180 Build planning

Newsalth2o

Newsalth2o

New member
Just got a 180 package and now planning the install. Got lots of time can't complete electrical upgrade until late October.

Thoughts...
Build cabinet outside of house on tank wall for some equipment like:

Compressor/condenser for drop in chiller
Ballasts for MH
Add drain to outside (not sure why a drain???)

Questions???
Can you buy 150 gallons of saltwater from one of the stores?
Would the cost be outrageous for this water?
Should I move my 75 gallons of water from my old tank to the new one?
Looking at 3 new 20A circuits 1-chiller 1-for (3) MH 1-for pumps/heater T5s?
Should I use my current sand or all new?
If I use new sand and all my rock/corals do i have to cycle the tank again?
If I blend my sand into new sand do I have to cycle tank?
New sump is wet/dry with bio balls? Good or bad?
With 180G DT I'm thinking 20G long for Phosban/ Carbon / protein skimmer/ chiller/ heaters.
Maybe elevate wet-dry and let it overflow into 20G long?
Should I line the inside of the stand with something to contain any leaks?
Have a sea cucumber in the sand bed can it live in new sand?
Fish (4) will be in quartine for a week around the move to treat for ich.
If I know there is ich in the sand would I be better off to leave the tank fishless for 6 weeks to kill any ich?
If I add new fish to the crew, all at the same time in a new tank, would that be bad?
I'm thinking clean-up crew can go right in snails and crabs?

Any thoughts would be helpful. I see some great opportunities to make a really nice system and I dont want to miss out here. I think I'm in the tank business for quite a while now....
 
Great opportunity to become ich-less. Quarantine your fish for a good while and treat. Set up the 180 and if you put anything in it From the previous setup you'll be putting icy in with it. If you let a tank run fishless for 6 weeks it should hopefully die off. I would play it safe and wait 8-10. No reason to rush the transition. Good luck and post some pictures.
 
Look into a metal welded stand and an attractive skin to put around it. I won't sleep well until we get out 180g transfer done. On our 90, we had a fuge blowout this AM, soaked the stand, and caved the bottom out of the cabinet. I think the cabinet floor was there only for torsional strength and that the heavy-lifting part of the stand is still OK for a little while...I hope.

Our 180 has a welded stand and I (almost literally) can't wait to be using it. There are several unfortunate individuals who are or have been on this forum who had issues with a small leak leading to stand collapse and - well, you know the rest.

Good luck!
 
Newsalth2o said:
Just got a 180 package and now planning the install. Got lots of time can't complete electrical upgrade until late October.

Thoughts...
Build cabinet outside of house on tank wall for some equipment like:
If this means build the stand in a garage or something then yes.

Compressor/condenser for drop in chiller
I would try to run it without a chiller if possible especially for a tank that size

Ballasts for MH
Take the money you were going to spend on the chiller and buy LEDs. You will get sick of replacing mh bulbs.

Add drain to outside (not sure why a drain???)
I'm not sure what this means, but to do water changes you can T off your return pump with ball valves, then connect a plastic hose to the T to pump water outside.

Questions???
Can you buy 150 gallons of saltwater from one of the stores?
I would get an RO unit and just mix my own. Get a 55 gallon drum off craigslist etc. and submersble pump. Keep it in your garage or a closet and haul it out for a day when you need to do water changes.


Would the cost be outrageous for this water?
Should I move my 75 gallons of water from my old tank to the new one?
You can as long as it isn't dirty

Looking at 3 new 20A circuits 1-chiller 1-for (3) MH 1-for pumps/heater T5s?
Very good idea to add extra electrical
Should I use my current sand or all new?
If I use new sand and all my rock/corals do i have to cycle the tank again?
If I blend my sand into new sand do I have to cycle tank?
You can use your old, just keep an eye on the water parameters because you may get a mini-cycle

New sump is wet/dry with bio balls? Good or bad?
Skip the bio-balls and get an oversized skimmer. The new SRO look nice
With 180G DT I'm thinking 20G long for Phosban/ Carbon / protein skimmer/ chiller/ heaters.
Maybe elevate wet-dry and let it overflow into 20G long?
Don't use wet-dry use a single sump, see if you can find a 4' tank on craigslist and then drill it etc if you are on a budget.
Should I line the inside of the stand with something to contain any leaks?
Have a sea cucumber in the sand bed can it live in new sand?
Fish (4) will be in quartine for a week around the move to treat for ich.
If I know there is ich in the sand would I be better off to leave the tank fishless for 6 weeks to kill any ich?
Yes I would do 8, and you should treat the fish for 2-3 weeks I qt every fish for a month 3 weeks cupramine, and 2 weeks prazipro

If I add new fish to the crew, all at the same time in a new tank, would that be bad?
What fish do you plan to keep?

I'm thinking clean-up crew can go right in snails and crabs?
Yes

Any thoughts would be helpful. I see some great opportunities to make a really nice system and I dont want to miss out here. I think I'm in the tank business for quite a while now....
Click to expand...

Your tank sounds great, you are getting big you should check out the large tank section to see how some of those tanks are set up. You can scale it to yours accordingly. I don't see anything about auto top off. I overlooked this and now wish I had a larger ro water storage system to top off my tank
Is this a reef or a FOWLR?
Read the Fish Disease Treatment for more info on qt

Where are you gong to place your tank? Is a fish room out of question, I only ask because it sounds like you are doing mods to electrical?
Keep us updated on the progress.
 
I agree with everything Ed said. Is your QT running yet? If not, set it up first. You can give it a nice jump start by seeding a sponge in you current sump. Get the biggest sump you can fit in the space you have. Doesn't have to be pretty but you wont regret having a bigger sump. The LFS can bring you water if you don't wanna mix that much yourself. If you keep your sand or buy new rinse it really well either way
 
+1 on what jjk said, skip the chiller and get LED's. You don't need a chiller, don't put anything thing outside. Too many temp extremes.

Get a RO system. Way cheaper than trying to buy water. With my 180, I have a couple gal of evaporation a day. You need a RO sys just for that.

Moving old water wont hurt but new sand is best. Mixing some old sand will get the cycling going faster.

Put your crabs/snails right in. Also get 6+ cleaner shrimp and a cleaner wrasse in there. That will keep your ich away, (this is still a good time to QT also).

20g is too small for a sump. Get a 55g on craigslist, put it under the stand with a clip on desk lamp from walmart. Add macro and Mangroves.

Have a metal stand built, a metal shop can do it pretty cheap.

I think the cucumber will be ok, put a chunk of old sand in for him.
 
aquaph8 said:
I agree with everything Ed said. Is your QT running yet? If not, set it up first. You can give it a nice jump start by seeding a sponge in you current sump. Get the biggest sump you can fit in the space you have. Doesn't have to be pretty but you wont regret having a bigger sump. The LFS can bring you water if you don't wanna mix that much yourself. If you keep your sand or buy new rinse it really well either way
Click to expand...



I agree +2 :) and I second the old & new sand rinse.

Good luck :beer:
 
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