40B Build starting on low budget

[Hdale85]

Ok SW2 canceled and sw4 ordered. The SW line is the same as the PP line  with the 0-10v control added.

[DC5]

I'm also starting a 40b that I got last year at the $1/Gallon sale.

 

I ordered a custom oak stand, finished black for $200 shipped. I figured that was a good deal considering I can't build anything straight to save my life. I'm debating about going bare bottom and I have been chatting with theatrus here about running 2 of the AcroStar Mega4Z 20k Blue (48W) -  https://blueacro.com/acrostar/ 

 

I already have the Bluefish controller and plan on getting a Makers slim heatsink, so all told I am probably going to be in for $250 or so on the lighting.

 

My next battle is whether or not I am going to go with a sump. I will be following along to see how your build ends up, because I am a good 2 months out on getting going.

 

[Hdale85]

2 hours ago, dcmix5 said:

I'm also starting a 40b that I got last year at the $1/Gallon sale.

 

I ordered a custom oak stand, finished black for $200 shipped. I figured that was a good deal considering I can't build anything straight to save my life. I'm debating about going bare bottom and I have been chatting with theatrus here about running 2 of the AcroStar Mega4Z 20k Blue (48W) -  https://blueacro.com/acrostar/ 

 

I already have the Bluefish controller and plan on getting a Makers slim heatsink, so all told I am probably going to be in for $250 or so on the lighting.

 

My next battle is whether or not I am going to go with a sump. I will be following along to see how your build ends up, because I am a good 2 months out on getting going.

 

Yeah I've been looking at a few different kits. I may just go full DIY though, since I want to get the lights to work completely with a DIY controller. 

 

John from ReefCleaners said I need more like 50lbs of dry rock for a 40 gal. 

[Hdale85]

Hmm that Seachem Tidal filter looks really nice, seems to have a better blockoff stock to force the water to go where it's supposed to. Also the 110 model is only 60 bucks... And it's crazy quiet from what I see on some videos. 

[Clown79]

The seachrm filter looks really good and with the surface skimmer, thats an added bonus.

 

It has great reviews, thinking of switching to it myself.

[Weetabix7]

11 minutes ago, Hdale85 said:

Hmm that Seachem Tidal filter looks really nice, seems to have a better blockoff stock to force the water to go where it's supposed to. Also the 110 model is only 60 bucks... And it's crazy quiet from what I see on some videos. 

 

I like what I've been seeing of it. 

[Hdale85]

That 110 has a huge media basket, you can put all sorts of media in it. 

 

I noticed some people have some sort of grate below their sand, what's the purpose of that? Just to hold the sand in place? Seems like it would interfere with sand dwellers. 

[Clown79]

Thats eggcrate(light diffuser) its actually used to place the rocks on then the sand goes in. It makes the structure more safe and no rock point pressure on glass. 

 

Rocks shouldn't be placed on sand, directly on glass or eggcrate(if you really want to be cautious)

 

No one has noted any issues with sand dwellers. I always use eggcrate but i cut it to size rather than the whole bottom. Its just directly under my rock

[Hdale85]

So I don't need it? But it's recommended? Where do you get it and what's it cost? 

[Clown79]

Its personal choice.

 

I didn't want to take the chance of rock putting pressure on the glass and cracking it. 

 

The diffusor here in cda is $18 and for me its an investment as the glass cracking causes thousands in damage. 

[Hdale85]

Should I setup a QT tank for my first fish? 

[Hdale85]

Got my SW-4 today. It's nice and small seems really nice. Magnetic mount sure works well! My refractometer, calibration fluid, salt, and Seachem Ammonia test kit come tomorrow. Hopefully friday I can order the dry rock. John seems to be recommending 50lbs due to the old suggestion of 1-2lbs per gallon that everyone used to use. So I'll probably just order 30lbs I guess. 

 

I may grab another bag of sand, I know it was said I only need 40lbs but it seems like that's going to be pretty thin? I'll probably wait and see how the 40lbs works though. 

 

I've been reading up on Quarantining, wondering if I should setup a quarantine tank with some cycled media from a store and get my first fish soon and quarantine them while I wait for the tank to cycle. I can pick up a 10-15 gallon tank pretty cheap, was reading that a lot of people like to add copper when QT'ing fish as the fish have no issues with it but apparently parasites die to it. Seems all I'd need is a small tank, a heater, and a small filter with some cycled media unless I'm going to cycle it myself. 

[Clown79]

You want 1-1.5 " of sand

[Hdale85]

Is more worse? 

[Clown79]

It can be. 

 

There is deep sand beds which is very specific and needs researching.

 

In between can cause detritus to build up, its harder to keep clean leading to nutrient issues.

