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SaNChEz's 40br Build


sanchez

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The urge has hit once again and I'm upgrading from a 24g aquapod to a 40br with a 20L sump. I don't have many pictures, but I will try to describe the progress as best as possible!

 

The start:

 

It all started at PetCo during the $1/gallon sale. Figured why not, an upgrade is always nice. So I purchased a 40br and a 20L which will become the sump.

 

Over the past 6 months or so I've been collecting pieces that will bring the tank to completion :)

 

Equipment:

Tank - AGA 40br

Sump - AGA 20L

Overflow - Glass-holes.com 700gph

Powerhead - MP10

Return - Mag-Drive 7 700GPH

Skimmer - Bubble Magus NAC 3.5

Heater - Fluval E100x2

Lights - DIY LED Array - 48x3w (24 CW, 24 RB) Dimmable using a 5.88"x25" Heatsink

Stand - PetCo Manhattan Metal Stand

Controller - Thinking Apex, who knows.

Sand - CaribSea something or other, not too fine though

Rock - about 15lb live rock from my current tank and another 10lbs or so dead rock. I want to do a two island minimalist scape so there won't be too much rock. Might even just stick with the 15lbs from my current tank.

 

Livestock:

Two Clowns

African Flameback Angel

Mandarin

YWG

Cleaner Shrimp x2

Banded Serpent Star

Brittle Star

Six Maxi Minis (Not so mini anymore :( )

Ultra Maxima

Bland ol' crocea

Sunburst BTA

Crapload of Dwarf Ceriths

Regular Ceriths

Nass. Snails

2x Red Leg Hermits

Bunch of Regular Hermits

2x Zebra Hermits

 

Livestock Additions:

Harlequin Shrimp (Clean up all the damn asterinas that are all over my rocks, then supplement with CC star legs)

?????

 

Corals:

Acans

Frogspawn

Torch

Misc. Zoas

Rics

Sunset Monti

Green Slimer

Blue Tort

Orange Monti Cap

Purple Monti Cap

Green Palys

Xenia

Whatever else I forgot.

 

The stand, it's kinda nice actually:

PETCO_Manhattan_55_Gallon_Metal_Tank_Stand.jpg

 

I'll be getting either a piece of wood which I will stain black for the sump to rest on, or I'll purchase a sheet of 1/4" aluminum from my dad's shop to support the tank. Either way, I'm kind of aiming for a display grade refugium.

 

I may scrap the baffle idea completely and just make it a macro haven with a small compartment for the return/skimmer/heater(s)

 

Here's the initial design of the tank, which I still am unsure about, the return has been changed to one:

5891286159_a10fcfab97_z.jpg

5906247413_d90aab855e_z.jpg

 

The lighting has evolved quite a bit and lots of input has been received. Here's the initial design:

6523252769_b592788d70_z.jpg

 

This is how it was laid out last night when I started, I need to take off the 2 middle outside left stars and the one outside right star to get it to the final configuration below:

6586528559_8735139fe5_z.jpg

 

This is what it has changed to:

6589207167_08d5b8c29c_z.jpg

 

So that's really it for now, I still need to drill it and get all the plumbing set up but I'll do that once I get all the parts :)

 

If anyone has any advice on how to swap tanks when the current up and running tank is in the place where the 40br will go, please enlighten me!

 

Thanks for reading!

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It's the aquastyle 72 kit. Going to be using some of the remaining leds as a light for the sump.

 

The heatsink is from heatsinkusa.com

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That's all for now, going to order the glass-holes kit next week. Once I get that and the tank is drilled/plumbed I should be good to start er' up

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So I changed the layout and got the blue string wired up and running. I tried fitting a few of the optics, and as it turns out by using a crappy soldering iron and not a fine string of lead some of the joints are too bloby for the optics to fit on properly so tonight I'm going to try to remove a bit of the solder on some of the larger joints to clean them up a bit.

 

Also, I dunno if it's the wires or the solder I'm using, but I find it very hard to tin the leads properly :(

 

And now for some pictures:

 

Both strings wired

6592877573_e2d5299dce_z.jpg

 

Both strings on at minimum power

6592834519_a2eaa75c53_z.jpg

 

Blues with optics fitted

6592849639_4c2c008e3a_z.jpg

 

I work on it when I get home from whatever it is that I'm doing that day, so I generally only have about an hour of steam before I gotta hit the sack.

