My new 125 gal saltwater

[josephsTropicalTanks]

Hi everyone I just setup my 125 and trying to find out how to get this tank setup properly I don’t have a good light for coral and also don’t have a protein skimmer any tips on how to setup this tank for low cost
Some one got me this tank as a birthday present

 

[blaxsun]

Do you have a sump for the tank and what are you currently running for filtration?

 

[josephsTropicalTanks]

Hi thanks for asking no I don’t have a sump
I’m runing a wave maker and also 2 1000 series Penplex canister filter
I may upgrade my system as soon is I can
Afford maybe to pick up some fx6
That is my gold to get
Also the current lighting I have it is very poor and I can’t add any coral to the tank

 

[melonheadorion]

Hi thanks for asking no I don’t have a sump
I’m runing a wave maker and also 2 1000 series Penplex canister filter
I may upgrade my system as soon is I can
Afford maybe to pick up some fx6
That is my gold to get
Also the current lighting I have it is very poor and I can’t add any coral to the tank

its up to you, but if at some point, you want to get into nice corals, you would probably better of just going a sump route, and skip the canister filter. overall, you would probably spend less on a sump setup, or come out about even than getting more than one fx6. not to say that you cant keep corals on a cannister, because i have, and still do on my small tank, but i find a sump to be much simpler maintenance wise.

sumps you can build yourself without being smart at all. hell, i made one, and have no experience with sumps previous to then. making a sump itself would cost you maybe 30 bucks. i bought a used skimmer for 80, and spent the most on the return pump, which was about 200ish.

until you do coral, you could get whatever you want for a light, since it will just be fish. you can go pretty inexpensive until then. later on, then you can upgrade lights as needed. many, including myself, opt for a chinese brand for lighting called noopsyche. when they have good sales, you can get one of their led lights for about 150. i have two on my 65g and gets me more than enough lighting to do any coral. i wouldnt look that far ahead quite yet. youre good to go with what you have right now, its just going to depend on what you want to do here in the near future

 

[jft]

Or You could keep the canister filter like I run a 125 gallon for years on 2 2217 eheims, I added a rubber maid sump for a skimmer and have run said tank without issues for 20 plus years. No nitrate issu and everything is healthy and thriving.

 

[melonheadorion]

Or You could keep the canister filter like I run a 125 gallon for years on 2 2217 eheims, I added a rubber maid sump for a skimmer and have run said tank without issues for 20 plus years. No nitrate issu and everything is healthy and thriving.

to add to this, if you have a cannister filter that has a UV in it, you could run it at JFT suggested. it would basically give you a free UV skimmer