New 120 gallon set up with FX5

[RemickJ]

Hi Everyone- I'm new to the forum and have been keeping a Red Sea Reef tank for about 10 months now and I'm hooked. I just recently ordered a 120 gallon tank that I plan to build in to a wall in my living room. Here's where my question comes in. I plan on putting in 100+ pounds of cured rock. Should I go with a wet/dry set up or can I do a Fluval FX5? Right now I'm leaning toward the FX5 but wanted to get some thoughts from the experts!

[GuitarMan89]

Are you planning on having a sump?

[RemickJ]

No Sump. The plan was to do the FX5 and maintain all biological in the tank with the live rock. I've never set anything like this up before so I could be way off with the set up.. Just want to make sure I don't go down the wrong path.

[lunatik_69]

Welcome to 3reef buddy. Im assuming that this FX5 is a canister filter? I personaly dont like canisters, so if you ask for my opinion, I would tell you get a sump/refugium combo set up. Luna

[Phayes]

If this is one of those systems that you want to go full out with, as I assume your doing if you're incorporating it into a wall, you will want a sump. If your 125 gallon isn't pre-drilled, I'd suggest you look at getting it drilled. The benefits of having a sump are huge. You can hide a protein skimmer, your heaters, any chemical filtration. And also, if down the road you want to get more elaborate, you can add a calcium reactor, a phosban reactor, automatic top off systems, etc. HUGE benefits.
I had a canister filter while I had my 75 gallon. When i upgraded to my 90, I went with a sump, and I'll NEVER go back. The more stuff you can take out of your display tank and hide into your sump, the better.

BTW, Welcome to 3reef!!

[RemickJ]

Thanks so much for the input. How much harder is the sump to set up. Right now I have a Red Sea Max so that was pretty much plug and play. Going to a be a little bit different setting all this up myself.. This is me feeling confused..

oh and are scooby snacks reef safe? ;-)

[DesertReefer]

i have a 135 with a fx5 right now and it has been a decent filter as it moves a serious amout of water, 900gph, for a canister filter. the only thing i have problems with (as do both my friends) is air pubbles seem to constantly come from the return side. not massively but a steady amount. the filter alone creates a decent flow in my tank. my tank has been up for 1yr with no discoloration or smell or any other issues at all. everything thrives in my tank including an achilles tang i recently purchased.

[G&NSalty425]

You shouldn't be getting air bubbles coming out of the FX5 every so often. The only time you should see air is when it does it's air release cycle which happens once every 24 hours (you know it's about to do it when the pump shuts off and about 2 minutes later air comes out). I have a FX5 and that is the only time I see air at all.

[RemickJ]

So does a refugium do anything in terms of biological? if I understood the guy at my LFS he said that if I went with the FX5 I would want to put more rock in my tank to take care of biological. If I went with a wet/dry I would not need as much as the wet/dry would take care of much of the biological. What about a refugium? Sorry for so many stupid questions. Just want to make sure I don't have to spend money twice!

[tigermike74]

If you use the FX5, use as supplemental, especially since you are talking reef setup. Go with a sump , it will help oxygenate your tank, you will have room to add a skimmer, UV and/or anything else you may need. Also, you can set up a portion of your sump to be a fuge. When you add macro algae, it will naturally reduce problem algae in your display tank by absorbing the nutrients in the water.
If you go right the first time, you won't have to worry about "I didn't do it right the first time and wasted all that money." I learned "don't go cheap" when it comes to saltwater systems, you will kick yourself down the line.