The 40 Breeder's Tank Thread

[sammy113]

Beautiful Tank cjl. Do you have a thread of it to see more pics?

[Timanator]

beautiful... that RBTA is gorgeous. I want to get one so bad. Did you ever have any problems with the Angel nipping at the clam mantle?

 

 

No issues with the Flamed angel picking at that, but it did kill my purple gorgonia by picking at it.

 

Had to get rod of the RBTA, it split to 3 and was killing my corals by moving around and inflating.

[cjl]

Beautiful Tank cjl. Do you have a thread of it to see more pics?

This is a side view20 gallon sumpHuge skimmerCA reactor1 250W hamilton and 1 175W Phosban W/reactor

This is a side view20 gallon sumpHuge skimmerCA reactor1 250W hamilton and 1 175W Phosban W/reactor

some coral

Edited November 26, 2007 by cjl

[suppressive fire]

The tank info: 2 brand new 40 breeders with (2) 3/4" returns each and each has a custom over flow with (2) 1" drains.

These pictures were taken over the corse of around 3 months of work.

Overflow shot

Getting ready for paint.

here some more picsTek 36inch light t5ho frag tank lighting.

Got the new dart pump earlier in the week.

Almost done with the stand here are some progression shots.

Stand Done!

The plumbing is mostly done and dry fitted.

Reef tank lighting pics, new reflectors and sockets.

[bdare]

SIIIIICK!

 

I love the dual breeders and NICE plubming!

[Uhuru]

 

 

[suppressive fire]

more pics of the over flow, how it works ect,

[Uhuru]

It's basically a Calfo style (coast to coast) overflow using a 1" horizontal PVC pipe with a slit cut down the length of it. This allows for maximum surface skimming compared to traditional boxes and also eliminates the need for teeth which obstruct surface skimming. So far I really like it, hopefully the pictures above show just how efficient the design really is. Almost the entire surface is skimmed while conserving a lot of real estate. You can't even see it from front on, it's the next best thing to an external coast to coast overflow!

 

Here's a shot of the setup, took me less than an hour and standard PVC parts to build it, and I suck at DIY:

 

 

There were some really good ideas at the end of this thread - if you want to go for total silence. But I'm only running about 200gph through this and it's already very quiet.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...hreadid=1257783

[Uhuru]

BTW nice dual 40br setup, that's gonna be sweet

[suppressive fire]

thanks urs us sick also with that overflow.

[suppressive fire]

Ok i am planning on 2 SE 250 Mh on one of the 40's what do you guys think its going to be about 90% SPS.

What are your thoughts?

[TJ_Burton]

Ok i am planning on 2 SE 250 Mh on one of the 40's what do you guys think its going to be about 90% SPS.

What are your thoughts?

 

I think you didn't give us enough info!!!

What bulbs you plan on using?

Any Actinic Sups? Wattages if yes.

What sort of light cycle are you planning to run?

How do you plan to keep the temps in check etc.

 

A littl more info and then we can evaluate your idea!

[suppressive fire]

I think you didn't give us enough info!!!

What bulbs you plan on using?

Any Actinic Sups? Wattages if yes.

What sort of light cycle are you planning to run?

How do you plan to keep the temps in check etc.

 

A littl more info and then we can evaluate your idea!

-not sure on the bulbs yet i want nice growth and good color for sps.

-depending on bulb i may or may not need actinic.

-7 to 10 hr cycle didn't put much thought in it yet.

-fan in canopy and it will have a 30 gallon "dark" sump.

[Uhuru]

if you are going to have actinic supplementation you should try the iwasaki 175w 15K + 4xT5 HO that would be about the same wattage as 2x250w MH bulbs but with better color and more control

[suppressive fire]

well what ever MH i do i am going to do double.

for the iwasaki 175w 15k will i even need the actinic?

im just afraid because i have heard that the 175 don't put out (as far as growth) and not much bulb selection.

[Uhuru]

175w iwasaki 15k destroys any other 175 watter and has the same par as a 250w bulb (if not more) - it's VERY bright and you will get great growth from it

 

personally I would use actinic supplementation with it because it's not like the 15k bulbs you are used to seeing, it's mostly very crisp white with just a hint of blue

 

also it works best with electronic ballasts

 

more info here:

 

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/12/review#h12

[suppressive fire]

Thanks Uhuru, any pics of it running? and pc or t5 actinic's?

which ballast do you prefer, and being a 15 k how is the par compared to a lower kelvin.

[bdare]

I don't run a 175, but that bulb has quite a reputation. Its nickname is the "par buster". It's suppsed to be a MONSTER.

[Uhuru]

check out kinetic's tank he is running this bulb:

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...0&start=340

 

here is mine with pc actinic supplementation it is about 24" from the bottom of the tank (btw this tank is 16" tall same as a 40br):

 

 

if you can I would definitely do 4 x T5 HO bulbs trust me you will have the best of both worlds (fast growth and great color)

Edited December 27, 2007 by Uhuru

[suppressive fire]

kinetic's tank looks way to white for me on page 14 and thats with actinic :/

i like the look of yours maybe a for me id like touch more blue but im not sure.

what pc atinic are you using? any pics of you lights how there set up and hanging, like a pic from far away?

i have 2 65 watt coralife pc actinic's i think i was going to use because i had them lying around but im not sure.

also when you say 4 X T5 ho are you meaning just actinics or what do you mean by that?

 

 

thanks for all your help Uhuru!

[Uhuru]

PC's suck I only use them because T5s wont fit on that tank. Kinetic is changing to a different fixture which will house 4 x T5s the one in the picture I think only has 2 T5s.

 

With 4 x T5 bulbs you have a lot more power to adjust the lighting to your preference. You could try all blue bulbs or all blue/actinic combos. Most of the high end fixtures have 4 x T5's to go with the MH, the really high end ones have 6!

[suppressive fire]

since i am going to do 2 175 will 4 36" t5's be strong enough?

also is there any other bulb where i may not need actinics and still see good color and growth and par?

[sayn3ver]

Uhuru, your stand looks scary. From the pics it looks like the 8 nuts+bolts are basically holding most of the weight? I know some work benches are good for thousands of pounds but that one you have, again from what i can see, is basically relying on the hardware to support the weight from the top of the bench.

 

Please tell me I am incorrect.

[Uhuru]

yeah it's a heavy duty stand rated for 4000 lbs, 1000 lb per shelf and my tank shouldn't even be half of that so I hope I'm okay??

 

I stole the idea from proraptor2:

 

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...2069&st=160

[Uhuru]

since i am going to do 2 175 will 4 36" t5's be strong enough?

also is there any other bulb where i may not need actinics and still see good color and growth and par?

 

well you could always run DE bulbs like a phoenix 14k or SE bulbs like an aquaconnect 14k, those are pretty blue, to be honest you would be fine with dual 150w phoenix bulbs even for SPS and just leave room to add T5s in the future if you decide

 

I will be running an aquaconnect 14k + 4xT5 HO on my 70g it should look something like this: