What size sump and equipment for my tank?

[Experiment397]

I am turning my empty 125 into a Fijian reef this summer and am collecting everything I need but I don't know what size sump/ pump and heater/ skimmer I'd need. I have a fx5 for chemical and some general water purification so take that into consideration. I'm thinking of two hanging overflows since my tank is undrilled and made of tempered glass for some odd reason:/ with one going to a chamber in the sump with the heater/ skimmer and the other going to a chamber that's a refugium with the return pump in the middle or having it go refugium, skimmer/heater, return pump. What size sump do I need and what return pump, skimmer and heater do you recommend for a tank of my size with the existing equipment. I will have live sand and eventually I will have easily over 150 lbs of live rock and corals in the tank so take that into consideration too please. Thanks for everything. I really don't want to screw up with saltwater, mainly because of the price so I want to make sure I get everything right. Thnx


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[Pazzoman]

Your sump should be 33% of your main tank at least.

My sump is a 33 gallon tank for a 72 gallon tank so i have about 45% sump size compared to my tank.

1st compartment would be the filter sock/skimmer, middle refugium and last return pump

Any room you have throw in live rocks

Pump size is based on how high your tank is, it will be labeled on the bag of the pumps (Go with mags).

For heaters instead of getting one huge heater get two heaters, in your case instead of a heater rated for 125 gallons get two for like 75 watts in case one gives out randomly at night your fish wont get cold.

I woudn't use the fx5 at all, probably sell it for $$ like i did because you will be set with a sump. You could get away with sticking a bag of carbon in between one of the dividers of the sump like I will soon do.

PM me for any further tips or suggestions, as sometimes navigating through threads I forgot which one's I should keep up with...

 

[Experiment397]

Ok. I don't want to get rid of the fx5 since my stock list I want to get is going to require some good chemical filtration to keep the water clear, if all goes well I will have a pair of larger cucumbers in the tank along with urchins and several large anemones, all of which can put toxins into the water that you need a good chemical setup to take out. What brands do you recommend on the hang on overflows and in sump skimmers and heaters?


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[Pazzoman]

Aqua C is a great company for skimmers, Reef Octapus is Great as well as Eshopps

Good idea with the chemical filteration

Over flows would be Eshopps

Heaters I'm not sure which are the best, I heard good things about jaguar heaters, I'm using a fluval heater i think...

Good Luck