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thirdchild's ultramegasuperslow 40g breeder (6/24/12 - 3/21/15)


thirdchild

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Current FTS (04/2014)
latest40g.jpg

My 40g breeder build

Parts
Petco 40g breeder, Petco 20l sump, Lee Mar Stand, 700gph glass-holes overflow and 3/4" returns, Mp10s, Radion, Reactors

Fish
Randall's Goby
Onyx Clown
Picasso Clown
Tailspot Blenny

Timeline
6/24/12, bought 40g breeder & 20l, overflow kit, return kits
8/05/12, plumbed, water and rocks in
8/06/12, 2 radion g1 lights added
8/09/12, livestock added
9/19/12, chalice, mushroom, sps frags added
9/21/12, blenny added
9/22/12, blenny and clown died
11/08/12, c-quest onyx clown and rbta added
11/17/12, moved carbon and gfo into media reactors

11/26/12, added picasso clown
12/5/2012 added tailspot and bangai
12/2012 added limbaughi chromi
8/2013 rbta split into 3
11/2013 traded chromi and added tanaka wrasse

1/2014 rbta split into 2, downgraded to 1 radion g1 with wide angle lens

2/2014 upgraded to 1 radion g3 pro with wide angle lens

4/2014 tanaka wrasse died

Aug 2012
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Sept 2012
20120910fts.jpg
Nov 2012
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Dec 2012
20121211fts.jpg

May 2013
20130516fts.jpg

November 2013
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January 2014
20140103fts.jpg

 

January 2014 with 1 fixture (Gen 1 at 65%) and wide angle lens

20140113fts.jpg

 

February 2014 with 1 fixture (Gen3 Pro at 45%) and wide angle lens

20140214fts.jpg

 

March 2014 with 1 fixture (Gen3 Pro at 45%) and wide angle lens

20140303fts.jpg

 

April 2014 no lighting changes from March

20140422fts.jpg

 

May FTS

20140508fts.jpg

Original first post
Bought the Petco special of the day, a Aqueon 40g breeder & 20l sump.
It'll be pseudo-DIY since I own no power tools and have no construction skills.
Work keeps coming up too... so this is going to be very slow going!

Drilling... I'll call some glass shops for quotes on baffles and drilling. The plan is to measure, mark and tape stuff exactly where I want them before I bring it to a shop.

I know I'll need to redo this diagram after I get the kit and the templates taped for the water level I want to keep. But I think the rule of thumb is at least 1" from all edges

Next step..Figuring out what I want the sump to be like so I know how many baffles to get a quote for

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nice. if you're putting the overflow close to the side you might want enough room to get your hand in there to scrub.

 

Good point. I'm sticking the overflow in the middle and using 2 returns. Moved the returns in so there's a 2" clearance now all around.

 

Diagram so far.

20120625planning.gif

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Some more diagramming to plan out the sump and figure out what size baffles I want.

I'll have to break out the Pythagorean theorem to figure out how long my return plumbing is.

 

20120625tank.gif

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After some advice, changed the sump.

 

The glass-holes kit arrived so I updated the measurements for the holes to be drilled. With luck I can find a shop who'll take care of this for me :-)

 

20120628tank.gif

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After some advice, changed the sump.

 

The glass-holes kit arrived so I updated the measurements for the holes to be drilled. With luck I can find a shop who'll take care of this for me :-)

 

20120628tank.gif

 

are you sure about doing a 1 drain set up as opposed to 2 drains? I hear 2 is better as it is an emergency drain.

 

Also, 700 gph is a bit much isn't it?

 

what part of S. Cal are you in? (asking mainly on where you will buy your fish/corals from, i'm in the same neck of the woods lol)

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are you sure about doing a 1 drain set up as opposed to 2 drains? I hear 2 is better as it is an emergency drain.

 

Also, 700 gph is a bit much isn't it?

