A month and I'm Hooked

I've only had my 46 bowfront up and running for a month now and I'm hooked on reef.

I have a 125g African cichlid tank right now that I'm lloking at thinking I'm gonna trade all the cichlids in and convert it to a reef tank.

Right now the tank has a HOB overflow box and a Megaflow 4 wet/dry filter. I do believe that I could make this into a sump for the tank, but I thought I read bio-balls are a no no in reefing. Could you fill the bio ball area with rubble rock or would that be the same as the bio-balls. Is this even large enough for a sump for this size tank? I'm thinking that I might be able to get 2 20 gallon long tanks in the stand and that would give a lot of room for sump and equipment.

What kind of skimmer would be good for a tank of this size that would fit in a under tank sump? I do believe I would build a custom canopy for the tank and run either 4-160W 72" VHO or 14-39W 36" T-5 I want to stay away from halides as I don't want to get into the expense of a chiller. The 4 VHO bulb set-up would cost less but I'm not sure if they are as good as t-5.

 

Welcome to the addiction. Get ready for the wonderful world of skimming....and the price that comes with it. Here are my suggestions for starters.

PM Bullet-2
ETSS 600XR
AquaC EV-240

If you want take a look at the Deltec line....they make great skimmers. Just very pricey. Also, you can google Bubble King. From what I hear....one of the best. Just get ready to drop a grand (probably an overstatement....but it is very expensive).

There are others that swear by the ASM series. But the three I like are listed above.