New 150gal build. Equipment advice?

Hi folks,
I just bought a brand new glass 150 gal tank from my lfs. The dimensions are 5'x2'x2'. I'm trying to figure out what sorta equipment I want to run on this new beast. I'm definitely going to get a coralife 2x250w MH w/ t5 or pc actinics and moonlight LEDs for lighting. The tank is drilled with an overflow on the right rear side of the tank. My buddy gave me an old 45 gal acrylic tank he had laying around that will make a great sump. It's 3' long which will give me almost 2' still under my cabinet for other equipment.

The main two pieces of equipment I'm trying to decide on next are the skimmer and the return pump. I've been looking around and right now the choice I'm leaning towards are the ASM G-3 Protein Skimmer and the MagDrive 18 return pump.

Do any of you more experienced reefers out there have any ideas/thoughts/suggestions about this setup? I'd appreciate any and all advice. Thanks!

 

For lighting, I would definitely go with a T5/MH combo rather than the pcs. T5s will penetrate deeper, run cooler and last longer. For the return pump, do you plan on running it inline or in the water? The ASM should work just fine, they are good skimmers.

 

I have a G3 and its skimming like a champ on my 150 setup. its been mesh modded, and converted into a recirculating skimmer fed by my return line tho. I highly recommend you look into these mods if you go with a G3 along with the gate valve thing I have yet to do.

~Will.

 

Im gonna purchase a G3 for my 125g tank as well. But I will run a sequence 1000 for a return pump out of my 40gallon sump/fuge. I also have 2 1.5" overflows with 3/4 return lines. I also drilled a hole in the back center of my tank for a third return

 

GuitarMan: Thanks for the advice on T5s vs PCs. I'll try to find T5s. I'm planning on running my return pump submerged in the sump. I realize it'll add extra heat to the water, but I also have a 1/3 HP chiller I plan to use on this setup.

iLLwiLL: These mods you mention sound intriguing. Do you have any links to howto guides for these mods? Thanks.

browntrout: wow, that sequence 1000 pump looks pretty burly. A bit more than I would like to spend however.


I also should mention that I have an AC III controller that I plan to use on this setup.
My tank has a corner overflow in the right rear corner with a 2" bulkhead in the bottom pane of the tank.

 

Chillers are killer thumbs up!!

To be honest I picked up 3 of those pumps, 8 icecap 250 de pendants a 1hp chiller and a mrc mr-6 for less than a grand

 

plumbing diagram

This is sorta what I had in mind for the plumbing of the tank. The return line will go over the top edge of the tank and split off, offering 3 areas where the return flows into the tank. Do any of you have any suggestions on this plumbing method and sump design?
Thanks for the input.

 

the old asm forum where all the mods were neatly outlined have been taken down. theres a thread on reef central thats HUGE and if you browse it from the beginning you can find whatever you want to know about these skimmers. not sure if its ok to link to another forum, but i bet google would know where the "ASM skimmer club" thread is on RC.

~Will.

 

Great, I'll look for that. Thanks.

 

I've done a ton of reading on the ASM G series skimmer mods. That thread on RC is massive and chalk full of nifty ideas. What all this lead me to conclude is that the ASM skimmers are great and even better if you mod them. Then I started looking at the octopus skimmers. These skimmers seem to already incorporate all of the mods that can make the ASM skimmers great. I'm currently thinking about buying the Octopus Dual Recirculating 150 Protein Skimmer [OCT-DDNW-150]
They have it at reef special specialty for like $325. My thinking is that it would cost me this much to mod the ASM to do all the things this octupus comes with already.
It seems to have a ball valve for adjustment, two pumps for recirc, and a place to hook up directly to the overflow from my tank.
Does anyone out there have anything to offer on this before I decide to buy the Octopus Dual Recirculating 150 Protein Skimmer?
Thanks!