 

Also depending on grain size of the sand. I had black sand and it was a fairly large grain compaired to fiji pink or the standard aragonite and it trapped a lot in it.

[Hdale85]

The stuff I have is CaribSea Hawaiian Black Agra-alive. It says it's .25-3.5mm. Honestly not much of it looks 3.5mm. Maybe I should go exchange it for regular sand then if it could pose a problem. 

[Clown79]

Thats what i had, the hawaiian black.

 

I also found it makes the tank look very dark and smaller. I switched it out. 

[Hdale85]

Hmm yeah I think I'm going to return it. I used a calculator online and to get ~1" thick I only need 25-30lbs it seems. 

[Hdale85]

Ok, well this new fish store that's about half hour away just said they have the CaribSea Special Reef Grade live sand for $1 per lb. So might try and make it out there today. Sadly they don't open until like 2pm lol. 

[Hdale85]

Got the refractometer and other stuff today. Was easy enough to calibrate the refractometer. I'll be ordering the rock tomorrow or the next day and picking up new sand on Friday. 

 

Going to be picking up a 10-20 gallon tank used probably, and a HOB, heater, and some PVC elbows and setup a QT tank. Going to try and get a bunch of pre-cycled media to shove in the HOB and then cycle the tank and probably shop for a couple of startup fish and keep them in the QT tank for 4 weeks while waiting for the main tank to cycle properly. 

[Hdale85]

Ordered 30lb of rock from John. I went to an LFS and their fish and coral selection was pretty nice, but the "dry rock" they showed me looked like it had been taken out of a tank maybe a few weeks prior and had all sorts of biological material on it.......so I passed. On top of that the price was more than John's price. 

 

Also ordered some stuff to upgrade my RO and see if I need to swap out filters/membrane. The 100gpd membrane in it is almost 2 years old now. I ordered a dual TDS monitor and a pressure gauge to see where I need to go with it. I'm going to add a DI canister since getting 40 gallon jugs of distilled water is going to be nearly 40 bucks. So I'm pulling the entire RO system out from under my sink and moving it to a wall and re-plumbing the drinking portion to my fridge and faucet on the sink. Then I'll have a hose for RO/DI fish water for making salt water. 

[Hdale85]

Got my TDS monitor and pressure gauge today. Looks like I'm getting nearly 70PSI so that's good. I tested my TDS from just straight tap water and it was around 150ppm. Then I installed it before and after the membrane. Before the membrane I'm getting about 141, after the membrane I'm getting around 10-11 so it seems my membrane is working pretty good. Now my pre-filters are kind of a different story, I feel like I should see more of a PPM drop than just 10, are my assumptions wrong? If not then I need to replace my pre-filters. My sediment filter is looking a bit yellow, but not super bad like some I've seen I guess. 

 

So at this point I'm trying to decide how I want to go with my upgrades to my water filtration. I could get a completely new canister for DI, but that's extra money. I could just get a DI refillable cartridge and replace one of my carbon block stages with it. Currently before the membrane I have a sediment filter, and then 2 carbon block stages. After the membrane is all my stuff for drinking water, which consists of a taste carbon stage and a section that adds good minerals back into the drinking water. 

[Hdale85]

Well I might have sold an old project, so I might have some funds to push this along quicker lol. 

 

Thinking about maybe doing a Sump/Refugium in a 20L so I can have a higher bio-load eventually and have more stability from increased water capacity and filtration. 

Was thinking about this kit http://www.ebay.com/itm/REFUGIUM-KIT-for-30-x12-x12-20-Gal-Long-aquarium-protein-skimmer-sump/162286314150?_trksid=p2385738.c100677.m4598&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908110712%26meid%3D92b13900eebd43108e5848ef421287ed%26pid%3D100677%26rk%3D14%26rkt%3D44%26sd%3D201546348805

 

I just feel like if there is a chance I'd want to add a sump later maybe I should do it now since drilling would be easier now. Also the fact that I'd be adding at least 10 gallons of water to the system if not more. So I'm thinking an overflow kit from GlassHoles and then building a sump with one of these ebay kits. I'm not sure if a skimmer is needed.....I know the debate on refugiums is really up in the air whether they are beneficial or not. I don't know figure I'd post here and get some members thoughts..... 

 

Either way I should have around 600 bucks soon to finish this 40b build up and upgrade my water filtration on my RO unit. 

[zohar78]

how do you like the marineland maxi jets?    

In freshwater, I had good luck with a couple of their products. mainly their penguin 350 filters..

if that sump/refug works, that seems to be pretty sic price

[Hdale85]

I ended up getting Jebao SW4's. I haven't used them yet.