Building a New Tank

[SharkMan]

So I need as much advice as people are willing to offer. I currently have a 45 gallon Eclipse aquarium, and I am going to be putting together a 125 gallon tank. I would like as much advice on what I need and what brands are recommended. I am a bargin hunter and if there is anything that you recommend I don't buy used please let me know. So far my list is as fallows:

125 gallon tank reef ready
Wet/Dry sump filter
Coral life protein skimmer
2x Rio 3100
2x Vista therm 250 watt
72" compact florescent/ or metal halid

Is there anything that I am missing? Or that I should Change? I want a mostly FOWLR, and a few soft corals.

[john0087]

your list looks good.

I have been able to keep LPS and soft corals under my PC lighting, so you should be ok, expecially with a 72" long 125. Tank height should be ok.

You may want to look into getting a slightly stonger skimmer. While I do not have any personal experience with the AquaC EV line of skimmers, I have heard great things about them and will be using one when I upgrade to a 75gal. With a great set up like the one you are planning, a little bit extra in your filtration isn't a bad investment.

Also, if you are bargan hunting, you could look into getting base rock from hirocks.com. Since it is not "live rock" you will save a whole lot of money, but it will take longer to cure.....maybe mix Live rock and base rock to speed things up and save a bit of $$

HTH

GOOD LUCK

John

[tecwzrd]

Originally Posted by john0087

Since it is not "live rock" you will save a whole lot of money, but it will take longer to cure.

John, just to clarify, base rock doesn’t have to be cured at all since there is nothing “live” to die off. A good rinse is all that is needed and it can be put directly in the tank with or without fish.

It does take a couple of weeks to build up the beneficial bacteria that is already in live rock but other then that it serves the same function and is a great way to save some money. Within a year or two and assuming you mix some lr the base rock will be full of life/coralline and look the same.

[john0087]

Sorry,

Thats what I meant.... I guess I really shoud be more specific when giving advise.

I just didn't want others to assume that base rock and live rock are immediatly interchangeable, so Iused the word "cure" and I probably should have said develop into what is considered "live rock" suitable for bio-filtration.

Thanks for the check.

John