Fleshy's 125g Build

FLESHY

Polypterus
MFK Member
Jan 7, 2006
5,542
20
92
Central Wisconsin
So long story short I had an opportunity I couldnt miss, and I got a 125. It was free, and although the setup leaves a lot to be desired, its a starting point and as great grandpa Alfonse always used to say "Anything thats free is usually worth standin in line for."

THE GOAL IS TO TRANSFER MY EXISTING 75G MIXED REEF INTO THIS 125G!

So here goes. Im posting this thread in here, and not on the reef side of things because this side gets more flow, and Im hoping to have as many people as possible chime in on this. Basically Im going to lay out my grand plans, and you are going to take your knowledge, advice, and whatever else to pick it apart. Im a college kid, so things have to be kinda on the cheap side, but you will notice I am doing what I can to keep things classy. So here goes.

THE TANK NOW:

- 125g
- LR Pounds??? Decent amount. Trying to get rid of a lot of this because of all the soft corals that in my experience spread like the plague and ruin everything.
- Aragonite. About 40#. The guy I got it from had a DSB and it was pretty nasty after not being maintained for seven years. I washed 40# just to cover the bottom. I plan on moving my substrate from my 75g mixed reef when I make the final switch.

- Some fish, coral banded shrimp, and a couple show-piece softies. Other than that, nothing to write home about.

The tank is currently running with 2x bacpak CPR's and 1x 150w MH just to keep the corals and the rock alive. I also have a couple heaters and some crappy maxi-jets that came with the setup to keep everything live.

WHAT I WANT:

- AquaC Remora protein skimmer 75g variety. I already have one of these running on my 75g, and instead of losing it when I upgrade and just buying a skimmer rated for a 150g I might as well combine the two of these for equal, if not better results. I would add the skimmer from my tank when I completely switched over.
- Side note: considering buying the overflows for these. Let me know if you have any experience. This will be all I run for filtration, till I add the second one, and then until my tank is densely stocked with fish (which I plan on in this reef) I will not have any additional filtration.

- For main filtration when the time comes, I am looking at a fluval fx5. I was going to buy an eheim, but the power behind the fluval, and the cheap price tag made me change my mind. If you can talk me back into buying an eheim, go for it.

- Flow: planning on using koralias. The 75g has 3x koralia 4's in it. I am thinking that I am going to get a couple koralia magnums to put at either end and then use the fours on the back of the tank to avoid dead spots. Any advice on which magnum koralia would be the best size for a 125g? I like a lot of flow, but dont want to over do it. As of right now I am about to order the 8's. :devil:

- I will heat the tank with a submersible ebo-jager heater. The biggest one they make.

- Lighting...this is where things get hairy. This is the standard 125g L...meaning its six feet long, 18 inches wide, and 21 inches tall. I think. :D
(Know the length for sure) Most of these tanks come with 2 dividing bars over the top, however mine only has one. What I normally would have done was bought 3x 250w MH to light the tank, but now thats impossible. So heres what I am considering instead.

- One, buy 2x 250w MH and put them higher up above the tank and hope I dont blind my whole family, and that (more importantly) I dont kill (and maintain) my acros and other fancy SPS's.

- Two, buy 2x 400w MH and have slightly more light...hope for the same things as above.

- OR three. Buy a kit from www.reefledlights.com and build probably two different fixtures that would be equivalent to 400w MH. This is probably the most expensive, but the savings are HUGE even with MH, and there are a TON of other benefits that come along with it. I am currently building an LED system for my planted tank and if it turns out to be what I want it will greatly enhance my chances of the above.

- Last but not least, the tank itself. Everything is already set up, but the tank and the stand are that ugly "wood-grain" finish that looks like treated pine. Would it be possible if one was careful enough to paint the rim of the tank and the stand while the system was running? :naughty:

Thats all for now, I will get up some pictures of the system as it stands as soon as I can. When I start to buy stuff, and there are changes...more pictures. Eventually it will look like my 75...which I will also have to post some pictures of! "MA...CAMERA!"
 

Heathd

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Mar 9, 2010
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Sounds like your grandpa was a wise man!

I can't really give you too much advice cause I am new to the hobby, and what I can offer, you probably already know.

But... I thought metal halides were only effective in a two square foot scatter.
 

