FLIPbmw's 40 Breeder

[FLIPbmw]

NEW FTS

 

So I thaught I might just start my thread as I am almost good to go and start making some purchases. I have a 10G nano right now, but I am very limited with space so thats why I am going to go for a 40 breeder.

The reason for choosing the 40BR was it was fairly shallow with a large footprint and for AGA tanks, there is no center brace. 36x18x16 gives about 45g, but is called 40BR. I sold off both of my salt water tanks, a 90gal and 33gal and I am dumping the money into this new project. For those people who said "buy as big as you can afford from the start", the 90 was in budget, but was not FUN to play with, it was too tall for me as my stand was about 34" high, putting the whole unit at about 5' tall. Turning the 90 into salt would have been too much and would take too long (LR: 2lb/per gal (90) @ 5$ = a LOT). So the 40BR was a nice choice as my whole arm wouldn't get wet, but it would offer a lot of room for aquascaping.

 

Here are some ideas of what I may do, there are too much things to think of right now, so a lot may change.

 

Blue-dark blue background

40BR AGA 36x18x16

Metal stand

Rena XP3

Closed loop system @ ~900gph/4 outlets or

(2) MJ1200 split outputs @ ~ 150gph each x4 with a timer

Lighting MH 150de/175se + 2x actinic *last item to be purchased

(Coralife 36" HQI $$ or DIY save $$)

60lb of rock at max (Sulawesi, or Carribean if I can)

1.5-2" Crushedcoral + aragonite mix + chunks

RO/DI system (used, low end) at about 25gpd

AllGlass Aquarium 300w heater

 

Inhabitants: Will depend on what theme I go with, but will be help to "nano size" as I do not want larger fish to give the illusion that my tank is small. 1" fix or smaller, about 5 max (ie; neon goby, yellow clown)

 

Corals: It will vary, but I will try get an appropriate assortment from the selected region. This will be a show tank but at the same time I need to be able to grow enough corals to cover some costs.

 

May 3rd, check back for more!

[FLIPbmw]

So it begings...

 

I am still not sure which direction I am going to place it, and not certain how/where I am going to place my acrylic overflow.

[calvin]

you should do a teklight t5 fixture over that baby. It'd be sweet!...

[scarf_ace1981]

MH is the way to go. i have a 400w SE over my 40BR but it's a little over a foot above the tank. you should really consider a sump instead of a rena. i have a 30g sump. this will allow for more LS and LR(much better filtration than the rena). in the sump you could put cheato(macroalgae) and any fish or corals that may need to be isolated from the display. you could also place your skimmer(if you go w/ one, and you should) in the sump. good luck w/ this puppy.

 

add one more 40br to the club. YEESSS!

[SaltCreep]

off to a great start.

 

Where did you get that stand?

[FLIPbmw]

off to a great start.

 

Where did you get that stand?

 

I got the stand from a friend who I traded my 90g stand.

 

I already have a rena XP3, if anything, I can modify it, but will do the job, my friend runs his 75G Mixed SPS tank. I am going to make an acrylic overflow which will house my Rena intake and my heater. I will have chaeto placed in the overflow, as well as inside the tank b/c I like the look of it. I will have lots of macro algae in the display as well as corals. Fish bioload will be very small, I'm not a fan of big fish. I'm looking at neon goby sized fish with 5 fish max.

 

I will be going for a MH bulb. Probobly 150-175w 10k with some actinic suppliments. 250w from what I have seen, is too bright for my taste, but it depends on what deal i can snag.

 

In your opinion: Will 2x ~65w'ish pc/t5 actinics w/reflectors work at making the tank "blue" at a height of 14-16"?

[FLIPbmw]

I picked up some acrylic today to make an overflow. Bad thing is that it is CLEAR. It should get covered overtime. Im either going to do a false wall on the 18x16 side, but I need to get larger pieces of acrylic since my inserts are only 7cm wide (stupid cutter didn't cut it right). Or I have a 45cmx40cm acrylic sheet that I can bend to form an L, and have a corner overflow and place chaeto in it. My whole overflow purpose is not for a sump, but so that the surface water get's skimmed.

[FLIPbmw]

I painted my tank and boy was it a pain! I sealed the upper and lower trims with tape, but paint leaked inside and it didn't look good, so I had to clean the paint between the glass+trim with out trying to mess up the paintjob. I painted it a very light blue, to give the effect of the reef to be in shallow waters instead of deeper down (darker blue). I am working on my overflow (surface skimmer), I just need to bend the acrylic and put in slits.

 

I need to level my stand as the spot has sunk down a bit since my 90gal was there.

 

Time table...

Sunday: Silicone in the overflow, let it dry 24hr

Plan for aquascaping, search for lights, ro system, etc.

Monday: Clean the sand again, and put it in the tank. Do some plumbing for auto top off. Move my 10gal from my bedroom to upstairs. Find some caribbean rock.

