Newbie equipment advice

[kyle1]

I am laying the ground work for purchasing a 125gal reef tank. My local LFS recommends a aquaplex sump w/ bioballs. I am reading that bioballs aren't good for reef tanks? I would like your advice before I cough up $300 that may hurt my system. Secondly, What lighting for a soft coral system? Is VHO O.K. or should a just go to metal halides?

 

[Anonymous]

:welcome:

Bioballs are ne bueno. You don't need them, they may be harmful in the long run and they take up space. The sump itself might be good to use, but you don't need the balls. It isn't that hard to convert someones old scratched up tank into a sump. Do some searches on this site for some good ideas.
VHO for softies will be just fine. Many people start out with VHO and the add/or replace it with MH when they decide they want to try sps.

 

[alkataz]

Hi. I think its great that your are doing some research before investing your money.

For lighting I would suggest T5's. They don't have the heat issues of metal halides, but they give off great light and there are lots of possible combinations that can give you the look and coloratiion you want. I have them over my 55 and 70 and love them. Also they are cheaper to startup and maintain.

I alos think you can save some money by building your sump yourself. The markups on some of these sumps are incredible. It's not vey hard and there a plenty of designs online that you can look at and get ideas from. I did it and I'm not the most DIY type of person so I'm sure you can.

 

[shawnz28]

I agree I would purchase either and old or new 30 or 40 breeder to use as your sump and buy a high quality protein skimmer such as a AquaC, Euro-Reef, ETSS etc... The skimmer along with the live rock you put in your tank will be all the filtration your tank will need.

Something like a 4 bulb 6 foot VHO kit would give you enough light to keep most softies and LPS corals comfortably in your tank.

 

[Anonymous]

I am laying the ground work for purchasing a 125gal reef tank. My local LFS recommends a aquaplex sump w/ bioballs. I am reading that bioballs aren't good for reef tanks? I would like your advice before I cough up $300 that may hurt my system. Secondly, What lighting for a soft coral system? Is VHO O.K. or should a just go to metal halides?

You might want to consider building your own sump/refugium. Sure save a lot of money that way.

I have a diy sump/refug and it is a pain to clean the filter media each week. But the cost with pump was ~80. Also had to use an $80 HOB overflow (tank was not drilled). Tank is a 55g.

Because of the problems, I now have an in tank refugium ($10) and am adding a DIY filter. The in tank refugium simply makes the entire system. So you might try that and take the extra $290 or so and buy a larger system to start with.

 

[Anonymous]

For the sump check the local paper for used tanks. They can be picked up for cheep. I would suggest getting the bigest you can fit and dividing it into compartments for a skimmer and a refugium.

 

[Anonymous]

I agree. Find a used tank and turn it into a DIY refugium. Ditch the BioBalls and build a compartment in the fuge to add more LR and LS.

 

[Pioneer]

I would throw three 250 watt MH The sump can be made out of a cheep tank as previous stated.