[lerch]

hi everyone, i just joined the forum and i am lookin for a little advice. About 4yrs ago i had a 50gal saltwater aquarium that i absolutly loved. If i remeber right i had around 100lbs of live sand and 50lbs of rock in it with a pretty good assortment of fish and corals. unfortunantly i have pretty much since forgotten most of what i learned with that tank. I am now wanting to get another one set up and i am needing a little help. I have talked with my local supplier and I think i can get a little better deal than what they offer for a start up. here is what i am wanting.

around a 100-150gal tank
proper amount of live sand for natural filtration
same as above for the live rock
some kind of external filtration (i used to use the bio wheel things, i am wanting a kind of sump system)
Lighting for general corals but i may want to add hard corals or maybe clams some day

and a idea for some kind of darker wood stand that would look good.

Also i read about lunar light systems, is this something i need or is it just cool to look at and if so well how cool????

i have been looking at Foster and Smith's live aquaria since i used to order some fish from them but is there a better online supplier??

sorry is this is annoying to people but i am just lookin for a little help gettin her up and running.

oh and my local supplier quoted me around $3500 for a 125gal tank, stand,sump, 80lbs of rock, 80lbs of sand and water

tell me what you all think

thanks
steve

[crittercliff]

I think your on the right track with the live sand and live rock stuff. You'd need a good protein skimmer and thats about it honestly. I'm not a big fan of mechanical filters. If you are serious about corals, then a 2 x 250watts MH lamps and actinics would suffice. Dont forget to plan on future investments into a good calcium reactor, a kalkwasser doser, etc.
For now your on the right track. Happy reefing!!

[zhenya]

lerch, crittercliff




I agree with crittercliff that you basically have a good plan for a reef aquarium.

As far as sump goes I would forgo any type of biowheel or what not in it, those tyoe of filtration devices require more attention than they are worth. Good protein skimmer for mechanical filtration is basically what you'll need in addition to your live rock and good, properly constructed deep sand bed.
You can get more information on sand beds here.

I'm not sure what that 125g tank has but $3500 sounds like aweful lot of money for tank and stand and some sand and rock in it. But that;s just me, maybe I'm too cheap...

[reef75]

I had luck when I set up my 75 and found a tank and stand with a hood for $200. I would look in the newspaper for deals. For lighting I would look at some of our sponsors it just depends on what you want. I would go with a sump tank this works well. Buying coral and fish I would buy them from a local supplier I have had no luck with them on line. I have bought many items from foster and smith and I have bought my cleaner crew from them and have had good luck.

Good luck and the best way to find out information is to send threads on this site because these guys have a lot of good information to share.

Reef75

[lerch]

Oh the price also included a 4 bulb VHO light set up, i cant remember the wattage though. I was wanting a lighting system that would be powerful enough for hard corals and one that also included a lunar lighting system since i have heard that is pretty slick looking at night.

I really didnt like the stand that came with the tank and the darker,red type wood they offered it in wouldnt really fit to well in my house.

[lerch]

If i have a good deep sand bed do i need a sump??? Any recommendations as for what kind???

Basically my question is around what dollar figure am i looking at to set up a 125gal tank??????

thanks again
steve

[lerch]

the only filter systems i am familiar with is hang on the back of the tank bio wheels and hang on the tank protein skimmers. What kind of filtration do i need for this new tank??? Wet/Dry system, Canister filter(i saw one by Eheim), Sump system??????

thanks
steve

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by lerch

If i have a good deep sand bed do i need a sump??? Any recommendations as for what kind???

Basically my question is around what dollar figure am i looking at to set up a 125gal tank??????

thanks again
steve

Steve,

Yes, I would still use a sump. Having sump does many things for your tank, it provides additional water volume and a good plase to house some of the equipment. Return pump for one...
But seriously, heater and other things like carbon and maybe phosphate reactors all could be used inside the sump. In addition to those things you can configure your sump to have a refugium in the middle section of the sump. Do some searches in this forum for sump ideas.

As far as the dollar amount, you can spend as much as $5K for a tank that size and you can spend just a little over a thousand if you are handy and can build many things yourself. It basically boils down how much, or how sofisticated you want your equipment to be.The sky is the limit there.

125g tank shouldn't cost more than $350-400 for atank alone. Usually stands that come with them are useless and way overpriced. I would consider building one myself if I had to do it allover again.
I would concentrate on good lighting fixture and a powerfull skimmer to spend the money on, and a good quality live rock. That should be good enough to start the tank going.
You may want to tag along on this thread. Rocky is building a nice 125g set up as we speak.
http://www.reefland.com/forum/reef-a...-new-post.html

[lerch]

his set up looks amazing and i would love to have all that but i have no room to set up all that stuff he has in his basement or wherever he stores it. anyway to do that in the area directly under the tank in the stand????

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by lerch

his set up looks amazing and i would love to have all that but i have no room to set up all that stuff he has in his basement or wherever he stores it. anyway to do that in the area directly under the tank in the stand????

Well, you don't really have to have a 100g sump. Something like a 40g long tank would make a nice sump if you can retrofit it with some buffles. That should fit under your tank, I would think (inside the stand). You can have your tank drain into it and have return pump return water back into the tank either over the top of the back glass, or you can have it plumbed return lines in the overflow.
There are many options and suggest you do some more research in the forums before you take the plunge.

[lerch]

I have been looking at ways to build a 40gal sump but i am having some trouble figuring it all out. I will do some more research

[Samper]

Lerch....your best bet is to read about sump building here. You can get 6 panes of glass cut for baffles creating 3 compartments. Your overflows will drain into the first one where your skimmer will sit. Make sure this compartment will house the skimmer properly and hold water at the proper depth. Most skimmers have a recommended operating depth. From that compartment it will go over a baffle, under another and over the third one to empty into the refugium compartment. Once again measure it out so you have enough room. From there another series of over under over baffles into another compartment where your return pump will either sit inside of it or you can drill the end and run the pump externally.

[lerch]

I got some pretty smart buddies to help me build this sucker cause i am a little dim sometimes LOL, but is there anywhere i can find some diagrams of how to build this thing??? I kinda had a idea for one i could build out of a smaller aquarium but it would only be one chamber.

[Samper]

Pages 1 and 3 of this thread New 180 gallon system build TOTW 9-6-07 shows a drawing of one I built pretty recently.