Gettin started for the second time around

[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

 

[lReef lKeeper]

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????

lunar lights are great if you are trying to mimic nature for your corals because that is waht they mimic is the moon ... AKA "moonlights". even if not meant for that ... they are still very cool to look at in a totally dark room.

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??

there on TONS of new suppliers online. this hobby has grown by leaps and bounds over the past few years. if you need them when you get set up, PM me and i will send you my bookmarks list od suppliers from everything from lighting to sumps.

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

for a 125 that will not be enough sand for a 4-5 Deep Sand Bed, and the rock is a little on the light side too. i would shoot for 340 lbs of sand for a 5 inch DSB. i would also add about 125 or so pounds of rock.

 

[lerch]

thanks for the advice so far,

I was thinking that on the sand bed. in my 50 gal my send bed was around 4" deep in shallow areas and i remeber that was good for biological filtration. What is the ratio of water to sand bed depth??

what sucks is all the ratios (rock, sand, lighting) i have pretty much forgotten!!! lol

What about pricing, the tank i was lookin at was a 125gal with stand and top for around $1600, is that good, can i find a better price??? i would imagine prolly not since anything i order is gonna have some ungodly shipping cost!!! best i can figure is can save some money when it comes to the rock, sand, and mechanical filtration. What you all think??

 

[austinsdad]

What is the ratio of water to sand bed depth??

Not really something I've heard used much. Only the amount of inches preferred. I'm around 3" for my 155g reef tank. You say 4" deep in shallow areas? Not sure what you mean. Deeper than 4" in some areas?

best i can figure is can save some money when it comes to the rock, sand, and mechanical filtration.

I was agreeing until you got to the mechanical filtration. A good skimmer is a big help IMO. Don't skimp there. Check out the Aqua C EV series for your 125g planning.

Rock - you can go with mixed live and base rock to save money. if you're doing reef, I'd suggest more like 150lbs of rock. Go with the 80 live and add the other 70 (or more) of base (maybe even dry) rock. The 80 lbs will seed the 70 or more and in a year, you won't be able to tell which was which.

 

[cmor1701d]

If you want a DSB then you want 4" -6" of sand bed, a shallow sand bed would be 1" - 2". I have 300 pounds of Southdown (aragonite play sand) in my 125. LR should be in the 1½-2 pounds per water volume range. As Ray said, you can go with some base and some LR. I bought dry Reef Rock for my base rock. As Ray said, you can't tell the difference anymore.

You don't say where you are located. I got my tank, stand and canopy for $999 4 years ago. I don't think tank prices have gone up that much. 45 pounds of LR is about $125.00, the base rock is $50 for 50 pounds. Sand at the hardware store is about $5 for a 40-50 pound bag. A good sump is around $300 pre-manufactured or you build one from a 30 gallon tank. Check with other stores for the basics and buy everything else online.