american cichlid keeper

New to the site .... Obviously.... I just transferred my 2 oscars, 2 convicts, jack dempsey, green terror and pleco into a 125 gallon tank. They seem much happier after leaving the 55 gallon home. I also added some caves made from flat rock my wife and I found in the niagara river. The 125g tank I bought on craigs didn't come with a filter so I swapped over the filter from my 55g and searched the interweb for filter ideas. I found a brand new eheim 2017 for $60 so I took it but it doesn't have the filter media. I found out big al's pet supply is actually located right in my hometown..... Sort of. He doesn't actually have a store. I was going to use big al's filter floss instead of the fine white eheim pad. Not sure if I should use all eheim products or if it really matters. Any advice will be gladly accepted. This is my 5th tank but I'm still a rookie when it comes to fish keeping. Also one of the lights I got with the tank is not working. Lookin.g for a 72" lightstrip. Was looking at some led set ups but haven't found any under $160. That's almost what I paid for the tank and stand.

Thanks. Anyone have advice for filter media or where I could find a 72" light for a decent price?

Ok I guess not. Eheim products are hard to come across in my area so I used the fluval bio rings and a course pad cut to fit. Then some packs of bagged carbon and filter floss on top. I think it will be fine. Filter was actually really easy to set up. Directions sucked but I just figured it out on my own.