Odyssey's 40 Breeder

[Odyssey350kc]

Very nice! Love the build. I think for fish it should be fine. High bio load though. And I wouldn't ad the skimmer and fuge in the same section. Even though you have egg crate cheato will break off get stuff in your skimmer and will not allow it to make good bubbles.

 

Yeah I was worried about that. In theory i can add a piece of acrylic instead of the eggcrate between the skimmer and fuge section and still get flow through both equally. I will have to give it a try once i get my sump up and running, hopefully this weekend

[Odyssey350kc]

My bulkheads and drill bits came in today! So of course I had to run to my local ace hardware to pick up the glass for my external overflow so I could drill it and begin plumbing the tank.

 

In my rush to get something done tonight I hastily tried to drill through the pane of glass - unsecured - and ended up cracking it.

 

So its back to Ace tomorrow to have another piece cut and drill it out properly on a drill press, held in place with clamps.

[ajmckay]

Wow that looked like a pretty decent gash on your finger... Use an angle grinder with a diamond disc or some silicone carbide 60 grit sandpaper on a sanding block and that should bevel the edges enough that you don't cut yourself anymore.

 

What thickness glass are you using? Normally hole saws don't cause too much breakage. If you don't want to mess with getting out the drill press and risking water on it (unless it's designed for that), I've had great results with a cordless drill that has a good clutch. Set it to the lowest setting (so that you can easily engage it by holding the chuck with your hand even) and go slow and methodically.

 

Anyways, the fish load will be high... Not sure if it's too much though as I've seen quite a few fish kept in a 40b...

 

Where is the sump going? How are you going to get the water down to the sump? It looks like the back of the tank is against the wall in the pics.

 

For the skimmer/fuge, I can't say I've seen something like that before. I'm all about designing the sump to meet your needs though! Maybe you could use a glass/acrylic baffle that's the same height as or slightly shorter than the first baffle. So essentially you would have 2 paths through the sump and 50% of the water would go through the fuge and the other 50% through the skimmer... Interesting. I would suggest putting the fuge toward the front for easier access and directing the skimmer cup drain into a container so you don't have to mess with that very often.

 

I'll post a pic of the sump I made tomorrow, mine is sort of split down the middle length-wise. It's different but I like it quite a bit.

 

Finally, kick ass paint drawings... That's my style as well.

[Roshan8768]

Stocking list

 

Currently have:

2 ocellaris clowns (nano size - over 2 years old & female still only 1 inch long)

1 tiger pistol shrimp

 

Want to add:

McCosker’s flasher wrasse

and … or

Linespot flasher wrasse

 

Yellow coris wrasse

Pair of hifin or yellow rose gobies

3 blue/green chromis

 

Mandarin (added only after 6 months of setup and trained to eat frozen food)

 

What does everyone think? These would obviously not be added all at once. Probably take me a year. It seems like it may be too many fish. I would not mind just one of the flasher wrasse.

 

Nice start!

 

As far as the background goes, black is way overdone these days try a light blue/white look, there are some tanks on here with that look that are really slick IMO. (which seems to be your goal with this tank) I t also tends to make the tank feel/appear larger

 

Here's what I'm talking about:

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/339129-heys-50-rimless-video-122114/

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/342166-custom-mr-aqua-114g-powered-by-nanobox-new-video/

 

As far as the stocking goes, I think the the load is fine with your filtration, but I would change it up.

 

You can definitely do:

 

Both clownfish

Tiger Pistol

Pair of Gobies

Mandarin after tank is established

 

Now... chromis are pretty, but you will eventually end up with 1. Doesn't matter if you start with 5 or 20, they will pick each other off. So, I would choose a different fish.

 

As far as the wrasses go, definitely no yellow coris. They are great fish, but get way too big for a 40 breeder. I got one at about 1.5" and it was super happy in my 40 Breeder for about 2 and a half years. Then it got to be 4" and was zooming all over the tank and clearly needed more room to swim. (He could go from one end of the tank to the other in under a second if he felt like it) Also, it will out compete your mandarin for pods, especially when they are already in limited supply in such a small tank.

