May Be Getting 125g... Advice

[Kip Hodges]

My girlfriend's cousin is getting rid of his 125 gallon. As far as I can tell, it's a standard 6' 125g all glass tank with a 72" coralife cf light and a nice eheim pro 3 canister filter. He says there's also enough live rock to fill up at least 1 5 gallon bucket, and all the misc stuff you'd expect: heater, food, powerheads, etc.

First of all, how much would you pay for a setup like that?

I kind of wanted something reef ready, but I was thinking about buying it from him and then drilling it with the glassholes.com kit.

Does anyone have an opinion on wether or not the eheim would be sufficient filtration?

It will probably stay a fish only tank for a little while but I'd eventually like to expand it to a full reef someday, right now it's got some shrooms and thats about it.

I love big tanks, but I am kind of wary to buy something that is not exactly what I want. He said if I don't buy it he is going to just return it to the fish store. I was hinking about telling him to ask the store what they'd take for it and I would at least match it...

 

[reefnut1]

The 6 foot 125 is a nice tank for making a reef tank down the road.

I guessing it has a decent looking stand with it. If so I would say 300 - 500 range with all you have listed.

I do not care much for the canister filter but it would probably support fish and mushrooms and other softies.

You will need more live rock than that at some point and a good quality protein skimmer. But for a start it seems ok.

 

[StupidsReef]

Canister filter's are nitrate factory's. You don't want or need that. They can not allow the exchange of oxygen to take place beings they are a sealed unit. Therefor the water coming back out is depleted of or is very poor in oxygen and full of nitrates. If the tank isn't what you really want then don't buy it. If you are confident about be a DIY kind of person and you can drill the tank and don't mind doing it, then I'd say buy it.


reefnut, nice to see another reefer from GC IL. Where abouts in GC?? I'm over by Wilson School off of Maryville Rd.
:wavehand:

 

[zt444a]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13540630#post13540630 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by StupidsReef
Canister filter's are nitrate factory's. You don't want or need that. They can not allow the exchange of oxygen to take place beings they are a sealed unit. Therefor the water coming back out is depleted of or is very poor in oxygen and full of nitrates. If the tank isn't what you really want then don't buy it. If you are confident about be a DIY kind of person and you can drill the tank and don't mind doing it, then I'd say buy it.


reefnut, nice to see another reefer from GC IL. Where abouts in GC?? I'm over by Wilson School off of Maryville Rd.
:wavehand:

Stu is very right on this one. A canister filter is ok for "polishing" the water, but as 24/7 filtration, not so good. And i a 125, I'd say you need at least 200 pounds of live rock. They say 3 pounds to a gallon, but some go less with a very good skimmer and very low bioload.

 

[StupidsReef]

That and if you drill it, you have to put in the overflow kit. And now you need a return pump and then a sump. And if you want sand for a 125 IMO I'd go for about 200 LBS. A skimmer that is rated for 250 gph or more. The light might be ok for a FOWLR but not for SPS and some LPS.

 

[zt444a]

Think the light might grow softies, maybe even an LPS placed in the upper third ?, but get new bulbs for it to be on the safe side

 

[reefnut1]

STUPIDSREEF WE LIVE VERY CLOSE. I am on Benning just one block off of maryville road.

 

[bmrescort]

2 years ago I assembled a reef ready tank in my family room. After I purchased the tank I spent 8 months buying all the support equipment- skimmer, pump, lights, powerheads etc etc. If you want a reef tank 6 months down the road then by all means buy the equipment now that will support that tank and just grow into it. DO NOT buy something now that will get you by only to have to buy something better when you want to have a reef tank.
It is much cheaper to buy equipment once than twice. I spent between 3-4000.00 on my tank completely but that included the Cherry tank stand and canopy with the tank.

So plan ahead and buy your equipment once and save money and you will be so glad that you did down the road.

 

[Kip Hodges]

Thanks for the advice everyone!!

I'm waiting on an email back right now, I think that if the price is right I'm gonna go for it. If not, I will troll around and wait for a good deal to come through...

 

[ebacon]

i would suggest craigs list and not buying a tank that isnt already drilled too much hassel
so in oter words look for a deal on craigs list and get a tank that is pre drilled. then the very next thing you need to buy is a RO system. Reverse osmosis... dont even THINK about putting adrop of water in the tank that dosent come from a RO with 0ppm. Check out melevs reef for more advice on this topic

 

[ebacon]

oh yeah also there is a pod cast out there called reefcast.. very informative

 

[Kip Hodges]

Yeah after the amount of trips I made to the lfs for RO when I had 900 watts of single ended metal halide power on my old 125rr, I will never go without an rodi ever again. Made life so easy when I finally got one for my 58rr.

I met up with a guy who is moving to KC and will have a 125rr ready for pick up when he moves in mid-December...

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1489156&highlight=125

Hoping that its as nice as he says it is... also gives me time to kind of start slowly getting money and supplies together before then.

I'm excited to be able to get back in after my bittersweet hiatus!

 

[Goalie66]

If it falls through I have a lead on a 125 setup that is a good price and is currently saltwater. Let me know if interested and i can get you pictures.

 

[Kip Hodges]

Pm sent

 

[El Diablo]

I just went through having to drill my tank and doing the plumbing I loved how it turned out but in the long run it would have been cheaper to buy a tank that was already drilled.