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apgaug's 40 breeder build


apgaug

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Hey everyone. The girlfriend and I have been wanting to upgrade our 29 gallon almost since we set it up, lol. Finally decided to go with a 40 breeder. We can't go too big and I really enjoy the added depth of the breeder set up.

 

As of right now we only have the tank and an Aquamaxx HOB skimmer that I had bought for the 29, but wouldn't fit with the light fixture. Should have plenty of room now though.

 

We will be relocating the 29 gallon to the spare bedroom to maintain as a frag tank. The 29 has two Koralia Nano powerheads; one 240gph and one 420gph. The 420 will be replaced with a 180 that I have collecting dust. I'll be putting the 420 along with the Koralia 550gph that I have on order into the new tank. I also will be removing the Whisper 40 power filter and placing it on the new tank. I figure that the Remora Nano will be efficient on the frag tank. I'm kind of confusing myself trying to explain all of this, so I'll just place a list, lol.

 

Current Equipment:

 

  • 36'' AquaticLife T5HO 6x39W fixture
  • Koralia Evolution 550gph
  • Vortech MP10es
  • Aquamaxx HOB Protein Skimmer
  • Whisper 40 powerfilter
  • ViaAqua 300 watt heater
  • Coralife thermometer

 

Fish:

 

  • Black Occellaris Misbar Clown
  • Purple Firefish pair

 

Inverts:

 

  • Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
  • Mini Maxima Anenomes
  • Assorted Snails and Hermits

 

Corals:

 

  • Neon Green Trumpets
  • Assorted Acans
  • Assorted Zoas and Palys
  • Green and Purple Favia
  • Branching Frogspawn
  • Duncans
  • Neon Green Toadstool Leather
  • Superman Mushroom
  • Green and Purple Candy Canes

 

Still need to head to the LFS for new sand and additional live rock once the rest of the equipment arrives. All of my current live rock and livestock will be transferred into the 40 once I am set up.

 

I'm pretty excited about this set up and I look forward to all of the extra space we are going to have!

 

Here is a picture of tank and skimmer (nothing special, I know):

IMG_0513.jpg

 

FTS 3/22/12

IMG_0647.jpg

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Another 40b :happydance:

 

What coral do you want to keep in it? A 420 and 550 will be pretty low flow, I have a 425, 750, and a 600-700gph return pump and my flow seems to be about medium.

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Another 40b :happydance:

 

What coral do you want to keep in it? A 420 and 550 will be pretty low flow, I have a 425, 750, and a 600-700gph return pump and my flow seems to be about medium.

 

Mostly softies and LPS. I have a bunch of zoas and acans as well as duncans, toadstool leather, frogspawn and a few others. I wasn't positive on how much more flow I would need. I was going to get everything set up first and see where I stood. The whisper 40 and protein skimmer provide some decent flow as well, but we will see.

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If you're not planning on SPS then I think you'll be perfectly fine. :)

 

Consider me following!

 

Yea, I've only been in the hobby for 15 months or so and SPS still intimidates me. I don't want to keep SPS until I have a fuge. I don't own, so I don't want to set up a fuge until I am in my own house. It is hard enough moving a tank; I don't want the added work of moving the fuge as well. Especially since I'll be moving a 40, 29, and 2 gallon whenever we finally buy.

 

Hopefully I do a better job of updating this thread than I did with my other two, lol.

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I've been eyeing that same skimmer. Please keep us updated on how it works :)

 

Nice start!

 

Will do. I wasn't particularly happy with my Remora Nano after a while and I used some Christmas money to get the Aquamaxx, because I heard good things about it. It is kind of bulky and the intake piping sits high up and comes out a couple of inches. My AquaticLife fixture didn't have enough clearance, so I haven't been able to run it yet. Defintely looks and feels better than the Aqua-C.

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Will do. I wasn't particularly happy with my Remora Nano after a while and I used some Christmas money to get the Aquamaxx, because I heard good things about it. It is kind of bulky and the intake piping sits high up and comes out a couple of inches. My AquaticLife fixture didn't have enough clearance, so I haven't been able to run it yet. Defintely looks and feels better than the Aqua-C.

 

You cant go wrong with the AM HOB-1, its about as good as they come for what they do, Its the only skimmer I have owned in the last 3 years, but compared to what we used 15-20 years ago, it does what a skimmer that used to be 10 times as big used to do. Really works well, and fits nice, and well, just a +++++ in my book.

 

-John

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You cant go wrong with the AM HOB-1, its about as good as they come for what they do, Its the only skimmer I have owned in the last 3 years, but compared to what we used 15-20 years ago, it does what a skimmer that used to be 10 times as big used to do. Really works well, and fits nice, and well, just a +++++ in my book.