 

As far as the flashers go, either do 1, pick up a trio off of divers den, or do 3 males of different species of the smaller fairy'flashers.

 

Food for thought

 

Feel free to check out my thread in my sig for ideas

[Odyssey350kc]

Where is the sump going? How are you going to get the water down to the sump? It looks like the back of the tank is against the wall in the pics.

 

The sump will be directly under the tank. I am going to be doing an external overflow like this - http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/203200-external-glass-overflow-box-slot-cut-in-tank/

 

The only difference being that this will all be located on the short side of the tank up against the wall. I will then build an enclosure to cover all of the plumbing. This way the only thing you see will be a glass box of water.

 

And since you like my paint drawings so much heres another

http://s682.photobucket.com/user/odyssey350kc/media/tankplumbing_zpse65af7a5.png.html'>

[Odyssey350kc]

Nice start!

 

As far as the background goes, black is way overdone these days try a light blue/white look, there are some tanks on here with that look that are really slick IMO. (which seems to be your goal with this tank) I t also tends to make the tank feel/appear larger

 

Now... chromis are pretty, but you will eventually end up with 1. Doesn't matter if you start with 5 or 20, they will pick each other off. So, I would choose a different fish.

It would actually be easy for me to keep the background white since there will be no plumbing on the backside of the tank, definetly something to think about.

 

I skimmed through your thread, very nice tank, looks like you've had your share of algae problems though. I know how that is, thats why i went so crazy with my filtration, don't want to deal with that again.

 

That's strange with the chromis, they are supposed to be peaceful, do the pick on other fish or just their own species?

[Roshan8768]

It would actually be easy for me to keep the background white since there will be no plumbing on the backside of the tank, definetly something to think about.

 

I skimmed through your thread, very nice tank, looks like you've had your share of algae problems though. I know how that is, thats why i went so crazy with my filtration, don't want to deal with that again.

 

That's strange with the chromis, they are supposed to be peaceful, do the pick on other fish or just their own species?

 

Yeah, the tank has had it's share of algae issues, but at 3 years old those are a relic of the past. Tank is looking as good as it ever has atm, no algae to speak of even with the heavy bioload.

 

Chromis are not really aggressive to other fish. They will squabble amongst themselves and pick of the weakest one in trun until you are eventually left with 1. People have tried to mitigate this aggression by feeding more, but even in larger tank 200 gallon plus, I have yet to hear of a group lasting more than a year or two without fading out

[Odyssey350kc]

Finally got an afternoon to drill the tank. and attach the external overflow. I used a diamond bit circular blade mounted to a dremel to cut the slot in the end of the tank. Came out perfect! Then drilled the 2 holes for the 2 3/4" return bulkheads, Then drilled the 2 holes in the piece of 1/4" glass I had cut for my external overflow, and finally glued it all together. Hows it look?

 

 

[Roshan8768]

Looks good. I wouldn't trust my silicone work enough to have a box like that hanging of the side of my tank haha. Are you going to do teeth on the overflow or leave it as it is? You'll need some kind of guard to keep fish from getting in there

[NorthGaHillbilly]

Finally got an afternoon to drill the tank. and attach the external overflow. I used a diamond bit circular blade mounted to a dremel to cut the slot in the end of the tank. Came out perfect! Then drilled the 2 holes for the 2 3/4" return bulkheads, Then drilled the 2 holes in the piece of 1/4" glass I had cut for my external overflow, and finally glued it all together. Hows it look?

 

 

Very well done, cool to see a method used on larger systems adapted to our smaller tanks.

[jedimasterben]

Vera nize, yass.

[Odyssey350kc]

Thanks guys, glad everyone likes the progress. This weekend I was able to get the tank painted and do a leak/sump test.

 

 

 

Sump - before water

 

Overflow and hoses

 

 

Now I did have several problems. ( I guess thats why we test these things out before the fish go in.)

 

1. My media reactor is not designed for high pressure. If you look at my sump diagrams you can see the way I wanted to run one of my pumps was pushing water through the reactor and back to the tank via a return line. However the top of the reactor simply pops off as soon as there is too much pressure.

