180G Office Reef Tank

[lockrookie]

following along wellcome to the 2012 180 club lol

[Royal Aquariums]

Exciting, so this means you can go all out on equipment then? Lol

[freezetyle]

based on your tanks from the passed, If your in charge of this one, Its gonna be bad ass. Glad to see you building a tank again Josh

[JDigital]

Originally Posted by lockrookie

following along wellcome to the 2012 180 club lol

This will be the biggest tank I have had.. Pretty excited, while it is an office tank, I'm making sure that I am the only one doing maintenance on it, feedings.

Originally Posted by Royal Aquariums

Exciting, so this means you can go all out on equipment then? Lol

Umm not quite.. I do have to keep the costs down as much as possible. Lighting I am picking up used, because it was far to much new. I'm down Dry rock to save on cost (and hopefully nuisance pests).

Originally Posted by freezetyle

based on your tanks from the passed, If your in charge of this one, Its gonna be bad ass. Glad to see you building a tank again Josh

Thanks Jon.. I almost need a refresher course I've been awhile from tanks for so long. (2+ years).

[fishoholic]

The Nac-7 skimmer is rated up to 90g, pretty small for a 180g plus sump. I have a nac-7 running on my 34g cube/20g sump, a bit overkill but I figure if I ever upgrade to a 60g cube I'll be ok skimmer wise.

Also starting with mostly dry rock will take 6 months to over a year before becoming live rock. My advice is to stock the tank like you only have 20 pounds of rock in it or use mostly live rock and only a small amount of dry rock.

[JDigital]

Originally Posted by fishoholic

The Nac-7 skimmer is rated up to 90g, pretty small for a 180g plus sump. I have a nac-7 running on my 34g cube/20g sump, a bit overkill but I figure if I ever upgrade to a 60g cube I'll be ok skimmer wise.

Also starting with mostly dry rock will take 6 months to over a year before becoming live rock. My advice is to stock the tank like you only have 20 pounds of rock in it or use mostly live rock and only a small amount of dry rock.

I'm not sure where you got your rating but both Bulk Reef Supply and Bubble Magus' website would seem to disagree regarding the skimmer rating, and every other website I have come across that sells the Nac7.

http://bubble-magus.com/en/productShow.asp?id=972

Meshwheel cone protein skimmer
BM-NAC7
Capability : 500L-700L (130G-185G)
pump:atman ph2500 (made in china)
Pump power: 28W, 220V 50Hz /110V 60Hz
air intake : 500L/H
Dimensions: 240×200×510mm( 9.4" * 7.8" * 20.0 ")
cylinder: Max 9"
Water Level :9.5"-11"

Yes it is still a bit on the low end for this tank, but I have to work with the budget I have unless it comes out of my own pocket.

The NAC77 (rated at 210-315) would be ideal I think, I just don't have room in the budget right now. I may change this or try and persuade an increase in budget but it's not a top concern at this point in the build.


I realize Dry rock will take longer that usual and for most of my tanks in the past, I have usually let the tank sit longer that a normal cycle anyways before any heavy stocking. I haven't even started to think about stocking yet to be honest.

Right now my main goal is to get this up and circulating water and seeding as soon as possible. I can keep the rest of the office staff at bay regarding stocking until its ready as none of them have a clue about the biological cycle/filtration involved in a salty tank, they will just have to be patient and listen to my advise.

[fishoholic]

Originally Posted by JDigital

I'm not sure where you got your rating but both Bulk Reef Supply and Bubble Magus' website would seem to disagree regarding the skimmer rating, and every other website I have come across that sells the Nac7.

I bought the Nac7 from Dave and both Doug and him told me up to 90g. So I took their word for it, most sites will over rate their skimmers so it's usually better to go with the low end of the rating. However I do tend to overstock/feed my tanks a bit so maybe they were taking that into consideration when they told me up to 90g.

Originally Posted by JDigital

I realize Dry rock will take longer that usual and for most of my tanks in the past, I have usually let the tank sit longer that a normal cycle anyways before any heavy stocking. I haven't even started to think about stocking yet to be honest.

Right now my main goal is to get this up and circulating water and seeding as soon as possible. I can keep the rest of the office staff at bay regarding stocking until its ready as none of them have a clue about the biological cycle/filtration involved in a salty tank, they will just have to be patient and listen to my advise.

Good to hear, I know a few people who go full speed ahead with dry rock and run into lots of issues later, glad you're aware to go slow. Should be a nice tank for everyone at the office to enjoy