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What tank has a nice footprint?

JRWOHLER

JRWOHLER

Sure well I am waiting for the tank because it is on back order but the tank was 700 stand 400.

They are not the cheapest tanks that is for sure. Will might be able to match the price or even be better then the other price you are seeing. He matched an online price on a lighting fixture that I wanted for my FW tank. I got my lights from Catalina Aquarium same as Jim and couple others for the 120.
 
W

waynes reef

SteveReef said:
Because if its 900$ tank only, I'd rather spend 900$ if not less on both the tank and the stand.
Click to expand...
spend the extra money, its worth it, much nicer looking tank and better built, oceanic has awsome stuff, as far as the skimmer allot of people here either use etss or mrc, if your going sps youll need either a etss 800xr or a mrc mr-2 for a 120 with sps, anything less would be uncivilized.. :eek:..lighting will be personal choice, i use halides with my setup and i love it, the shimmering effect is great but you need a chiller for the heat from the bulbs, i see other people here talking about t-5 lighting, im not gonna talk bad about it but i wouldnt use it as main lighting source, maybe as a suppliment, but thats my opinion, and i base my opinion on the fact that i want long term health and growth from my sps corals not just visual appeal and from what i have read from many articles t-5"s cant achieve that alone due to the par rating of the bulbs.. oh yes, i have a oceanic 175 bow front, i didnt want to spend the money at first but im glad i did, such a beautifull tank, i have 3 400 watt halides with 14k hamiltons , a mrc-3 skimmer, 40 gal. refuge i built myself and i dose kalkwasser with my auto topp off.
 
S

SteveReef

The reason is that I don't want to spend 900$ is because I don't want to break my bank too much just on the tank. I'd rather spend more $ on the Lights/Skimmer.
 
W

waynes reef

i have seen some nice acrylic tanks on e bay for a verry reasonable price, you just have to be carefull setting up the rock and cleaning as not to scratch it
 
S

SteveReef

What would be a ball park estimate that I would be spending on:


Lights (Enough to keep SPS)
Skimmer (Enough to handle a Moderate stock)
Tank w/Stand
Powerheads (I was thinking of the new controllable Koralia's w/Wave Maker)
Calcium Reactor
Ro/Di "Machine" (Don't know correct termanology)
x2 Little Fishies Phosban Reactors 1 for Carbon/1 for Phosban

Anything else I"m missing?
 
JohnS_323

JohnS_323

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Here are some rough estimates for equipment I would go with. Everyone has their own preferences and will probably recommend other manufacturers or options but again this is what I'd do. Also, these prices are pretty much straight retail. You could most likely shop around and get better deals.

Lights (Enough to keep SPS) Two 250W MH Retro's with bulbs: $500
Skimmer (Enough to handle a Moderate stock) MRC MR-2R: $520
Tank w/Stand New 120g Oceanic $1200; Used Maybe as low as $600
Powerheads (I was thinking of the new controllable Koralia's w/Wave Maker) Controllable Koralia 4 $65 each; Controller $299
Calcium Reactor MRC CR-1 $235 (could go with two part doser instead)
Ro/Di "Machine" (Don't know correct termanology) Water General 110gpd from eBay $130
x2 Little Fishies Phosban Reactors 1 for Carbon/1 for Phosban $35 each

Anything else I"m missing?

Some type of main pump Reeflo Dart $225
 
S

SteveReef

Hydor Koralia #4 w/ Controller

ASM G-3 Protein Skimmer w/ Sedra 5000 Pump

Oceanic Aquarium Chiller 1/10hp

Two Little Fishies Phosban Reactor x2

JBJ ATO

Kent Marine 50gpd Ro/Di Unit

Current USA Outer Orbit Fixture 2x250w 10k HQI-MH w/ 4x54 T-5 HO w 18 Lunar Lights

Deltec PF509 Fluidized Calcium Reactor


What do you think of this...?
 
