Newbie Needs Help / advice

[fkl]

Hi All,

After reading a lot of the posts on here (and learning a lot I must say), I’ve finally garnered enough courage to ask questions and get everyone’s input. As a background, I’m totally new to reefing. I upgraded to 125-gallon tank last October. I built the stand, DIY’d a 40B sump, and did the plumbing myself. With the resources on this platform, I would have done some things differently



I started adding corals to the 125 in February 2021. I had to let go of some angels, a hawk fish and a trigger in the process. My current stock includes 2 clown fishes, 3 fire fishes (2 orange, 1 purple), 1 sailfin tang, 1 hippo tang, and 1 orchid dottyback. Corals – zoas, 2 acans, 1 Kenya tree, 1 GSP, and 1 duncan. For filtration, I have about 80 pounds of live rock (in DT and sump), socks, and an eshopps skimmer (PSK-200). I also run carbon and seachem phosguard as needed. For pumps, I have a Sicce SDC 7 and two powerheads (no name brands from Amazon). For lights I have an old 2 light coralife 48’’ T5 and a 48” LED light (from amazon).

QUESTIONS /

I know there a lot of ways to do the same thing in the hobby but I need everyone’s input and the more specific the more helpful to me.

• I know I need to upgrade to better lights but with all the options out there what would you recommend for the 125 (72’’ long). I hear you can’t go wrong with T5s.
• In choosing a phosphate reactor, what should be my main considerations?
• Is a calcium reactor a necessary? If not what are my options for dosing?
• What are good DC powerheads to consider?
• What else should I consider for the tank in terms of equipment?

I want and would purchase good but I’m more interested in something that work work well. I don’t want to spend money on a name brand just because. Open to purchasing stuff from anyone as well



Thanks and I look forward to everyone’s help / input

 

[Wilson416]

I have a friend selling 2 Reef Breeder both 32 inches that’s perfect coverage

 

[brokereefer]

The answers to a lot of your questions depend on what you're looking to do, or more specifically, what you're looking to keep. If you're looking to get into corals with higher light requirements eventually, the most popular option nowadays is to go with LEDs because they give you good PAR, don't heat up as much, and aren't too expensive to run. Zoas and softies can run with fairly low end lights, but by the time you want to keep anemones, clams, LPS, or SPS you'll need something more. T5s are great for color, so a lot of people run hybrid LED/T5s.

Calcium reactor and phosphate reactors also depend on what you plan on keeping. You can go with calcium reactor or go with dosing 2 part Alk/Calc if you need to keep those up. However, that mostly applies to SPS and to a lesser extent, LPS. Softies should be fine without them if you just keep up with water changes.

Definitely make sure to get an ATO set up. You might also want to consider getting UV on there. It helps to keep down certain algae, parasites, and other pathogens.

As far as what other equipment or whether to go with high end equipment, it depends on how much you value convenience. You can always add things like an Apex system to automate and for monitoring purposes. The difference between expensive/cheap lights and expense/cheap pumps often comes down to quality/durability but also whether you want a WiFi smart app to control those pieces of equipment. It's definitely possible to do things on the cheap but you would just have to do more tasks manually.

 

[fkl]

I have a friend selling 2 Reef Breeder both 32 inches that’s perfect coverage

Thank you. Please PM your friends contact info

 

[fkl]

The answers to a lot of your questions depend on what you're looking to do, or more specifically, what you're looking to keep. If you're looking to get into corals with higher light requirements eventually, the most popular option nowadays is to go with LEDs because they give you good PAR, don't heat up as much, and aren't too expensive to run. Zoas and softies can run with fairly low end lights, but by the time you want to keep anemones, clams, LPS, or SPS you'll need something more. T5s are great for color, so a lot of people run hybrid LED/T5s.

Calcium reactor and phosphate reactors also depend on what you plan on keeping. You can go with calcium reactor or go with dosing 2 part Alk/Calc if you need to keep those up. However, that mostly applies to SPS and to a lesser extent, LPS. Softies should be fine without them if you just keep up with water changes.

Definitely make sure to get an ATO set up. You might also want to consider getting UV on there. It helps to keep down certain algae, parasites, and other pathogens.

As far as what other equipment or whether to go with high end equipment, it depends on how much you value convenience. You can always add things like an Apex system to automate and for monitoring purposes. The difference between expensive/cheap lights and expense/cheap pumps often comes down to quality/durability but also whether you want a WiFi smart app to control those pieces of equipment. It's definitely possible to do things on the cheap but you would just have to do more tasks manually.

 

[fkl]

Thanks again for your response. I'm definitely looking to get into corals, starting the zoas etc and eventually try LPS and SPS. Can you recommend a good LED /T5 hybrid. From what I've read, Ppl seem to be happy with aquatic life hybrid.

From your response, looks like the calcium reactor can wait but I need a phosphate reactor? Is there a advantage of running gfo vs pellets?

You're right about expensive/cheap vs convenience.

Sorry for all the dumb and vague questions. There's just too much information out there and I'll rather go with what you guys recommend. Besides, I haven't seen a complete system system being run before.