 

what part of S. Cal are you in? (asking mainly on where you will buy your fish/corals from, i'm in the same neck of the woods lol)

 

Well the kit came with 1 hole and it's pretty hefty so I think it'll be safe. The overflow box from the kit itself is very slick and you can buy a little lid for the top so nothing big enough to clog the hole can get through. Hopefully blockages won't happen

 

As for the overflow rate, I think the speed depends on how fast the return pump pushed water to the top. Once at the top, the water falls back down again. 700gph is the max a 1.5" hole will allow I think.

 

I haven't poked around much yet but the weight of the water in the pipes, bends and stuff are all pushing against the return pump, so the actual speed will be lots lower that whatever the return pump is capable of. Gonna try figuring out what my headloss is and what pump to pick next.

 

Oh, I'm just east of downtown LA, near Monterey Park. I 've bought fish and live rock from Vivid, corals from trading and a few places. I'll try and do a laundry list when I'm done with work.

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Is the hole 1.5" bulkhead or your referring to a 1.5" hole with a 3/4" bulkhead?

 

I bought corals from vivid, most of mine but fishes i had bad experiences from them. Lots of Ich in those waters.

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Is the hole 1.5" bulkhead or your referring to a 1.5" hole with a 3/4" bulkhead?

 

I bought corals from vivid, most of mine but fishes i had bad experiences from them. Lots of Ich in those waters.

 

Yes the 1.5" hole is for the 3/4" returns I'm doing. So the 2.75" hole in the middle is for the overflow box.

 

Hmm, sorry to hear about Vivid. I actually haven't bought a fish for 2 years. The fish I've currently got all came from Vivid and still perky :)

 

Been to Rainbow Pets in Arleta? They have nice dead rock. I have to decide if I'm getting dead rock from them or online.

 

I also bought a couple of invertebrates from Pasadena Tropical Fish in Pasadena. Haven't done fish or corals there though.

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I decided to go with a SCA-301 skimmer, so I've cut down the size of the skimmer compartment. It should still accommodate some alternatives if I need to switch.

 

Called up a shop and they said to bring over the tank for a quote. So I drew holes on the tank and it's ready to rock tomorrow.

 

Latest & greatest:

20120629tank.gif

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1) how strong is your pump?

2) I think you will lose a lot of power when it does the split on your return.

3) 1 thing i have thought of is our heaters won't fit in your fuge,what heaters are you getting? we might need 2 heaters for it to work.

4) i suggest you add some LR in the fuge as well.

5) has anyone tried that chemi elite, does it really work?

6) I have actually thought of a UV sterilizer of late, have you considered one? Most big tanks seem to have one running once in a while.

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1) how strong is your pump?

2) I think you will lose a lot of power when it does the split on your return.

3) 1 thing i have thought of is our heaters won't fit in your fuge,what heaters are you getting? we might need 2 heaters for it to work.

4) i suggest you add some LR in the fuge as well.

5) has anyone tried that chemi elite, does it really work?

6) I have actually thought of a UV sterilizer of late, have you considered one? Most big tanks seem to have one running once in a while.

 

1) Probably going with a 700gph return pump

2) Yes. that and the chiller will reduce alot of power. I have to recalculate, but a 700gph pump will be acting like 350gph for me

3) Probably 2 100w heaters. If one breaks the other one keeps chugging.

4) Maybe. I kind of want to put some of my current live rock down there and replace with new dead rock. Gotta see what room there is after heaters and chaeto

5) I've been using chemipure elite in my current tank for 2 years... works for me. You can do a search on the forum for opinions. I usually use it with purigen

6) not really thinking about more equipment. I know reactors, dosers, sterilizers etc are all possible with more room but I'm trying not to buy a bunch of stuff til it's started and I see how my current livestock does

 

Well 1st glass shop backed off last minute, so I ended up calling a big list of shops this morning from the car. One finally said yes, they'll give it a shot. So hopefully I'll have sump glass and a drilled tank Monday/Tuesday.

 

Now I have to look for someone to build me a stand.

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Same setup here on my 40g Breeder... *check my sig for pics*

 

acouple suggestions, which I should have done also.

