180 l marine tank set up

Question
QUESTION: I am setting up a 180 l marine tank, i have powerheads for aeration but im not sure what size of a protein skimmer i need for rhe tank. I read in an answer of yours that you would take the juwel filter out. Is live rock adequate to filter the tank and if so how much would it take. Thanks for your help.

ANSWER: hi, yeah the filters are a bit of a miss for marine tanks, the traditional filter media tends to collect waste which quickly returns nitrates into the water. live rock is more than enough to do the job, the recomended ammount is 1Kg per 2 gallons of water so 20-25 Kg will do you fine as long as you keep the flow good through the rock.

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QUESTION: Thanks for your help. Do i need any sort of filter media in the tank and if so where should it be placed? So all i need is live rock, protein skimmer and heater? Would it be better to remove the hood or what would be the best form of lighting, i intend to keep soft corals eventually but not straight away?

ANSWER: plain ol live rock is the best filter known to man, the good thing about marine aquariums is the diversity of life you can keep. there are animals that eat the detritus left from food and fish waste (most are free and come in liverock) so really all you do need is LR, a good skimmer, a heater, good powerheads and lights. the ammount of equipment you can buy is endless really, i have always stuck to the more natural ways of marine keeping and used fresh water to export all the nasteis.

most soft corals are a sinch to keep really, good lights and fairly good water conditions is all you need. T5 lighting is more than adequate for soft corals, the halides are seriously intense and may be a good option if you would like to branch into stony or hard corals. if you go the halide route the hood will need to come off and T5's do run pretty hot, it would be worth monitoring the tanks temp to determine if it needs to come off.

as far as other media goes, i always run carbon in the sump or if you dont have a sump an external filter. also phosphate reducing media is also benificial.

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QUESTION: Back again to ask about lighting. I am looking at T5, how many bulbs of each colour do ineed for my Rio 180 tank? Would a luminaire that sits on the tank replacing the hood be a better option?

Answer
luminaires are pretty good, i would go for a 4 bulb setup if you can.(may be cheaper to get a halide, running costs and initial outlay) if yopu go the luminaire route i would have 2 10K whites and 2 actinic (also a spare white incase its too blue) and i would lay them out blue white blue white or visa versa. i think i would personally go for a hallide 150W would be enough, one of my tanks is a rio 180 with a single 150W with some blue LED moon lights and its perfect.