Setting up a 120, need help!

premilove · Nov 7, 2009

Hey everyone, just got a 120, still in the process of choosing equipment. when it comes to setting up a mixed reef tank, my experience is only up to a modded 28 gallon jbj nanocube that I had for almost 14 months. my 65 gal is mostly softies..

intended livestock..
-achilles tang
-powder blue(maybe)
-my picasso clown pair
-mandarin goby-from 65 gal
-purple fridmani
-trio of purple firefish or 1 helfrichi, and 2 purples---can i mix the 2?
-2 sandsifting gobies, not yet sure what i will choose.
-sps, lps, maybe a rbta

about the tangs,i don't feel like it's a good idea having 2 tangs in a 120 gallon..what do you guys think?
do i have too many fish? what would be my limit?

lighting? 8x54 t5s or 2x250 MH, what do you guys think?
skimmer? need some help here..
circulation? mp40
reactors? calc, phosphate
sump gallon size?

am I missing anything?

chuck116 · Nov 7, 2009

Hello , first off good luck. I have a 180RR with an ASM G4+ skimmer that I feel is a good skimmer for the money. imo. As far as a sump goes the bigger the better, just remember the total volume means bigger water changes. I agree about the tangs, I have a blonde naso , but only 1 I dont think I would have 2 because of the amount of room they need to swim. I see your looking at an mp40 for circulation, that sounds good. I have 4 koralia 4's but am looking to get an mp40w or 2. what are you looking at for a return pump? Have you had sandsifting gobies before? The reason I ask is that i have 2 And although they do a great job cleaning the sand , they make more work for you , because they dump sand on your corals

. Please remember I am new to this and all this is just an opinion. Chuck P

Jon · Nov 7, 2009

First off good luck with the tank. Personally, I have a Oceanic Tech 120 with a 31 gallon sump, ETSS sump buddy 60 protein skimmer with a mag 9.5 pump, 2 seio 1500 powerheads, Blueline 40X HD pump, Outer Orbit light fixture 2 X 150 MH and 2 130 watt PC bulbs, Neptune JR with DC8 and a simplicity chemical reactor. Regarding the equipment I can not say enough good things about the protein skimmer and the light is also nice (although I wish it had T5 bulbs.) The flow that I get from the return pump and two powerheads is just right. Although the blueline pump is a bit loud and the seio power heads are a bit bulky they still do the trick.

For fish I currently have a Chocolate tang, Kole tang, yellow tang, two clown fish, lyretail anthias, bi-color blenny and a fire fish. My coral is a mixed reef and is growing everyday and all of the fish get along well.

I dose my tank with alk and calcium daily and magnesium about every three days. My media reactor for the carbon sits inside the sump and my phosphate remover is a Brightwell product in a filter bag inside my filter sock and this keeps my tank clean and clear.

If you end up going with the two 250 MH lights keep in mind that the temp in your tank will rise pretty quick (unless you get a chiller or plumb your sump in a basement.) My tank is downstairs and in the summer I had to keep my MH lights on for 6 hours a day maximum and the actinics were on for 10 hours a day (2 hours before the MH and 2 hours after). I also had to run a fan on top of the tank 24 hours a day just to keep the temp. around 80 degrees. When you do this you will go through about two gallons of water a day...

I hope this helps - Jon

JRWOHLER · Nov 7, 2009

I have a 120 Tech too....similar size sump and have a custom skimmer...someone has a nice cone skimmer for sale here that would be good. I have 8x54W T5 Catalina Aquarium fixture. Mag 12(would do Mag 9.5 next time). Have two K4s 2 MJ900s on wavemaker. Mixed reef.

I have a Naso and a Hippo tang in the tank and they are pretty cool together. I wouldn't do more then two tangs and you picked two sort of similar somewhat delicate tangs. The Hippo got ick right off but was in QT have not had any problems since. The rest of my fish are small pair of false clowns, bangaii cardinal, blenny, bicolor pseodocromis....have a 4 Line Wrasse and a pair of cleaner gobbies in QT. I feel that is maxed out at this point.
Tangs produce the most poop by far. Just something to take into account.

Don't think that two tangs is bad just make sure you have different color and shape. The more similar they are the more likely you are to have problems. Don't think either that you have picked out is terribly agresssive(purple..yellow), but they are both similar shape. And both delicate. Good Luck.

Hawkeye · Nov 7, 2009

120 aga here.

I would say you're going to hear conflicting opinions on the tangs. The two you have selected the tang police would usually recommend a 6 gallon sized tank with some strong flow. I tend to think there is no straight "formula". I mean a 120 with mounds of LR may not even be suitable for a single tang vs a 120 with minimal LR in the display and plenty of swim room might even be suitable for a trio of smaller sized tangs.

