Great Scott! Mcflys 125 reef.

[mcfly]

Sorry a little late on the start of my cron. But better late than never I suppose. I guess ill start off how it became what it is.

About 2 months ago I was just looking on Craiglist and came across 125 that some guy needed to sell immediately so needless to say I got a pretty good deal. I currently have a 40 gallon with 6 line, blue damsel, 2 clowns, with various corals, (frog spawn, orange plate, Kenya tree, various shrooms and zoo, sun coral, star polyp, some lords, and a leather) which i will eventually transfer over to the 125.

Here is what it included. The guy only had the tank and everything for about a yr so everything is in great condition.

Equipment
-125 marineland dual corner overflows (72x18x22)
-matching marineland stand and canopy
-megaflow 4 sump
-quiet one 4000 return pump
-coralife 220 protein skimmer
-auto top off with mag drive 1 pump
-coralife 4 stage RO system
-200 and 400 watt heater
-coralife wave controller
-2 koralia 4 pumps
-4 vhos and ballast
-tons of testing supplies
-bucket of salt
-cleaning magnet
-fish nets n glass scrapers
- 2 fans installed in canopy

Live stock
-150 lbs live rock (50 of it is Fiji rest is Caribbean which I am going to replace with Fiji)
-120 lbs of sand which I cleaned and am going to reuse
-clown
-urchin
-tons of snails and hermits

All for 600 bucks


I have had all of the rock in the tank along with 2 damsels for over a month now. Ammonia and nitrates and everything read zero. There are a few things I want to upgrade eventually like skimmer and return pump but they can wait for a little.

The main thing I am trying to find is lighting because the old lighting sucks. I def want metal halides. and am going to retro my own ballast and lights, but I am in a fix with what to get, if I didn’t have a center brace I would go with 3 250 watt metal halides but since I have a center brace the middle light would just be shadowed out so it would be pointless to have. So I am debating now between 2 250s or 2 400s. Most likely going to go with the 400's with mogul base. But would like some feedback. Also my canopy isn’t very tall so prob am going to have some heat problems I believe. The distance from water to canopy is 10 3/4 inches. There already is 2 computer fans installed on either side of the canopy as you can see by the picture. Also not sure about what shape of reflector. Here are some links as to what I was looking at. I am on winter break now from college so trying to get this situated away now.


What you think?
Ballast
400 Watt Metal Halide Ballast Kit
&
Reflector
Metal Halide Parabolic reflector Set w/Mogul Base - eBay (item 270217816515 end time Jan-01-09 11:23:18 PST)

Or

Kit
400 watt MH Grow Light BALLAST KIT 400w METAL HALIDE w - eBay (item 180128294797 end time Dec-28-08 06:53:39 PST)


Actinic
36'' 2X 39 T5 HO Retro Aquarium Light Brand New + BULBS - eBay (item 190272906718 end time Dec-19-08 09:03:42 PST)

Anyone see any problems with this lighting or think I am going to have to get a chiller or any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[blue_eyes53813]

Wow What a deal.... Nice tank..

 

[mcfly]

thanks, I get to order lights this week for christmas, i cant wait, i think i am going with the 2 400 watt bulbs n the bat wing reflector, hopefully the fans will keep my tank cool enough and my aquarium temp doesnt shoot through the roof.

 

[mcfly]

I added my sand last monday not sure how much it is about inch deep or so nice happy medium. I got the sand when i bought the tank and just rinsed it until it was clean. Glad i saved it, bc it saved me some money. I also added my rock on tuesday and began breaking my 40 gallon reef down, so took the remaining fiji rock out of it and sat my corals on the bottom which i will add next sunday when i am finished building my lights. here are some pictures.

 

[sambrinar]

Nice setup, sweet deal, keep the picts coming

 

[mcfly]

Heres beginning adding the rock, about 80 lbs of fiji that is all going in and about 100 of random base and caribean live rock that i will pick through and sell the rest when done.

caribbean

caribbean

caribbean

fiji

fiji

Purple purple rock from my 40 gallon reef

Finally all aquascaped i am done with that, but still not satisfied probally going to redo the left side at some pt just tired right now

 

[sambrinar]

I like the scape, it's interesting

 

[Lee]

 

[AndtheBonus]

Looks great! Keep us updated!

 

[mcfly]

Got my lights all installed and mounted and running. and sometime maybe today will be transfering all my corals over to the 125.

2 400 watt metal halides with Ge ballast. (40 dollars a peice plus 18 shipping)

my 20 dollar retro ballast box, made out of a huskey tool box that i got from home depot, will eventually make a wooden cabinet for it

My reflector times 2 (30 dollars a peice plus 15 shipping)

Moon lights (8 bulbs total)

 

[Rue]

Looks great! Part of me would love a huge tank...and then there's the other part of me that's pretty sure I'd find it overwhelming...lol...

p.s. I like the mix of LR and snowflakes in the one photo

 

[mcfly]

p.s. I like the mix of LR and snowflakes in the one photo

ya ha some girls decorated my house and tank for christmas and i had pulled them down.



got one picture off before my battery died so not the best, but finally got all my corals transfered over.

 

[dfurbee]

Looks nice!

 

[cheeks69]

Great looking setup and deal, love the aquascape !

AFA the lighting is concerned 400 watters is overkill in an 22" tall tank and a chiller will be a necessity IMHO. Also the skimmer is weak for a system this size and I would recommend an upgrade. Which bulbs are you using ?

 

[chrome91]

definitely agree with cheeks, 400w on a 22" tall tank is alot. i have a 250w halide and 150w halide on my 125g and the 250w is bright as heck, 400w are best on 26"+ deep tanks

 

[mcfly]

Ya I debated back and forth between 2 400 watts or 2 250s, diff. People said diff things, I talked to 2 people with 3 400 watt bulbs on their 125 which blew my mind as y u would need that much, but as for temp, ya I figured I would prob need a chiller in the summer time bc we rarely use our heatin/coolin system, so far the water temp is cold still n I have been usin heaters but my house is also 64 degrees, but I know ill def need one when warmer weather comes, so I am goin to try n save about 20 bucks a week so by the time spring comes it won't be such a big out of pocket expense.

Ya the skimmer sucks, it is such a pain and always is over flowing. I have been debating on which one I should get, I have prob been looking into the asm g series or the terminator 2 the most. Any opinions?

Can't remeber the brand of bulbs I have but the they are 14k, also I just ordered a set of 36inch T5s for my actinics that will hopefully be on their by next week.

 

[lcstorc]

Off to a great start.
Love the scape and looks like you have some really nice structure to start putting corals on.
I love the ASM G series skimmers but you probably already know that. (I say it a lot.) I have a very similar tank and have a G4+ which is total overkill. I just overfeed and like to overskim. I would say a G3 would be great.

 

[mcfly]

Been a while since i updated been busy with school but have battled a diatom alage outbreak which is gone and have some hair alage now which i have been trying to figure out the source of the phospates, but have been looking into buying a phosphate reactor to run all the time. I also since then have add the asm g3 to my sump which i love and a 7 gallon refuge which is the biggest size i can fit under there. Anyways check it out let me know if you have any question or comments or concerns