Starting over again- advice appreciated

[jandlms]

So here is my sorry tale. I have been out of the reefkeeping hobby for going on three years. My last reef was a 92 gallon mixed reef with a thin sand bed for aesthetics. Water left the reef and flowed into a75 gallon tank with a skimmer section and a deep sand bed section. The water then flowed thru a macro algae refugium before flowing back to the main tank.
My wife and I are retiring and building the retirement home in the Ozarks. I would like to again set up a reef system with the display in the 125 gallon range. A dedicated fish room has been roughed in behind the tanks location. My problem is one of indecision. What is the best system, most effective, most updated whatever to set up? I have plenty of time and resources to set up the dream system. What I lack is the plan. What is currently the prevailing opinion on the best system to set up?
i am open to any ideas that are tossed my way and would greatly appreciate any and all advice.
Sand bed or bare bottom?
Skimmer brand?
Lighting?
Dosing apparatus?
Live rock or manufactured reef structure?
Any ideas would be appreciated

 

[laverda]

So much of what your asking boils down to personal preferences. Ask 10 reefers and you will get 10 opinions. First thing you need to decide is what you plan to keep both fish and coral wise.
Personally I really like the natural look of a sand bed. I also keep wrasses and dragonets that sleep in the sand.
I run a modified old school ASM skimmer with a newer pump. It is a set it and forget it set up that skims well. Most on here would laugh at it.
There are so many good choices for lighting it can be overwhelming. For me astetics were important on my current tank as i wanted a clean look and I did not want to deal with a canopy. Budget was also a very important part of the choice as I was not working when I bought my lights. I chose to use two 4’ fixtures on my eight foot tank. One reason I it did not require 8 electrical cords and 8 hanging cables like the other lights I first started to use on the tank.
I have used a bunch of different dosing pumps over the years. I have not had very good results for a variety of reasons. Mostly reliability, Stay away from the cheap ones and not so cheap ones. The BRS ones have been long lasting, but rely on being controlled by something else. I have not used the new Versa dosing pumps, as friends have had good results. I have been looking for the 4 pack for a while now, as no one has them in stock.
Again I would not even consider setting up a reef tank without at least a fair bit of true live rock. I just read and see to many problems that people have using dry rock. Plus they often end up getting the pests they are so worried about trying to keep out of their tank anyway. Just qt your live rock if your worried about a best or two.
I find keeping things simple is the best way to do things. One of those simple things is a new ATS to control algae in the tank. They can easily be incorporated for less than $30. See my DIY thread on DIY ATS for under $30 for some ideas.
Welcome back and good luck,

 

[jandlms]

Thanks laverda!
Unfortunately no other replies so ten different reefkeepers can’t give ten different opinions.

 

[Reefacist]

Watch some vids. I am in process of doing my first ever fish tank (coral and fish). Are you going to want to keep coral or just fish? And how automated are you going to want this project to be.

 

[Sebastiancrab]

Thanks laverda!
Unfortunately no other replies so ten different reefkeepers can’t give ten different opinions.

Suggest you email one or two of the reefsquad folks. If you watch on the right hand side, you can see who is online. Welcome back to the hobby! You will get varying opinions because most folks have different goals or preferences. Bulk Reef Supply has great videos on the latest greatest. I am new this year to the hobby and am upgrading now. So I am trying to figure out what I want too. You are not alone by any means. Go slow and research and get different opinions. That is the challenge and fun of the hobby, I find.

 

[I’ma tempermental coral]

First off!

Second, let’s see if we can get some more opinions in here. Lol. While I don’t feel there is a “best” there are a ton of great options. And if money is of no consequence many good companies will even customs build things like sumps and skimmers. Trigger systems comes to mind for me at least when it comes to sumps. Radions are still among the gold standard for lighting even with the recent manufacturing issues in my opinion. That said if heat and power usage isn’t a problem for you I will ALWAYS recommend halides. These are just a few of my opinions I figured I’d throw into the fray let’s see if we can get some others! @ReefSquad?

 

[Ippyroy]

Congrats on the retirement.I'd personally say go for the 150 gallon size. A 5 foot tank allows for a lot more different fish and the lighting and other equipment is about the same. I am a huge fan of the Hybrid style lighting systems out there. T5s and a kessil provide the look that I personally prefer. The Apex system is fantastic to run everything and is relatively easy to set up and lots of people on here and elsewhere that are quick to help with any questions on it.
I personally wouldn't be able to have a bare bottom tank. I have to have sand for the aesthetics alone, plus I don't like being limited to fewer livestock like snails and fish.
I would recommend checking out BRS and Ryan Batchler's 360 tank build. It will give you some ideas on the newer thought processes as well as updates to some of the older ideas that have been tweeked.
Good Luck and start a build thread for us.

 

[BeltedCoyote]

One of the thinks that’s really influencing my equipment list for the build I’m slowly chipping away at is my stocking lists.

any idea what corals you want to keep?

how about the fish on your list?

 

[Pistondog]

So here is my sorry tale. I have been out of the reefkeeping hobby for going on three years. My last reef was a 92 gallon mixed reef with a thin sand bed for aesthetics. Water left the reef and flowed into a75 gallon tank with a skimmer section and a deep sand bed section. The water then flowed thru a macro algae refugium before flowing back to the main tank.
My wife and I are retiring and building the retirement home in the Ozarks. I would like to again set up a reef system with the display in the 125 gallon range. A dedicated fish room has been roughed in behind the tanks location. My problem is one of indecision. What is the best system, most effective, most updated whatever to set up? I have plenty of time and resources to set up the dream system. What I lack is the plan. What is currently the prevailing opinion on the best system to set up?
i am open to any ideas that are tossed my way and would greatly appreciate any and all advice.
Sand bed or bare bottom?
Skimmer brand?
Lighting?
Dosing apparatus?
Live rock or manufactured reef structure?
Any ideas would be appreciated

Welcome jandims.
I like reef octo elite series
Dc pumps for adjustment and quiet
Sand and Live rock, I got some shipped from the gulf farmed with great color and critters.
Kessil or ai leds
Automate with apex to keep an eye on things

 

[jandlms]

I’m leaning toward LED for the lighting. I just don’t like the heat generated by halides and as the tank is going to be in Arkansas I appreciate the Kessil suggestion. I will investigate.
Do to size constraints for the Area I plan to keep the tank I will have to probably stick with a 120 gallon tank. My current thought is to have a very large sump system to add volume to the system in hopes of increasing stability.
My last tank had a very large (150 gallon) sump consisting of three tanks. First a 20 gallon tank that was basically a bubble and detritus trap. This flowed into a 55 gallon divided into a deep sand chamber and a skimmer chamber. This dropped into a 75 gallon tank with a heater chamber and a lit macroalgae refugium chamber as well as a small compartment for returning to the display.
This sump system had a display on my main floor with the sump in the basement. Good news is i don’t need (now) giant return pump to send water vertically 12 feet up to the display. Bad news is I don’t have the luxury of being able to position these tanks vertically to utilize gravity for the sump to function.
I am picturing a long horizontal sump at least six feet long with multiple chambers. Maybe a 125 gallon tank? I would want a macroalgae chamber, a chemical chamber, a skimmer section, possible a rubble chamber, a deep sand bed somewhere in her maybe with a plenum, a return chamber and hopefully a crypto refugium. Starting to sound like I need a bigger boat. Any ideas? Especially about the order of the chambers and the relative sizes.
i will review some of the recommended videos before posting/responding here. Thanks to all the responders. Your advice is greatly appreciated as I still consider myself a newb regarding reefkeeping.
Dang but it’s fun talking shop about reefing with everyone again.