sump for 120 gallon tank

B

bradymercer

we just recently started the process of setting up our new 120 gallon tank and have been researching different filters and would really like some advice on a couple of the items were looking at.
thanks

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110216941520&SegalID=110214545534
and
http://www.aquariumguys.com/rapids-pro-wet-dry.html

I am pretty new to this hobby and need all the help i can get.
 
welcome and congrats on setting up a new tank.

first question is what kind of tank are you setting up? is it reef ready? will it be a reef or fish only? is it new, or used? if used what was it before, and how old is it?

to the products, the first is a wet/dry which is normally used for fish only as it can hold in nitrates that fish normally can handle and corals can not. The second is more along the lines of what you want for a reef tank, but you still dont want the bio balls and if the skimmer is the second one pictured and not the coralife one in the main picture then it is all but worthless. the tank is about a 15 gallon tank and you could easily buy one locally, throw some glass dividers in it, and buy a better skimmer with a return pump for about the same.
 
The first link from Ebay
The tank looks kind of small from the picture, and the skimmer looks too small for a 120 let alone a 150 that they say it's for.

The second link: I would stay away from a wet/dry system. I started on one when I first got into saltwater, and after about 6 month it became a nitrate factory because of the bio balls. But that is my opinion...

What I would suggest is building one from a glass tank, or take a look at different places such as Melevsreef.com for different configurations.

Another suggestion would be to keep an eye on the sale section here on the board. There are always members either upgrading and needing to sell what they have or getting out of the hobby, and you can pick up a decent refugium for good price.

Good luck in the set up and let us know how it's going. Don't forget... if you have any questions, post them and the members will answer them if they can.
 
@WeMa wrote:
welcome and congrats on setting up a new tank. first question is what kind of tank are you setting up? is it reef ready? will it be a reef or fish only? is it new said:
We are setting up a predator reef tank. we would love to do a full reef but we very active lunare wrasse that we will be transfering as soon as the tank cycles.
it is not reef ready, we will have to use an hob overflow box.
Honestly i have no idea the age of the tank, we bought it off craigslist but it looks older but is holding water(thank God)
everything both of you stated about these units is what we were worried about(obviously nobody wants to pay alot to get crap.lol)
Do you guys have any advice about what Pumps i should use and how many gallons per hour i need to be pushing through my tank?
Also what protien skimmers are reccomended?
Click to expand...
 
i have always used, and recommend quietone pumps for smaller tanks, i have a 3000 for my return on my 90 and it would probably be sufficient for yours, maybe a 4000 would work too, but that all depends on the overflow box you buy whether it can handle the flow. also, i have a coralife skimmer on my tank, and know many who have them with success as i have. they may not be the best, but that is too long of a discussion for here. suffice it to say it is half the cost of most other skimmers, and are WAY better than the red sea skimmer they show. one thing i would do for this tank is to verify copper has not been used in it, just grab a copper test kit from a LFS as reefs cant handle copper, but fish can.
 
thank you so much for the advice.
I will pick up the copper tests and check into skimmer and pumps that you mentioned and hope to post picture soon with the progress.
 
@bradymercer wrote:
We are setting up a predator reef tank. we would love to do a full reef but we very active lunare wrasse that we will be transfering as soon as the tank cycles. said:
Never heard the term predator reef before, normaly I would call it a predator tank or FO fish only or a FOWLR fish only with live rock.

Like Wes I love my quiet ones, the 3000 is good for a overflow box as the 4000 might over whelm it. They can be found used for about $40.

Skip the wet dry , they are so yesterday , I mean the last time I had one was back in the 80's. The sump with refugium is the current system that seems to work the best and I use it both on my reef and FOWLR system .

And sumps can be found at DNA dallas north aquariums and sometimes used ones there for reasonable and if not you can see a large selection there.

And if you want a real nice one Marc on this forum make some sumps as well.
Click to expand...
 
yeah, i didnt think(and still am unsure if they actually do) i got the term from vivdaquariums.com
basically we do want to put some corals in our tank but arent really sure what restrictions we will have with the fish that will be put into our 120 gal.
(a lunare wrasse and a Niger trigger)
thanks for the advice.
 
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