Relativity: Weeble's 40 Breeder [Build in Progress]

[defective_weeble]

Current FTS - May 2014

 

Please forgive the fact that the FTS is actually an STS (side tank shot) and done with my iPhone. We have a real camera...somewhere... Also, ignore the cloudy water from this morning's rescape adventure.

 

 

Display: 40 breeder, 1.5-inch drilled overflow, 3/4-inch return

 

Sump: 20 gallon long, custom 3-chamber

 

Return Pump: Mag 7

 

Circulation: Koralia 600, Koralia Nano 240, Mag 7

 

Skimmer: Not Yet

 

Reactors: Nope

 

Lighting: AquaticLife 4x 39w T5 HO, all ATI bulbs

 

Fish: 1 ocellaris clownfish, 1 firefish

 

Corals:

• ORA Red Planet
• ORA Hawkins
• Jason Fox Coolers Champagne acro
• Trachyphyllia brain coral
• Green-tip branching hammer
• Green-tip frogspawn
• Green star polyp
• Pink anthelia

Inverts: Rose bubble tip anemone

 

---

 

The Namesake

 

 

The Story

 

When I built Simplicity, my 20 gallon long, I did so because I happened to have a 20 gallon long. I had bought the tank to house freshwater angelfish fry, but then we found out that our "breeding pair" were actually both female. Oops.

 

So I built Simplicity with the idea that you could, without going into debt or crazy amounts of equipment, successfully run a coral reef. Using only an Aquaclear 70, a Koralia Nano 240, high quality reef salt and somewhat decent lighting, Simplicity managed to support great growth and color in corals, all while remaining very inexpensive.

 

As for the name? It's like going up a set of stairs...but with pathways all around. I started with a 2 gallon pico, then bought the 20L, now going from the 20L to a 40B while simultaneously planning a 180 as our "show tank". That is to say, every path that you take is relative to another. Thus, "Relativity".

 

But Why?

 

I saw The 40 Breeder Club.

 

More specifically, I saw Claya and Fragsreef's tanks and realized that I could build something amazing in the space that a 40 breeder provided. I knew that I could tear down my 20 long, use it as a sump and transition into a 40 breeder without having to spend loads of money on rock and sand.

 

At least that's how I justified it to myself until I started...

 

The Build List

 

Display Tank

• 40 Gallon Breeder

Filtration

• 20 Long Sump
• 40 lbs dry rock from ReefCleaners (30 lbs already in hand)
• 40 lbs CaribSea Ocean Direct live sand
• 10 lbs existing sugarfine aragonite sand bed
• SCA-301 skimmer
• BRS Carbon & GFO reactor w/MJ1200
• Miracle Mud(?)

Flow

• 700 GPH Glass-Holes Overflow
• 3/4-inch Glass-Holes Return, split to 2 entry points
• Danner Mag 7 (or 9.5) return pump
• Jebao WP-10
• MP10wES powerhead

Lighting

• Aquamana 156w COB LED (To be replaced by...)
• Kessil A360W-E (Coming in August)

Livestock

 

Completely undecided. I know that I'll carry over the existing fish and corals, and I know that I want room in the sand bed for some plates and open brains. Aside from that, I haven't chosen anything just yet. I'm determined to only buy corals that I absolutely love, even if that means shipping things instead of buying local. In the 20 long I bought a couple of corals that are good, but not great. I won't make that mistake again.

 

---

 

I found a great deal on a barely-used 40B from my local Facebook group, and then an even better deal for an already-drilled 40B that is set up identically to how I had planned mine (overflow in the center, returns on each back corner). The owner wants to tear down his drilled setup and replace it with an undrilled 40 so I'm trading him mine plus $80 for a total investment of $130 into the tank, overflow and return. Not too shabby!

 

That's as far as I have planned so far. I know that I'll be doing this as an "in progress" tank, adding the MP10 and WP-10, as well as the 360 as money allows. But I'm definitely looking forward to getting this going.

 

Oh, and a note on the Miracle Mud - I know that this is a topic of a LOT of debate. The question is this: Is there a negative effect to using it? Not that I've seen. With that said, I have yet to see conclusive evidence that there is a definitive benefit to using it. So I'm considering starting the refugium with it and seeing how it compares to the growth and coloration that I saw while not using it. I'll make my own decision from there.

[defective_weeble]

Let's talk overflow and return (and sumps, oh my!)

 

Initially I thought that I would do this design (top down view):

 

 

But the more that I think about it, the less I want to drill 3 holes into my tank. So I'm considering going this route instead:

 

 

In this setup, as displayed by my amazing MS Paint skills, I would run a Y fitting off of the L that comes into the back of the tank. This would still allow me a split return, but without having to do three holes.