W

waynes reef

the asm skimmers are ok but they take up sump space that you could use for something else like more refugium space, due to the fact that it is an insump only skimmer
 
W

waynes reef


TANG HEAVEN.... ;D
http://cgi.ebay.com/860-gallon-octagon-acrylic-aquarium_W0QQitemZ120285468346QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item120285468346&_trksid=p3286.m14.l1318
 
H

harlequinreef

If your going to go nuts and get a deltec reactor, why not upgrade the skimmer from a ASM. Its not a bad skimmer, but its not a great one either. I think your money would be much better spent on a high quality skimmer rather than a high quality calcium reactor
 
T

tgee

A while back, Allquatics had a used Oceanic RR 120 with stand and hood at a reasonable price, as I recall. I'm pretty sure it was still in the store last time I was there a couple of weeks ago. I opted for a 90 when I started up about 7 months ago. Of course, now I wish I had gone bigger.

Tom
 
W

waynes reef

SteveReef said:
Hydor Koralia #4 w/ Controller

ASM G-3 Protein Skimmer w/ Sedra 5000 Pump

Oceanic Aquarium Chiller 1/10hp

Two Little Fishies Phosban Reactor x2

JBJ ATO

Kent Marine 50gpd Ro/Di Unit

Current USA Outer Orbit Fixture 2x250w 10k HQI-MH w/ 4x54 T-5 HO w 18 Lunar Lights

Deltec PF509 Fluidized Calcium Reactor


What do you think of this...?
Click to expand...
how about this
oceanic 120 reef ready drilled for closed loop or a acrylic custom made for you$????
1/4 hp chiller( min need for tank this size with halides)$300-400
mrc mr-2 skimmer (more bang for the buck than a ASM)$520 or a mr-3 $580
precision marine kalwasser reactor(dose calcium and alkalinity manually 2 part)$250
36 inch refugium with a sock and plenty of baffles and atleast 30 watt light$???
2 halide pendants with 14 or 20k bulbs so no athinics needed (175 or 250 watt)$500
reeflow dart return pump (AWSOME PUMP WITH GREAT VERSATILITY)$250
iwaki 30 or 40 and 2 squids for a total of 4 oulets at diferent intervals for wave motion as opposed to power heads to save electric and more reliable$150 total
20 gallon resevior for topp off tied into ATO unit with dosing pump through kalkwasser reactor$???
gen x 40 pump for skimmer$149(mr-2) genx 50 $170(mr-3)
any decent 50gpd ro unit will do$100
2- phosban reactors, 1 for phosban and 1 for carbon$35x2
and dont forget the UV unit, $100-$200
 
JRWOHLER

JRWOHLER

I have looked at MH and T5. I think it depends if you like the color or the shimmer. On mine I don't plan on putting SPS on the bottom but if you look a lot of guys have T5 lighting and have done very well. Just a suggestion take a look at what people are paying in electric and figure out the difference between MH and T5. Blange has some of the most dynamic colors I have ever seen and he is running VHO and very little flow...yes it is mostly LPS but there are different ways to skin a cat. My suggestion take your time. I would spend a little more on the tank. You are looking at 3 grand by the time you are done for a 120 by the time you add lights, skimmer, sump, pumps, controller, phosban reactor, tank, stand, ATO, RO/DI, sand and live rock. Oh yeah and heaters. Then if you go MH look at double the electric cost for lights and chiller plus the initial cost of the chiller. It is not cheap no matter what you do. I think if you dose for CA you can save a bit unless you are really into SPS then you will need some reactor. I am doing it now and I thought 2500 but that was way to low. My plan is to have as much biological filtration as possible and not a heavy bio load so I have saved here and there but spent a bit more on the tank.
Good luck..take your time.
 
sgarron

sgarron

I wouldn't factor in the cost of a chiller right away. You may or may not nead one. I had a 65g with 2 - 150w MH and a 180g with 3 - 250w MH, never neede a chiller, temp never went above 83. Just a small fan blowing across the water surface of the tank or sump.
 
S

SteveReef

iwaki 30 or 40 and 2 squids for a total of 4 oulets at diferent intervals for wave motion as opposed to power heads to save electric and more reliable$150 total. (Could I possibly see a link, do these really make there no need for powerheads?)

Do I really need a 36" Refugium? Couldn't I just make a 30g Sump and tie it in there?

Would a Starfire Glass front be bad(Lookin at the comment to stay far away from acrylic)...isn't that acrylic or low iron glass?

Oh, and I have been told that I don't need a UV Sterlizer, so anyone care to comment?
 
S

SteveReef

Oh, and this may sound quite stupid, but that's what questions are for, right? Could someone explain the closed Loop system, I've seen people talk about it, and I've heard it was great, but I have no information on it. I did searches on google, but to no avail.
 
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