Been in the Hobby for about s year. Started with a 20 gallon and a Rubbermaid sump to a 70 gallon acrylic (which I hated due to how easy it scratches) took it down and went with a 55 and a 30 gallon sump. I have about 100lbs of live rock. Iv learned from trial and error like many others in the hobby. Started off with a sand bed in the dt but due to algae out breaks I took it all out.
Equipment on the 55 consists of 4 54w t5 3 antic 1 10k. I did have 4 more 80 watt t5 bulbs but the external ballasts burnt up. Sr5 skimmer dc 3000 gal return pump and a few power heads inside the tank. After looking at so many other tanks iv decided to set up a 4 foot 120 gallon with the pensula reef.
Iv made a led fuge light and I'm working on building led dt light and. Depending on coverage I'm gonna build 2-3 led lights like I have pictured above.
The 120 is pictured above I have a 125 that's 5-6 feet long can't really remember I thought about setting up instead of the 120. Any suggestions?
I'll be running a 55 gallon sump if I use the 120 and the 70 gallon acrylic tank for a sump if I go with the 125.
Like to have a small frag set up in my sump with a spot for cheeto and other micro algaes.
this tank swap has to happen in 2-3 months found out Tuesday my family is about to get bigger my first baby girl. My girl friend is 4 moths along and loves the hobby as much as I do (plus she maintains my angle fish breeding set up while I'm at work I want the big tank to be as maintence free as possible. I plan on building automatic water changes iv already built a aot out of a few float switches I had laying around. (Already thinking about setting up my little girls first fish tank)
I've tossed around the 120 VS 125 idea for a few weeks now. The 125 would fit my space better length wise, but I'll probably opt for a Marineland 120 because of the depth and lighting a 4 foot tank.
Got another idea last night. Couldn't find a lot about the idea other than it could be a real pain. Thinking bout making a sump under my house. It's 4 foot crawl space figured some 2x4 wall with some insulation and maybe a pond liner to keep moister out and a fan on a humidity switch that will kick on when needed. I could put a 100 gallon pond sump under there. I have a air blower for my fish room that iv been wanting to put under the house anyway as it's pretty noisy. My crawl space stays 67 or so year around as my house stays a little on the warm side during the summer due to only having window units.
Another upside to this would id be able to build a smaller stand.
With it being under the house it would be little more difficult to get to but I have more options for equipment and other goodies under the house. Any thoughts??
Made some progress under the house. Got everything lined with plastic waiting on a switch that will kick on when the humidity get to high. I have camera that pan and tilts and I can view it via wifi that I'm gonna install so I can keep a close eye on the sump. Got around to finishing one of my led fixtures its 70 3 watt LEDs 40 20k 10 10k 20 royal blue. Fan keeps the heat sink at 88 degrees. Gonna build another one identical to it.
my first baby girl. My girl friend is 4 moths along and loves the hobby as much as I do (plus she maintains my angle fish breeding set up while I'm at work 
