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Tandem 40g Breeder Build


RESONANCE

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Heya'all.

 

I've been thinking about expanding my marine setup for a while now and have been little by little collecting the hardware and materials to get this plan into action.

 

What I want to do with this thread is document the creation of my tandem 40 gallon breeder system. What exactly is a tandem system? It's two tanks with two very different setups, sharing the same water through piping. Essentially what I have planned is 2x 40 gallon breeder tanks place on top of each other. The top tank will be my display reef setup while the bottom tank will be a display refugium consisting of cool macro algea, mangroves and some soft corals. Yes, I am aware this is nothing original by any means but all the same, its a new adventure for me. Due to financial constraints I'm hoping to keep this simple and go slow, so there won't be a huge wad of pictures for a while.

 

Anyhow, I hope this will be a journey we all can enjoy :).

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All right, since the introduction is out of the way, time to start some documentation!

 

The tanks and stand:

 

Originally I wanted 2 different sizes in tanks, 1x 40 gallon breeder for the display reef and 1x 50 gallon breeder for the display refugium. I wanted the refugium to have the same foot print as the display reef but to be taller as well so it can accommodate a deep sand bed of 4 to 5 inches. I looked for a few months but didn't find tanks or stand that fit the bill. Finally I lucked out in June 2010 and found someone selling 2x 40 gallon breeders with a custom made metal stand. Turns out he was quitting african cichilds and moving on to a very large marine setup. It wasn't the best of deals, but since he kept his equipment in pretty good shape I think I got a pretty good price for everything.

 

For $230 I got 2x 40 gallon breeders (aqueon) w/ lids, 2x 150 watt ebo jagger heaters and a really sturdy and nicely made custom metal stand.

 

 

Lights and water circulation hardware:

 

About a month after I scored the tanks and stand, I started looking for lighting. I was all set and ready to buy 2 brand new 3 foot/ 6 bulb TEK T5HO lights from an online retailer when someone posted an ad to sell the very same lights on a local forum! I got a chance to talk to him and it turns out he's moving so he had a whole wad of equipment to sell. In addition the the lights I also scored an MP40w. The lights were about 3 years old, but came with 1 month old giessman bulbs. There was some pitting in the reflectors but it wasn't bad enough to impact the performance of the lights. The MP40w was in good condition, just abit of coraline algea on it which was easily cleaned off.

 

For $720 I got 2x 3'/6 bulb TEK T5HO lights w/ giessman bulbs and 1x MP40w.

 

Here's a picture of the setup: tanks, stand, mp40w and lights. Oh yeah - please excuse the mess!

 

IMG_2018.JPG

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  • 2 weeks later...

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