 

Don't have anything to do tonight, so I'll be able to spend some quality time on it before I go to sleep tonight. I'm gunna stop by the hardware store and get a finer gauge solder to make it a bit easier on myself. The one I'm using is about 3/32" or even 1/8 it's pretty fat.

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Don't have anything to do tonight, so I'll be able to spend some quality time on it before I go to sleep tonight. I'm gunna stop by the hardware store and get a finer gauge solder to make it a bit easier on myself. The one I'm using is about 3/32" or even 1/8 it's pretty fat.

 

Good move there, i use a finer guage of solder for this reason, its easier to work with and you dont have to melt through a quarter inch of solder

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So I didn't get to the hardware store, was on my motorcycle and it was raining. Just wanted to get home out of the wet.

 

I got it finished though :D

 

All wired up, optics fitted:

6601933953_a5a3721c42_z.jpg

 

We have POWAH!

6601929923_68159df6d8_z.jpg

 

Don't judge my wire strippers (scissors) haha. My real ones were downstairs in the toolbox :(

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So I know this is still my 34 cube, but I set up the new lights tonight :D This is pre-cleanup, post clutter and is just temporary. Makes the 24gal look so tiny haha. I promise I will clean up the cords and have the drivers not sitting on a helmet box :) Also, camera phone vomits because of blue. The lights are at about 60% like 26 inches off the water.

 

Also, I got 2 120mm 74CFM fans on top of it, think that's enough? There's room for another.

 

Double also, selling the old LED fixture in the hardware section :v

 

6657406497_8351d00c43_z.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Did a little spring cleaning today, cleaned up the wire mess and got the project box sorted.

 

Here's the fans, yes they're zip tied on. It's classier than duct tape haha.

6709446887_e31e532738_z.jpg

 

Wire cleanup:

6709445131_834d146dc4_z.jpg

 

Project box with wiring:

6709443051_c9b865b4a2_z.jpg

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That light fixture you built is pretty sick. I'm a little intimidated by electronics, and limited with the knowledge of them. How much research did you do before you made the commitment to build it?

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That light fixture you built is pretty sick. I'm a little intimidated by electronics, and limited with the knowledge of them. How much research did you do before you made the commitment to build it?

 

None at all really, just enough to get the grasp on how they're wired. Once you do one, the rest are dead simple. You just have to be slightly OK with soldering to do it.

 

The most effort I put into it was designing the bulb layout to get an even spread.

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Ordered the overflow and return today :D :D :D

 

Also picked up an MP10 last weekend so this dude will be ready to go by this weekend hopefully!

 

Will a mag 7 return (throttled to accomodate 478gph return) and am MP10 be enough flow do ya think?

 

I also have 4 k-nanos lying around that I could supplement with.

 

Thoughts?

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Great job on that DIY LED, you definitely have more than enough light on that tank. Your hanging kit leaves a bit to be desired, You should look into a true hanging kit which would give you two very fine cables coming down from the ceiling.

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Great job on that DIY LED, you definitely have more than enough light on that tank. Your hanging kit leaves a bit to be desired, You should look into a true hanging kit which would give you two very fine cables coming down from the ceiling.

 

Thanks! I only burned myself once throughout the whole project haha.

 

Ya know, i looked all over home depot for one of those and I couldn't find one. So I just bought 1/16" wire and some ferrules and made my own. The chains were there already from my old fixture so figured they're already molly-screwed into the drywall up above, may as well leave them and not have to deal with another mounting kit.

 

With the new fixture spreading the chains apart though it sits a little cock-eyed, so I'll probably end up re-doing it once the tank is set up and running.

 

If you're planning to do a lot of SPS you'll have to supplement the mp10 with something. I'm using a koralia 2

 

Not planning on doing a TON of SPS, but I do have a few. Sunset monti, some acros and an orange monti cap thingy.

 

Maybe I'll do the MP10 on one side and 2 k-nano 425s on the other side. That should be enough, yeah?

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that would work sanchez, or find another mp10w and sync them.

 

I think that's what I'll do eventually, unfortunately unless it's the same price as yours was it's not in the budget :(

 

(Thanks again btw!)

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