What Would You Do?

Ok so latley I have been trowing the idea around of starting up a 120 or a 150. probaly all leds, with a large sump and a large skimmer. my question to you is what would you do? if you could start your tank from scrach what skimmer?
what kind of rock?
sand bed?
no sand bed?
what would you put in your sump?
what equpment would you buy?
what equipemt would you not buy?
ect ect

pretty much I want to know what would you change on your tank to make your life easier and to have a nicer tank.

think away 3reef lol

 

lol bump

 

Sand bed
In sump: Macro algae, mangroves (cuz they look cool) a mantis shrimp (small one, always dreamed of having one, figured a sump was not a bad place to put it if the sump was a decent size and visible)
I would NOT buy my canister filter again, even though it's super quiet I'm pretty sure it's the source of my high nitrates
AND NO BRITTLE/SERPENT STARS....just lost 40$ worth of fish to them and I still have to find out a way to bait them.

I would go with the 150 if you have the budget/space for it. Bigger is better!

 

If I were to start over today I would def change a few things. First off I would NOT go with such a small size sand. Sugar oolite does not handle high water flow rates well. I would stick with something a bit larger.
I cant complain about my skimmer so I have to stick with my octopus.
I like Marco rocks. I picked some up at MACNA this last year and I was really impressed with their rock. I would order from them. Their pricing seems reasonable along with good shipping rates.
As far as equipment I wouldnt try to half ass my powerheads with some cheapo brand. I would go with something that is tried and true.
In the sump there would be no sandbed (still removing mine a little at a time) and lots of Macro algaes.

 

how deep was yor bed? what kind of sand? why do you want to get rid of it?

 

I would set my tank up the exact way it is now:
No sand bed, metal halides, ETSS for skimmer, and vortechs for flow. my sump would have a sulfur denitrificator and gfo and a few rocks.

The only thing I would change would be to use all dry rock from the start with a few select pieces from my reef.

 

hey dingo why did you take your sand out? are you runing a chiller?