 

My question is this - Is there a disadvantage to running the overflow in the corner? The only thing that I could think of is that if it's in the center you are more likely to have it catching more "stuff" in the water.

 

Now for question two: I had considered doing a Mag 7 or 9.5 for the return. I think that's actually too much. Given that the SCA-301 skimmer is only good for around 300 gallons per hour, I think I should drop to a Mag 5.

 

Input is welcome and encouraged!

[defective_weeble]

Decided on setup number 2, though I'm not going for a Glass Holes overflow. I bought my bulkheads and return kit through GH, but I've decided that I can't justify spending $55 on an overflow box. Instead, I'm going to have the glass shop cut four more pieces for me and I'm going to build an overflow out of those.

 

Next up, replacing a return pump and building the stand. Whee!

[defective_weeble]

Did some drilling today. The return is actually a bit lower than I'd like for it to be, but the hole saw slipped when I was starting and so I decided to just cut where the spot was already started. So be it.

 

I did have a little bit of chipping on the return, so I might end up having to cut a custom gasket. I'm not completely sure yet since I've not tried to put water into the system, so we'll wait and see.

 

A little disappointed. I had apparently forgotten to order the Y from Glass-Holes so for now it will be single output.

 

Picking up glass from the local glass shop tomorrow. I'll be building the overflow and letting it cure, but I'm still waiting to be able to move stuff over into a temporary tank so that I can do the baffles in the 20L sump. I still need to get the return pump and build the stand, neither of which I've had time or spare cash to do. Looks like things should be up and running not this weekend but next.

 

[defective_weeble]

No progress this week other than drilling the tank. I'm waiting on verification on price for the Mag 5 and I'm also waiting on the glass shop to call me to tell me to pick up my order for the baffles. Though I did realize that I forgot to have them cut a piece for the bottom of the overflow so I'll be handling that in the morning.

 

In the mean time, here's the newest resident in the coral farm. He's not too happy yet as he's only been in the reef for a few hours, but I figure it won't take him long.

 

[frags]

Cool build I love a 40 breeder!

 

I am a believer to adjust the return flow to the amount of your skimmer! When I built my system with the calculated head pressure my pump matches. But I now wish I had went with a bigger pump an dialed it down with a ball valve that way I can add reactors to the same pump!

 

Hey that cool man my tank inspired you to do a 40!

[defective_weeble]

Cool build I love a 40 breeder!

 

I am a believer to adjust the return flow to the amount of your skimmer! When I built my system with the calculated head pressure my pump matches. But I now wish I had went with a bigger pump an dialed it down with a ball valve that way I can add reactors to the same pump!

 

Hey that cool man my tank inspired you to do a 40!

 

So the 301 does 364 GPH. You'd set the return flow to match that?

 

That's a really interesting idea about running the single pump. I'm looking at the BRS GFO and Carbon reactor, which they suggest using with an MJ1200 pump. The MJ1200 runs 295 GPH, so I'd need something that could push around 659 GPH with the 3 feet of head that I'll have. There are some other variables here such as the fact that there is only about 1 foot of head to the reactors, but I'd say I'm pretty safe using round numbers.

 

According to this chart, it looks like a Mag 9.5 is in order:

 

 

Does that sound like the right idea? Any other pump you'd consider ahead of the Danner? I'm really torn. I just want it to be as quiet as possible considering that I won't have mine behind a wall

[frags]

Yes 9.5 would be it! I would consider a dc pump but you would pay more.

[defective_weeble]

Made some progress this morning after getting a call from the glass shop last night There's a lot of clean up work to do on the overflow box as I got a bit messy with the silicone. Overall I'm really pleased with how it turned out though.

 

 

 

[Smithjm5]

Looking great so far! I'll be sure to follow along to see how this goes. Good luck!

[defective_weeble]

Not much work for the past week or so as I was out of town. But today, that changes. I hit up the local Petco for the last day of the dollar per gallon sale. I figured that it was easier to buy a new 20 long than it was to move everything into a tub for a couple of days. Besides, now I'll have a spare tank.

 

So, could it be...a sump? Why yes, yes it could.

 

 

9 inches for the overflow chamber, into a bubble trap. Around 11 inches for the refugium. I went with a half-height baffle into the return area so that I'm essentially extending the refugium's water volume as detailed in this build on MelevsReef. I'm leaving the egg crate off for now, until I can see whether or not I have issues with the chaeto spilling into the return pump chamber. If I do, I'm likely just going to stick some egg crate into the sand in the refugium versus trying to glue or silicone the egg crate in after the fact.

 

I don't think I'm going to run a sock just yet. That's something that I can always add later. But I frequently have to leave town for a few days each month and I don't want my wife having to deal with the sock. I'll probably run a piece of filter floss in the bubble trap but I'm really playing things by ear right now.

