Leaping into reefing

[Willio]

Hey Guys, I'm new to the site, and new to reefing. I have kept a FOWLR in the past but that didnt work out for me so much. The lFS that i bought the fish at was kinda shady and the fish died right away.
Anyways, plans are underway to start up a reef tank by this summer. The only thing that is holding me back until this summer is the money factor.
Febuary 18th, I have to drive down to Madison, WI to pick up the 180 gallon tank that I ordered. The dimensions are 6'x2'x2'1". It comes with a oak stand. Anyways, so that will go in storage for about 4-5 months until I get more funds to by the hardware I plan on getting:
1- Magnum Filter 350 Pro
1- Fluval 304 Filter
1- AquaFuge 7 gal HOB Protien Skimmer/Refugium
2- Maxi-Jet Powerhead 900(230 gph)
1- 300 watt Acurite Heater
2- 250 watt Acurite Heaters
1- 72" Outer Orbit Metal Halide/Compact Fluorescent/Lunar Fixture (834 watt: 3-150 watt HQI; 4-96 watt)
That costs $1,360.

Then I plan to get 180 lbs of Black and White sand (Thats a lot of sand!) and 165 lbs of Base and Live Rock.
That comes to just over $550.

Once that is up and running, over a period of time I plan to get the following fish and Corals:
2- Ocellaris Clownfish
2- Yellowhead Jawfish
1- Powder Blue Tang
3- Anthias harem
3- Limbaughi Chromis
6- Black Bar Chromis
4- Catalina Goby
1- Purple Firefish
1- Royal Gamma Basslet

1- Worm Brain Coral
1- Lobophyllia Brain Coral
1- Candy Cane Coral
1- Orange Trumpet Coral
1- Cabbage Leather Coral
1- Cauliflower Colt Coral
1- Toadstool Leather Mushroom Coral
1- Yellow Figi Leather Coral
Assorted Mushrooms
Assorted macro Algae

The cleaning crew will consist of Scarlet Reef Hermits, Dwarf Blue Legged Hermits, Dwarf Red Legged Hermits, Cerith Snails, Neritite Snails, Astrea Conehead Snails, and Nassarius Snails, along with a few pepermint shrimps and some serpant seastars.
I also would like to get a Bulb anenome, some feather dusters and a maxima clam.
All the livestock would cost right around $900.

So it's a $4,125 investment, but I think its worth every penny. How do you guys think my plans are so far? I'm open to any suggestions.

 

[SnowManSnow]

At first glance there are a few things that I would consider.

#1-That is a pretty heavy bioload of fish for a 180g tank. You may want to lessen your load, particularly with the type of filtration you've listed.

#2-You're going to need a good bit more flow than the 2 MJ 900's can offer. Just to give you an idea... I have 3MJ 1200's and 2MJ900's in my 37G reef tank :roll:

Somthing that MAY save you some $$ is that I dont think you'll need all the heaters you listed, particularly with the lighting you will be hanging over the tank.

I'm sure some others will chime in.

Just my 2 cents

 

[Willio]

Thanks a lot.
Yea, I kind of realized that on the bio load.
I'm thinking that I'll get more live rock (225 lbs), and then ditch the canister filters. I also am thinking of just getting a HOB fuge and getting a seperate skimmer.
And yes, I will start looking for some more powerful power heads.
Do you know anything about the catalina gobies? I heard that they are not tropical but thrive in cooler water. Is that true? Thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

True about the Catalina Gobies.

Consider a closed loop with a large pump instead of a dozen powerheads. It will be a lot less clutter in your tank.

Or, a couple of the very high output powerheads like the Tunze Stream.

 

[Willio]

Do you think the catalinas could thrive well or not? I know they might survive, but I want everything I get to thrive, not just survive.
Alright, I looked at a couple places that sell the Tunze powerheads.
I'm planning on getting 2 Tunze Turbelle Stream 6060. Each pumping 1600 gph. So with those the tank will be circulated 20 times and hour plus the pumps from the fuge and protien skimmer.

 

[Anonymous]

Do you think the catalinas could thrive well or not?

Nope. I think it's lifespan will be severly cut short.

Try finding a Barnacle Blenny. Those will thrive and are very similar in behaviour and size.

 

[Mihai]

I'd say to ditch all filters and get a good skimmer instead. The skimmer and the rocks will be your best filters. Also, if I were you, I'd upgrade on the lights from the beginning: the lights you listed are good for softies and LPS but many SPS will not work under them (or not color up). I'd go with 250 HQI instead of the 150HQI and the PCs. I also second Guy's advice for the closed loop - a vast improvement over the bunch of powerheads.

M.

 

[MartinE]

I agree with Mihai leave the filters out and buy a big skimmer and 250 hqi lights now you will be glad you spent your money at the start, rather than spending more later for upgrades.

 

[cjsrch]

ditch the canister filters and dont get a hang on tank fuge
make a 55 gallon or so fuge / sump under the tank works better and is cheeper

 

[Willio]

Thanks for the advice. Yes, I'm ditching the canister filters, getting a Coral life Skimmer that rated for 220 gallons and then getting 270 lbs of LR. I dont plan to get any corals besides then softies and LPS's.
I dont want to get a sump or an under the tank fuge because I dont want the drilling and tubing and pumping hassle.

 

[cjsrch]

180 gallons is a lil big to not do a sump. or somthing external ( closed loop) there will be a lot of clutter in the tank. id get a higher rated skimmer. alot of companies only rate skimmers based on light tank loads. ( or just bs a number) tunze is the only one i know of that acualy tells you based on what you plan to keep.

make sure you think aobut the sump and have the overflows installed befor you buyit. its hard to do your self if you decide to do it later. based on the size of the tank it may be difficult to work on equiptment if its hanging on the back.

have overflows installed anyways incase you decide to do it at alater time all you will need to do is uncap a pipe and continue the plumbing