BIG Tank Setup Reccomendations

[DrTrey]

A very good friend of mine, and fellow reefer, just purchased a gently used 200G Deep Dimension from our compadres over at World Wide Corals. He is relatively new to the hobby, upgrading from a BioCube 14, and had asked me to help him get this big boy up and running. We really need some good advice regarding the following:

1) Return Pump- We are looking for top-of-the line pump. Powerful and reliable. Any suggestions?
2) Flow- I'm pretty sure that two MP40's should get the job done quite nicely.
3) Skimmer- My friend likes to feed pretty heavily so he will need a heavy-duty, high-powered, efficient in-sump monster. I was thinking maybe a Hurricone Cat2. Does anyone have any good advice or recommendations?
4) Filtration- I'm thinking that we will definitely run carbon and possibly GFO, possibly in a nice dual reactor setup. In addition, I'm trying to decide if we should go with Biopellets in a reactor from the very start. What is the best pellet reactor for a tank of this size?
5) Lighting- I'm thinking all LED (possibly AI) vs LED/T5 combo (Sfiligoi). What would look and perform best inside the canopy on this DeepDimension?

 

[iani]

For the return I would recommend a reeflo pump. As for pump size its going to depend on a lot of different factors (esp head height).

For flow I would recommend 2 mp60s. I doubt 2 mp40 is going to give you enough flow if he wants to keep any sps.

Skimmer maybe a octopus cone 5000?
CV-XP5000I Premium Aquatics - CV-XP5000I Aquarium Supplies

 

[m and m]

-ATB flow star for your return internal external a reeflo
-Flow yea agree with vortech i would think mp60s though
-Skimmer I am in love with my BK so I can only recommend BK, Definitely a deeper pocket skimmer but build and performance is worth it to me
-I don't recommend Biopellets look at what just happened to troy
-Lighting I don't like the LED fad just yet, If you did go that way I would go with sfigilo just because you can have the red/yellow/green leds added, which IMO are very important since regular LEDS only offer blue/white.

 

[iani]

Scratch that, 2mp60 post. You probably would be better off with 4 mp40s. The deep dimension tanks are just too wide front to back for 2 mp40s to work well.

 

[DrTrey]

Wow. Four MP-40s should indeed provide quite a lot of flow. That sounds like a good plan. Perhaps we can start with two and work up to 4.

What size and type of sump would be best for this 200G big boy?

 

[DrTrey]

Skimmer Picks: Reef Octopus Extreme XS-350 vs Bubble King Mini 200.

Is the extra $$$ money for the Bubble King worth it...

 

[florida reef]

Bubble king cone 250? That thing is sexy. I agree, the deep dimension would complicate flow, 4 mp40's will have that thing rockin'.

 

[DrTrey]

That BK cone 250 does look fine, indeed. It's a little pricey, but I've heard only good things about the Bubble Kings in general. What the deal with these fancy cone skimmers anyways?

And does anyone have any particular sump recommendations?

 

[m and m]

No sump is going to make corals glow, what you should be asing about is the lay out of it and how its going to work. Will it go under the tank? The more water is the best., we cant say 102g sump is best because there is no "best" its all in how its build as in walls chambers and how everything functions. On the bubble king not yes they are more expensive but the built nd performance is worth it. Im sure there are cheaper things that will do well but the bubble king is a monster also the ATB 840 i think would be in that tank range.

 

[Jeepguy242]

+1 on the reef octo cone skimmers, the super reef 3000 or 5000, they are wicked

 

[DrTrey]

The Reef Octopus Cone skimmers are starting to look like the best choice, as they seem very similar to the Bubble King but at half the price.

Sump will be located under the tank in the cabinet, so I suppose we'll go with the biggest that will fit.