[bulldog26]

I'm finishing my basement right now and want a 125 gallon reef tank to be the focal point of the large room. I have a few questions.

Am I setting myself up for failure buy trying to start such a big tank?

Would you buy a used tank or could that cuase more problems?

Could I use a lot of base rock and just minimual live rock to start?

What are the pro's and con's to chrushed coral or live sand?

I will stop thier for now. I'm sure I will have many more question when it comes to lighting. But I do know I want over flows built into the tank. Thanks for the help!

Brian

[Raymond3457]

Hey bulldog. No you are not setting yourself up to fail. The bigger the easier! The more water you have the easier it is to keep it all stable. And just from what I have learned here. Go with live sand and live rock. These are the basis for your filtration and also provides foods for the fishies!!! Also I would go with a refugium setup for fitering. But you can get more into that later!

[zero186]

yea the bigger the better but also the more money which as you said above use base rock and small amount of LR (live rock) which you can do it will just take a longer time to cycle and it may not be stable for the fist couple months but sooner or later the base rock would become LR too and well all sand is pretty much crushed coral just sand is more crushed.

[bulldog26]

Thanks for the input guys!!!! I"m glad to hear that it will be a little easyer to do a large tank. I really want this to be somthing to look at in this big room. I have done a lot of reading but I'm not sure what the term "refugium" means. Sorry for being a newbie. Dose this refer to the over flows? Thanks again

[Brians125]

I totaly agree with everyone and every thing......YES Bulldog go with built in over flow's...Im wishing i did...My over flow's are hang on's a big Pain....
G/L Brian.....Check this out...Wetwebmedia, Aquarium, Pond, Marine and Freshwater Fish, reef tanks, and Aquatics Information

[mtfabel]

Refugium is basiclly another tank under your main tank where you can place biological and mechanical filtering equipment(like a skimmer which is a must for a reef). You can also hide your heaters and pumps in there so as to not clog up your tank with equipment since you will already have powerheads in there for flow. Like everyone else said bigger is easier but more expensive when it comes to maintenence. Oh yeah you should defintly go with overflows, I have done it both ways and I will never go back to not having overflows again. I have a 180 and (hope I dont get harrased about this) I never do water changers cause I use a refuge and a skimmer. Not doing water changes is a bad habit though. More water means you can make bigger mistakes and get away with it. Okay I have already filled your head with some bad habits. Most important make sure to have fun with it.

[bulldog26]

Brian, thanks.... that's a great site. I will do some reading. Good luck with the hang on's.

[tyoung]

If you have the space, I would go to a 180 gallon tank. You pick up the extra size in the width of the the tank. This should yeild a better surface area for gas exchange. I think that the cost difference is offset by the advantages the larger tank offers. I also encourage you to look at lifereef.con for you filtration needs. They can design your entire sump system includeing all pumps, plumbing, skimmer, refugium, lighting, calcuim reactors, and so forth. It is not cheap, but read the feedback on that site. He has been in busniness for 22 yrs for a reason!!

[bulldog26]

Tyoung,
Where is the size of the tank added, in length, depth or hight? IRO how much more would it be to start a 125 over a 180. I was told that I could get a better deal on a 180 tank than a 125 but I figured it would cost a lot more for the filter, sump, LR, ect. Your thoughts?

[semy]

i would buy a non-used tank so there wouldn't be a chance of getting high nitrate levels.....if you did buy a used tank let it cycle for about 6-8 weeks just to be safe......about the sand i would recomend live sand because natural filtration,and beneficial bacteria....in order do keep the bacteria you would need to get a few sand sifting creatures to keep the beneficial bacteria thriving......and about the tank again this is your first saltwater aqarium?.....i would have someone help if you need it with setting up and getting it done unless you think you can maintane it yourself but a refugium would be a good thing for it.....but thats all i have to say...

[bulldog26]

Originally Posted by mtfabel

Refugium is basiclly another tank under your main tank where you can place biological and mechanical filtering equipment(like a skimmer which is a must for a reef). You can also hide your heaters and pumps in there so as to not clog up your tank with equipment since you will already have powerheads in there for flow. Like everyone else said bigger is easier but more expensive when it comes to maintenence. Oh yeah you should defintly go with overflows, I have done it both ways and I will never go back to not having overflows again. I have a 180 and (hope I dont get harrased about this) I never do water changers cause I use a refuge and a skimmer. Not doing water changes is a bad habit though. More water means you can make bigger mistakes and get away with it. Okay I have already filled your head with some bad habits. Most important make sure to have fun with it.