[lgreen]

I'm selling an awesome 36" Aqua Medic 2x150w HQI + 2x39w T5 hood if your interested:

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=85754

[FLIPbmw]

I'm selling an awesome 36" Aqua Medic 2x150w HQI + 2x39w T5 hood if your interested:

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=85754

 

I live in Canada.. so it would cost a bit to ship :'(. I have my heart set on a coralife unit!, but I may have to build my own from scratch.

 

Painted back, this is very light blue. It looks "O.K", I wish I would have gone a bit darker as I think it will be too light blue with the MH. I don't care, the wall will be covered in rocks.

 

Acrylic overflow. I'm going to lightly sand the outside of this so that algae can grow on it easily and so you can't see what's inside.

 

I want to start growing aptasia as I have read that they can help at eating detrius and food as it goes down the overflow (i'll have them grow inside the overflow).

[lgreen]

Uck. Apitasia is nasty stuff. I wouldn't.

[Schwazreef]

awsome. I run a breeder and your plan sounds great. Other than that you could use a little more flow, like 1200gpd or 3-4MJ1200s But your right, the 40 is a really fun tank. I find it hard to keep my arm out of it some days.

 

 

Like scarf eluded to, the only thing better than a Nano is a Breeder!

[FLIPbmw]

Uck. Apitasia is nasty stuff. I wouldn't.

 

Yep I know it's bad stuff but if controled properly and placed in the right location, they will clean the tank very well, and it's all naturalll.

 

If you have the aptaisa on the inside walls of the overflow, when the detrius (sp) falls down, the aptasia will take in some of it (depending on how many aptasia u have). If people check their large overflows, im sure you will notice aptasia there.

I got the info from ReefVideos.com Check the first video called sump concept.

 

Anyways, here is the overflow being siliconed into place. I had to ruff up the edges in hopes that the silicone would adhere to the acrylic (i've done it to my nano, it was O.K.,)

 

I have 13 teeth (3/7/3) at about 4mm gap and 1.75cm from the top. The flow overflowing the top should be no more than 300gph. If the teeth are too small that not enough water flows properly.. I may either grind each one down to 2cm, or if needed make a few more slits.

 

Testing will be done tomorrow evening if all is cured.

 

I picked up 2 small leather frags, a small GSpolyp on a shell and I even got a green nudibranch for 5$.. thats like 4$ American!! Their going into my 10G nano and being prepared for trade.

[SaltCreep]

I dont know flip... now visiting your thread again... I think your making a handful of mistakes you eventually will have to correct.

 

Your whole over flow situation I think is a bad idea. Since your filter is basically a closed loop all of your evaporation is going to take place inside of your overflow box. Filling it with macro is eventually going to clog up your filter, and sanding it so that algae grows on it is really going to be an eye sore... it'd probably take a year for that thing to be entirely covered.

 

I think you should really reconsider your filtration. Cannister filters can be great as a supplement to other filtration but I personally would never run one as my primary filtration. You have a nice open stand. At least go buy a 10 gallon at walmart and make a sump of it. Then you can drill a hole in the back of your 40 really utilizing your overflow box and open your self up to some better options.

 

And the whole aptasia idea... I dont know what you've read about aptasia but good luck controlling em. You are the only person ever in 5 years of being in this hobby that I have heard say they wanted aptasia. Do a bit more research before you introduce such a pest of an anemone to your system.

 

I dont want to come off like a jerk but I think your making some major mistakes that you will very soon grow to regret. I'm just trying to help you and now that everything is dry those mistakes can be corrected with much less effort than it will take down the road.

 

Good news is you have great equipment to start with. This is what I would do... You have an awesome size tank and a really nice open stand. Drill a hole in the back of the tank and plumb it down to a sump. The sump could be made out of any old tank or even out of a $10 10 gallon from walmart. Silicone in a couple baffles, trade that rena to someone for a return pump and now we're off to a good start. I personally wouldnt even consider assembly at that point though unless I swapped out that overflow for a matching blue unit... trust me you'll be happy you did. Patience always pays off in this hobby. As for the aptasia idea... just forget about it right now... it's a bad idea. They look ugly, grow super fast, and there are much better corals to replace them with that provide the same benefits.

 

Hope this helps. Just dont want to see you go down the wrong road.

[FLIPbmw]

Salt creep: Ya I know, I would change it up, but i'm trying to do with what I have. My first mistake was selling off my 90G and downgrade (pretty much an EVEN TRADE ) but I can't deal with the 90, it was too big for me.

I know everyone would drill the tank, I would have loved to do it but I would have to buy a new pump @ 100$, tank, plastic for baffles, joints, etc and added up it would have cost me a lot more. I know I would regreit it, but with an extra 10g sump (more like 6-7g in volume durring use), I'd have to get some type of fixture to put a grow bulb, add some lr, etc. It adds up.

 

I have a friend with a 75g sps running on an XP3 as main filtration + rock & skimmer. On the other side, I see people with whole washrooms dedicated to filtration. It really depends on what you plan on doing and if you really need the extra water volume. hopefuly ill create a system that can run on bare minimum with out the large pipes and tanks. Live rock is the main thing that i'll use, my XP3 is there to add flow (I could turn that into a fuge, like this other guy did), not a main issue for me.

