?'s for my future tank build

[trashman]

hello all so the local fish stores were having a big sale on tanks so i pulled the trigger on a 120 and now i have a few ?'s. first the lighting i want to go with t5 and was wondering if i can get away with a 4 bulb retro or if i will have to go with six. and for the skimmer i was thinking about a reef octopus 8 i know they are rated for 250 gallons but i found one really cheap and i figure too big is better than too small. and the next thing would be what would you recommend for a sump size i am going to build my own stand so i can always build to suit a big sump if it would be a good idea i may end up setting up a 57 gal to and may want to run that through the same sump. please give me your feedback i would really appreciate it.

thanks,
joe

 

[bigblue141]

I'd run the biggest sump/fuge you can fit underneath your tank

I'd go with the 6 bulb T-5 combo due to the depth of the tank.

 

[jrgilles]

What are you going to put into your tank? If you want corals, I'd think you'd need at least 6, maybe 8. When I was looking at T5's for my 75, it seemed I was going to need 6, and its much smaller. I'm running 4X96W CF and 2X150 W MH on my 75 now.

Sump, the bigger the better. Maybe a 55 gallon? If you are going to add more tanks to it, you might even want to go bigger than that even (since it isn't filled all the way up.) Maybe 75 or something. Will need to make the stand fairly tall to have the skimmer and everything fit in...

I'm running a 50 gallon breeder for my sump on my system, which has a 75 DT and a 20 gal fuge. Its probably holding 35 gallons of water or so. It could maybe be a bit smaller, but I think it works pretty well for the system size.

I don't know a lot about skimmers (but some people here do, and they'll probably chime in soon.) but I just bought a SWC cone skimmer, and the thing is insane. I've heard good things about octopus skimmers, but have no first hand experience. Sounds like you already have that taken care of anyway.

 

[trashman]

well i am thinking that i can build the stand a little bigger to fit a tank under it that is longer. i guess i have to save alittle more for another retro kit.