For fish I have (in order added): 2 threadfin cardinals, 1 firefish, 2 pearly jawfish, 2 mated breeding perculas (they share boss duty with the tang), 1 yt damsel (no aggression), kole tang, 1 yellow coris wrasse.

With the firefish - I'm not sure if i would mix species - that's just me though. Mind you I set up a pvc home for the firefish so that it is not carpet surfing. i have an open top tank.

reefsandrotts · Nov 7, 2009

Hers the sump I had on my 120:
http://www.superskimmer.com/Protean_400.htm
For return I used a quietone 4000
Water flow 2 K4's

premilove · Nov 7, 2009

chuck116 said:
Hello , first off good luck. I have a 180RR with an ASM G4+ skimmer that I feel is a good skimmer for the money. imo. As far as a sump goes the bigger the better, just remember the total volume means bigger water changes. I agree about the tangs, I have a blonde naso , but only 1 I dont think I would have 2 because of the amount of room they need to swim. I see your looking at an mp40 for circulation, that sounds good. I have 4 koralia 4's but am looking to get an mp40w or 2. what are you looking at for a return pump? Have you had sandsifting gobies before? The reason I ask is that i have 2 And although they do a great job cleaning the sand , they make more work for you , because they dump sand on your corals . Please remember I am new to this and all this is just an opinion. Chuck P

hey thanks for the wishes. my father and i originally wanted a 180 but we got a killer deal on the 120. ill look into the asm skimmers, our goal is to have the tank set up by xmas time. what we realy wanted to do was get a sump made that was designed to help with water changes. i saw something similar on another forum i thought it was one of the smartest ideas ive ever seen. you have a lot of room in the 180! you got a pic of it? ive had sandsifting gobies in my nano, but he never really did any work. my old pistol shrimp was the one who messed with my corals. return pump, i actually have no idea..any suggestions?

premilove · Nov 7, 2009

JRWOHLER said:
I have a 120 Tech too....similar size sump and have a custom skimmer...someone has a nice cone skimmer for sale here that would be good. I have 8x54W T5 Catalina Aquarium fixture. Mag 12(would do Mag 9.5 next time). Have two K4s 2 MJ900s on wavemaker. Mixed reef.

I have a Naso and a Hippo tang in the tank and they are pretty cool together. I wouldn't do more then two tangs and you picked two sort of similar somewhat delicate tangs. The Hippo got ick right off but was in QT have not had any problems since. The rest of my fish are small pair of false clowns, bangaii cardinal, blenny, bicolor pseodocromis....have a 4 Line Wrasse and a pair of cleaner gobbies in QT. I feel that is maxed out at this point.
Tangs produce the most poop by far. Just something to take into account.

Don't think that two tangs is bad just make sure you have different color and shape. The more similar they are the more likely you are to have problems. Don't think either that you have picked out is terribly agresssive(purple..yellow), but they are both similar shape. And both delicate. Good Luck.

hey thanks for the wishes. which cone skimmer was this? hows your growth under those t5s? i would love to see a pic! any recommendations for a return pump? mag 9.5?

premilove · Nov 7, 2009

Jon said:
First off good luck with the tank. Personally, I have a Oceanic Tech 120 with a 31 gallon sump, ETSS sump buddy 60 protein skimmer with a mag 9.5 pump, 2 seio 1500 powerheads, Blueline 40X HD pump, Outer Orbit light fixture 2 X 150 MH and 2 130 watt PC bulbs, Neptune JR with DC8 and a simplicity chemical reactor. Regarding the equipment I can not say enough good things about the protein skimmer and the light is also nice (although I wish it had T5 bulbs.) The flow that I get from the return pump and two powerheads is just right. Although the blueline pump is a bit loud and the seio power heads are a bit bulky they still do the trick.

For fish I currently have a Chocolate tang, Kole tang, yellow tang, two clown fish, lyretail anthias, bi-color blenny and a fire fish. My coral is a mixed reef and is growing everyday and all of the fish get along well.

I dose my tank with alk and calcium daily and magnesium about every three days. My media reactor for the carbon sits inside the sump and my phosphate remover is a Brightwell product in a filter bag inside my filter sock and this keeps my tank clean and clear.

If you end up going with the two 250 MH lights keep in mind that the temp in your tank will rise pretty quick (unless you get a chiller or plumb your sump in a basement.) My tank is downstairs and in the summer I had to keep my MH lights on for 6 hours a day maximum and the actinics were on for 10 hours a day (2 hours before the MH and 2 hours after). I also had to run a fan on top of the tank 24 hours a day just to keep the temp. around 80 degrees. When you do this you will go through about two gallons of water a day...

