# My setup good or bad? 125g reef



## daniel89 (Nov 28, 2009)

So I'm buying a 125 gallon tank with a stand. I'm gonna be setting up a reef tank. For starters I'm gonna have two overflow box's on the back of the tank one on each side as the tank isn't drilled and I'm not taking a chance with drilling it. When i say overflow box's I'm talking about a hang on the back overflow box. 

In the bottom of the stand I will have a 40g long. In the first section it will be empty so the water can run off into it. The next section will be either 2 foot or 2 and half foot section fuge. The next section leading from the fuge will be my Coralife super protein skimmer http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+4392+13924&pcatid=13924. It is rated at 220 gallons. I'm still doing a little research on return pump but any suggestions would be great.

I'm ordering 180lbs of live Caribbean sand. I'm shooting for 2-3 inch deep sand bed but if I come up short I'll order some more sand asap. To cut a little corner I was gonna Use about 50-80lbs of dead base rock then stack about 50 lbds of live Fiji or Caribbean live rock on top of that. I hope this will work as I really don't feel like purchasing 1000$ of live rock unless some of you know a good site that has some cheap live rock for sale ?

For power heads I will be picking up some Hydor Koralia pumps. Either 4 size 3's or 3 size 4's. I'm not sure yet I still need to do a little research on this and decide what way will give me a better flow and less dead spots.

For lighting Is the tricky touchy subject so far. Ive narrowed it down but I'm stuck on the size of the light fixture I want. The 125 I'm getting has only one center brace and its in the middle so if i order a 72" MH light strip the middle MH light will be right above the center brace and I believe the middle brace will block some of the light. Verse buying 2 36" fixtures and placing them side by side on the tank. The only bad thing about this is it will be 200$ more and i will loose one MH lamp :/. So I really need some good in put on this. Here is links to the fixtures. The 72" http://www.fishtanksdirect.com/72inchprometalhalidefixture3x150whqiand8x39w_t5.aspx
And this is the 36" lamp that I would have to purchase two of http://www.fishtanksdirect.com/36inchprometalhalidefixture1x150whqiand4x24wt5-1.aspx So as you can see The 72" has 3 MH lights and the 36" has one each so id be loosing a mh lamp and it will cost me 200$ more if i bought two 36"s. Any advise? And i will have glass tops on top of the tank also.

For RO water I will be buying a RO unit Coralife Pure-Flo II and it Produces 50gpd and is a 3 stage filter.

I will be picking up the basic stuff as in chemicals as in all API stuff; buffer, reef test kit, refractometer, and those good things.

A few questions of mine that I could used answered. 
Which is better instant ocean salt or instant ocean reef crystals? And if you use reef crystals can you tell a difference in the water nutrients?

So if you feel i have left anything out please give me a hollar. I will let you know what I plan on doing from there.


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## Tallonebball (Apr 6, 2009)

Umm where do you work? This is quite an expensive set up.
If your doing reef you need more rock. 50lbs is not near enough for a 125 gallon tank ascetically or functionally and you will notice it when you put it in, it will look like a tiny pile of rocks.
I think reef crystals are better because your getting more calcium and magnesium etc. If you use that you have to supplement less.
This is quite an undertaking for someone who "couldn't look at his freshwater tank anymore". I new you were bluffing!


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## daniel89 (Nov 28, 2009)

Tallonebball said:


> Umm where do you work? This is quite an expensive set up.
> If your doing reef you need more rock. 50lbs is not near enough for a 125 gallon tank ascetically or functionally and you will notice it when you put it in, it will look like a tiny pile of rocks.
> I think reef crystals are better because your getting more calcium and magnesium etc. If you use that you have to supplement less.
> This is quite an undertaking for someone who "couldn't look at his freshwater tank anymore". I new you were bluffing!


Walmart and i live with my parents but im getting back a huge huge tax check so its all good 

If you look again i said 50-80lbs dead rock for the base then ill add another 50lbs of live on top of that and thats for starters.


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## Tallonebball (Apr 6, 2009)

Oh ok i see you going half live half base. If you go base your tank is still gonna take a while to cycle the whole way but the live sand and other live rock should speed things up a bit. 
Believe me, even that possible 100-130 pounds of rock your going to put in there is going to look small lol
I have a 34 gallon with about 60 lbs of rock in it because 60 pounds is what it actually took to make a nice rock wall lol


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Must be a huge check indeed!
Mine wouldn't pay for either of those choices.
I can't help but think that you should shop around some more for better prices, and while the marineland stuff is very good, you can get almost as good for a lot less.

The two 36" option would meet in the middle, which might put both of the halides very close to each other in the middle-ish of the tank. This would be fine if that's what you wanted, BUT that would mean you'd have to put a lot of stuff under/nearly under that center brace, and that would get annoying in time. I'd go with a 72", myself.


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## Cacatuoides (Feb 2, 2009)

I know I'm the one that suggested the two 36", but that was because you wanted an option besides the 72" with the brace, but I would agree with TOS and do the 72". Have you actually made a list with EVERYTHING on it with prices and added it up? I know your check will be huge, but I'm just asking, do you know how huge this bill will be?


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## daniel89 (Nov 28, 2009)

I've had a few people from reef central tell me that with a metal halide above the center brace like that the heat from it will over time crack it and ruin the brace. But ive decided to go with t5ho so i hope it works out great if not a waste of 750$ :/

And TOS my check is quite a big chunk of cash lol

Also i need to find another skimmer cause the one i wanted is okay but even with it it is 25 1/2 inchs tall and the inside of the stand is 25 inchs flush so i gotta rethink that.


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## daniel89 (Nov 28, 2009)

So I thought about it and decided to go with the 72" MH fixture. I also made the list up and a rough estimate of just under $4000. I also decided to try and haggle with my local fish store and get them down to around 2.25 a lb for dead rock and get roughly 150lbs of it and order roughly 80lbs of caribbean live rock. If anyone has any input on this that be great. I also found 270 lbs of live caribbean sand for 210$ so im gonna do that <3 cause the sand is so pretty


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## daniel89 (Nov 28, 2009)

So i just realized im generaly screwed if anything ever fails in my sump/fuge like my skimmer. Cause i only have just under 7 inchs of clearance from the top of my sump to the bottom of the display tank :s


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