New 140 Gallon Tank- need equipment advice

oceanlover

oceanlover

Member
I am SO lucky.
I just bought a beautiful (gently used) 140 gallon glass aquarium (starphire glass on front), solid wood cabinet, solid wood canopy, an enormous custom built sump-refugium, and the metal halide lighting (with brand new bulbs) and actinics and moonlights from a nice couple on CraigsList. It was only $150!
So I am going to make the 140 gallon into my reef tank and convert my current 90 gallon tank into a fish only FOWLR aquarium.
I could use some advice on a few pieces of hardware. The new tank has dual returns in each corner. I currently have programable Tunze powerheads and they are great, but pricey. What other brands of powerheads are also great quality? (I don't want something cheap that doesn't work well, I am just trying to optimize the value.) They need to be programmable and silent.
Then I need a pump for the sump. Recommendations?
I already have a fabulous protein skimmer so I don't need that.
Is there other equipment I might need for the larger 140 gallon tank that I might not be aware of? I don't use an RO or calcium machine, I do water changes religiously every two weeks and get my water from the local fish store.
The tank is currently soaking with some white vinegar and tomorrow I will scrape the back clean although it is in pretty good condition. I am NOT looking forward to that but this was such a great deal I couldn't pass it up.
Thanks for your help. I will post pictures as I go along!
 
novahobbies

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Mmmm.....man, you got taken. Starfire glass? Crap. Metal halides? That is SOOO outdated. And who does wood for their canopies anymore??
Sorry, dude, I think you may have been taken for a ride here. Tell you what, I'll take the whole set off your hands for a C-note. Best offer you're gonna get here, I garauntee it.

There should be an icon for drooling, green-with-envy jealousy! Great score!!
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Stay with your Tunzes......you won't get any better......add more down the road when affordable or if needed....you might want to check out the Vortecs, but IMO would stay with Tunze..... For a larger tank I would seriously invest in an RO/DI unit...not trying to bash your LFS, but why would you trust your water quality to anyone other than yourself....they could be selling you straight up bottled water....I've seen it done.....RO/DI units aren't expensive and will pay for themselves trust me
no more lugging water to and from, less gas used
, plus you never know when that emergency will arise and you need water and the LFS is closed...... Calcium reactor and such I'd wait and see what your stocking intentions are, and if the demand is actually that great that you'd need to supplement with a reactor......
May I ask what skimmer you using?
 
oceanlover

oceanlover

Member
[QUOTE=
May I ask what skimmer you using?
I have a Deltec TS1250, Turbo Skimmer 1250.
We used it on our 90 gallon tank for about three months but then took it off as it was too much for the tank and cleaned everything too well. After we took it and the sterilizer off, we got more things to grow. Now we use a sock filter, a big refugium, and lots of live rock in the 90 gallon..
 
oceanlover

oceanlover

Member
I'd really like your opinions before I spend a lot of money. I know MANY of you know more about the mechanical aspects of the reef than I do.
 
maxalmon

maxalmon

Active Member
I use magdrive pumps in my sumps, very quiet and reliable.
As far a powerheads go, I use the seio variable powerheads and controller, there are two type of seio's, variable and non-variable. Total cost for controller and 2 PH's was less than $275...I've never had a problem with them, they are a little noisy when you first get them, now you can't tell they are on, they ramp up from high to low flow, only drawback is I wish they would alternate...They both are on high, then both low, nice if they could be more random. I was going to buy all tunze equipment, but I just couldn't justify the money.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Not to step on toes, but I'd opt for an external pump.....1 most submersible pumps add heat to the water itself....that how they cool themselves and MagDrives are infamous for this......Some of the bigger Mags' don't like to restart over time as well.....A very good choice IMO would be the Gold Snapper by Sequence (external), could use it to feed several things for your system.......Very top quality, pump, quiet, good power consumption....another good choice if looking for submersible would be the Eheim pumps......JMO
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Originally Posted by OceanLover
http:///forum/post/2804711
I have a Deltec TS1250, Turbo Skimmer 1250.
We used it on our 90 gallon tank for about three months but then took it off as it was too much for the tank and cleaned everything too well. After we took it and the sterilizer off, we got more things to grow. Now we use a sock filter, a big refugium, and lots of live rock in the 90 gallon..
 
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