How many pumps do I need?

[AngelLeah1981]

I purchased a 120 gallon tank and am wanting to purchase the pump and skimmer next. I want to do reef and fish with a sump that has macro algae and rock and maybe sand. I thought I had the pump figured out that I was going to get. ...around 1500 gph at 4 foot head height but then I saw where someone had said they had one pump hooked up for their return and ANOTHER ONE on the skimmer ! How many pumps do you have to have? I'm so confused. Please help. Also, I am very interested in getting a pump that uses low wattage and any suggestions would be fantastic. I have such a hard time googling it for some reason.
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THERE ARE TWO overflows.

48X24X25 - From the top of the tank to the bottom of the stand is almost 54 inches.

Are powerheads pumps? Do I only need one pump, one skimmer, and either 2 powerheads or a wave2k, a heater or chiller and thats it? If I don't have money to blow is the wave2k a waste of money or will it make my fish and animals happier?? WAVE2K!
Leah

Oh, and the reason I mentioned the skimmer is because that is part of the confusion. Someone said they needed to know what kind of skimmer I am getting before they can tell me what kind of pump to get. ?

 

[Lorna]

You will need a pump to pump the water back to the main display from the sump. The 1500 gph pump you mentioned is a good one for this purpose. The skimmer requires it's own pump for operation and most new ones will come with a pump that matches the skimmer for optimal operation. You will then need powerheads for water movement within the display to create motion for your corals that will simulate reef action, two such as 2 Hydor Koralia 4's would be sufficient and at a good price. You may want to operate these on a controller ( I personally have my 2 Korallias on a seio controller) which slows and speeds up the powerheads on a timer to create more irregular turbulent water action. Your flow in the main tank can be done with a closed loop system also with one external pump but that is more complicated and needs to be planned well to work well. You shouldn't rely on your return pump for your display tank flow. I hope this hasn't confused the matter too much but do some research and planning before you buy it will help

 

[AngelLeah1981]

Very informative. Thanks. Is the closed loop system cheaper/more expensive in the long run or initial cost? Is this better for water quality? Does it matter what kind of fish or coral I want to decide this? I don't know what coral I want but I have an IDEA of the fish I want:
yellow faced jawfish
seahorses
ocellaris clownfish
blue jaw tilefish - (very active lives on bottom - so probably not with the seahorses, right?)
blue powder tangs
regal tang,
other tangs,
racoon butterfly fish,
Angel Fish
I realize I can't have these fish together and am also thinking about using my 75 gallon to do the seahorses. I am most in love with occelaris clownfish and blue powder tang and am aware I can't tackle this until later on...just trying to plan ahead. Also, I am developing a real problem with wild caught fish because of some horror stories I've read recently. I hope I am at least going to be able to find the BPT tank bred as I know I can find the clowns. If anyone knows of captive bred blue powder tangs PLEASE give me the link. ....or even for the regal tang (blue)... I haven't seen any of these fish captive bred except clowns.

 

[Lotus]

I believe Koralia will be coming out with some new powerheads and a controller in the near future. I don't use a controller/wavemaker on my Koralias, and it seems to work fine. You should go for at least 10 times turnover per hour on the powerheads, and 20 is better.

I think your seahorses will be much better off in their own tank. They don't compete welll for food with fast fish like clowns and tangs. Most butterflies and angels will eat coral. Some of the dwarf angels are less likely to eat coral, but it's almost always a risk.