Sump VRS Canister

Ill be honest... I wouldnt even mess with a canister. Sumps are the way to go. 40lbs of LR is low though. I would atleast double it. Lace rock doesnt give much surface area for the bacteria to grow so i wouldnt count it in your total weight.

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Canisters aren't considered nitrate factories due to their flow. It is because they don't harbor the bacteria to finish off the nitrogen cycle (to nitrogen gas). Even though you will only have fish in it, you are still better off setting it up like a saltwater tank rather than a fresh water one.

I bult my sump for about the same price as an FX5 with shipping and media and it flows about 2500 gph holds all the media I could ever want and changing the socks takes about 2 minutes.....oh yeah, and it adds about 60-65 gallons of water to the system. Sumps all the way.

Sump is definitely a nice thing to have. #1 advantage is that it is increasing your water volume, quickly followed by #2 which is that it allows you to hide almost all of your filtration.

Homemade sump is aaaalot cheaper than any canister imo. Also easier to maintain and keep ur salt levels stable. I run canisters and h.o.b's on my small salt setups but highly recommend a sump for ur 125. Hang on skimmers are garbage aswell so this eliminates ur canister option. Will it work yes, just not as good as a sump with skimmer. Salt sumps are a joke, you dont even need media, just a good skimmer. Euro/reef/dynamics skimmers or bust! Only piece of equipment you truely need. Also i have 50lbs live rock in my 197 so the 40lbs. You plan will be enough to get you goin. You can always add more. Less rock will take you longer to cycle thats the only downfall.

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I run a 75gal. sump on my 120 and its always super clean. The sump only contains 4 blue mech pads, a sponge, Euroreef ins-100 skimmer and a 18W uv. Almost empty by my own freshwater standards, but the skimmer alone would do the job. If your going to spend money on anything for a salt setup it should be the skimmer. I look for used or re-furbed skimmers to save money, but other than that theres really no way around paying for a good skim. If you cant find a used one look into "reef dynamics ins 100" and this should be more than enough for a 125. Reef Dynamics is the new company for Euroreef. There basically the same and the best on the market for a decent price. $250 for the model you need but worth every penny. It sucks to bite the bullet and pay for a skimmer but youll be happy in the end. I tried to save money and started with seaclone and eshopps brand skimmers and there just junk. They work for a day and are super inconsistent. My 2 Euroreef and 1 Reef Dynamics skimmer pull a nice dark skim on a daily basis and never have issues. Not sure if someone else has a good brand for cheaper, hopefully theres some more opinions.

I ran a 80 gallon sump filled with mud on a 240 that worked really quite well. Didn't cost much as I used an old aquarium with sponges some plexiglass baffles, mud tank heater skimmer, back to tank


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sumps allow better surface to air contact mixing in 02 - canisters do not