# Thinking of upgrading to a 180 gal.tank.



## David (Jan 23, 2009)

Anyone willing to share your experience with a 6ft. lg.tank?
Pro's con's,with filtering,lighting,heating and general maintenance.

Thanks


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## Big Ray (Dec 8, 2009)

the bigger, the easier !

more water so the bad stuff gets deluted more and ... 

water changing is a pain though, so invest in a phyton for sure

freshwater Im guessing right ? u need good filteration, and to be honest with a tank that big ure only option is a sump. you could stack up canister filters, but will end up being the same price and with a sump u can do alot more 

same goes with salt water, but then more water, more salt needed more light, more electricity .....
depends on what u wanna do, I have a 220 G freshwater with stingrays and arowanas there, I do a 50% water change weekly, but using a phyton and takes about 30 mins no ISsue.


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## CanadaPleco (Sep 7, 2009)

I dont find any real problems with larger tanks, like Big Ray said more volume, easier. The only real investment I have found with them over smaller ones is heating them. I now put insulation foam on the back and sides that are not visible to anyone to help. On my 300 gallon tank I run canisters, and eventually a sump, on my 135G I run a 55g sump. Water changes take LONG time on the 300g vs the 135.


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## Jackson (Jan 30, 2009)

If the tank is being used as display only then bigger tanks are better.

If you want to grow fish out smaller like 40gal breeders or 75 gals are best. You can do water changes everyday and heat them up really fast. I like using those 2 sizes when growing out fish makes it easier to keep an eye on them.


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## David (Jan 23, 2009)

*Thanks eveyone.*

The tank will be a planted tank.
I was thinking of using two canister filters because of C02.
Is an inline heater better in larger tanks than a regular heater?

Dave


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## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

Since you mentioned co2, I'm assuming you are going high tech on your planted tank. If you're planning a 6ft planted tank, be prepared that it will be alot of work. 

You will probably need two seperate co2 lines to be diffuse the appropriate amount of co2 into your tank. I guess you could just plumb that into your two canisters. 

Inline heater if you prefer less 'junk' in your tank. I'd recommend two of those as well on each filter. I've heard hydor inlines are a hit or miss kind of heater. No personal experience with inline heaters so hopefully someone else can chime in here. I don't think they are any better than a regular high quality brand heater though.

Lighting will be expensive for such a large tank. If you're planning on a 180g, I'm assuming it's your standard 72"x24"x24" tank. That's a large foot print, not to mention height your light needs to penetrate. 

Maintenance wise, like I said, alot of work. Imagine spending several hours a week on just trimming plants/aquascaping ontop of your routine water changes. That's assuming you have calibrated your setup to the point you are algae free and plant growth is at an optimum. If you are fighting algae, there goes even more of your time. 

Hope I didn't put you off. I'd love to see you setup a large planted tank. Don't forget to start it's own thread!


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## CanadaPleco (Sep 7, 2009)

I've used hydor heaters, but never on my big tanks, would need 2 of them for that size tank.


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