Just acquired a 125g

[Voltron]

I'm going to set this up as a community tank for the most part. I'm sure there will be ups and downs but that is the basic goal. Decided not to go with a coral reef setup. With that said there will be some invertebrates such as anemones starfish, and urchins. The aquarium is old school, so there are not any holes for the filtration. Its just a glass rectangular box. My questions are, What type of light fixture and lights should I get? What type of filtration should I get? Any help will be appreciated. Thanks

 

[mauler]

If your trying to keep an anemone your going to need pretty good lighting most people I know with anemones use leds. For filtration you can use really anything you want your gonna get a different answer from everyone I personally use two canister filters but your filtration will also depend on your stock list

 

[flower]

Drill the tank if you can, and save yourself hassles down the road. If you plan for corals, a sump system allows you to hide equipment, and set up a refugium with macroalgae. As to what kind of lighting...there are corals for every type of lighting you decide on. That includes anemones, I had a LT tube anemone, they are nocturnal (needs no light) and at night it gave off it's own light. It was beautiful, but like all anemones, what they don't eat, they sting to death anything stupid enough to get too close.

Macroalgae will help keep the water quality pristine, it only costs about $10.00 a pint, and it feeds on phosphates and nitrates, the two most troublesome problems of keeping a reef tank. IMO...if you can't drill the tank, pass on the sump... I HATE overflow boxes, they clog up, leak and are just awful.

 

[Voltron]

I'm a bit nervous about drilling into this aquarium. However, it does make a lot of sense do. Seems the sump is the way to go. I'll go with the cannister filter. is there a particular brand I should get?

 

[mauler]

I'd be a little hesitant to drill the tank since its most likely tempered glass. As far canister filters go I'm using cheap knockoff brands they seem to be doing there job but if you want the high class canisters you could look at fluval and eheim

 

[flower]

I'm a bit nervous about drilling into this aquarium. However, it does make a lot of sense do. Seems the sump is the way to go. I'll go with the cannister filter. is there a particular brand I should get?

I liked the Cascade and the Fluval brands, of the two, I think I liked the Fluval the best. I hated the Marineland I had, it vacuum locked so bad, making it so hard to service.

 

[RobP]

Why not go the natural way and filter using Live Rock? Depending on your bio-load it's all you should need and if you get too much of a bio load get a hang on the back overflow into a sump with a protein skimmer. I've been running my tank like that for almost two years and no issues at ll.

 

[mauler]

I liked the Cascade and the Fluval brands, of the two, I think I liked the Fluval the best. I hated the Marineland I had, it vacuum locked so bad, making it so hard to service.

I have a cascade 1200 I love there great canisters for the price

 

[trigger40]

Why not go the natural way and filter using Live Rock? Depending on your bio-load it's all you should need and if you get too much of a bio load get a hang on the back overflow into a sump with a protein skimmer. I've been running my tank like that for almost two years and no issues at ll.

+1 this is the best way to go.

 

[flower]

Not for a coral reef guys... The water has to be pristine, unless all you want are mushrooms, Kenya tree and the like.

 

[Voltron]

Wow, this is awesome. I did not expect this response from all of you. With the advice given would it be wrong to have a canister and live rock?

 

[mauler]

That's exactly what I have on my tank and it's working great for me

 

[Voltron]

Great, one more question. The light source. I have been looking online for a light fixture. Some are running two different bulbs and some have three. Some have fans built inside, some do not. Is there any particular setup that
is prefered?

 

[mauler]

Depends on what you plan to keep and just your own taste in lights I personally prefer leds others like t5s or MH or a combination of them

 

[Voltron]

Not for a coral reef guys... The water has to be pristine, unless all you want are mushrooms, Kenya tree and the like.

can the mushrooms take over the tank?

 

[Voltron]

One thing is for sure all of you know your aquatic realm

 

[flower]

Great, one more question. The light source. I have been looking online for a light fixture. Some are running two different bulbs and some have three. Some have fans built inside, some do not. Is there any particular setup that
is prefered?

The new rage are LED fixtures, but I get lost trying to figure out what a par is, and not count lumens, and then the all wise ones say K doesn't count on LED fixtures either. They are not created equal. T5HO units, to keep corals you need an 8 bulb fixture at least for the light hungry corals like SPS. Good fixtures have a slash guard, Metal Halides run hot, and are a pain in the butt... but hands down the corals look their best under them. JMO

The most beautiful corals IMO are the non-photosynthetic, but they require lots of flow and food, which pollutes the tank and so requires frequent water changes, making more work for you.

 

[kopczynski]

I'm using a fluval 406 and 80lbs of live rock in my 60gallon, I wont be adding any sps because my water isn't clean enough. If you go canister filter don't cheap out. I tried buying all different ones that couldn't even make it to my house in 1 piece. I'd highly recommend the fluvals.

 

[Voltron]

I'm using a fluval 406 and 80lbs of live rock in my 60gallon, I wont be adding any sps because my water isn't clean enough. If you go canister filter don't cheap out. I tried buying all different ones that couldn't even make it to my house in 1 piece. I'd highly recommend the fluvals.

Thanks for the advice, seems like fluval is the most effective with aquariums. Does the company make bigger ones for bigger tanks?

 

[mauler]

Yes they do the fluval fx6 and you could look at the g6 but I'm sure if the g6 is worth the extra money