150 from scratch

oceansidefish

oceansidefish

Active Member
So I am upgrading to a 150 Leemar.... I want to go out and do it the right way this time. So that being said this is what i am thinking...
What would you do with it as far as equipment if it was your tank???
 
blue eye

blue eye

Member
I would get a great skimmer for the tank also what kind of filtration do u have in mind for the tank. It is wise to buy good equipement from the start instead of buying cheap stuff. As for light i would go with MH ( Metal Hailids) from the start and if u are going to keep corals later on u will already have the good light for them. What type of fish are u planning on getting.
Also Live Rock is very inportant part of your filtration, and live sand.
Anyone else?
 
baloo6969

baloo6969

Member
I may be stating the obvious, but a good sized sump/fuge.
This way everything is hidden...it could be as simple as a 55g tank, with a few pieces of glass glued in with silicone.
Also, 1 or more phos reactors...you could daisy chain them together to use different types of media. I have 3, Phos->Chemipure->Carbon.
 
blue eye

blue eye

Member
the 55 gal will work but when u put in the glass make sure the slicone is on good so there wont be any leaks. Since u are doing a sump u should get a nice big in sump skimmer for it. Do a search on skimmers and also big tanks here on the board. There are alot of people that have ust set up big tanks and u could get an idea from what they are using.
 
oceansidefish

oceansidefish

Active Member
Ok let me rephrase and make this a little more clear. I am upgrading, although talking to my LFS I may order a custom RR glass starphire front panel tank...I have some measuring and research on standard tanks to do.
Keeping that in mind...
What EQUIPMENT would you buy assuming a 150 if you were to start over.
My current thoughts...
Skimmer Warner Marine AS100
Metal Halides???
Pumps 1 Eheim in sump for return
Phosphate reactor???
UV light (will use what I already have since its new)
 
subielover

subielover

Active Member
The UV light will not be beneficial to your reef.IMO It will remove to many organisms that are a great benefit and food to a reef tank.
 
oceansidefish

oceansidefish

Active Member
Ok so I am leaning toward a custom built tank....60X24X24 with starfire. Still want to go with the WM skimmer. Could I get away with two MH fixtures??
 
mboswell1982

mboswell1982

Active Member
go with 3, with t5ho supplements, and on the pump, go with a dart reeflo or a mag drive pump for the return pump, prolly 3-4 k-4 powerheads, your skimmer, well, how many gallons is it rated for? pretty much everyone will tell you to go with double your gallons, DT an sump combined, for the skimmer size.
 
oceansidefish

oceansidefish

Active Member
I am leaning toward the Hamilton fixture that has 3x250 with t5 actinics led moonlights. Why go with double the rating on the skimmer???? I am trying to be a little more efficiant and I have seen the WM skimmers in action on the tanks they are rated for. I can do an AS 150 rated for 150g or a 200 rated for 250. Not objecting just wondering what the reasoning would be. Also I have been looking at the tunze powerheads...Might like them more than the Koralias not sure yet though.
 
mboswell1982

mboswell1982

Active Member
ok, this is just a hypothesis on my part, but the reasoning is, the bigger the skimmer, the better, and the bigger the skimmer, the more you can overdo your bioload :p but, go with the one rated for 250 at the bare minimum
 
oceansidefish

oceansidefish

Active Member
OK I just want to make sure that it works right and I was worried that I would not have enough bioload for it to work the way it was desinged (I am a little famous for running light on fish) In my 60 I have a true perc, randalli & tiger pistol a purple firefish, a flame hawk and a twin spot hogfish. My skimmer now rated for WAY more and it's just started to skim well. But its a crap skimmer. I am down for the AS-200 for a 250g setup.
 
mboswell1982

mboswell1982

Active Member
go with a 55 or so, or if you can find a 50g breeder, thats what i call em LOL roughly the same as a 40g breeder, just a lil bit taller, it'd be perfect
 
oceansidefish

oceansidefish

Active Member
yeah I just have to make sure the protein skimmer will fit....Thats what I was thinking with some cutting board baffles.
 
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