No idea what I'm doing!

I'm extremely new to this but I'm also very determined. I catch on very quick so once everything is setup I'm sure I'll be fine. I'll go through what I have purchased so far and then ask for suggestions on the rest.

So far I have purchased:
All Glass 125 drilled aquarium (haven't ordered yet, not sure if I want the back wall or corner overflows)
All Glass Megaflow Model 2 sumps (x2)
Coralife 72" Pro HQI light
ViaAqua 300w Heaters (x2)

Fish im looking to get are a Niger Trigger, 2 Maroon Clowns, Hippo Tang, Cowfish, Purple lobster, Porcupine Puffer, Honeycomb Puffer, Africal Red Starfish and maybe an Angler and/or a blue eel. No corals as I've been told the fish aren't compatible and a mix of base/live rock.

I'm not familiar with the Megaflow units, I dont know what kind of pump to use and if it can be plumbed with just one pump for both units. I get contradicting advice from my local fish stores on how to set it up, one says I don't need a skimmer one says I do, same contradiction with power heads, one says if I run two of the megaflows I don't need one, the other guy says I have to have one.
The way I'm looking at setting it up (no idea if it will work this way) is using a pump in one of the sumps and a skimmer (if needed) in the other sump rather than smaller pumps in both sumps. If anyone is wondering why I'm using 2 model 2 sumps its because I found two new model 2's local for really cheap due to the store no longer carrying fish. I figured even if I couldn't use them for my setup $125 for both was a steal.
So for a recap, will running two smaller sumps work? will one larger pump (800gph-ish) placed in the first sump work? Do i need a protein skimmer and more power heads? If I need them what type of pump/skimmer/power heads do I need?

Any answers or pointers would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

theres a bunch of different ways to setup tanks. one thing i can advise you with confidence is a skimmer will be the most important piece of equipment you will every own in a FO tank. i advice you to get a hugely oversized one , since some of the fish get pretty big and puffers, triggers, tangs all produce a huge bioload and the puffers play with food when there full. A skimmer will improve your water quality beyond compare with any other piece of equipment. it will allow you to do less water changes. personally i think your tank will definitely fail with out one, or need so many water changes you will quit the hobby. so by the best one you can.
***also note not all skimmers perform the same, so its important not to just pick up a cheap one.if you want we can recommend some to you.
advice with the overflow placement i would get the corner one, the back wall one always seemed in the way on my 90 and reduced rockwork room. also if you have a fish that makes it into the overflow a corner one will be alot easier to access if the tanks against a wall.

powerheads will help prevent algae and pick up waste and suspend it in the water column until the skimmer can remove it. so yes they are useful. you dont need them right away but over time if you have low flow you will definitely notice detritus build up in areas. i dont know the megaflow rate, but i would want atleast around 4000gph of flow rate in total, so thats sump pumps and powerheads all added together, this can easily be obtained with a couple maxijets-1200's with sure flow mods(check out marinedepot.com they sell the powerheads and mods.) i recommend the moded maxis as they are the cheapest option that put out the most gph.

im not a guy thats good with plumbing so ilet some one else advise about plumbing two sumps, im tempted to say i would drill both of them and run pvc connecting the two, because otherwise i would think one might overflow or one might end up empty especially if you tanks not level.

 

no cowfish in reef tank it will eat everything

 

and the puffer will fight with the tang and cow

 

A cowfish can wipe out the entire tank if they get stressed and die in the tank. They release potent toxins when they die. Puffers can be bullies as they are notorious biters. Puffers are good in fish only aggressive preditor tanks. Cowfish/boxfish are docile, they don't go well together. Before you invest in all your equipment, it would be wise to do some serious research in compatibility on the fish you want and research on the care they need.
I would suggest getting the tank up and running to start the cycle and let it complete. That will give you a good 3 months of research time to figure out what you want in your tank.

 

If you want to do a Fish only tank you may want to look at another light fixture instead of the Coralife 72" Pro HQI light that has MH bulbs. A fish only tank rally doesn't need that much light and since triggers will will eat snails/crabs your cleanup crew may not last long, so the algae in the tank could get out of control fast.

I have seen many Fish only tanks where the owners only keep on the lights a few hours a day,mainly when they are there to view it, to help control the algae.

Best of luck

Cat4wisson

 

Thanks for all the good info and tips guys! Anyone have some insight about plumbing the two sumps? The more I think about it the less it seems it would work.

 

This kind of set up is a little out of my expertise. So most of it I will defer to others more knowledgable.

But, as mentioned, a solid skimmer is needed in this sort of tank. You are going to spend hundreds of dollars on a good one. Look at Precision Marine and E.T.S.S. and ASM for some good skimming. For the kind of tank you want, I would get something rated at least 400g. Maybe a little more.

And the two sump idea will work just fine. As long as you are doing gravity down and pump up. No pumps from one sump to the other. Constant tinkering would be required to make it work. So one of them you would have to drill. Otherwise, I would consider a 75g sump/fuge combo.

For lighting, I would stick with T5s. I am a HUGE T5 fan myself. It will keep the heat down. Get a good quality set up. TEK and ATI make great fixtures. ATI is higher end. And if you ever wanted to convert to reef, you could do it nooooooo problem. You could with a HQI set up as well....but I tend to steer people to T5s when the tank is not too deep.

 

all good comments...
def a good skimmer with all the fish. (I like Octopus and Urchin)
def watch your fish compatability to characteristics.
def T5 set-up and no wasting money on bulky Metal Halides. (no need)
def agree with the people leaving lights on just to view comment.

I've plumbed two sumps together a couple times...
I drilled both tanks on the same side and put 1" bulkheads to level out the water pressure between the two. Plastics are easy to drill as long as you don't stop and if you don't want the drama of drilling (which isn't really that bad) then why not just get one big sump with 2 drain fittings or a T?

Hope that helps a bit.
Good luck!

 

Metal Halides are for growing stuff that need intense light. You can play with a bulb combination with T5s and get any color water you want. I've done mainly 75.25's and had pink water, mainly 420 and 460nm and had it really blue and glowing... I didn't like the 10k but stuff did grow fast. Now I have just changed it again and have 2 actinic, 2 460nm, 1 10k and 3 75.25's but I got used to it already and want more blue so I'll probably swap 75.25's for a 460..... you cn't do that with Metal Halides. If you get colorful fish, you can make the colors pop with the right lighting.

Oh, the corner drain is a good comment from SoStoudt... I never thought of retrieving fish from it. I like the center drains because you don't see the drain and all the piping from the side when people are viewing it. Food for thought.
I have serviced show tanks where I put a piece of black vinyl from a tint shop on the outside (if you do go with corner drain). If you use tint, you will see the lights through it still. Black vinyl is more dense an it is meant not to fade from uv. 3.99 a foot or so... if you do decide to go corner. I like being able to look at any side of my tank and see it all though. A 125 is plenty wide to move rock around (IMO).