Hi everybody!
I used to have a thread on here asking for help on my 135 gallon set-up, but I think I finally got it all figured out. I just wanted to get an approval from you guys to make sure I'm getting the right equipment, BEFORE I go broke . Anyway, here's the plan:
Display tank: 135 gallon Glasscages.com tank, stand and hood.
Filter: EcoSystem Pro Series 3612 acrylic sump (mud fuge + ASM G1x skimmer), carbon
Lighting: up in the air (either in hood, or stand alone fixture if I remove hood. 3x MH would be nice)
Circulation: 4x Koralia 4's
Additives: maybe some kalk solution as top-off, dripped in at night. Would this handle the needs of the LPS corals?
Livestock: mostly soft corals (leathers, zoanthids, mushrooms), a few LPS (frogspawn, anchor, bubble, plate, brain, ect)
Aquascaping: MarcoRocks, attached with Portland cement, seeded with various cultures. An idea of what the scape will look like:
Click to view attachment

Thanks!

looking good.
I think the G1X is kind of small for the tank. You might want to look at the SWC Extreme, Reef Octopus, or Vertex IN 180 or even better IN 250.
MH is great, but waste too much electricity. I like HO T5 better which run cooler and no chiller need. Especially your tank is softies and LPS. They don't need intense light.

Additives. You can use 2 part solution, to keep ALk and Ca stable. Softies and LPS don't consume Ca crazy like SPS.

Thanks for the reply NVTE! Yes, I realize the skimmer is on the small side. I think an external skimmer would be easier to use in my set-up, as the EcoSystem sump has limited space for anything else besides the fuge. Do you recommend any external skimmers for my tank volume that are preferably ~24" tall? My stand is 30" tall, but I also need to leave room for taking off the skimmer cup, maintenance, etc. It's interesting you brought up T5's, as I was thinking about using them after I posted this. My biggest problem would be that I need a 72" stand alone fixture, as I'm going to remove the hood. I found the Aquatinics Constelation 72" 14 lamp T5 fixture, and while expensive, would be the same price if I were to do a MH fixture (was looking at the TEK Maristar 3x 250w MH + 4x 39w T5). So 2-part would be better than kalk? I wouldn't have to worry about pH swings with 2-part would I? Sorry for basic questions on calcium, I always thought I would do just a softie tank, so never really read much on calcium addition, but then I saw all these beautiful LPS corals. Luckily I have the Reef Aquarium Vol. 3, which should explain it well.
Thank you for your help!

i think go with LEDs for your lighting
cos
A ) verry long bulb life (unlike T5)
B ) no where near as hot as MH
C ) and if u do them DIY( witch isant hard or verry expensive) it's cheaper than MH
but dont know about doseing sory

Thank you for the reply bradisfun. I had considered LED, but I'm pretty much terrible at DIY with no will power, and the pre-fab LED fixtures are WAY expensive. I think I will stick with MH/T5 until the LED technology improves/cheapens. But thank you for your post, it really got me thinking.

LED over 135 gal would be $$$$

looks promising man.. i would love to see it when its all built.. good luck with everything

OK, I did some revisions to the tank plan:

Display tank: 135 gallon Glasscages.com tank, stand and hood.
Filter: EcoSystem Pro Series 3612 acrylic sump (mud fuge + ASM G1x skimmer), carbon
Berlin system (Tunze DOC 9010 skimmer)
Lighting: up in the air (either in hood, or stand alone fixture if I remove hood. 3x MH would be nice)
Will be using the 4x 96w PC's I have in the hood for right now. Once I get enough $$$, I will get a Aquatinics Constellation 72" 14x 39w T5 fixture
Circulation: 4x Koralia 4's
Additives: maybe some kalk solution as top-off, dripped in at night. Will be dripping kalk + dosing ESV 2-Part
Livestock: mostly soft corals (leathers, zoanthids, mushrooms), a few LPS (frogspawn, anchor, bubble, plate, brain, ect), plus some easy SPS, such as Montipora, Bali Green Slimer, etc
Aquascaping: MarcoRocks, attached with Portland cement, seeded with various cultures. I will be using Premium Aquatics live rock. An idea of what the scape will look like:

Click to view attachment

JK . But seriously, I do like how he aquscaped his tank, it is very "zen"/"bonsai"/"minimalistic". I like how open it is, with only a few small areas touching the sandbed. A very light, open, weightless feel. I also removed the background from my tank, so you get the white wall effect like he did.

What do you guys think of the Tunze skimmer? Will it be enough for this tank?

I had originally thought about going all out with a Bubble King skimmer, but I found this guy stored away in my basement. I know its not great, but this isn't going to be an "all out supercharged high-octane SPS reef", just an easy reef for a few years before I go off to college. I figured mainly soft/LPS, and when I feel like over-testing my luck and ruining my self-esteem, I might try some SPS.