I hope this helps - Jon

you know i was worried about keeping 2x250 MH's over the tank. is there enough penetration to the bottom of the tank with 2x150s? i was looking at ETS skimmers, everyone loves them. what corals are you able to keep under those lights? pics?

premilove · Nov 7, 2009

Hawkeye said:
120 aga here.

I would say you're going to hear conflicting opinions on the tangs. The two you have selected the tang police would usually recommend a 6 gallon sized tank with some strong flow. I tend to think there is no straight "formula". I mean a 120 with mounds of LR may not even be suitable for a single tang vs a 120 with minimal LR in the display and plenty of swim room might even be suitable for a trio of smaller sized tangs.

For fish I have (in order added): 2 threadfin cardinals, 1 firefish, 2 pearly jawfish, 2 mated breeding perculas (they share boss duty with the tang), 1 yt damsel (no aggression), kole tang, 1 yellow coris wrasse.

With the firefish - I'm not sure if i would mix species - that's just me though. Mind you I set up a pvc home for the firefish so that it is not carpet surfing. i have an open top tank.

pvc home for a firefish is something i am going to steal from you. i did not really intend to have too much rock work since we really want to have 2 tangs. we can't decide b/t the 2. now my mother said she wants a sailfin(desjardins?)

there's a sailfin that has significant blue and yellow striping..any ideas? i cant think of the name.. my aquascape is going to be 3 islands, and some how construct a bridge bt them all. might get a little creative with eggcrate, we shall see. thanks for the input!

Hawkeye · Nov 7, 2009

I didn't come up with the idea. The pvc home was intended for the jawfish - (they refused). I think because it's better suited for the bigger blue-spot jawfish instead of my pearlys.

Anyways - my firefish took up residence. I'm not sure if multiple ones can fit...you could try.

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=172053&st=0

There's a sailfin being sold for like $20 down in south jersey - ds4x4 is selling it.

ds4x4 · Nov 7, 2009

that looks like a Desajardini (spelling?) sailfin from the Indian Ocean. i have a Pacific sailfin for sale. 20 OBO

premilove · Nov 8, 2009

pics ?

JRWOHLER · Nov 8, 2009

I would say the Mag 9.5 if you are going with a Mag pump yes.

If check out my tank thread you can see some of the growth...as I have upgraded the bulbs I have gotten better and better results FYI. New computer so have some problems with getting my files uploaded.

Nickjr000 · Nov 8, 2009

ds4x4 said:
that looks like a Desajardini (spelling?) sailfin from the Indian Ocean. i have a Pacific sailfin for sale. 20 OBO

UGHHHH I was all over that if it were a desjardini!

Best of luck to you with the 120 my friend! My opinions... If your going to do a ton of sps, go with the 2-250 mh and gobies that don't spit so much sand. If only a few pieces, wich thats what it sound like cause you said you won't have a lot of rock, 2- 150's are good with some t-5 supplement. I had a 125 and kept some sps just fine under 150 mh. I put them on top of the rock work closest to the light. They grew like crazy.

As for the classic tang dilemma- I had a purple, yellow, sailfin, hippo, and a blonde naso in my 125 along with a bunch of other fish. Everyone was always happy. This tank was 5' long what's yours? I had a lot of rock but a lot of big holes for them to swim through. Also i was doing around 20% water changes bi-weekly, and had a 30 gallon sump. I know it was a big fish load but i got them all as babies, and kept the water clean with the changes and filters.

You can have everything perfect on paper and plan all you want, but it just never seems to work out the way you thought it would. But thats what keeps this hobby interesting.

ds4x4 · Nov 9, 2009

My 120 AGA i have the MSX250 skimming, and a Reeflo Marlin return Pump plumed into the basement. I have plenty of fish and two hippos both small with no issues. I was going to get a 2x 250w with t5's but after seeing the crazy growth on my acros and derasa clam has added 2 rings in a month or two time under a 4X54 nova t5. I vote 4 a 8x54watt t5 setup. you can get some wild colors with different bulbs and everything will color up. I had a acro that was brown under 400Watt Mh's and now it is starting to go lime green under the t5's

premilove · Nov 9, 2009

hey does your 120 have a center brace? would t5s hurt the center brace?

JRWOHLER · Nov 9, 2009

My Tech does not have center brace, my 55G FW tank has a 2bulb T5 and sits right on top of it, though it does have a splash guard, just doesn't get that hot.

ds4x4 · Nov 9, 2009

my 120 Aga has the center brace.. I do use the leg kit so it does not lay on the tank. i dont think you'll have a problem with the center brace

Nickjr000 · Nov 9, 2009

Center braces are ok just don't put any mh directly on it you'll be fine with t-5 right over it. I had a mag 12 on my 120