Mini-reef 120

[dash77]

hi every one,
I have recently been bitten by the marine bug. I have been looking pretty hard for a tank within a $500 dollar mark (tank and sump set up), and then I thought to myself post a add on Gum tree and wait patiently. Within 48 hours I was driving to Kunda park, Sunshine coast ( 10 mins up the road for me ) to look at a Mini reef 120 Price negotiable.
The tank was clean and in good condition, all the parts were in a box waiting for a new home. I asked him for a firm price and nearly fell over the guy trying to give him the money , $100 dollars was his response.But some where in the back of my head said that cant be right, so we went through all the faults
1. skimmer requires new impeller
2. sump pump stopped working
3. no light
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I have started working on some of the faults i found reading reviews on this forum, fixed the noisy sump issue, picked up cheap pump from eBay for testing purposes, will be replacing the skimmer impeller, and so on.
I am waiting to move until i set i up fully which will be in June, give me heaps of time to come up with a theme and do more research and replace parts. I have a theme in mind but the application may challenge me abit but thats half the fun for me anyway, a layered foreground into a column back ground but working out what corals go with what is my biggest challenge for sure.
Cheers and thanks for reading

[BK_120]

Welcome to the Minireef 120 owners club. Its a nice tank and an absolute steal at that price.

[dash77]

Cheers mate

[evan47]

Hi. How are you geting along with the minireef 120?
Mine is cycling atm, hoping to add livestock by the end of the month if all is well.
How did you you fix the noisy sump issue? I got hold of an extension piece from aquaone and added a return pump with an adjustable flow to help quieten things a little.
I think that I will try and close the gap in the back of the cabinet ( leaving a small slot for ventilation to avoid moisture issues ) to see if it makes any difference.

[medion]

With the sump and the skimmer in the cabinet, I wouldn't be closing in the back of the cabinet (I have a 120 as well). Too much moisture.

If you extending the overflow pipe to under water level it is much quieter. Also, you can add a bended piece so the overflow water is not pouring straight onto the sump water. Hopefully that makes sense.

[Abarnes]

There are a few of these tanks here on MASA, including mine, most of us have used PVC pipe to extend the standpipe down into the sump, im still using the filter sock so i have made it quite long. There is not 1 way to do this, i used 32mm PVC with a 32mm collar / joiner, its not perfect but it did work to jam them together while allowing me to pull it apart at the same time. I just took the stock pipe into my local plumbing store to look for solutions.

The stock skimmer is also really noisy, along with the stock return pump. I recommend upgrading both, not just for noise but also performance, the stock return is massively over-sized, and causes noise not just from vibration, but flown down the standpipe. I wennt with the NYOS Viper 2, turned right down (rated 300 - 2000lt/hr) this pump is perfect for the tank, and looks to be just about indestructible. As for skimmers there are a lot on the market, and budget would really dictate the best option, i have a Reef Octopus, which gets the job done nice and cheap, but would almost look at a small deltec or NYOS 120 as a higher end option.

[Daiymo]

i just setup a 120 too and used a couple of these from Bunnings to make it less noisy.

http://www.bunnings.com.au/pope-32-x-70mm-clear-vinyl-tubing-joiner_p3130554

[kiwi]

i just setup a 120 too and used a couple of these from Bunnings to make it less noisy.

http://www.bunnings.com.au/pope-32-x-70mm-clear-vinyl-tubing-joiner_p3130554

Or try this..
https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=you ... NT5QSEMzB0