My New 120g Tank

Okay...I'm new to this forum thing. I've been out of the hobby for about 4 years. Prior to that I had a successful 85g reef aquarium. I had set it up according to Tullock's book Natural Reef Aquariums.

Now I would like to start again, but it seems like a lot has occurred in that 5 years. Refugiums?, closed loop systems?

I need some advice on diagramming the plumbing and electrical plan. In particular I would like to have a refugium (size?), and I think I'm going to go with an Aqua C EV-180 skimmer. Should it be external, or in the sump? Should it be near the external return pump? Thinking Little Giant here...unless someone has better advice for the return pump.

Help!

 

If you stick with Little Giant.. get the quite series they make.. I believe that is what I used to have on a tank of mine after college... still louder than an internal pump, but strong as hell without the extra heat. If I had a tank that big, I would probably go with an external pump.

That's a good skimmer from what I have heard... I'd definitely put it in the sump.. probably should postion it to get the water before it's processed by carbon or bio balls if you have a wet/dry.

I don't think refugiums are a must like skimmers in my opinion, but they definitely are beneficial if you have the room above the tank or in the stand.

 

LIttle Giant Heaters I call em, those suckers run HOT. I'd spend a little extra $$ and go with an Iwaki as a pump to run the skimmer (highly recommmended by both the manufacturer and I - it gives the extra psi others can't produce) and either a Dolphin externar or another Iwaki. The EV 180 will be just mfine outa your sump, I'd run it next to it, raised slightly above the sump as to allow the return to simply go over the sump and back into it. The size of the fug' is dependend IMo in how much spare room you have. If you can fit it, a 40g would make an excellent fug', but so would a 20g. I like bulk water, so I usually opt for the larger fug' s and sumps. I usually end up throwing my fug's under the tank, but you can make a nice lagae display tank if you have the room and don't mind having no fish running around in it.

Gimme some dim.s of your set-up, ie. stand, tank, canopy, etc. and give me a list of equipment or a price range your thinkinh and I'll try to make you up a electrical and plumbing layout diagram.

Closed loops are just a way of getting flow in the tank with out any powerheads in the tank. If you have the dough for yet another extrenal pump, I'd recommend doing a closed loop. You can get inline wavemakers fairy cheap now adays, and some REALLY nice ones for several hundred (price range, what you looking at?).

You looking to buy online, or local? I can recommend some good shops for you to visit in SF, OAK, SJ, Freemont, Milpitas and Concord, drop me a pm and I'll fill you in.

 

Uh, I think I need to use the spell checker a little more often typing to quick and been up to long.

I added a nice purple acro tonight, to go with the green one I brought home yesterday Perks

 

Thanks for the input...so I think the Little Giant is out...I'll go with the Ikawa...I haven't purchased anything yet so size of stand, etc., is still flexible. I've seen some 120g tanks that were 4' long and standard hieght, which made them wider. I liked that because I felt it gave room for a lot of live rock with some sandy area up front for clams etc., and kept a large amount of surface area...if I can find something like that it would be great.

So would you have the fuge in the sump? or seperate? I was going to get the Precision Marine 30g sump/refugium set up...any opinions on that? I just wasn't sure where to put the skimmer with that sump (it's listed on Premium Aquatics website)

Also, anybody know of a good online source for tanks, or am I better off purchasing locally?

Right know here's what I thought would be the equipment:

125 gallon 48x24x24 acrylic tank (just found on customaquatic.com)
EV180 skimmer w/approp pump
Precision Marine 30g Sump/Refugium with 24" PC hood
External Pump for return
Closed Loop with SCWD
Metal Hallide PC Actinic Combo (was thinking Coralife Lunar Aqualite 48" 4x65 as cheaper alt.)
Moonlight?
Aqua UV sterilizer (wattage?)

Not sure if I should get a dosing pump for Kalc or just set up a drip.

Anyway....that's where I'm at in my research right now.

 

What about Precision Marine's Bullet Skimmer?

 

Doing more research....

How are Mag Drive pumps? A lot cheaper than Iwaki....

 

I think you need to decide whether you want internal or external/inline pumps first. Most people use Mags internal. I could be wrong but I think mags have plastic casings and the water is not isolated from the heat the pump produces.. Iwakis, Little Giants and Dolphins are all external and made with metal..

@Gresham - were you throttling back the Little Giant with a ball valve? That will create a lot of heat. Mine was wide open and I didn't get so much that I can remember.

All these pumps are pretty darn good. It's my understanding that the Dolphins crank out a lot of gph but don't handle back pressure as well as the others. Not my experience, just what I have read.

All the skimmers you have mentioned are good, but you need to think about what kind they are.. some are venturi, some are downdrafts... you might as well throw EuroReef in the mix too. That is needewheel and quieter than the others... Downdrafts are good foamers but take a stronger pump.

 

Oh...another question...should a tank this size have one or two overflows?

 

If it's only 4 feet long, I think one would be fine.