What equipment would you buy for a 180g? Help me choose mine!

[Milad]

I need your help!

I’m building a 180g peninsula and it’s my first ever aquarium. And I need some help choosing the correct equipment.
Things to note, I need as silent as possible operation. The tank is right next to my office desk and in the same room as the home theatre system.

So what should I buy? Here is what I have so far (feel free to comment if something I have listed is bad/good):

Lighting - 6' coralife aqualight pro 150 watt with new 13K geismann's
Skimmer – AMS G4 or maybe G5 (I want something with high bio load rating)
Return pump – MAG18
SW mix pump/water change – MAG2.5
ATO pump – MAG1
ATO setup – Aquahub.com (float + dc power adapter – will be connected to apex breakout box)
Controller – Neptune System Apex with tunze power head cables, breakout box (for ATO), ph + temp+ orp probe
Powerheads - 2 tunze 6105 – will be controlled by apex controller
Heaters – 3 Visitherm Heater - 250 Watt ( 1 for SW mix, 2 for sump)
Automatic fish feeder - ????

btw if anyone has some of these things for sale, feel free to pm me with a price.
also if im missing something, feel free to call me a noob and tell me what i forgot.

[banditpowdercoat]

How big of a sump? Personally, I think the return pump is to large. Will be having really high sump flow and if sump isn't big enough, can get microbubbles.

I have a closed loop for tank flow, on my 150g, and a my sump return pump is about 600GPH to tank. was 1300GPH sump return and found a bit of bubbles(70g sump). But what I really found, was the pump would drain sump before the tank drain would catch up upon restart. I have 5g of 'play' in my sump for starting etc, and it usually pumps all of that into the tank, then sucks air, untill the tank drain catches up and everything equals out. Slower return pump, the faster it equals out and the less it pumps out of sump untill it catches up

[Parker]

Lighting - 6' coralife aqualight pro 150 watt with new 13K geismann's

Depending on what corals you may want to keep I would consider stepping up to a 250w fixture. The 150w with 13k bulbs might be a bit dim towards the bottom of the tank.

Skimmer – AMS G4 or maybe G5 (I want something with high bio load rating)

ASM makes a pretty decent skimmer, they do tend to overrate their skimmers though. It's a safe bet to choose a skimmer that rated well above your total system volume.

Return pump – MAG18

The mag pumps aren't known for their quiet operation. You will hear it in your theater room.

Controller – Neptune System Apex

You're going to love it!

[kien]

I run a mag18 and it is quieter than my previous QuietOne6000. Go figure.. I think it is pump depenant rather than brand. I have seen some QuietOne pumps that are dead silent and magdrives that are silent and vice versa. In the end I think that if it is submersed in the water and the stand is enclosed they end up being pretty quiet.

[Werbo]

The Eheim 1260 is a nice pump.

[Milad]

sump is 55g
can I not turn the pump down?
Which pump would you recommend? Tunze?

How big of a sump? Personally, I think the return pump is to large. Will be having really high sump flow and if sump isn't big enough, can get microbubbles.

I have a closed loop for tank flow, on my 150g, and a my sump return pump is about 600GPH to tank. was 1300GPH sump return and found a bit of bubbles(70g sump). But what I really found, was the pump would drain sump before the tank drain would catch up upon restart. I have 5g of 'play' in my sump for starting etc, and it usually pumps all of that into the tank, then sucks air, untill the tank drain catches up and everything equals out. Slower return pump, the faster it equals out and the less it pumps out of sump untill it catches up

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

The Mag18 will heat your water alot.

I use Sedra9000 for return pumps. Eheim is quieter though.

Instead of ASM G4, look at the G4x (the next size up). Vertex IN-250 is probably the newer equivalent.

Agree with Aqualight Pro250. If you're thinking SPS, you'll want the higher wattage. 150w on 24" tall tank will be fine for lps & softies.

If you want, come over to my place in Burnaby & I can show you my setups. Have many of the same or similar components you're asking about so you can see them in action.

Anthony

[xtreme]

I would also recommend looking at a more powerful light. Chances are down the road you will want to try to keep some more demanding corals and that light won't cut it. I would look at something other than coralife and bump it up to 250W. The quality of their ballasts compared to a higher end brand like Ice Cap for example is like night and day.

[Milad]

im going to have to take you up on your offer
what skimmer/pump are you running?


what do you guys think of the Tunze Silence Water Pump - 1073.040

The Mag18 will heat your water alot.

I use Sedra9000 for return pumps. Eheim is quieter though.

Instead of ASM G4, look at the G4x (the next size up). Vertex IN-250 is probably the newer equivalent.

Agree with Aqualight Pro250. If you're thinking SPS, you'll want the higher wattage. 150w on 24" tall tank will be fine for lps & softies.

If you want, come over to my place in Burnaby & I can show you my setups. Have many of the same or similar components you're asking about so you can see them in action.

Anthony

[kien]

The Mag18 will heat your water alot.

Sometimes this is a good thing. In my case it is as my house tends to run cold especially in the winter. Even in the summer we have AC so the house tends to be chilly. The pumps in the sump adding heat to the water has been a bonus as my heaters don't have to work as hard, but they do still kick on though so by no means is the pump overheating my tank!. It is nice to reuse that (heat) energy IMO :biggrin: