The above posts have given you a very good crash course in reefing. For tons more information, I'd recommend checking out wetwebmedia.com. The sight is managed by Bob Fenner who is an authority on most if not all reef keeping topics. If your tank is going to be a 120+ it will most likely be 6' long, which will be plenty of room for a large custom built sump with a built in refugium, or a refugium and sump seperate. Basically what you want to do in either setup is make sure that the skimmer gets water directly from the tank (meaning not filtered at all before it reaches the skimmer). This will make a large improvement in skimming efficiency. Also, the refugium will be best served by receiving water directly from the tank. So you will need to split your overflow into both of these areas. For myself on the 135 I'm in the process of setting up, I'm doing a seperate refugium, which will be elevated slightly higher than the sump's return, and drill the side of the refugium and have it pour directly into the return. The sump's first chamber will be the skimmer, after which the water pours through the mechanical filter into the return. However you set it up its best not to have the mechanical filter after the refugium as you will filter out all your good stuff (copepods, amphipods, etc). For refugiums I like doing a deep sand bed with a plenum. A plenum is when you raise the rocks up about 1" over the bottom of the tank, leaving a stagnant dead space of water. This greatly assists in denitrification. And on top of the deep sand bed I add macroalgae. This type of setup has always worked very well for me. I know its theres a lot of info to digest, but for some good reading on all this just search wetwebmedia for the keywords of things you want to know more about. Chances are you'll find it there, and of course feel free to ask questions here on maast and you can also send questions to wetwebmedia, they almost always respond in a day. Just make sure you research your question first, they get understandably annoyed at having to answer the same questions over and over again. Good luck getting started and it sounds like you are asking the right questions to be well on your way to an outstanding reef.
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Originally Posted by fishforlife
Welcome to salt water!