 

-John

Yea I am really impressed with how the Aquamaxx works. Look forward to watching it work it's magic.

 

Very good skimmer. I wouldn't be surprised if you won't want more flow later on. Looks like a good plan though!

Thanks! We are very excited about getting this baby up and running.

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ANother 40B - awesomeness :)

 

Love that light...you're going to be able to keep just about anything with that.

 

Looking forward to hearing how well your skimmer does :)

 

Tagging along.

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Nice! Yeah that is very low flow, right now i have 2 1050s, 1 550, 1 1300gph sunsun. Hope you don't get many issues with cyano.

 

Can't wait for more updates!

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ANother 40B - awesomeness :)

 

Love that light...you're going to be able to keep just about anything with that.

 

Looking forward to hearing how well your skimmer does :)

 

Tagging along.

I'm really digging the light as well. I love my 30'' four bulb fixture, so I'm expecting great things out of this baby.

 

Nice! Yeah that is very low flow, right now i have 2 1050s, 1 550, 1 1300gph sunsun. Hope you don't get many issues with cyano.

 

Can't wait for more updates!

I think I'm gonna be ordering another 550. That would give me two 550s, a 420, plus the skimmer and power filter.

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Very nice. Should just go for the Vortechs from the get go. You're going to get one eventually, it's inevitable! ;)

 

BTW - I just set up an Aquamaxx HOB on a similar sized tank and I'm impressed. Great build quality and the skimmer pulls junk very well for its size. I would say better than any others I've tested/used. I have not used the Deltec for this range of tank but have heard great things about it so I can't compare to that one specifically. The break in period for me was about 2 days, where the cup would overflow so I suggest setting the collection cup at it's highest point and then adding a piece of tubing to the spout so you can judge just how much it's overflowing by and the stuff doesn't go back into your tank. I let mine drain into a bucket. Rinsing a brand new skimmer with vinegar or hot water will help with the break in time.

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Very nice. Should just go for the Vortechs from the get go. You're going to get one eventually, it's inevitable! ;)

 

BTW - I just set up an Aquamaxx HOB on a similar sized tank and I'm impressed. Great build quality and the skimmer pulls junk very well for its size. I would say better than any others I've tested/used. I have not used the Deltec for this range of tank but have heard great things about it so I can't compare to that one specifically. The break in period for me was about 2 days, where the cup would overflow so I suggest setting the collection cup at it's highest point and then adding a piece of tubing to the spout so you can judge just how much it's overflowing by and the stuff doesn't go back into your tank. I let mine drain into a bucket. Rinsing a brand new skimmer with vinegar or hot water will help with the break in time.

 

I'd like a Vortech, but the money scares me. Granted that hasn't stopped me from buying multiple lights, pumps, and skimmers, lol.

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Move all your rock/coral over first. Then it should be easy to net your fish, bag acclimate them and then you're good. I didn't acclimate mine and I think it needlessly stressed them out more.

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Move all your rock/coral over first. Then it should be easy to net your fish, bag acclimate them and then you're good. I didn't acclimate mine and I think it needlessly stressed them out more.

 

Ok that's what I was thinking. We only have one black ocellaris clown and he is super hardy (survived every rookie mistake we've made). I'm using 40 lbs of rock from my established tank and I have 25 lbs of live rock in some buckets with a heater and powerhead. I'll also be using new substrate. With the new sand and the new rock should I be expecting some sort of cycle? Should I be using any water from the established tank?

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  • 1 month later...

Ok. Haven't updated in a long time. Tank is up and running. All of my livestock made the transfer relatively easy. Leather, duncans, and frogspawn still have not fully opened. They all look ok other than not being open and haven't lost any color so I'm not too worried yet.

 

I'm having a battle with GHA right now, so I don't have any new pictures of the scape. It's just so damn ugly right now.

 

Also, I just splurged on a new MP10 es. Should have just gone this route from the get go, but oh well.

 

New livestock added as well. Two purple firefish and a green/purple mini maxi.

 

Hopefully I'll have some pictures soon.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Pics, pics, pics:

 

Mini Maxis:

IMG_0704.jpg

IMG_0703.jpg

 

Cleaner Shrimp:

IMG_0702.jpg

 

Emerald Crab:

IMG_0677.jpg

 

Fish:

IMG_0692.jpg

IMG_0687.jpg

IMG_0631.jpg

 

FTS as of yesterday (moved some things around today):

IMG_0647.jpg

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