New 180-240 freshwater aquarium purchase planning

Hello, first time poster here. My first tank was a petco/petsmart 100 gallon that I did middling to fair with about 10 years ago. I want to get back into the hobby and I have been lurking here and researching discus care for about 9 months now.

I need to get the aquarium of my dreams, and I'm finally in a position to do it. But I need some help. I've been looking at brands and I'm not impressed with several like aqueon, but I was hoping for some feed back on these systems.

https://www.scaquariums.com/SCA-180-...ca-180gpnp.htm
I know it has some salt water components, i don't think i'll need a protein skimmer, but I'm not opposed to that.

I've also been reading about clear-for-life and SCA.

Does anybody have any brands they have had trouble with that I should avoid?

Thank you, Carol.

I use the clear for life brand. I have a 90g and a 125g for over 2yrs now and both are fine. Also have a sea clear 50g with no problems and a 20+ yr old clarity plus 125 that I bought used last year. It’s got a craze on the front acrylic from using the wrong stand by previous owner. But it to is fine. Just remember that acrylic needs to be fully supported across the bottom.

For that size of an aquarium, I'm surprised that the specs only state a single hole for a 1.5" bulkhead for the drain and 1" bulkhead for the return. With that setup, you're going to be limited to the type of overflow you can have, and I'll tell you right now - whatever system you put in that aquarium, it's going to be noisy. If you're able to customize, I would look at custom drilling (instead of using their standard overflow system) for something that is going to give you the quietest operation like the Shadow Overflow and then you can also drill for separate return lines on each end to aid in water movement. On top of that, the aquarium you've linked is 29" tall. While this is a good height for reef tanks (for coral growth), I don't really see this as a benefit for freshwater, especially discus. The tall tank is going to take a lot more effort all around to clean properly such as wiping sides and bottom (if going BB), cleaning the bottom from debris and feces, etc. If you don't have long arms, putting your entire arm into the aquarium or using a ladder/step stool and an extension tool can get old very fast.

If you want to go the custom route - I've heard good things of glasscages.com.

Are you set up to make big water changes in a 180 - 240 gallon tank?

My best tanks are made by Glass Cages. They will build tanks for you if you have special specs.

No buckets here. I know my water bill is going to go WAY up. Fortunately I don't live where there are droughts.

I was about to go with glass cages, but I got a deal on a Red Sea Reefer 3xl 900 (i know it's for salt water, i'm skipping the skimmer). The sump is out of this world. I'm getting a LFS to setup up the cabinet and plumbing and move the tank because it is glass and is as heavy as a small cow. I'll post pics as soon as I have something worth posting. It's 25" by 25" by 79" !! I live near the beach and I have awesome huge driftwood roots to put in the tank with the bare bottom. I'm going to get some fake plants for the cories and dithers to play in. I'm thinking a few bristle nose, some cories, rummy tetra and maybe some hatchfish for the top (i'll need a cover, i also don't want to lose 1/2 my water and heat without a cover). I'm starting with the cheapest fish first after it cycles (i have a friend with angel tanks who QTs new fish and will give me some used filters from her established tanks and I will get some aquarium worthy ammonia to jump start a fishless cycle.)

I have about $200 worth of stuff picked out on chewy for this that and the other. I think I found a UV sterilizer I like and filter media rings. I'm looking at cheap lights to start as I won't have reefs life or live plants.

I need to win the lottery to get all I want for this tank. If only I could have gotten custom plumbing in my house!

You might be able to sell some of the cool driftwood roots you collect. To me for example. Good luck with WC and wiping the sides and a tank with those dimensions. It will be incredibly impressive but I'm glad it's yours and not mine. I hope you are tall.