 

The plumbing is pretty much finished, and my replacement pump came in last night. I'm using all flexible PVC, so right now I have it laying out flat since it had a pretty stiff curve to it from shipping. I should be building the stand and setting up the test fill tomorrow. If all goes well, I'll move it into the house tomorrow night. Fingers crossed!

[defective_weeble]

Some passing thoughts:

 

First step after the build is an ATO. I came home this week to a tank that was a fair bit below where it should have been, despite my wife's best efforts. That, combined with lights that don't ramp and were probably set too high, led to a pretty nasty algae outbreak. I scraped the tank, did a 40 percent water change, went lights out for 2 days and added some Phosguard. Things seem to be better now.

 

When I leave town, I'm going to set the lights on an 8 hour cycle. At least until I upgrade the lighting and run it from an Apex. By not being able to ramp them up and down, the 12 hour cycle is just way more lighting than I need to run on this tank. Even when I complete the move to the 40, it's going to be too much.

 

I'm really interested to see if I can go without a skimmer. At least for a while. Since I only lightly stock with fish (I'm much more about my corals) I think things will be fine. I'm armed with a nitrate test kit just to make sure.

 

I see a lot of people making the transition from 20 long to a 40 breeder with the 20 long sump. It's interesting how much more equipment is needed for this setup. Going from roughly 18 gallons of water to somewhere around 50 requires a whole new setup for my RODI and salt mixing. I'm not complaining, I just find it interesting. It's also another push for me to move the RODI and mixing station into the garage.

 

If I do move the system into the garage, I'm considering running a 50 foot length of hose off the salt mixing tank. This would allow me to not transport water. But what about the water that remains in the hose after a water change? Should I just flush that and count it as loss each week? I'm not sure yet. I'm pretty sure that, with a 32 gallon Brute mixing container, I could just gravity feed the line. But I'm also prepared to snag another pump to drive water if I need to.

[defective_weeble]

Things I learned today:

 

- Plasti Dip + overflow = nope. As soon as water hit it, it peeled off. Fortunately it peeled off in a convenient, solid sheet! So while I'm not shot in the tail about the clear glass overflow, I'll deal with it. Chances are it won't take long for it to get coralline covered anyway.

 

- I should have ordered WAY less flexible PVC than I did. But I guess extra is OK.

 

- I suck at making a good seal with silicone. I'll have to re-seal a couple of the baffles before I run the sump or else I'm going to end up with sand in the return section.

 

- Someone stole my freaking drill bits.

 

On the up side: I got the stand built, got the tank plumbed and did a leak test. Results? Both bulkheads leaked! Awesome!

 

 

Not a big deal though. A bit of tightening on both of them and the leaks stopped. The way that the Glass-Holes overflow is set up, it's a bit difficult to tighten the nut. I thought that I had it plenty tight but I ended up spinning the elbow another 3 turns before it finally stopped leaking.

 

The leak from the return isn't actually from the bulkhead. It's from the joint of the bulkhead and the elbow. I'm thinking that a new run of teflon tape and another turn will take care of that. I'll find out tomorrow.

 

The stand isn't skinned yet, and probably won't be for a while. I can do that when it's in place without much of an issue. Nothing custom on this one. I thought about doing shelves or drawers but then I realized that I'd just end up keeping crap there that didn't need to be there.

 

 

Tomorrow is move-in day...I think. There's some tricky logistics with having an existing tank, figuring out where to put everyone and then moving the new one into place. There's also the issue of my RODI unit taking FOR FREAKING EVER to give me enough water for a fill.

[defective_weeble]

Finally got things moved in last night. Got it wet and then...well crap. My pump is bad. It was noisy in the garage but I figured that was a mixture of using tap water and not having it insulated from the glass. I insulated it, went with saltwater and...nope. Still sounds like a box of rocks falling down stairs. Fortunately, a quick call to Marine Depot and I have a replacement on its way.

 

Also of note: Sugar-fine sand is a bad idea in a refugium. I really didn't think I'd be moving that much water through the fuge, but it's been a sandstorm in there pretty much all night. As such, everything's still pretty cloudy and ugly. I'm going to pull the sugar-fine and replace it with something more coarse, but in doing so I'm going to lose about 20 pounds of cycled sand. Hopefully the rock will handle filtration. I still only have 2 fish, so it shouldn't be a problem.

 

It's taken quite a bit of tinkering to get the overflow quieted down. I was running full force into the tank from the return and the overflow elbow was like a fast-draining bathtub. It gurgled all over the place. I cut down the flow to about half, sending the other half back to the skimmer chamber, and things got better. Interestingly, I placed a piece of filter floss over the intake to help clear out some floating chato (oops) and the thing's dead silent. Obviously this isn't a good solution for long-term, but I'm going to mess around with some sort of pre-filter to keep that elbow quieter than it was.

