My new 120 Gallon Reef Tank

[Bigtom802l]

So I have started my build process for my new reef tank. I am moving from a 55 gallon corner tank to the new 120 gallon tank. And since i am upgrading I will be going from a fish only to a reef tank this time around.

So to start off I got a new 120 glass aquarium thats 60x18x24.

I got a new stand built by RJ'S aquarium stand. It came out better than i hoped and looks sweet I will post pictures as soon as i figure out how to get them from my phone onto this page.

I am going to set up a refugium which i purchased Trigger I got the crystal elite 36" sump and its a tight fit but should work great.

I am have a eheim return pump. Hopefully its going to be big enough since i did end up getting a two overflow boxes installed in my tank.

I am in the middle of filling the tank with RO/DI water now and am about halfway through. I hope to have it filled by thursday so i can add my salt and start moving my live rock from my old tank to this one. Then in with the new sand and wait and see how long before i can transplant my fish and few mushrooms to the new tank.

For now i am going to use a old 6 bulb T5 HO fixture but hope to upgrade that to LEDs in the next year or so and while upgrading i am going to need to upgrade my skimmer from what i have for the 55 gallon to something bigger for the new tank but it should be ok for the near term since my bio load will be really low.

Well enough typing lets see if i can get pictures uploaded..

Later
Tom

 

[Bigtom802l]

Front view

Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

 

[Bigtom802l]

Sump in place and some of my plumbing done

Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Nice tank!! When will you start cycling it?

 

[Bigtom802l]

I hope to start cycling it this weekend. I am planning on putting the live rocks and sand in Friday which should start my cycle

 

[Singlefin]

Awesome. Starting a 120g also. Following along.

 

[Bigtom802l]

Just as a side note it takes forever to fill a tank like this with RO/DI water when you can only make a bucket of water every 90 minutes. Plus I only make it when I am home but its over 3/4 full so I am getting close.

 

[mike007]

Looks like it is going to be very nice.

 

[stunreefer Verified Sponsor]

Just as a side note it takes forever to fill a tank like this with RO/DI water when you can only make a bucket of water every 90 minutes. Plus I only make it when I am home but its over 3/4 full so I am getting close.

FWIW, you can pick up RO/DI line in 50-100 foot rolls from Home Depot or Lowes and run it right to the tank. Just make sure you're home when you're filling the last few inches of the tank

 

[revsgirl]

Great looking tank!!


Chasing the Dream Giver, not the dream! Tonya

 

[Bigtom802l]

Its time to order a new protein skimmer for my tank. This time around I plan on doing a reef tank with a good number of fish and some corals. No SPS for now but other than that whatever may catch my eye. So I want to get a good skimmer and the kicker being the sump I have the area for the protein skimmer to fit in is about 12.5 X 10. I could go slightly larger but it would make removal for cleaning a bit more difficult. So the ones i have been considering are

Reef Octopus POV
Reef Octopus super reef 3000
RLSS R8-I
bubble magus nac7 or nac9
SWC xtreme 180

I am leaning toward the reef octopus POV or the RLSS R8-I since i think the DC motor would be more efficient from a power point of view. My real concern is noise. I want the quietest skimmer I can get since the tank is in my living room and dont want to hear the mechanics of the tank. But they are on the high side in terms of cost by a good few hundred dollars. So does anyone have any experience with the skimmers above or recommend a skimmer for me. I can see my tank being on the medium to high side of bio load eventually so I only want to buy this once.

Thanks
Tom