help with proposed tank setup

[litmus]

I have an undrilled, sumpless 125 gallon tank that had previously been home to oscars and other such fish but is now empty. I would love to convert it over to a saltwater fish-only with live rock tank. Here's my proposed setup:
4-5 powerheads
125+ lbs of live rock
A good, hang-on-the-back protein skimmer
I've got some questions,
Is a sumpless setup a good idea? Can it work? Anybody have success with a similar setup?
What kind of hang-on protein skimmer is the best? Berlin?
Should I use a live sand bed in this type of setup? Can I get by with crushed coral?
Thanks a lot for any help with this.

 

[dpittman]

You could still use a sump with a undrilled glass tank - you just need to get one of those prefilter boxes that hang on the back for an inlet and outlet. Then you have a place to put your heater, skimmer, etc.
Live sand is better but if you use CC use a small amount just to cover the bottom. You don't want garbage building up in it. CC requires vacumming. Live sand takes up 10% or more of your tank volume. Choice is yours!

 

[litmus]

Originally posted by jwtrojan44:
<strong>Any ideas of what you want to put in there?</strong><hr></blockquote>
I'm aiming for a semi-aggressive setup with a lot of variety. Maybe three or four medium size fish. I want the tank to be lively but not overcrowded.
I definately want a triggerfish. Probably a huma huma. I was condering a niger, but I've read that they can get to be pretty huge. I wouldn't want to overcrowd him.
Other fish I'm considering are: snowflake moray, spanish hogfish, lunare wrasse, dwarf lionfish, harlequin tuskfish, and six lined grouper.
Another setup I had considered was a school of green chromis, with a snowflake moray and tuskfish. I'm not sure if the moray would behave. It'd be a neat tank though.
Or I might change my mind and go for lots of smaller fish. Maybe a school of anthias. Or a tank full of royal grammas.
I guess that I havn't made up my mind yet.

 

[dugan]

FWIW my FOWLR tank is a 58 gallon and set up pretty much the way you described.
55-60# LR, 3 PH's, CPR Bak Pak skimmer, and a Whisper 40 for mechanical filtration and added surface agitation. Right now I've got CC but I really want to switch over to DSB. Someday when I have more time and $$. <img src="graemlins//freak.gif" border="0" alt="[freak]" />
I've got a pair of perculas, a kole tang, a purple pseudochromis, and assorted cleanup critters.
Tank has been running this way for about a year or so, and I've had NO problems whatsoever with it.

Katie

 

[catera]

katie where in mass?