150 or 180

[stdreb27]

Not to burst your bubble. But if you are thinking about a corolife skimmer. Maybe a 180 is too big costwise. The initial setup is relatively inexpensive. The real costs are going to be the 50 or so $$ bump in electricity. To run the pumps power heads and lights. Then you have to fill the guy up. That can easily be several grand more. Then you have water changes. If you stay up with it, you can go through one of those 5 gallon buckets each month. Then dosing chemical. It can be VERY expensive. One of the smartest things I did once I lost my 180 was go smaller when starting my first reef tank.

 

[m0nk]

Oh yeah, as far as the skimmer, I have an Octopus NW200 on mine and it skims like a champ. If I'd have had more money I would have gone for the MSX200, but this is awesome enough, and it' only costs $199.

As far as the electric bill, I didn't really see that huge of a jump when I went from a 55g to a 180g, but the water usage has definitely gone up quite a bit.