Lookin to start my first aquarium

Dase · Jun 13, 2015

Hi guys, I've been doing a lot of research and I'm very new to this wonderful hobby, I'm looking to get my first aquarium so I've decided that I want to get a 120g RR tank 48x24x24 maybe with one or two overflows any recommendations? What type of led lighting would I need? I definitely would want a lighting system with a timer so I don't have to manually adjust all the time. Would a 400watt heater be sufficient enough? Also what size sump should I run on this 120g tank? Looking to have a refugium. I want to basically start with live sand and dry pukani rock, then slowly add some soft corals and some fish. Any advice would be greatly appreciated and thank you in advance.

DFW · Jun 13, 2015

You are doing well! Opinions are all over the place about LED lighting. I will say that some vendors here use Reefbreeders fixtures - they make use of warm, and neutral white LEDs, I have heard, rather than the cool white. Service is exceptional with this company! 2 heaters, maybe 200-250 watts each would be better than one. I would say that a sump should be as big as you have room for. Just set it up so that when the main tank drains during a power outage that there is no chance of it overflowing! Look for bargains on the forums! Go slow! Don't believe everything that you are told without researching! Anecdotal "knowledge" abounds! I will say that ro/di water is important! I add Prime to all of my ro/di water as an extra, very inexpensive precaution against water contaminants.

Happy reefing!
David

Dase · Jun 13, 2015

DFW thank you so much for the reply.. Makes sense with two heaters, can both be placed in the sump?

haleyf1024 · Jun 13, 2015

I have a 5 foot 110, so we are in the same ballpark. I have one heater, it's in the sump. 2 would probably be better though in case one goes out. Yes both can be in the sump. I have a Ruby 36 sump, which holds about 33 gallons if I remember correctly and doesn't overfill when pumps go out. Just remember to calculate the room for a protein skimmer! You can "seed" your dry rock by adding small pieces of live rock (aqua cultured from FL are the best IME for this) or by adding a bottle or two of pods and a frag plug with some coralline to get that going. Good luck!

Dase · Jun 13, 2015

Hi haleyf1024 thank you for the input..

Dase · Jun 14, 2015

Just looked at the photon LED 48 would one be ok for the size of this tank? I think its nicely priced too.. https://www.reefbreeders.com/shop/photon-48/

Oscaror · Jun 14, 2015

Starting off great, what do you plan to keep?

DFW · Jun 14, 2015

Dase said:
DFW thank you so much for the reply.. Makes sense with two heaters, can both be placed in the sump?

I like to separate them if possible so that they are not turning each other off, and on. The redundancy of having two also helps if one was to get stuck in the "on" mode. At least the water would not overheat as fast as with one higher wattage heater.

Dase said:
Just looked at the photon LED 48 would one be ok for the size of this tank? I think its nicely priced too.. https://www.reefbreeders.com/shop/photon-48/

A four foot tank with a four foot fixture sounds right to me!

Dase · Jun 14, 2015

Oscaror said:
Starting off great, what do you plan to keep?

Hi Oscaror.. I plan on keeping soft corals like mushrooms, zoas, xenia and maybe some hard corals but not sure about that yet.. As for fish, a pair of clowns don't know what kind yet.. Fire fish, tangs, goby and pistol shrimp, starfish and a clean up crew.. That's all that i could think of at the moment

Oscaror · Jun 14, 2015

You really should consider hard corals, they offer some of the most beautiful colour variations. Corals like chalices offer every colour variety you can imagine, I'm not making that up. If you want to get into hard corals, start with LPS, if you want you can advance ino SPS when your tank is very stable, but an LPS tank is just as beautiful as an SPS tank, and a softie tank can be as beautiful as those 2. As for fish I feel like every tank at least needs one wrasse, the way they hover and slither in the water is gorgeous, oh and also obviously their gorgeous colours, that too. These are MY tastes and I'm not telling you you have to agree with them, you need to have the reef that YOU love.

Dase · Jun 14, 2015

DFW said:
I like to separate them if possible so that they are not turning each other off, and on. The redundancy of having two also helps if one was to get stuck in the "on" mode. At least the water would not overheat as fast as with one higher wattage heater.

A four foot tank with a four foot fixture sounds right to me!

Awesome I took a look at some heaters and the photon LED fixture looks good too.. Oh I forgot to mention that the tank I was looking at gave the option of 2 overflows, would that be better than 1? I was planning on 2 corner overflows but not sure what size diameters I would want the bulkheads and pluming.. The LFS told me it was a glass aquarium and its made by Perfecto..

Dase · Jun 14, 2015

Oscaror said:
You really should consider hard corals, they offer some of the most beautiful colour variations. Corals like chalices offer every colour variety you can imagine, I'm not making that up. If you want to get into hard corals, start with LPS, if you want you can advance ino SPS when your tank is very stable, but an LPS tank is just as beautiful as an SPS tank, and a softie tank can be as beautiful as those 2. As for fish I feel like every tank at least needs one wrasse, the way they hover and slither in the water is gorgeous, oh and also obviously their gorgeous colours, that too. These are MY tastes and I'm not telling you you have to agree with them, you need to have the reef that YOU love.

I would but I've read they are a bit harder to take care of for a newbe like my self .. I will consider it tho.. And i do agree wrasse are beautiful fish I will get one as well.. I just have to be careful not to over crowd my tank...

Dase · Jun 14, 2015

What is ones experience with main pump? would anyone recommend and external or submersible? Gph and noise quality? Sorry for all these questions...

Oscaror · Jun 14, 2015

Hard corals are indeed harder to care for than softies, but LPS are pretty easy to get the hang of.

DFW · Jun 14, 2015

Dase said:
What is ones experience with main pump? would anyone recommend and external or submersible? Gph and noise quality? Sorry for all these questions...

You might do well to look at some tank builds to learn what others have already done with their plumbing on similar sized tanks.

Dase · Jun 14, 2015

Thank you guys so much for your advice i really appreciate it

cant wait to put this all together

Eckolancer · Jun 14, 2015

I would say check out bean animal overflow it's basically 3 drain pipes. It is completely silent and has fail safe built in.

As for lighting try and go to local reefers house and see what type of lighting you like the most. I personally like LEDs but also like the look of corals under MH. But MH puts off a lot of heat and cost a lot to run.

Dase · Jun 14, 2015

Eckolancer said:
I would say check out bean animal overflow it's basically 3 drain pipes. It is completely silent and has fail safe built in.

As for lighting try and go to local reefers house and see what type of lighting you like the most. I personally like LEDs but also like the look of corals under MH. But MH puts off a lot of heat and cost a lot to run.

Oh wow I've never heard of bean animal overflow.. If i have my tank ordered from perfecto, would that be an option? I'm used to seeing corner or center overflows.

DFW · Jun 14, 2015

That is so right about seeing lighting in person before committing to that large purchase!

Eckolancer said:
I would say check out bean animal overflow it's basically 3 drain pipes. It is completely silent and has fail safe built in.

As for lighting try and go to local reefers house and see what type of lighting you like the most. I personally like LEDs but also like the look of corals under MH. But MH puts off a lot of heat and cost a lot to run.