open back canopy. How should I ventilate the canopy? or does it need to be ventilated at all?
6. How much wattage should I be looking at for the MH's? 150w, 250w, 400w?
7. I need a better skimmer, suggestions?
8. Return Pump Size/Brand?
9. Heater Wattage and how many?
10. I am debating on using either the 55G or 100G for the sump. I am guessing 100G would be best?
11. I see many tanks with different setups, meaning the sandbed. I have a sand bed in both tanks. I know there is Pros & Cons to either Sand or no sand. I personally like the natural sand look. Recommendations are welcome!
I think that covers it for now. If I have any more questions I will post here. Please feel free to answer 1 or all of the questions. Thanks!
-Derrick
I recently came upon an awesome deal for a 180 Gallon TruVu Acrylic Aquarium for very cheap money (<$200). It is 72"x24"24". I was told that this tank has been up for roughly 14 years and is obviously been established.
I currently have 2 aquariums up and running. One is a 55G with 10G sump that is supporting my corals that I own plus smaller fish and inverts. The other tank is an older 100G that is roughly 60"x18"x24". It houses about 4 Tangs, 1 Angel, 2 Wrasses, 1 Goby and some inverts.
I am running into an issue with maintaining 2 aquariums and a set of newborn twins which is whats leading me into merging both tanks. I am very knowledgeable about reef setups and all that jazz but I would like to get some outside opinions instead of just buying the first thing I see that I think would support the new 180G.
So here we go:
1. Is there any recommendations on how to move both tanks into the 180G?
2. Could using some old water from a water change help speed up the tank setup?
3. I plan on polishing the Acrylic before setting up the tank, should I clean the tank with bleach or vinegar to get a complete clean? or just a quick enough clean to get the polish to work?
4. Since I will need money in other areas (lighting, skimmer, etc...) I will be building the stand and canopy with my buddy using Garf.Org instructions. Anyone have any objections to their instructions? or have anything better?
5. The canopy with be tall enough to mount 3 MH's and Actinic CF's or T5's. This will require to have an open back canopy. How should I ventilate the canopy? or does it need to be ventilated at all?
6. How much wattage should I be looking at for the MH's? 150w, 250w, 400w?
7. I need a better skimmer, suggestions?
8. Return Pump Size/Brand?
9. Heater Wattage and how many?
10. I am debating on using either the 55G or 100G for the sump. I am guessing 100G would be best?
11. I see many tanks with different setups, meaning the sandbed. I have a sand bed in both tanks. I know there is Pros & Cons to either Sand or no sand. I personally like the natural sand look. Recommendations are welcome!
I think that covers it for now. If I have any more questions I will post here. Please feel free to answer 1 or all of the questions. Thanks!
-Derrick
A few personal opinions would be to use the "bigger" of the two sumps which in this case is the 100 gal. The more water volume you have the more stabilty your system will have. Where the canopy is concerned, I would vent it for 2 main reasons...One would be to help with any heat being trapped in the canopy and two, to allow for good gas exchange. As for the water, you could use a bit of the old water, but I like the idea of taking the opportunity for a nice water change replenishing everything. Just make sure that you get the salinty and temp to the proper levels before adding in any livestock. Lighting, if it were me, I'd run 3 250's but I'm sure others may suggest 3 400's going by the tank depth. Guess that is something you will have to decide on, but I don't see why 3 250's with the right reflectors won't do the trick. In terms of polishing the tank, never had to do it with acrylic before so maybe you can pm Jason at CFI to see what he recommends...