 

As a side note: How the heck can I keep my chaeto from flying everywhere? It was in a neat little ball, then I put water through the sump and it exploded. Fortunately the pre-filter on the Mag 7 caught most of it, but I'd like it to stay relatively in one piece when I mash it all back together.

[defective_weeble]

The water isn't clear. The glass isn't clean. The duncan isn't happy...but shhh, here's the first FTS. Also, my freaking anthelia refuses to perk up after the move. What a jerk.

 

[defective_weeble]

It's rescape day

[frags]

Are you going to use the miracle mud?

[defective_weeble]

Are you going to use the miracle mud?

 

Nope. At least I don't think so. The claimed benefits include nutrient export and better management of trace elements. Well, I only have 2 fish and I never have a problem with low levels so I'm just not sure that there's any reason to run it. I ended up stripping all of the sand out of the refugium and went with the standard rock rubble + chaeto.

[defective_weeble]

I snagged some Real Reef Shelf Rock from Marine Depot (I'll be doing a review on the MD blog soon). I knew that I wanted to do a cove or lagoon type structure but I was lacking some of the base rock that I needed. Things turned out pretty well though, even if I'm not 100 percent happy with the top two rocks/shelves. I'll probably end up reworking those when I get some smaller rock pieces, and I'm hoping to set up a staircase sort of shelf system in the left corner at that point as well.

 

Unfortunately, the pictures here don't show off the depth of the structure very well at all. In fact...they kinda make it look like a big wall. That sucks. I'll try to get some better shots with something other than my phone.

 

Before:

 

 

After (FTS):

 

 

Right Side Detail:

 

[4x5]

That clown looks so tiny in there, pimp palace. Tell me more about this real reef rock - their white text on black background website makes my eyes hurt.

[defective_weeble]

That clown looks so tiny in there, pimp palace. Tell me more about this real reef rock - their white text on black background website makes my eyes hurt.

 

Real Reef is manufactured rock. It's made of the same elements as natural ocean rock, it just doesn't come from the ocean. The coloration is all artificial as well, but it's almost exactly what you'd see in the wild. There are browns and greens in the rock, as well as the purple.

 

One of my biggest concerns is preservation, which is why I went with base rock that came from a dried reef. I only buy cultured corals and tank-bred fish as well. For me, using Real Reef stuff is an extension of that philosophy.

 

It doesn't come cheap, at about $10 per pound. But if you're just wanting to do shelves then you don't need a lot. I was sent 40 pounds of it and used maybe 10. That main shelf is 14 inches wide, 8 inches front to back. Size to weight, you get a LOT of rock.

[defective_weeble]

Well hi there. I haven't updated in a bit so I figured it was time.

 

No big changes, but I have done some rearranging and additions.

 

Switched to a 4-bulb AquaticLife T5 HO. Presently using this bulb combo, front to back.

 

Blue+

Purple+

Aquablue Special

Blue+

 

I really like the look of this, though I'm contemplating adding an LED strip for actinic supplementation. I'm not completely sure yet, but I know that I don't want to do actinic T5. I'm also heavily considering a six bulb fixture, but I'm having a heck of a time finding one without buying new. I feel like the extra light would be really welcome because of my addiction to SPS and anemones.

 

The sump layout changed somewhat too. I was just getting way too much flow through the center section using a straight line. So I moved the return pump to the center and branched off the return line to feed a small refugium on the left side. Though it's more of a home for copepod production than an actual refugium, it serves the purpose that I want.

 

New FTS will come soon. I did some rescaping today after adding in a couple of new corals and everything's pretty angry. Oh, and of course the water looks like crap. Maybe tomorrow.

[defective_weeble]

Wow. I should update this more often.

So let's see - I added a huge skimmer (rated for 200 gallons) and started running biopellets. I'm on day 16 and so far the only appreciable difference is a bit of slime algae on the rocks. Dosed 90 ml of Microbe-Lift Special Blend to try to get the bacteria back in balance.

 

After seeing how well populated I was with copepods I bit the bullet and picked up Bacon, a mandarin dragonet. She's on about 1 month in the tank and incredibly happy. She's fat, so that means I'm also happy. Not the greatest shot, but she's a hard one to get on camera:

 

 

Some new frags have found a home on my rocks

 

 

 

 

And of course the hammer. Because hammer.

 

[defective_weeble]

Did I ever tell you guys about the time that I had a 40 breeder and traded it for a 120? Well...that happened. Link soon

[defective_weeble]

Did I ever tell you guys about the time that I had a 120 and then found such a good deal on a 180 that I switched tanks? Well...that happened.