First Reef 120g

[Bixby'sMenagerie]

Hello fellow fishy peoples, this is my first time on this forum. Apologies in advance for the wall of text. I've been keeping freshwater fish for about a year now and have been waiting for an opportunity to start a salt tank once I had some experience and a good starter tank. I am currently cycling up a pond for my 120g tank residents so I can plumb it and add some salt.


I have all my equipment together for my first marine tank. (For starters anyway) Time to start thinking about stock, thought Id ask reefer opinions as I am still watching vids and reading articles while I'm waiting to set up.
120g 4'x2' with 29g sump w/refugium 48" corallife light with 9 bulbs (4 100w actinic, 2 metal halides, 3 small blue ones) in it. Cant find a model name as its a bit dated. 1200gph sump pump and a 250gph powerhead. 120ish lbs live rock 70ish lbs sand. Protien skimmer rated for a 120, 2 heaters.

I want to start with some basic corals like mushrooms and such. Not sure what this light will grow. Only other thing I know for sure on is a pair of ocellaris clowns w/bubbletip anemone. Considering a kole tang (as last fish in?) But not sure if tank is big enough for It's entire life. Not planning on upgrading to a larger tank for quite some time. What would you put in here? "Reef safe" "non aggressive" fish and critters only. Also only would like to feed 1 time per day.

 

[mike550]

@Bixby'sMenagerie welcome to R2R. I started with a 120 as well, but you are already way ahead of when I started! Just a few thoughts for you to consider.

Definitely consider building your own RODI / mixing station. I end up doing weekly water changes of 15-20G so it makes way more sense to make your own. Plus you have complete control over your water. Mine is a simple 35G Brute that I use to make RODI, take some out for top off etc. Then make the saltwater I need.

Auto Top Off will be a great addition to your gear. As you add corals you’ll want to consider a doser at some point.

Finally, on the fish and corals. Take your time. You’ll see all over this board how people discuss whether a tank is mature or not. What I’ve learned is that there are no quick solutions or fixes. A stable tank is key to success.

Good luck!

 

[tnewell]

Well first off welcome to reef2reef! Is there anyway you can post pictures of tank/equipment? I’m not familiar with coral life lights, but with a quick google search it should be fine with softies! Starter corals are usually along the lines of Duncan’s, gsp, clove polyps, zoas, etc. note that there is no garuntee that your clowns and anemone will host, it’s taken mine 5 months to host, and it’s just the male. Take precautionary measures, as the anenome will grow 2-5x the size you bought it as. Along with a pair of clowns, i personally would get 2 bottom dwellers and maybe a angel or 2. Wish
I could be more specific but I only have a 29gal so only know about dwarf angels.

i only feed my tank about 1-2 times a day, be careful though, shrimps and other fish who are hungry might get aggresive.

 

[Bixby'sMenagerie]

Here is the tank currently hosting my larger fancy goldfish.

 

[Bixby'sMenagerie]

@Bixby'sMenagerie welcome to R2R. I started with a 120 as well, but you are already way ahead of when I started! Just a few thoughts for you to consider.

Definitely consider building your own RODI / mixing station. I end up doing weekly water changes of 15-20G so it makes way more sense to make your own. Plus you have complete control over your water. Mine is a simple 35G Brute that I use to make RODI, take some out for top off etc. Then make the saltwater I need.

Auto Top Off will be a great addition to your gear. As you add corals you’ll want to consider a doser at some point.

Finally, on the fish and corals. Take your time. You’ll see all over this board how people discuss whether a tank is mature or not. What I’ve learned is that there are no quick solutions or fixes. A stable tank is key to success.

Good luck!

A good RODI system is definitely on my list of stuff to buy before I set up, right next to the saltwater test kit and rock. I tend to WC all dozen or so tanks on the same day and compared to goldfish the weekly WC will be muuch smaller.

 

[Bixby'sMenagerie]

And here is the light, what i think is the parts for the skimmer and some sorta sump box loaded with bioballs that sits in the first third of so of a 29g just fine. Plumbing that might have to be it's own discussion lol.

 

[Bixby'sMenagerie]

And here is the light, what i think is the parts for the skimmer and some sorta sump box loaded with bioballs that sits in the first third of so of a 29g just fine. Plumbing that might have to be it's own discussion

Well first off welcome to reef2reef! Is there anyway you can post pictures of tank/equipment? I’m not familiar with coral life lights, but with a quick google search it should be fine with softies! Starter corals are usually along the lines of Duncan’s, gsp, clove polyps, zoas, etc. note that there is no garuntee that your clowns and anemone will host, it’s taken mine 5 months to host, and it’s just the male. Take precautionary measures, as the anenome will grow 2-5x the size you bought it as. Along with a pair of clowns, i personally would get 2 bottom dwellers and maybe a angel or 2. Wish
I could be more specific but I only have a 29gal so only know about dwarf angels.

i only feed my tank about 1-2 times a day, be careful though, shrimps and other fish who are hungry might get aggresive.

