Byrdman's 40 Breeder

[Byrdman]

Ok so the 20l thats in my bedroom just doesnt cut it for me. Being in the bedroom I can't admire it like i would like too so I am going to set one up in the living room. I have talked the wife into letting my upgrade to a 40 breeder and use my 20 long as the sump.

I am going to make the stand out of stainless steel 1.5 box tubing which i gathered up here at work and skin it with wood. Not sure if I am going to buy a rimless yet or not still looking into pricing for rimless versus rimmed and exactly where to get it around here. So I want some opinions on a couple different things that pop into my head right away. One is i have never built a metal stand and then skinned it so what would be the best way to fix the wood to the metal stand? Also I think I am going to stick with t-5 again this time as like whats available out there. What I can't decide on is whether or not I want to go with 4 bulb or six bulb unit. I will keep some SPS coral mainly the ones that i have now in my 20l and then would also like to keep some LPS. Any advice suggestions are welcome here on this subject. I also will be in the need of a skimmer for this tank obviously so I want to hear some good suggestions on what you all use or would use on a 40 breeder. I would love to find a good deal on a gently used on but we will see how that goes.

Stay tuned and hopefully over the next couple of months i get this baby up and running!

FTS 4/17/2011

[Byrdman]

i am torn between the tek fixtures and the nova fixtures for my lighting.

[racerfreak]

go tek and check out saltysupply.com

[Byrdman]

you think the 4 bulb would be sufficient enough or should i go with the six?

[blondek727]

i have the same setup your doing but mine is in my bedroom 40b and 20l sump i use a reef octopus nwb110 it works awesome! for the lighting its go as big a possible im saving up right now for a pacsun led unit cuz right now i have a cheap coralife pc lighting it sucks big time. but ill be following along on this one

[racerfreak]

go with the 8 bulb, its not much more and you have better options for color

[Byrdman]

I was looking at that same skimmer blondek. Would love to find a used one. If I order a rimless I am thinking about going with starphire glass. Is there really a big difference between the two?

[Dasani]

Starphire glass is a lot clearer. It doesn't have the green tint to it. But it is more expensive.

 

I have a nova extreme 6 bulb fixture that I am going to use on my 40B. I have it on my 20H atm running 2 bulbs and it's great. I really like it.

[Byrdman]

I can get just the front fir forty or three sides for 75 at glasscages.

[Dasani]

I can get just the front fir forty or three sides for 75 at glasscages.

I guess you could. The thing about glasscages is their shipping. They have a pick up schedule. I have 2 places near me, 1 was an hour away, the other 6 hours away. Then there was no where within 10 hrs from me. Their schedule ended in May of 2011. So I would have had to wait that long. So I just got a normal 40B at the dollar per gallon sale at petco.

 

Here is one for sell drilled w/ sump and stand for $450.

[Byrdman]

On their site it says they ship to Louisville which is where I live so that shouldn't be a problem. I may just get a regular one but I'm looking possibly to do something different with this tank.

[Byrdman]

Anyone have any good ideas about skinning the metal stand. I got an idea from a friend about counter sinking the back side of the wood for a magnet and sticking it too the frame that way the wood is removable. Not one hundred percent on the idea but would love to hear some more ideas on this subject as well

[shiver905]

8 bulbs over a 40b..

LOOOOOLLLL

 

thats over kill, but if you have the money, Im shure u can do it.. very pointless tho.

 

4 bulb will grow yours sps out nicely.

[Byrdman]

Ha I believe that he meant a six bulb since those were the two options I gave. I'm going to try to snap some pics of the tubing I'll be using while I'm here a work since this is where the frame will be made.

[Byrdman]

Well just so there is a pic on here during the planning stage here is a picture of the tubing I am using to make the stand.

The angles are being cut at 45 degree so they can be welded.

 

 

Picture of a couple of the full length sides.

[Byrdman]

Well I just realized that if i do break down and buy an aquarium from glass cages that it wont be a true breeder aquarium ( not that it really matters) but their rimless aquariums are only 12 high and their acrylic aquariums are 13 high. I am kind of torn now between glass or acrylic. bah

[Byrdman]

Someone give me some opinions on glass vs acrylic. I can't make up my mind lol

[glennr1978]

Someone give me some opinions on glass vs acrylic. I can't make up my mind lol

 

 

glass - harder to scratch, heavy

 

acrylic - better clarity (similar to starphire), lighter weight, scratches easily

[92awdGSX]

I like the magnet idea. It will make maintenance a breeze!

[Byrdman]

I am still going with the magnet idea at least on one side for sure but while i was cutting the tubing tonight at work i forgot that magnets dont stick to stainless! LOL but i may at least on the one side and maybe the front weld some metal strips to the stainless tubing to make the magnets stick.

[Byrdman]

I have all the tubing cut for my top and bottom of the stand. Will start welding when i go back to work sunday night. Hope to figure out my height of the stand shortly after that.

[Byrdman]

I have the bottom and top pieces welded together for my stand. I have to figure out what height I want the stand and then cut the pieces and weld them tonight. The bottom section of my stand is the pic with the extra pieces towards the end. I placed these two here because this is where my sump will sit at on the bottom and I wanted some support where the tank will sit. You can also see nuts welded onto the bottom I will screw in a bolt with a piece of metal welded to it for levelers if needed once i place the stand in its resting place. I think I am just going to buy a breeder tank from the LFS to save some money. I may just build a canopy to hide the upper trim. Not really for sure yet. Now on with the pics.

 

Bottom Piece

 

Top

[MyHorseZip]

Ha I believe that he meant a six bulb since those were the two options I gave. I'm going to try to snap some pics of the tubing I'll be using while I'm here a work since this is where the frame will be made.

 

FWIW I had a 6 bulb fixture on a 36" 30 gallon tank (which is the same length and height as the 40B, just narrower) and it was WAY overkill. I ended up only using four bulbs and that was even a little too much. I think 6 bulb would be perfect for a 40B if you want to do a lot of SPS.

[Byrdman]

Thanks for the info. I trying to see what i can come across used while I am building this tank. I have pm a few offers to people on some select lighting so we shall see.

[Byrdman]

I go back to work tonight and hopefully will get the stand welded in the next day or so. I got a reef octopus 110 used mesh modded and gate valve mod. Still trying to decide on the tank itself. Would an mp20 be sufficient enough for this tank or would it take a 40? Or should i just add another tunze to this 40 and call it a day?