filtration 180 gal FO

[seaking]

I need some help currently i am running 2 55gal. tanks but would like to step up to a 180-200 FO tank. I am not used to a filtration system required for larger tanks. Anybody know of a good filtration set up and how to go about setting this type of system. I have researched into this a little and see it seems best to drill holes if using acrylic. What about for glass tanks because you can't drill and will i need a protein skimmer with this set up. How powerfull a pump and what type of filters work best.

[salty dragon]

I can help you for part of it though my 180 is a reef tank. To be honest with you though you can pretty mush do the same as your 55's but bigger. I believe in natural filtraion as much as possible also but it is about results, budget, time etc.



Natural filtration I have about 1-2" of live sand with sand sidting critters like 100 Nassarius snails (With FO you'll need at least this much for detirius consumption).
I also have about 190-200 pounds live rock to help with filtration and plenty of hiding spaces. Seed with Copepod packages from any aquaria source and allow them to populate before putting too aggressive of hunters like a Mandrin or a sixline.
Also if you have the extra income a refugium would be something to budget for to help support the pod population and give that extra natural filtration with your MacroAlgaes which you can eventually feed back to your plant eating fish like tangs.

filtration
Unless you are using established rock and sand I would use a 20 gal Wet/Dry filter/sump with plenty of Bio-balls to start with. Keeping in mind that eventually (abot a year down the road) you will want to remove them at 10% per water change until you get rid of al of the Bio Balls. Eventually they become a Detritius trap and can wreak havoc. Again seed with a good Bacteria starter soup. My experience is most are close to the same in effectiveness but Stress-Zyme is what I have used.

lighting 8)
Luckily with fish only you really need to worry about asthetic lighting and only a little about Photosynthetic supportive lights. (Coraline algae and such will need it), So I used 2 36" PC's with 2 50/50 at 36W each adn 2 10,000k 36W each so with 4 bulbs per PC it was 288 total watts. That worked for me in a FOLR for a year and a half until I got more serious about reefing.

I don't really know your experience so it is hard to give you a real clear answer to what will work for you. I have just told you what I have done and what has worked for me. If you need anything else even more specific feel free to ask. The only stupid question is Why do old people buy cars too big for them to drive safely :twisted: !
Enjoy and welcome to Reeflounge.com!