 

2. My overflow box has a small leak I will try to reglue the corner where it is leaking, it looks like I just didn't get enough in the corner.

 

3. The tank drains quite a bit when the pumps are turned off. Not that this is a real problem since my sump still has about 2" to the top even with the display at this low point, but it kind of bugs me, I would rather the water line stay right at the overflow point. Any suggestions for this. I know I can pick up some of those 1 way flow valves, but i heard they tend to fail over time. Any other suggestions?

Looks good. I wouldn't trust my silicone work enough to have a box like that hanging of the side of my tank haha. Are you going to do teeth on the overflow or leave it as it is? You'll need some kind of guard to keep fish from getting in there

 

Yes I have a piece of black acrylic i will be making teeth with for the overflow, and I am going to get a grate for the 1 1/2 bulkhead as well.

[ibeleo]

That overflow mod looks really good. How did you ground/cut the glass? I really want to do the same thing but concerned about getting clean cut that doesn't weaken the glass.

 

Following.

[Odyssey350kc]

That overflow mod looks really good. How did you ground/cut the glass? I really want to do the same thing but concerned about getting clean cut that doesn't weaken the glass.

 

Following.

I used a dremel with a diamond circular blade, Used the edge of the trim as a guide before i cut it off, I also had a small 1/2" glass hole saw that i used to make the curved edge on the end, then I sanded it all down with a sanding stone dremel bit. Whole process probably only took 25 min to cut and grind the slot.

 

I would also not be worried about the tank losing strength since you are adding more support with the extra glass of the overflow.

[Odyssey350kc]

So I picked up a couple bags of pink fiji sand. Right now the tank is filled with fresh tap water.

 

- Should I dump the sand in with the fresh water and let it run for a few days to clear up the cloudiness. Then drain the water out and mix in saltwater?

 

- Or should I just mix the saltwater now and then add the sand?

 

My plan is to try and get the sand settled over the next few days and hopefully transfer over the contents of my old tank on sunday.

[Felicia]

I would mix the salt and then add the sand. Especially if its live sand, it should have some beneficial bacteria in it, which would probably die in freshwater. Plus, to mix the salt, you'll have to have a lot of flow, so that would prevent the sand storm from settling. I'd turn off a lot of the flow after you add the sand so that it can all settle out.

[Odyssey350kc]

Thanks, its actually just dry sand. And I would be mixing the salt in a separate rubbermaid container though, so i wouldnt have to worry about it mixing in the tank.

[Felicia]

Thanks, its actually just dry sand. And I would be mixing the salt in a separate rubbermaid container though, so i wouldnt have to worry about it mixing in the tank.

In that case, I'd say add the sand to the empty tank and then add the salt water in. If you're careful you can minimize the sand storm. When I just did that in my new tank, I added the sand and then place a Home Depot bucket lid onto the sand and added the water through a hose that poured onto the bucket lid so it didn't disturb the sand. The tank had very little cloudiness and was completely clear in a few hours.

[Odyssey350kc]

Nice. I'll definitely do it that way.

[Odyssey350kc]

Got my stand all finished up, and shes all filled with fresh saltwater, Tomorrow we transfer the old tank to the new.

 

[Odyssey350kc]

Should I get my skimmer running tomorrow as well, or wait for things to settle down first?

[Felicia]

I'd go ahead and get the skimmer running. I started mine up as soon as my new system was running with just water and sand and it actually pulled a ton of crud that must have been from the sand. Plus you might as well get it breaking in and dialed in. It can't hurt anything.

[Steensj2004]

I also have the Omega 130, having a heck of a time with it..... Can't seem to keep it from pushing to many bubbles..... Adjustment seems to start too high wide open... Sweet tank!

[Odyssey350kc]

Here she is!

 

 

 

 

Transfer went pretty well i would say, all the corals started to open up within an hour in the new tank.

 

I think the scape still leaves something to be desired though.

[Odyssey350kc]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84N2M4wXpYs&feature=youtu.be