Questions about/piecing together my 160g

So I've been cleaning the glass on my 160g, getting it ready for when I set it up. Seeing as I only have the tank, there's still a ton I need. @Flagg37 I was wondering if you could help me design a stand, I have a ton of 2x4s. Also, if someone has a return pump, sump, or skimmer that they would be willing to sell, that would be awesome. I know @scuzy had a nice skimmer for sale, but I wasn't sure if it would be slightly underpowered. Also, what's everyone's favorite fish? I'm thinking about making the tank bare bottom, and I wanted to get a fox face and/or a scopas tang to be the boss of the tank, and maybe a starry or black sailfin blenny. Probably no clowns in this tank, but maybe a maroon or clarkii pair.

 

The Diablo 200 is rated for 200+ gallon tanks not sure if you consider that under power.


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I'm not too experienced with skimmers, but I've read that you want close to double the rating per volume for skimmers, I.E., 60 gallons total volume, then you would need a skimmer rated near 120 gallons. I'm guessing I will have around 200 gallons of volume after I add the sump and subtract for the rock. If that's a good enough skimmer, then I'll take it

 

Not sure where you got that number from. That's a total over kill. Ask around here I don't think many run double rated skimmers.


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I kind of think it depends on the brand and how they rate it. A properly sized skimmer will work optimally. Mine is a vertex alpha 170 and is rated for a larger tank (140 heavy load to 220 light load (mine’s 120 medium load)) and it has problems at times because there’s not enough nutrients in the water to get it to bubble up high enough to get into the cup. I’ll empty the cup about once a month and it will be about 1/4 full. It has good dark skimate though. I mostly just run it for good gas exchange. I think my chaeto removes more nutrients than my skimmer.

 

The skimmer problem:
Cheap skimmers are notoriously marketing over-rated, so people get twice what is advertised to compensate.
Good skimmers are properly rated.
Then there are ranges in between.
Plus, what matters more is your planned bio-load, not really total gallons.
Getting a skimmer that is truly too large is a bad thing, since you cannot form a proper head of foam.

IMO: Diablo 200 should be good for that tank.

 

Now if you have a bubble king you can get away with a bk130 those are built like tanks


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And priced like tanks.

 

Acrylic tanks...with German motors in them.


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What would be the foorprint of your tank? If you can squeeze a 40 Breeder inside the stand, it would be a nice sump, Petco has the $1/Gallon sale few times a year now?
I have a Mag 12 (I think is a 12) pump and a BM-200 protein skimmer somewhere in the basement; pretty nice skimmer but not as fancy as the BK line

 

Just missed the sale...ended last weekend. If history is any lesson, next one will be sometime at the end of March or beginning of April.

 

40 breeders are no longer included in dollar sale


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They still sell them at 50% off though most of the time during the dollar per gallon sale.