NEW 125g setup build

[SaltwaterFishy]

PLEASE READ THE WHOLE POST
Recently bought a 125g setup for $500, came with lights, 50g wet/dry sump, lids, stand, 100+ lbs of rock + sand and of course, the tank. I plan on making this my new main setup/display tank.

I am looking for recommendations if I could put any more fish in or how I should set up this tank.

My current tank set up is a 90g Marineland corner-flow (FOWLR)
- 2 long-spine porcupine fish (These two are around 3" as of now, no aggression.) (1st puffer introduced July 23rd 2024, 2nd puffer introduced March 25th, 2025)
- Hawaiian yellow tang 4" (December 2024)
- Coral Beauty 3" (September 2024)
- Royal Gamma Basslet 3" (September 2024)
- Clarkii clown PAIR (February 2025)
- Domino clown (single) (November 2024)

Please keep in mind I am aware of how large these puffers grow, we are moving in about a year and I don't want to risk moving an over 200+ gallon tank to another state. Planning to upgrade to either a Saltwater pond after we move or a monster tank.

 

[PPBlimpy]

I currently have a 125 mixed reef with 14 fish total.

5" porcupine puffer
juvenile emperor angle
med sailfin tang,
medium powder brown tang
med to small purple tank
medium blue hippo tang
coral beauty
flame angel
singapore angel
pair of clowns
mandarin dragonette
blue chromis
yellow tail damsel

i don't see why you couldn't ad more, as long as you have enough rock, filteration is big enough, good skimmer etc.

not knowing more about what is under your tank limits us to guessing. In my experience a wet/dry is a freshwater thing.

normal water changes have to be the normal.

should be fine

 

[SaltwaterFishy]

I currently have a 125 mixed reef with 14 fish total.

5" porcupine puffer
juvenile emperor angle
med sailfin tang,
medium powder brown tang
med to small purple tank
medium blue hippo tang
coral beauty
flame angel
singapore angel
pair of clowns
mandarin dragonette
blue chromis
yellow tail damsel

i don't see why you couldn't ad more, as long as you have enough rock, filteration is big enough, good skimmer etc.

not knowing more about what is under your tank limits us to guessing. In my experience a wet/dry is a freshwater thing.

normal water changes have to be the normal.

should be fine

I'm not sure yet if I'm sticking with the sump setup, the dude who had the tank previously had it as FOWLR with a bunch of large angels which he sold before selling me the tank, I was planning on hooking up underneath of it 2x C360 (360gph) canisters since I'm running a C360 currently on my 90g.
I've never been much of a sump person, as much as I'd like to attempt a sump, I've tried before and had no success.

 

[PPBlimpy]

I'm not sure yet if I'm sticking with the sump setup, the dude who had the tank previously had it as FOWLR with a bunch of large angels which he sold before selling me the tank, I was planning on hooking up underneath of it 2x C360 (360gph) canisters since I'm running a C360 currently on my 90g.
I've never been much of a sump person, as much as I'd like to attempt a sump, I've tried before and had no success.

can you post a picture of the sump?

 

[SaltwaterFishy]

can you post a picture of the sump?

I'm not home currently but it is a WD-200CS Eshopps I believe, approx 25 gallons

 

[PPBlimpy]

on a fish only that sump should be fine. the bio ball will break down everything pretty well to nitrates pretty easily.

do you have a skimmer? that will help reduce a lot of the waste. if you dont and need to pick one up go oversized. specd for a heavily loaded 125+

 

[SaltwaterFishy]

on a fish only that sump should be fine. the bio ball will break down everything pretty well to nitrates pretty easily.

do you have a skimmer? that will help reduce a lot of the waste. if you dont and need to pick one up go oversized. specd for a heavily loaded 125+

Like I had said previously, I usually avoid sumps completely. Tried to attempt one and ended up flooding my guest room floor, it's just not exactly my cup of tea to mess with. This is why I had suggested that I may be doing 2x C360 (365gph) for both corner overflows.

 

[PPBlimpy]

sumps arent bad as long as they are set up correctly. yours should be fine.

as long as you can kill the power and it doesnt overflow your good. make sure you have a syphon break on your returns and dont run the sump to high, then you can fit a real skimmer. i ran hob skimmers and they dont compare

 

[Devaji]

IMHO sale the sump. get a 40br or 60br DIY a basic sump there not hard at all.

that would not only give you more H20 volume but room for skimmer,fuge/ATS and retur section.

just keep in mind if you know you will be moving you will have to rehome the fish you get or do you plan taking them with you?