Great Frank, I'm glad you've come around...And make sure you defianltey take pics for progression.
I've just helped another member design his 180 for the toughest SPS corals.
What we came up with it a closed loop system that runs under the tank, in the sand bed.
You can place a piece of PVC around the Intakes so that it doesn't suck up sand, and also cover it with some Live rock. So you can have tons of inputs and output and never see them.
Don't do Powerheads in the tank...In a tank of this magnatitude that last thing you want cluttering the inside is powerheads.
Basically what you want is to set up a few of these.
I would suggest you look into these
http://www.oceansmotions.com/
Check out the videos and forums. And ask them for the right setup for your tank.
What you could do is get the 2 of 8 - Way and drill 8 holes per....And what the Oceans Motion does is rotate the flow out of each of the 8 holes, they have pop up or down nozzles that rotate each time they are activated.
Again they would give you the best setup.
Also the Skimmer you got is OutStanding! Congrats on a great purchase...You won't be disappointed... That is one of the few skimmers that may be Underrated. The Pump setup i've seen for this is 2 x Sedra 5000 / 2 x Euro-Reef SP3 pumps... Definatley go with the manufacturers recommendations.
I would stay away from 1 big huge pump and do many smaller ones.
Reason be a few things....it'll give you more redundancy...and it will be less noise (those huge pumps are loud) And also you won't find 1 pump that will pump the amount you want.
Now i'm giving you GREAT pumps...Not just ok...Make sure you get thier SALTWATER Models, which have Ceramic Impellers that won't rust. Designed for the tortuous job of Saltwater.
Iwaki Japanese pumps
Dolphin Ampmaster
Sequence
Little Giant
Also the chiller is nice...But there is one that has the heater built into it as well... and is all controlled..
I personally Like the Inline better than the drop ins...But again...the one you picked Is NOT BAD by anymeans.
I think since you have a 2FT deep, you should be ok on the lights.
Make sure you get DE (double ended) HQI Setup.
And you are right, we totally forgot about the CA reactor. The one you listed is good. ALthough without the water flow corrected that was the least of your worries lol.
Now that we are getting to the nitty gritty. You are going to have over 10K invested into this.
And probably another 10K in live stock. So there some some little things at will protect your investment.
I thing is an AquaController, This will monitor your PH, Salinity, Calcium at all times, some will connect to your PC. And it can take appropiate actions..Such as even Call you, Email you or page you. Turn off things, Turn on things..
They can be programed such that if the temp exceeds a certain point it will shut off your lights and potentially save your tank (say in the case of a chiller failure, curcuit breaker pops)
And will Chart the Measurements of your tank in a nice graph format. I don't have one yet, But it's on my list of things to get. I have over 10k into my setup and I'm adding about 1K a month...till i get it perfect.
Next order of business.
What do in case of a power Outage...(bet ya never thought of that) I can guarantee your next power outage you will be freaking out...Or worse not be at home and come back to a dead tank as many people have.
I myself was lucky enough to work at a DataCenter who changed over thier Huge Battery Backup systems, I LUGGED home a HUGE UPS that is strong enough to power my house for a few hours. More with less draw. And I'm also looking into a Generator.
So What you should do....is MAKE SURE you have a generator...Doesn't have to be a huge one..
Although Home depot sells the ones that Auto Start when the power goes out (that would be Ideal, but is expensive)
I think when you put it into perspective how much money you have into this system, the generator Cost is nothing. Like I said, the first time power goes out and you see your tank OFF, you will Crap your pants, run around the house yelling like a little school girl....Been there done that lol...
And I live in the Northeast where we don't loose our Power too much.
With your size tank...the battery backup Air pumps aren't gonna do much, the little home office UPS isn't gonna help you that a lot of people use on thier small tanks.
And I've offered before you can send me an email to
sw65galma@yahoo.com and I'll give you my IM if you want to talk in detail about anything.
