Equipment Advice

[HeyitsSeanT]

Hey all, in the process of building a 180 gallon as a discus tank. Need advice on a few pieces I'm still undecided on. Firstly, the light. I had planned on going LED simply for the lower power consumption, but any fixture that long is very expensive, and anything shorter I'll need multiple of. I'm not against T5 at all though. Secondly, the heater. I like the Fluval M series, Eheim Jagers, and ViaAqua titanium. Thirdly, the tank will be run by a sump. I need a return pump for it. Jebao makes one I'm interested in, the DCT4000.

Recommendations?

Thanks,

Sean

[dprais1]

If you arenot planning on having plants you can get LEDs for cheap on ebay. er...cheap LEDs for cheap.

I have http://www.ebay.com/itm/Aquatic-Life-LED-Freshwater-Aquarium-Light-24-Inch-Expandable-9-6-Watt-30-LEDs-/261472973103?hash=item3ce100f12f:g:ipQAAOxygj5SkoF i one on my 65 gallon tank, works well, no issues, but no plants. You could probably get away with 3 of these.

If you have or want plants then I would suggest either expensive LEDs or HO-T5s. Unless, of course you are just interested in very low light plants.

[rickztahone]

Yup, LED's if you aren't growing plants. I like the fixture I have but not sure what is the largest size they make, however, you can buy much cheaper led fixtures on ebay than the one I got. With that said, I really like the fixture I like with is a Edge LED fixture.

With regards to the pump, just be aware that these DC pumps haven't been around the hobby that long. Many reefers like these pumps but say that many of them do not come close to the numbers on the box as far as output is concerned. They have some great features, ramp ups and ramp downs. Off time for feeding with auto kick on after a certain time. They are definitely the next best thing in the hobby, it just needs to be refined. The Jabao ones are knock-offs of RLSS Waveline line (http://premiumaquatics.com/products/rlss-waveline-dc-4000-variable-speed-water-pump.html) pumps, but are significantly cheaper. If you plan on going with the Jebao, I simply recommend to get a back up one, which is a great idea to do anyways.

Good luck.

[DJW]

On the question regarding heaters, the Eheim Jagers are a good choice IMO, but check to see if the heaters aren't too long to fit in the layout of your sump, if you plan to hide the heaters in there. And two heaters is better than one.

[rickztahone]

On the question regarding heaters, the Eheim Jagers are a good choice IMO, but check to see if the heaters aren't too long to fit in the layout of your sump, if you plan to hide the heaters in there. And two heaters is better than one.

agreed. I had to take in to the account the size of the actual heaters (had them on hand) when I was doing my sump baffle setup. The heaters are about 16" in length. This made my return section much bigger, but I don't mind it since it is always good to have a lot of water in your return section :)

[Jack L]

"but I don't mind it since it is always good to have a lot of water in your return section "

why, because this is the section the evaporation hits?

[HeyitsSeanT]

I'll be running at 48" long sump with a big biological filtration area, so that's where the heaters are going to sit. The tank will be planted, but not very heavily. Just some easy to care for plants that won't take over the tank and allow me to vacuum the sand easily.

[rickztahone]

"but I don't mind it since it is always good to have a lot of water in your return section "

why, because this is the section the evaporation hits?
Correct. Of course this doesn't matter much in my setup since I do daily water changes, but the huge return section affords me one thing that I hadn't anticipated. That is, in the morning, when I feed BH, I can simply vacuum the crud left behind on the tank floor, fire my sump back up, and there is so much water in my return section that I do not need to add any more of my aged water in to it. By my calculations my return section can hold close to 13 gallons. This means I can siphon roughly 8-9g and still be good. If I go past that mark, I simply top off with aged water.


I'll be running at 48" long sump with a big biological filtration area, so that's where the heaters are going to sit. The tank will be planted, but not very heavily. Just some easy to care for plants that won't take over the tank and allow me to vacuum the sand easily.

You can also add some fast growers in your sump since it will be so large. You would ned a light though.