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Heifinator's 40g SPS Paradise


heifinator

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I have had a biocube 14g for about a year and have great success and learned a lot here on nano reef. however I was ready to step up into something bigger and more challenging.

 

Thread to my biocube

 

Today I begin my 40 gallon acrylic SPS tank. The tank will have some softies and such however it will be primarily sps dominated. The main goal with this tank is to not over think / engineer any of the systems and just keep a clean organized look to everything.

 

I hate taking pictures but I will do my best to document as many changes as possible!

 

The first thing I did (middle of December) was being fabricating the stand. I would like to note that I am in no way a carpenter / cabinet maker and I posses basically no power tools, this stand was made completely with hand tools + a jigsaw.

 

I do feel it was a good experience and came out well considering my lack of experience.

 

I am also building a custom DIY led fixture, the fixture has 36 cree leds (24 RB / 12 NW) it also has 4 moon lights. These will all be on a 5.8" x24" heatsink with 2 stealth 80mm fans. I have ordered the parts and they should be here early next week, I will provide a lot of pictures of the build!

 

For those wondering the tank is 36" x 15" x 18"

 

FTS MARCH 26

VWrHL.jpg

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Early construction

 

Main frame completed. The goal was not to over-engineer anything. Basic 2x4 stand with 1x4 to help keep the main 2x4's upright. Everything is screwed together with 3" wood screws and wood glued.

VInkz.jpg

 

Starting to add the ply to the outside. I cut all of this with a jigsaw (terrible I know) so there was a lot of sanding after all of this... :o

LP1sn.jpg

 

Rock work in glass tank before it cracked!

c8S7A.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

The tank now has water in it. Leak tests have been done, plumbing tests have been done.

 

The way I did my overflow box was a little odd. It only has 3 walls; front, right, and bottom and is siliconed into the corner of the tank. This means from the left side of the tank you can see into the overflow box.

 

I drilled into the top of the tank where the overflow is covered so I can get in their with a wand and clean the glass. I like being able to see inside of it and because of where it sits you will really never look in from the side.

 

I hate acrylic work btw =) and its really hard with nothing but handtools and a jigsaw. This tank kind of became a competition with myself to see if I had the patience and will power to make it look good without a tablesaw, dremel, router, ect.

 

The heatsink.

odm2q.jpg

 

Completed light from the top

SD0bz.jpg

 

Completed light from the bottom

fJy69.jpg

 

Under the tank. I still need to run the electrical inside the stand, pardon the mess! 6,500k CFL for fuge light. Can't beat $4.00 for the light and $4.00 for the fixture!

l7JSW.jpg

 

FTS, before water and clouds. The cups were used to hold the overflow up while I siliconed it. My theory it the water pressure will help push the overflow into the corner making it unnecessary for it to be a full box.

llnxi.jpg

 

We will see =) I am prepared to make a full overflow and drain the tank back down after I run it a few days and do power outage / drain block tests.

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FTS, before water and clouds. The cups were used to hold the overflow up while I siliconed it. My theory it the water pressure will help push the overflow into the corner making it unnecessary for it to be a full box.

llnxi.jpg

 

We will see =) I am prepared to make a full overflow and drain the tank back down after I run it a few days and do power outage / drain block tests.

Very nice set up. Reminds me a bit of my own. I love the arch!

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Everything is pretty much done. Had some air in my herbie overflow which was causing this to be a very loud system. I have added some extra silicone to the drain and am waiting on it to dry. Other than that small issue everything is working great. Overflow box is in and water tight now =)

 

Will post more pictures tomorrow.

 

Question. I have an established biocube. I was told I can transfer my current established rock into the fuge, and all my creatures into the display (after acclimation of course) and be ok, since I will have the established rock that could handle to load before I won't have any ammonia spike then after a few weeks add things slowly, is this true?

 

Thanks

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Pictures as promised!