 

I would have gone with blue acrylic, but I can't find any. It's not even a major issue as I am going to stuff the overflow full of macro algae and this way it can share the same light as the main tank and besides, the way I plan to design my aquascape will pile around the overflow, so blue, black, clear, you wouldn't notice it (I'd rather have clear, so I can see what kind of stuff is growing in there anyways). I know it might seem pointless to you if I don't have a sump for it. Ya it's pretty much a CLS, but it skims the water for me (I hate oily water, its not good). It will give me a place to stuff plants and such, even a skimmer if I do plan to buy one. I can place the pump behind the overflow so it won't take up space in the tank.

 

I know aptasia is bad, but in the display I shouldn't have a problem with my cleaner crews. What other types of creatures can do that type of job, but are much safer? Plz feel free to post. Honestly it's not that big of a deal, actually my blue mushroom is beating back this aptasia that is getting to close... pretty weird.

 

I'm going to have 2 rubbermaids, one for RO top off, one for premix salt. I'll have a pump to automatically refill the overflow area. Yea I know with evaporation, the overflow will be the first to drop down in water level, sort of like how a sump would be the first to drop down in water lvl too. My overflow has 2.8gal water volume, I estimate about 2 days before it drops to more than half. I may even place an auto top off inside the overflow, it will be safe.

 

Thanks for your concern ######, I know you wouldn't like to see anyone do a new tank this way, but maybe with my bad experiences, I might come up with a cool invention or something... hey ya never know

 

Everything will be ok... i'll make it work. Check back for more... I am aiming for Mid August to have things established.

[FLIPbmw]

I added some crushed coral and pieces of base rock. Everything is going to take a while to setup now. The tank will be filled with rock... it's just a matter of time. I still need lighting too.

 

[Maeda]

Please forgive me if i'm out of line saying this but.

 

What the hell is the purpose of that clear overflow? I thought you were going to drill it and put your cannister intake/output in there and HIDE everything???

 

This tank just seems completely ridiculous to me.

[FLIPbmw]

Please forgive me if i'm out of line saying this but.

 

What the hell is the purpose of that clear overflow? I thought you were going to drill it and put your cannister intake/output in there and HIDE everything???

 

This tank just seems completely ridiculous to me.

 

It's going to be covered in algae and it's going to be behind a full rock wall. Sure it looks stupid, but I am liking it. It's my internal overflow refuge. If anything... I just wanted the surface skimmed and didn't want to deal with accessories like the fluval surface skimmer.

 

I'm going to bust out more rediculous stuff... this is just the beginning .

 

Only prroblem right now is I cant find any nice looking rock.

[FLIPbmw]

Ok, so over the past while... I have been slowly building this tank. Funding is tight since some stuff came up with my Nano, but shouldn't be for long.

 

Lighting is 2 Coralife Aqualight T5 Series fixtures, 50$ each and they pack 2x21watts a set with 84watts total for 100$.

 

I have 50lb base rock, 5lb live rock and Crushed Coral.

 

I decided to experiment and use tap water. I live in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and our water seems to be good. It depends on how things go.

 

I have 3 test corals in my tank at the moment. Green star polyps, Zoanthid, Xenia. I also have a rock of zoanthids that I am trying to rescue (came in as DOA at the LFS, so I took it). 10% of the polyps remain and the rest has died off.

 

I have a molly in for the cycle period. I am surprised as it has been living in a salinity of 32 for a bit and hasn't been fed. I see it eating all my pods, algae and surprisingly it has even tried some flat worms!! It constantly poops every time it takes in more food and it is fat.

 

an ATO system is next on the list. I also need to trade my heater for something shorter!

 

Temporary setup & more rocks to add soon.

[wunstaboi]

tell me how the tap water is going for u

[xavier1]

i like the clear overflow!

[FLIPbmw]

I added 5lb of live rock. I picked up this Vanuatu rock for half price (mis labeled batch). It doesn't really fit in well with the current rocks, but it does agreat job for covering the back wall and will allow me to place branching corals on it.

 

 

I am still waiting for it to cycle out. My white base rocks are now turning brown, and so is my CC, but that isn't a problem for me yet. The aquascaping is not final, but it does allow me to place flat zoo rocks in 'steps' to easy viewing.

[FLIPbmw]

New FTS of my tank.

 

Some additional equipment:

New skimmer (Aqua system or something like that), borrowed from a friend.

Aqualifter + Timer top off system

 

Corals:

Added hammer, zoas, my GSP colony from my 10g and other little fraggies.

 

I am now using RODI because I noticed at the bottom of my tap water bin, it was full of dirt that got settled.

 

[sea man dan]

I use tap in all of my reefs , I love it personaly , i think it gives more stuff back to the aquarium. Been doing it for years , keeping everything from mushrooms to anemones

[Travis]

I use tap in all of my reefs , I love it personaly , i think it gives more stuff back to the aquarium. Been doing it for years , keeping everything from mushrooms to anemones

You are lucky, sometimes our tap water looks yellow incolor and always tastes like Chlorine!