I need help on what I need to buy or do.

Need Help What to buy and setting up my New 125 Gallon Saltwater Aquarium?

• I just bought a 125 gallon oceanic aquarium from a guy locally. With the purchase he gave me A LOT of stuff. I have never done saltwater and think that I am going to try it this time. I would like to do a Saltwater Reef Tank. With my purchase, he gave me 3 Filstar Xp3 Canister filters, Angstrom 25W UV sterilizer, multiple powerheads,and a full RO/DI system, and much more. The reason for my post is that I was curious how to set this full system up. And What I need to buy additionally. First things first he gave me 2 35"Coralife florescent lights. I know that this will not be sufficient but I was curious what type of lighting I need to get. I also have a 48" Coralife T5 light with both the 10000k and blue Bulb. I really would like to know which lighting would be cheapest and work with a reef tank. Next I was curious about the filters. I planned on setting all 3 of them up with this tank. I know that one will be hooked through the UV filters. Is it necessary to have a UV in saltwater or no? Also, Do I need a protein skimmer? If so which is the best inline one I can hook with my XP3. Also, With the filters, which Media do I use? Is it the same media as freshwater media? Carbon, foam, bio max, etc. Next I was curious how much live rock and live sand I should get for the aquarium. I do want to have a decent amount of fish and was even thinking about getting a lionfish eventually. All in all i really would like to know what else I need to get to use this freshwater equipment for a saltwater tank. Thanks and I look forward to an in depth response

• Answer:

  Getting a good book is a great start jumping right into a reef tank is not.I would start with a fish only with live rock first then work your way to a reef, except you have to watch what fish you get as alot of them are not reef compatible like a lion, puffers, triggers and so on.As far as stuff you need and how to set up, your need sand or crushed coral I prefer sand 3 to 6 inches deep I prefer 6 inches deep as it helps reduce nitrate and if you go with the crushed coral rinse it several times before add it to the tank if you go with sand no rinse just add, next your want a good salt mix I use reef crystal,1 bag covers 50gallons of water, which you want to get that ro unit going to fill up 125g tank will tank a long time your need a hydrometer the salinity should be about 1.020-1.024 for fish reef should be 1.027after you add your sand then your want to add some base rock maybe 50 pounds or so then mix the salt and ro water, fill the tank, get filters going you wont need the skimmer or the uv right now you can add those on in a month or 2, set the heater to 78 degrees is good you can add premium live rock later, after the tank cycles in about a month you can speed up the time if you can get some sand and rock from an established tank already it would cut the time down to about 2 weeks after that time you want to test your water or bring to the local pet store as most do water testing your ammonia and nitrite should be at 0 at this time then you can slowly add more rock and fish dont go out and get all at once the tank needs time to mature, plus its easy er on your wallet or purse if you add live rock 10- 20 pounds at a time at 5 -8 bucks a pound thats one place you dont want to skip out on as live rock is the foundation of a healthy marine tank if and when you go to a reef your want about 1 pound a gallon and lighting depends on what coral you want you should check out aqua traders led lights for reefs they last long dont use up a lot of watts and dont have to replace the bulbs like metal halides pc or t5 and there fixtures are cheap around 150 for 48inch depending how long and wide your tank is you might need 2 or 3. enjoy the wonderfully marine world ps if you get a lion fish carefully when doing maintenance as not to get stung its very painfully and dont forget the water changes i do 15 percent every other week depending how heavy stocked your tank is test the nitrate and never add fresh mixed salt to the tank pre mix it for 2 days in advance i use powerheads and 7 gallon bucks and little 75 watt heater