 

Heating up the water, getting it ready to go for the transfer. Before you ask, the reason the heater is in the display is that it is my mixing heater. I will be transferring the heater from my current tank to this tank (much nicer).

kaNaU.jpg

 

Sump looking a little more complete, still haven't finished electrical

t9p7p.jpg

 

Overflow plumbing. Main line is soft tubing to reduce noise, backup is standard pvc

NaVS7.jpg

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Really love that rock arch, kinda wish I had done something like that in my 40b, curious how you made the arch though.

 

BRS reef saver rock

5 minute epoxy

Super glue

massive amounts of rubber bands and patience!

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Sump looking a little more complete, still haven't finished electrical

t9p7p.jpg

 

 

Aren't you worried about that brass gate valve leaching harmful metals into the aquarium?

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Aren't you worried about that brass gate valve leaching harmful metals into the aquarium?

 

Already realize that fault and removed the valve. Picture isn't current ;)

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So I but a couple nassarius snails in the new tank as "sacrificial test subjects" I know... horrible.

 

Anyways, it paid off, 24 hours later they are alive and well. I then tested with a couple small zoa colonies, a head of hammer, and a small acro frag. All have been in for about 8 hours now and are beginning to open up.

 

Poly-filter didnt turn blue or react at all. So all of these things together has convinced me I didn't poison my tank!

 

I will monitor the situation for a little longer before making the transfer of my LR and stock from my current 14g. Patience is obviously important here =)

 

Got everything cleaned up though, will post pictures tomorrow.

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These kind of DIY projects make my head spin.

Basically, due to the sheer fact that I couldn't DIY anything to save my life.

Looks like this one is coming along nicely.... :)

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These kind of DIY projects make my head spin.

Basically, due to the sheer fact that I couldn't DIY anything to save my life.

Looks like this one is coming along nicely.... :)

 

I have never done anything DIY in my life. This was my first go at it, there were a lot of mistakes made. Trust me =)

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I've determined my stocking and order of stocking for my fish in this tank.

 

From first introduced to last:

 

- Occ. Clown Pair(one black, one orange) - Already have, already paired

- Watchman Goby - Already have

- Coral Beauty

- Midas Blenny

- Flame Hawk

- McCosker's Wrasse

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Im now making a hood for the light. I love the bend conduit and visible heatsink look I have but the thing is just to bright. Need to cover some of the light!

 

Pics of build coming tomorrow!

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  • 1 month later...

An update.

 

After a really aggressive ick outbreak I now have my tank fallow. I lost 100% of my fish, most had been alive for 5+ years... Never seen ick that aggressive, didn't even get a chance to treat.

 

Anyways, I have a QT tank setup with my new clownfish, just added them today. They will spend a few weeks in the QT for observation before being introduced into the DT. RIght now the DT has been fallow for a little over 5 weeks, gonna give it another 2 - 3 weeks before introducing.

 

If the ick returns I plan to treat the clowns in a hospital and probably break the whole tank down and start over. Boil the live rock, new sand, clean the plumbing, just to be sure!

 

9DoJ4.jpg

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An update.

 

After a really aggressive ick outbreak I now have my tank fallow. I lost 100% of my fish, most had been alive for 5+ years... Never seen ick that aggressive, didn't even get a chance to treat.

 

Anyways, I have a QT tank setup with my new clownfish, just added them today. They will spend a few weeks in the QT for observation before being introduced into the DT. RIght now the DT has been fallow for a little over 5 weeks, gonna give it another 2 - 3 weeks before introducing.

 

If the ick returns I plan to treat the clowns in a hospital and probably break the whole tank down and start over. Boil the live rock, new sand, clean the plumbing, just to be sure!

 

9DoJ4.jpg

 

2 months fallow should be long enough. Just be sure to not add anything new to the tank, not even corals.

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I was so freaked out about it I sterilized any equipment I used between the 2 tanks. Really hot water and then a soak in fresh water for a few hrs.

 

I will be waiting a full 8 weeks.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Fish back in tank, all look good so far. Monitoring my clowns closely and have my hospital set up just in case they get ich!

 

Hoping for the best. Here are some updated pictures.

 

SeaMS.jpg

 

VWrHL.jpg

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