FLESHY

Polypterus
MFK Member
Jan 7, 2006
5,542
20
92
Central Wisconsin
Thats mainly true about the MH...of course you lose intensity the higher up you place them. In addition to that you have to take into consideration if you are using double ended or mogul based bulbs, and the quality/type of reflector that you are using. I have no idea what I am goign to do lighting wise...but in the next couple weeks I should have the parts to start my 10g LED system. So we will see when that is done. Sorry no pictures yet, later today.
 

Heathd

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Mar 9, 2010
1,299
0
66
Dallas, Texas
FLESHY;4264682; said:
Thats mainly true about the MH...of course you lose intensity the higher up you place them. In addition to that you have to take into consideration if you are using double ended or mogul based bulbs, and the quality/type of reflector that you are using. I have no idea what I am goign to do lighting wise...but in the next couple weeks I should have the parts to start my 10g LED system. So we will see when that is done. Sorry no pictures yet, later today.
I am going to do a led system on my tank as well, its just a matter of getting money together for the components. From what I have seen with the diy led setups people have, the leds give an amazing look to saltwater tanks.
 

FLESHY

Polypterus
MFK Member
Jan 7, 2006
5,542
20
92
Central Wisconsin
Here it is...the goal is to take the first tank, make a full cross over to the 125, and get the 125 to look as good, and eventually better than the 75.

First things first. I am in the process of selling, getting rid of most thats in the 125. I am only going to keep rocks that dont have soft corals on them. The filtration/lighting and everything else are obviously being replaced. Once I have the new powerheads, heaters, and skimmer I will start stocking the new tank.

In the 75, I have:

- 1 blue hippo tang 4"
- 2 clarkii clowns 2" and 1"

I will be adding:

- Chevron Tang
- Midas Blenny
- Mystery Wrasse
- Anemone
- Other fish? Open to suggestions.

Hope you guys like the 75, and are getting a better sense of where this is headed.

7-5-10.JPG

125.JPG
 

fishy12

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Mar 12, 2009
2,738
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36
ohio
GL and other fish maybe a zebra moray I heard there reef friendly
 

FLESHY

Polypterus
MFK Member
Jan 7, 2006
5,542
20
92
Central Wisconsin
Thing about doing that is I like and require the presence of my cleaning shrimp and my peppermint shrimp. Wouldnt want to put their lives on the line so to speak. :D
 

perfect_prefect

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 17, 2008
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iowa
that wouldnt be putting there lives on the line........... it would be like tieing them onto the line and dropping it in a barrel full of hungry eels lol. love the 75 look but that 125 is about as ugly as it gets lol. i see why your offing the lr and softies for so cheap. if your going dense with fish i would stick with somewhere in the neighborhood of 120 to 150 lbs of lr in the 125, but it all kinda depends on how big the pieces are that you keep, the bigger the pieces, the more weight you need, the more little pieces the less you will need as there is more surface area on 10lbs of 1lb rocks than there is on a single 10lb rock. (that was thrown in for all the newbies that are probably reading this thread im fairly certain fleshy already knows this)
 

fishy12

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Mar 12, 2009
2,738
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ohio
Oh ok I didn't know you wanted a cleaning crew. Well that makes sense then why you didnt want one. Well what about some kaudern cardinals or some angels?
 

Ashlee

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 8, 2009
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With TheCanuck
A canister is a terrible idea for a reef, as well as a protein skimmer. Starving your corals is not an ideal reef. Your fluval will eventually collect nitrates if not properly maintained, although it can be done, I wouldn't risk it with a reef. Protein skimmers remove food and hinder the corals from eating 24 hours a day, hell even 2 hours a day! Live rock is not half as important as a sand bed. A refugium is always the best for a reef, without a skimmer, or with an algae screen.

Skimmer.... removes corals foods. Removes calcium plankton idodine and many other elements that hinder your corals life.

Canister... can collect nitrates and kill off corals noticed
...............................................
Refugium... keep nitrates at 0 at ALL times, never worrying about water quality

Algae scrubber.... constantly feed corals and have food 24/7 While keeping algae out of the tank


The answer is clear!

Personally i would just build a refugium, i mean what else do you use a skimmer for? To basically remove possible nitrates right? A fuge eats them and produces food for many micro organisms that will help your reef, and you will maintain better trace elements.
 
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