125g build....ssllloooowwwwwllllllyyyyyy!!

Ok so I have been reading on here for sometime trying to figure out what all I need to better prepare my tank for the livestock I want. Currently its a 90 gallon tank that I have had a few years now and always done well with fish and some corals but just was never where I wanted it to be.

What I came up with is more less buy all new equipment from, bigger pump, better lights and skimmer. My problem was I wanted a bigger tank and buying it all for my 90g then later going bigger didnt come across as to smart in my book. So I started searching craigs list daily looking for a steal on a tank so I could just start from scratch and have what I wanted. Sounds good right?


SCORE today I find a listing on criags list for a 175 gallon tank about an hour away with a stand for 200 bucks! Granted I dont care about the stand but still for 200 dollars I am thinking JACKPOT! The lady and I e-mailed back and forth several times as I explained I am currently in NY and would have to have someone come pick it up. We agreed on me sending her money on paypal and I would have a friend pick it up for me. So as I am waiting for her to let me know she got the money I started thinking something didnt sound right about the measurement which where listed as......

6 feet by 1 1/2 feet and 1 foot 10 inches. Yea I am not used to tanks listed that away so I converted it over to inches did a google search and came up with 125 gallons! Ughh.... call her back and ask once again what the measurements are just so I am clear on its actual size and again she states the same sizes. I told her that said tank is actually 125 gallons and not 175 and she replies with "when I bought it they told me it was 175" so in my mind 200 bucks isnt a bad deal even for 125 gallon but its not a steal either like I had originally thought. None the less I now own a 125 gallon tank. Granted its not what I wanted but I will deal with it and it will hold me over until my new house is build and I can really get what I want! LOL


Plan for this is about 150 lbs or marco dry rock with 30lbs of shelf rock also dry as I would like to make lots of ledges and nooks with a tall rockscape. ( as tall as I can with 22" total height )

I would like to run the oceans motions 4 way on this tank with a closed loop system and if the bottom is not tempered everything will come through the bottom. (dart pump) As for the skimmer and sump? Well thinking the PM bullet 2 with a 30-40 gallon sump with a section for the fudge. about 800 GPH on the return from the sump?

Lighting? I am looking at the aquaticlife fixture listed below.

AquaticLife HID Metal Halide fixtures with T5 HO and Lunar LEDs

I am not exaclty sure of the corals I would like but I know hammer coral, star polyps, and a few other softies are on my list and I am thinking this light should support just about anything depending on placement.

Now I can not dazzle you with any pictures right now because I am not in town to take any but I would like some input on my equipment and possible pointers if you see anything that just seems out of spec. I have always had great luck with my 90g until the pump failure but I would like this tank to provide a much happier habitat for my livestock with proper water flow and lighting!

Again I would really like to have some input with experienced reef keepers as I do not want to buy stuff to upgrade later because what I did the first time wasnt up to par with what I want! Please if you feel something maybe better please let me know!

 

good luck

 

Sounds like a good start. Good luck
im not sure about the lights, hopefully someone with experience on that chimes in soon

 

I bought everything I needed BEFORE I set it up...that way I didn't run into "car trouble" or "unexpected medical bill", etc. Take it slow...it doesn't need to happen right now. buy the best that you can afford, or save up a little longer and buy better.

 

I actually didnt stop looking on craigs list and got a response e-mail from a local guy who posted a 225 gallon tank early last month which he happens to still have. Not exactly sure but the dimensions he posted are not 225g but 280g! LOL He told me he will be in town Friday and I am sending some people over to look at it for me. If its in good shape and is no less then 225g I will be buying it and selling the 125g. The 225+ is acrylic also which as long as its not drilled would be much more suited to what I want. He has it posted with measurement that would make it a 280g but as with my last experience on craigs list it seems people are not exactly sure what size tank they have!

 

Sounds like a good start. Look forward to future updates.

Brian