Upgrading from a 125 gallon to a 180 gallon

WilliG

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I have already purchased the 180 gallon and the stand, no canopy, so if I choose to have a canopy I will be building it. I plan on going with a bare bottom. I will be purchasing more rock for the 180 and will be using the marco cement. Right now I am fighting with dinos again. That time of year for me. That will be completely taken care of before I make the transfer from the 125 to the 180. I plan on having a nice big island for my zoa's. I do plan on putting an apex on the 180, as that will be too much money invested for thing to swing out of whack and start killing things.

So what is your thoughts, should I do sand or barre bottom?
 

Maks Reef

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Congrats on the new tank!

I run bare bottom in my sps tanks because strictly because of flow. With sand in there it gets moved all around and is really hard to maintain.

All my other mixed or LPS/Softie tanks I have sand in. Sand definitely a bump in bio filtration and is also essential for a number of fish and inverts to thrive in an aquarium.

So it really depends on what livestock you want to keep and also the look. Sand looks awesome day one and then you have to maintain it. Bare bottom takes a really really long time to mature and get covered in either coraline or better, encrusting corals. Also requirers a bit more active maintenance to remove detritus if you dont have eevnough flow to stir it up. Looks wicked IMO when it matures though .
 

SaltISlife

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Youre choice. But for me bare bottom is ugly. Just like tabks that pack corals on egg crate just to (catch em all) and have 3000 corals ina tank. I prefer natural rock dry of course. And natural sand. I mix mine. Fine and course sand so it isnt just 1 type
 

emilio365

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Nice! Congrats on the Upgrade! I love the look of sand in the display tank. You can use Natural Travartine Tiles to cover the bottom as well that gives it a nicer look that just bare bottom in my opinion.
 

JumboShrimp

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I always had sand... then took it out and caught the bare-bottom craze. Now I am setting up two (2) I50 gallon FOWLRs and I am glad I added sand. A much more natural look— even in my 20 gallon nano reef. Best wishes! Go with CarabSea Special Aragonite— watch the BRS video.
 

ZoWhat

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My comment is NO CANOPY....

I have a 180 and a few month ago took the canopy off and mounted lights a different way

Tank looks bigger without a canopy. I love the open-air look. I also love easy access to inside the tank

Canopies now look so outdated to me... like a Chevy Stationwagon with wood paneling on the sides of the car. Lololololololololol

classic cars woody GIF by Off The Jacks
 
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WilliG

WilliG

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I am going to be running 2 4K IceCap Gyre and 1 1K gyre in this 180. I am going to have the 2 4K's on the same side running vertically running opposite from each other, and the 1K running horizontal on the opposite side with a slight upward flow. I plan using an Accel Aquatics Vortex Twist Flow Accelerator on the return, my current return pump can handle up to 1500 gallons per hour at 4ft turned all the way up as it is a DC return pump. Do you guys think that would be enough flow?
 

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