I was prepared for the clowns to possibly not host for quite some time. Especially as they will probably be the only fish for several months. I want to let this tank mature well. For bottom feeders was definitely considering a goby and or blenny and sand sifter star. As for angels I think they are beautiful (have a tank full of freshwater ones) but wanted more opinions before I got them as I read a few places even the dwarf species can go ham on some coral.

 

[Rmckoy]

Welcome .....

First things first .
take your time .
as you’re in the planning stage ,
Plan everything you want to stock and build your system around it .
See if you can find something on the skimmer .
ideally a skimmer you want to go bigger than the actual volume as most companies ratings are off . Bigger skimmer isn’t a bad thing when it comes to removing unwanted organics .

the mh and t5 lights will work but not knowing exactly I’m not 100% sure what they are enough for .
Next the return pump . There used to be a formula suggesting how many times a return pump needs to turn over the volume of a reef setup ..

I can’t honestly remember the number .
For example though .
I have a 15000 l dc pump on my 230 and I thought it was under .

thats 3962 gph
As I’ve read here there are so many variables when it comes to pump ratings and most almost none actually put out what they’re rated for .
Looking forward to seeing pictures of the 120 becoming a reef .

cheers

 

[Rmckoy]

And here is the light, what i think is the parts for the skimmer and some sorta sump box loaded with bioballs that sits in the first third of so of a 29g just fine. Plumbing that might have to be it's own discussion

I was prepared for the clowns to possibly not host for quite some time. Especially as they will probably be the only fish for several months. I want to let this tank mature well. For bottom feeders was definitely considering a goby and or blenny and sand sifter star. As for angels I think they are beautiful (have a tank full of freshwater ones) but wanted more opinions before I got them as I read a few places even the dwarf species can go ham on some coral.

Same as butterflyfish in nature they eat corals .
I have had juv emperors with sps , euphillia , Xenia and palys and the corals were fine .
I’ve had dwarf angels pick at corals , some don’t .
it’s not or miss and every fish varies .

 

[Bixby'sMenagerie]

Welcome .....

First things first .
take your time .
as you’re in the planning stage ,
Plan everything you want to stock and build your system around it .
See if you can find something on the skimmer .
ideally a skimmer you want to go bigger than the actual volume as most companies ratings are off . Bigger skimmer isn’t a bad thing when it comes to removing unwanted organics .

the mh and t5 lights will work but not knowing exactly I’m not 100% sure what they are enough for .
Next the return pump . There used to be a formula suggesting how many times a return pump needs to turn over the volume of a reef setup ..

I can’t honestly remember the number .
For example though .
I have a 15000 l dc pump on my 230 and I thought it was under .

thats 3962 gph
As I’ve read here there are so many variables when it comes to pump ratings and most almost none actually put out what they’re rated for .
Looking forward to seeing pictures of the 120 becoming a reef .

cheers

The skimmer is large enough I might have to go with a prebuilt hob one to have room for anything else in the sump. As for planning around what I want to keep, I still have not decided on a centerpiece fish. I like oddballs, and it’s a decent sized tank so I would like at least 1 good sized fish. As for the return pump I have a 1200 gph mag pump.

 

[tnewell]

And here is the light, what i think is the parts for the skimmer and some sorta sump box loaded with bioballs that sits in the first third of so of a 29g just fine. Plumbing that might have to be it's own discussion

I was prepared for the clowns to possibly not host for quite some time. Especially as they will probably be the only fish for several months. I want to let this tank mature well. For bottom feeders was definitely considering a goby and or blenny and sand sifter star. As for angels I think they are beautiful (have a tank full of freshwater ones) but wanted more opinions before I got them as I read a few places even the dwarf species can go ham on some coral.

It’s a hit or miss with dwarf angels, had a flame angel but my clowns bullied it to death. If you plan on adding a angel, I might add that first so angels don’t gang up on it.

 

[Bixby'sMenagerie]

Hello fellow fishy peoples, this is my first time on this forum. Apologies in advance for the wall of text. I've been keeping freshwater fish for about a year now and have been waiting for an opportunity to start a salt tank once I had some experience and a good starter tank. I am currently cycling up a pond for my 120g tank residents so I can plumb it and add some salt.


I have all my equipment together for my first marine tank. (For starters anyway) Time to start thinking about stock, thought Id ask reefer opinions as I am still watching vids and reading articles while I'm waiting to set up.
120g 4'x2' with 29g sump w/refugium 48" corallife light with 9 bulbs (4 100w actinic, 2 metal halides, 3 small blue ones) in it. Cant find a model name as its a bit dated. 1200gph sump pump and a 250gph powerhead. 120ish lbs live rock 70ish lbs sand. Protien skimmer rated for a 120, 2 heaters.

I want to start with some basic corals like mushrooms and such. Not sure what this light will grow. Only other thing I know for sure on is a pair of ocellaris clowns w/bubbletip anemone. Considering a kole tang (as last fish in?) But not sure if tank is big enough for It's entire life. Not planning on upgrading to a larger tank for quite some time. What would you put in here? "Reef safe" "non aggressive" fish and critters only. Also only would like to feed 1 time per day.

So just an update I finally have the tank running and will be picking up my clowns in a few days.