help me make some decisions

[check422]

i was talking to the owner of my lfs about all the tanks i have sittin around and he wants me to trade them in. i have a 75 oceanic with a stand, a 30(24x18x20 all glass?) with a stand, a 120 rr, 40g sump, 20g diy sump, and a 10g diy sump. so i think i'm gonna offer what i got for a 180rr and a 50 g sump/fuge just the tanks. i think he will go for that. maybe i should ask for more?
so, pending a successful trade, i need to upgrade some equipment.
i know what i want for lights, 3x250 mh and 4x110 vho actinic retro kit.(hopefully i can work out a trade for this also). mogul base magnetic ballasts.
other than lights i'm not sure what i want to get. i've been looking at skimmers and i know i dont want to dish out 600-700 bucks for a euro reef, so i've been looking at the turboflotor 1000, red sea berlin turbo xl, and the asm g4, ive also considered building a skimmer but it seems like that would cost nearly as much and i have no experience working with acrylic.
i also am going to need some pumps, i want to turn the tank over 35-40 times an hour. any recommendations welcome
i think i got everything else covered, sorry for the long post

 

[am3gross]

skimmers i would go with the coralife 220... best skimmer for the buck imo...... as far as pumps i would go with the magdrives.... very dependable..... again imo...

 

[check422]

i'm not sure that the cl ss 220 will be able to handle the bioload i plan on throwing at it. i have been looking at them infact i have a cl 120? venturi and i did like it but it was on the 75. it was a little difficult to get it to run consistantly.

 

[acrylic51]

Originally Posted by am3gross
skimmers i would go with the coralife 220... best skimmer for the buck imo...... as far as pumps i would go with the magdrives.... very dependable..... again imo...
:hilarious

:hilarious Coralife skimmers, by no means are best bang for the buck....This skimmer is one you'll be replacing down the road shortly......Best bang would be the ASM or if you like to tinker the MRC which is upgradeable by adding an additional riser tube, so you can continue to use the same skimmer which is a monster on whatever tank you might upgrade to.....ASM is cheaper than EuroReef, but both are nice skimmers, and there's nobody out there that would say a Coralife is comparable to a EuroReef :thinking: but why shell out that kind of cash when the ASM is the same skimmer just different material.....same pumps though!!!!!!!!Both utilize the same mods as well.....
As far as pumps.....Again Mags :thinking: they don't like the on and offs, and they transfer heat back to the water....I would advise going with an external pump I'm a Sequence fan...I wouldn't try to push all my flow through my sump you might want to get your numbers by using a CL instead of all through your overflow.........