1. you can remove 2 90's by having the return pipe go all the way to the top of the tank THEN run your T strait across.

 

2. I would not run your full return through the chiller instead T off the main return following the step above put a ball valve inline before the chiller and run the chiller return back to the sump.

 

This way your not putting a major load on your return pump running full presure to chiller then its trying to pump all the way to the top of the tank.

 

Plus the adjustable rate of flow will help with effiecincy of the chiller itself. Example you could dial the ball valve to 200gph through the chiller and the rest goes up to the display.with basically just vertical headpresure besides the T.

 

food for thought.

 

EDIT: rough draft pic

40bx.jpg

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thirdchild
Same setup here on my 40g Breeder... *check my sig for pics*

 

acouple suggestions, which I should have done also.

1. you can remove 2 90's by having the return pipe go all the way to the top of the tank THEN run your T strait across.

 

2. I would not run your full return through the chiller instead T off the main return following the step above put a ball valve inline before the chiller and run the chiller return back to the sump.

 

This way your not putting a major load on your return pump running full presure to chiller then its trying to pump all the way to the top of the tank.

 

Plus the adjustable rate of flow will help with effiecincy of the chiller itself. Example you could dial the ball valve to 200gph through the chiller and the rest goes up to the display.with basically just vertical headpresure besides the T.

 

food for thought.

 

EDIT: rough draft pic

40bx.jpg

 

Thanks for the awesome ideas. I'll reroute my plumbing like you suggested.

 

This should be way more efficient than my original outline.

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No problem!

 

Another thing you can do also this is what I was told it to use 1.25-1.5" then reduce it to 3/4" right at the return bulkhead for your return plumbing. I used 1" then reduced halfway to 3/4" halfway up *shakeshead*.

 

From what I gather the larger pipe diameter will reduce the friction that is encountered when water is pushed through the PVC.

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thirdchild
No problem!

 

Another thing you can do also this is what I was told it to use 1.25-1.5" then reduce it to 3/4" right at the return bulkhead for your return plumbing. I used 1" then reduced halfway to 3/4" halfway up *shakeshead*.

 

From what I gather the larger pipe diameter will reduce the friction that is encountered when water is pushed through the PVC.

 

Hmm, that's another interesting idea. I do know I want to put in some unions /union ball joints to make it easy to disconnect and clean.

 

I wonder if there is a way to use the unions to change the size of the pipe?

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thirdchild

Well glass shop finished on time on Monday. Glass shop did a good job even though it was their first time fooling with an aquarium. Nice guys.

 

I found some time this evening to paint the back today but I was dumb and forgot to clean behind the plastic trim at the top. So now there is some dirty water trapped above the paint. Already made some scrapes trying to get at it before it dribbles down the paint. I flipped it over and I'm going to leave it alone til the paint is settled. bah!

 

Then I tried to start building the sump. Boy it's alot tricker than I expected! I tried taping stuff off but I'm an idiot or something because taking the tape off took off alot of silicon. I'll have to clean up the mess afterwards.

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Bought sand and a return pump last week.

 

Finished gluing baffles in my new sump and things look ok for now.

 

sumpdry.gif

sumpfilling.gif

sumptest.gif

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WOW they did do a good job. I was wondering where this thread was :)

 

Yes, the baffle corners were even a little rounded. Not will happen though for another week and a half while I wait for my new stand.

 

I finally ordered a stand today! I talked to about four LFS and ended up with the more expensive LFS. The store guy asked me what I wanted and went over my options. Most importantly they called up Lee Mar on the spot while I was there.

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  • 3 weeks later...

:tears:

 

Maybe new LFS is not so good. They just called to say the stand is delayed until next Saturday.... So now my livestock is going to live in plastic for over a week instead of 2 days. I hope nothing dies.

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Oh, so now it might come on Wednesday.

 

So I placed a preorder for some AI Vegas. Hopefully they're out at the beginning of the month! If they don't... might have to switch to Radions.

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