180gal.
- Thread starter fsu230263
- Start date
mandarin w
Member
I would say don't go smaller than a 50 gal. But be smart from the start. I thought I researched enough and asked enough questions, but I didn't ask the right questions. So I will tell you what to avoid, or you will want to pull your hair out trying to clean your sump.
If you can put doors on the side of your stand. Do this before you get your tank up, because you will have a hard finding anyone to help you take it off after.
With doors on the side, it is easier to check your bulk head fitting to make sure they haven't worked loose. If you need to adjust your ball valves, or just plug new equipment in. It will give you a lot easier acess to the back area of your tank, It is a real pain to try to reach the back area of the stand with the sump and other equipment in the way from the front. I used a 75 gal sump for mine, but now that it is in there, I wish I didn't. It is too tall. and also makes it hard to reach around in there, get the skimmer cup off and out to clean it.You have to twist and turn it to get it to fit. I've dropped my full skimmer cup in my fuge twice. Lower sump is better. If I could do it again, and maybe some day I will, I would use something like a 60gal. See if you can find something 48 long by 20 wide by 18 to 20 high. I am thinking that would work a lot better under a 180gal. That way you should be able to work under there, clean the sump, a lot easier. That will still leave you about 1 1/2 foot at the end if you want to add other equipment like an auto top off. and a Phosban reactor.
This is my 180 when I set it up. See how tall the sump is under the stand. Not fun to clean. Also see how I thought I was smart and centered the sump so I would have easy acess from the front middle. Also not good. Not no room for anything else and no way to get it under there even if I had room. Not much fits through the front side doors only 9inches wide. Thus the reason to put side doors on your stand.
But you don't think about this stuff until months down the road when you have to clean your sump for the first time. and the tank is already full and cycled.
If you can put doors on the side of your stand. Do this before you get your tank up, because you will have a hard finding anyone to help you take it off after.
With doors on the side, it is easier to check your bulk head fitting to make sure they haven't worked loose. If you need to adjust your ball valves, or just plug new equipment in. It will give you a lot easier acess to the back area of your tank, It is a real pain to try to reach the back area of the stand with the sump and other equipment in the way from the front. I used a 75 gal sump for mine, but now that it is in there, I wish I didn't. It is too tall. and also makes it hard to reach around in there, get the skimmer cup off and out to clean it.You have to twist and turn it to get it to fit. I've dropped my full skimmer cup in my fuge twice. Lower sump is better. If I could do it again, and maybe some day I will, I would use something like a 60gal. See if you can find something 48 long by 20 wide by 18 to 20 high. I am thinking that would work a lot better under a 180gal. That way you should be able to work under there, clean the sump, a lot easier. That will still leave you about 1 1/2 foot at the end if you want to add other equipment like an auto top off. and a Phosban reactor.
This is my 180 when I set it up. See how tall the sump is under the stand. Not fun to clean. Also see how I thought I was smart and centered the sump so I would have easy acess from the front middle. Also not good. Not no room for anything else and no way to get it under there even if I had room. Not much fits through the front side doors only 9inches wide. Thus the reason to put side doors on your stand.
But you don't think about this stuff until months down the road when you have to clean your sump for the first time. and the tank is already full and cycled.
1journeyman
Active Member
I've got a 180, and I volunteered at the Texas State Aquarium for several years while I was in college. They had a lot of Bamboo Sharks in the touch tank.
You said you'd hope there were more do's and don'ts posted. I'd say Don't try to keep a Bamboo in a 180. The shark, full grown, will be longer than the tank is wide. Basically it will be living in a hallway.
That, of course is without even considering filtration. You'll need a lot, and you really can't keep live rock and a shark in a 180... so you'd need a much bigger sump than 50 gallons.
You said you'd hope there were more do's and don'ts posted. I'd say Don't try to keep a Bamboo in a 180. The shark, full grown, will be longer than the tank is wide. Basically it will be living in a hallway.
That, of course is without even considering filtration. You'll need a lot, and you really can't keep live rock and a shark in a 180... so you'd need a much bigger sump than 50 gallons.