 

[Foxchase]

Thanks again for your response. I'm definitely looking to get into corals, starting the zoas etc and eventually try LPS and SPS. Can you recommend a good LED /T5 hybrid. From what I've read, Ppl seem to be happy with aquatic life hybrid.

From your response, looks like the calcium reactor can wait but I need a phosphate reactor? Is there a advantage of running gfo vs pellets?

You're right about expensive/cheap vs convenience.

Sorry for all the dumb and vague questions. There's just too much information out there and I'll rather go with what you guys recommend. Besides, I haven't seen a complete system system being run before.

Everything he said was 100% right. The calcium reactor you won't need until you have more demanding corals like sps. When you get to the point where water changes just aren't cutting it, you can start dosing. Calcium reactors are nice, but unnecessary at the beginning (most people don't ever buy them).

Phosphate reactor is only necessary if your phosphates are out of control and other ways of removal (water changes, filtration, Chaeto, etc) arent cutting it. More or less, depending on what you go with, any would work. I see a lot of people get the BRS media reactor for their price.

For lighting, T5 will cost you a lot in the long run since you have to replace bulbs every 6 months to a year (and they're not cheap). Most people are doing either LEDs, hybrid, or LEDs supplemented by something like reefbrites, etc. The biggest names in LEDs are AI, Kessil and Radions. Pricing is the difference between them but they're all great lights. How much you wanna spend is what is gonna be key there

 

[diana a]

Not at all true about the T5 bulbs needing to be replace so often. I run T5 light from 10am to 10PM. I replace (staggered replacements) the 6 bulbs every 16 months. Most of my corals are acros.

Changing bulbs every 6-9 months has been proven by Bulk Reef Supplies to be wrong.
They ran tests and show that you can get 9hrs/day 15-18months before the bulbs are truly dropping in output.

 

[Jamie S]

I I started my tank around the same time you did in November and it’s also a 125 gallon display. While my tank was cycling and fish only I pieced things together. The only thing I bought brand new was the sump and feel I got pretty good deals on the rest. I got used lighting from different places and what I ended up with was 3 Hydra26 and the 61” aquatic life hybrid and love the combo. I just added a gfo reactor from bulk reef supply because they’re prices are good for reactors and are a very strong build. I never really went through much of an “ugly” stage even though I have no sand and dry rock and I think that might be because I added pods and dosed phyto once the lights went on. I’m not entirely sure but I do think it really helped. I dose 2 part right now and have the apex and just installed the trident so I now know all major elements throughout the day. I do plan on adding a calcium reactor eventually when the demand calls for it. I also dose a small amount of kalkwasser to help keep ph up.

 

[fkl]

Everything he said was 100% right. The calcium reactor you won't need until you have more demanding corals like sps. When you get to the point where water changes just aren't cutting it, you can start dosing. Calcium reactors are nice, but unnecessary at the beginning (most people don't ever buy them).

Phosphate reactor is only necessary if your phosphates are out of control and other ways of removal (water changes, filtration, Chaeto, etc) arent cutting it. More or less, depending on what you go with, any would work. I see a lot of people get the BRS media reactor for their price.

For lighting, T5 will cost you a lot in the long run since you have to replace bulbs every 6 months to a year (and they're not cheap). Most people are doing either LEDs, hybrid, or LEDs supplemented by something like reefbrites, etc. The biggest names in LEDs are AI, Kessil and Radions. Pricing is the difference between them but they're all great lights. How much you wanna spend is what is gonna be key there

Thank You

 

[fkl]

Not at all true about the T5 bulbs needing to be replace so often. I run T5 light from 10am to 10PM. I replace (staggered replacements) the 6 bulbs every 16 months. Most of my corals are acros.

Changing bulbs every 6-9 months has been proven by Bulk Reef Supplies to be wrong.
They ran tests and show that you can get 9hrs/day 15-18months before the bulbs are truly dropping in output.

Thanks @diana a. What brand of T5 fixture do you have?

 

[fkl]

I I started my tank around the same time you did in November and it’s also a 125 gallon display. While my tank was cycling and fish only I pieced things together. The only thing I bought brand new was the sump and feel I got pretty good deals on the rest. I got used lighting from different places and what I ended up with was 3 Hydra26 and the 61” aquatic life hybrid and love the combo. I just added a gfo reactor from bulk reef supply because they’re prices are good for reactors and are a very strong build. I never really went through much of an “ugly” stage even though I have no sand and dry rock and I think that might be because I added pods and dosed phyto once the lights went on. I’m not entirely sure but I do think it really helped. I dose 2 part right now and have the apex and just installed the trident so I now know all major elements throughout the day. I do plan on adding a calcium reactor eventually when the demand calls for it. I also dose a small amount of kalkwasser to help keep ph up.

@ Jamie S. i've read your thread (125 gallons of nature) at least 3 times. I took some some of the advice from there. I'll look into the lights you have... hopefully i'll get good deals as well. Since this is the second BRS gfo recommendation, i'll get it. I went through a mini "ugly phase" without pods and phyto (still doing my research on them). Did you get the Apex used too? I plan on automating eventually but I'll like to see a setup or two before jumping in. Thanks for your input

 

[diana a]

Thanks @diana a. What brand of T5 fixture do you have?

ATI and Tek