Starting 125 need advice
- Thread starter ncox38
- Start date
Reggae Fish
Premium Member
I think he got some good responses for an hour and 40 minutes :lol:
Koddie Doo
Czar of All ThingsAwesome
great point doen't everyone have a fish room???
my opinion as bad as i am take it for what it is worth,
urgoing to put a lot of rock in there i assume? i would go with mostly base rock and seed the top with LR lot less expensive and the base will turn into lr eventullay if you keep it going,
take that money buy a beer
how much LR were u going to get # wise?
Koddie Doo
Czar of All ThingsAwesome
5 min of me typing with one finger and ur going to take off? lol
ncox38
New member
Sorry, I had try to get some sleep. I was going to start with 100 -125 # of LR. Now that Im going to be spending an extra 150 on the skimmer I will definitely have to do some base rock. I wasnt planning on it at first because the stuff they had at gateway was pure white. I thought the tank would look funny with patches of white shining through the spaces between the good stuff.
Another question, whats everybody's opinion on UVS? I have one on my current tank and it did me a lot of good. I had a few disease/ parasite out breaks about a year ago, wiped out everything but my rummy nose nose tetra's and a big angel. With the proper QT rules followed is this a necessary purchase?
Another question, whats everybody's opinion on UVS? I have one on my current tank and it did me a lot of good. I had a few disease/ parasite out breaks about a year ago, wiped out everything but my rummy nose nose tetra's and a big angel. With the proper QT rules followed is this a necessary purchase?
TropTrea
New member
My strongest recomendation on lighting especially if your on an initial budget is this.
Go for the heighest possible PAR initially. The imain lights are basicly your biggest investment which you do not want to have to redo at a later time because you cannot suport the particular coral which you desire.
Working with a 125 gallon tank we have a 6 foot long tank with three sections each 2' long. If you cannot afford three lights initially then go with two one on each of the end sections. Yes use either 6,500K or 10,000K units to get that par up. At a lter date when you can afford it add the third bulb in the center which does not have to be quite as powerful as the end bulbs. Here you can go with a 14K, 15K or even a 20K dependent upon your eye sensitivity in color.
Remember it always easier to add addittional blue light than is to add PAR. So while ytou may not be overly anxious now for added attinic lighting you can aways do so in the future if you desire to.
Dennis
Go for the heighest possible PAR initially. The imain lights are basicly your biggest investment which you do not want to have to redo at a later time because you cannot suport the particular coral which you desire.
Working with a 125 gallon tank we have a 6 foot long tank with three sections each 2' long. If you cannot afford three lights initially then go with two one on each of the end sections. Yes use either 6,500K or 10,000K units to get that par up. At a lter date when you can afford it add the third bulb in the center which does not have to be quite as powerful as the end bulbs. Here you can go with a 14K, 15K or even a 20K dependent upon your eye sensitivity in color.
Remember it always easier to add addittional blue light than is to add PAR. So while ytou may not be overly anxious now for added attinic lighting you can aways do so in the future if you desire to.
Dennis
Im Lon 2
Premium Member
A lot of people don't like base rock, I for one am not one of them. I have 240 #'s of Base and 82 #'s Live rock.. And there is only a few pieces (because of shapes) that I can tell the difference.
I would try to do as much Live rock as you can afford at the time.
My rock started getting color with in 2-3 months, and was fully covered in coraline with in a year.
TropTrea
New member
I'll definatly agree and combining base rock with live rock. Especially on larger tanks. Look at it this way some say 3 lbs of LR per gallon, so for a 125 gallon that would be 375 lbs. Now with prices from $5.00 to $10.00 per pound your talking $1870 to $3750 for live rock.
If you combine 75% base rock to 25% live rock your now talking 97 lbs of live rock plus about 250 lbs of base rock. Big big financial savings here.
If you combine 75% base rock to 25% live rock your now talking 97 lbs of live rock plus about 250 lbs of base rock. Big big financial savings here.
TropTrea
New member
I'll definatly agree and combining base rock with live rock. Especially on larger tanks. Look at it this way some say 3 lbs of LR per gallon, so for a 125 gallon that would be 375 lbs. Now with prices from $5.00 to $10.00 per pound your talking $1870 to $3750 for live rock.
If you combine 75% base rock to 25% live rock your now talking 97 lbs of live rock plus about 250 lbs of base rock. Big big financial savings here.
If you combine 75% base rock to 25% live rock your now talking 97 lbs of live rock plus about 250 lbs of base rock. Big big financial savings here.
TropTrea
New member
Besides the financial savings there is the conservation issues.
Now as far as looks goes between 3 and 6 months you will not be able to tell the two apart. Besides that all live rocdk was at one time base rock or dead rock and within 3 to 5 years there will not b e any difference between your old base rock and real live rock.
However one thing I do strongly recommend. That is to get your live rock from multiple sources and type. This will help insure a greater level of bio-diversity. Sure it is tempting to get that 100 lb box at a slightly lower cost, but if you get 4 25 lb boxes from 4 different reefs you will have a much wider variety of oranisms introduced to your system.
Dennis
Now as far as looks goes between 3 and 6 months you will not be able to tell the two apart. Besides that all live rocdk was at one time base rock or dead rock and within 3 to 5 years there will not b e any difference between your old base rock and real live rock.
However one thing I do strongly recommend. That is to get your live rock from multiple sources and type. This will help insure a greater level of bio-diversity. Sure it is tempting to get that 100 lb box at a slightly lower cost, but if you get 4 25 lb boxes from 4 different reefs you will have a much wider variety of oranisms introduced to your system.
Dennis
Koddie Doo
Czar of All ThingsAwesome
when u hit the brown stage you will be beggin for the white to come back!!!
Koddie Doo
Czar of All ThingsAwesome
3#'s ,1# it is all the density of the rock, i have heard 1 # per gallon then i got a 30# piece same size as a 10# piece i already had, its all based on looks.
i like buying LR from stores, u can see the pieces that u like and build it in your mind, instead of relying on companys to pick pieces,
plus there are a lot of hichhikers you can pick out, the largest thing in my tank is the rock covered with 50 button polyops on it, all free by the way!!!!
when it comes to placement of the rock it is in my opionion that you need to raise the rock off the sand to avoid nitrate build up,
i made an acrlic stand that is practicaly invisable that does this for me
i like buying LR from stores, u can see the pieces that u like and build it in your mind, instead of relying on companys to pick pieces,
plus there are a lot of hichhikers you can pick out, the largest thing in my tank is the rock covered with 50 button polyops on it, all free by the way!!!!
when it comes to placement of the rock it is in my opionion that you need to raise the rock off the sand to avoid nitrate build up,
i made an acrlic stand that is practicaly invisable that does this for me