Great post here. Sorry so slow to repspond, I over looked it the other day. I know exactly what your talking about now. I understand and will try to avoid skipping water changes like you said. But, I have heard a lot about the evap. of water on these size tanks..... you just keep up with adding the water back? Thanks for the great information.
bt

[tyoung]

180 gallon allglass w/megaflow-1100.00 tank is 72 x 24 x 24
lifereef ls2 sump, skimmer,refugium,plumbing ,system pump,shipping-1400.00
current outer orbit m/h, t5,blue led combo-1300.00
ro/di unit-239.00

There are the prices I have seen shopping around at local pet stores. I think the 125 gallon is less for the stand and tank, but, most of the other items will interchange between the two tanks or be in the same ball park pricewise. A 220 gallon is just taller than a 180 gallon but the same width and length. If I was doing a 125 gallon, I would go to the 180 gallon for two reasons, more water volume makeing it easier to maintain, and better surface area for gas exchange. I think in the long run, you will be happyest with the 180 for extra space it offers and the extra viewing area for the sides. This is just my opinion though.
A word about lifereef, this is a great company to do business with. You can not ask for beter communication and service. I left him a message to call me at home, and he did. We talked about an hour on the phone to see what I needed for my system that I am planning and more or less, decided on 95% of it. He has been doing this for 22 yrs for a reason. Read his reviews. look at his product line, and make your own mind up. Only reason I am pushing this is because you see so many people buy cheap stuff to get started with only to have to replace it later on with quality items that work. In the end, they didn't save any money and more than likely lost fish, corals, or had a tank crash all together.

[bulldog26]

I like that information. I will look into the 180's here. Knowing the only additional cost would be from the tank/stand.... (stand, I"m building), LR and LS I would rather get the 180. Thanks for information and I will check out Lifereef, Is it livereef.com? Thanks again,
Brian

[bulldog26]

Ok,,,, just talk to a guy about 30 min. away that can get acrylic ....... 125, 72x18x20 $700,,,180- 72x24x24 $900 and a 215 - 72x24x30 $1100 How do those prices look?

[Brians125]

Just type in lifereef........I did and found it fine...only thing i can say is WOW.....I know where im buying my next aquarium and filtration!!!!!!!!!!! Thank's for the info!!!!
Brian

[jvharding]

Acrylic !!!!! Yikes these tanks scratch easily live rock will tear it up. just keep in mind that algae growth and scrappers will scartch the tank i maintained a 150 gallon Acrylic tank and it is next to impossible not to scratch it. Even with the best of care.

[bulldog26]

Originally Posted by jvharding

Acrylic !!!!! Yikes these tanks scratch easily live rock will tear it up. just keep in mind that algae growth and scrappers will scartch the tank i maintained a 150 gallon Acrylic tank and it is next to impossible not to scratch it. Even with the best of care.

Wow, I had never thought about that. Good Point. I think I will save some money and buy glass. Thanks
bt

[tyoung]

I am thinking the 180 alone was around 777.00. Yes, you are correct, the ls and lr will be more because of the difference in tank sizes, but that is what you want. Shop around and you will be able to score on a nice tank. Do shop though, prices do varry from store to store. So far, Feeder's supply is the highest and this smaller outfit that caters to salt water is least expensive. I would have guessed the other way around.

[bulldog26]

I went shopping after work today. I went to talk to the shop I will do most of my business. He has a great deal for the rest of the month on a 220........ $713.00/ glass. But for that size I would have to upgrade wet/dry system and skimmer about an $800.00 cost increase. Plus the $300 bump on the tank. So I'm hoping next month He will be able to get a better pice on the 180 gallon. I'm glad I'm starting my search early. It will be about 6-8 weeks until I have finishe the basement so I can set up the tank. One more question...... do you think it's ok to just run a wet/dry system with a skimmer, no ref. or sump for now? Thanks again for all the help.
bt

[tyoung]

the lf2 series from lifereef will handle up to 250 gallons and includes the skimmer and system pump for around 1049 I believe, this also includes all of your plumbing. You can have the refugium added for an additional 224 with lighting for it. it will be a "plug and play" set up.

[bulldog26]

That is a very nice set up. I like the site and it's really helpful to see all the systems to better understand each item. That's the same price range for the system quoted to me by local shop.

[tyoung]

I don't think you can go wrong with it, He also stands behind this products. Another advantage is that the entire system is expandable and is made to work together instead of pieceing together a bunch of parts and hopeing it works.

[mtfabel]

I would like to correct something I talked about in an earlier post. I was talking about what a refugium is and what I was actually describing was a sump. Now that I have said that, a refugium and a sump can be all in one device or they can be seperate. What a refugium really is, is a place for for live rock, live sand, algae, and other beneficial living organisms to be placed for water to pass through to help filter your tank. Just remember that a refugium is where living organism are usually placed in the filtering process. I could go into much more detail but that is something better suited for some good ol fashion research. I hope that better explains some things.

[bulldog26]

Thanks for all the infromation guy. I hope this will help some other newbies as much as It has helped me.