I appologize, should have started off with a little background....My 29g used to be an 80g hex which sprung a leak 8 months ago. The 29 was purchased from walmart in an emergency to stuff everthing in it, and man is it stuffed. It has almost all of the 90lbs of rock, 40 lbs live, sand, corals and fish. It has a Toms wet/dry filter with skimmer which work fairly well, metal halids, actonics and led for moon lighting. I also have a RO/DI unit for water changes, etc.
Now that I finished the basement (Dad's Cave) i got the 125g to play with which I just picked up yesterday. I am not in a big hurry to put this together but would like to get it running soon. I realize the importance of doing things right the first time in this hobby.
I plan on spending the bacon but would rather spend on the sump, a new skimmer, etc. Money's really not an issue however if there is a way to save a few while not jepordizing the tank, might as well.....right.....
So the question for the rock and sand is do I need to buy more of the live rock and sand from an LFS or is there a good chaeper base rock and sand that will be seeded from my existing, well established (2years or so) rock and sand? I recall reading on one of the sites a while back that someone was using cyndar block and sand from HD but can't recall if it was a good or bad thing.
I am only in the planning stages right now putting together the "list" of things I want to do with the tank. I still need to figure out whats the best way to make the sump, use an old 55g or can I use plastic totes? What is the best skimmer to use or can one be made out of PVC? ( I am very hands on and enjoy building thing myself from scratch, can you tell). I am also considering making the lighting hood with 2 or 3 250w mh, actonics and moon, or maybe just purchase.......don't know yet....
Can anyone tell me how can you tell if your tank has tempered glass. I want to drill however there is no name on the tank so I can not tell who the manufacturer is? The LFS told me today that tempered will shatter once drilled......
Thanks all for your help.....