Ergodyne Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 So I’ve got a 40 breeder, and I decided I could have set it up better so, I decided to upgrade... to another 40 breeder. yeah, I’m a little battly like that. Here’s what I’ve got, This is where it’s going, and by “it” I mean the clowns, BTA, snails and corals. Not much is moving into the new system other than the biology. Basically, I feel like I rushed the build, as well as not really knowing what I wanted when I set it up. Ignorance. Fortunatlely time helps to cure that. Not entirely, but it definitely helps. There were/are a few things bugging me about the set up and which were causing me to rethink how I would do it in the future. There wasn’t any decent way to hide my lights, or mount my controllers and I wasn’t happy with the height of the stand. I didn’t have anything on the back of my sump area, which I didn’t think would bug me, but I guess I’m fickle. I also wanted to have an area to hide my my excessives amounts of cords and not just a have a rats nest behind the tank. After enough after thought and regret, I decided to build a new stand. Then I decided my DIY overflow could be shallower, then the return could be higher, and the rocks, etc, etc. like I said, “40 gallons in revision”,not “I built a new stand”. I love input an critique though! I still have to decide I’m happy with my rockscape. I’ve been fiddling with the lower front portion for a couple weeks now. I would really appreciate input on my rockwork! A quick equipment list of what will be in the set up, not necessarily what is on it at the moment. Sump: DIY 20 long (Have) Skimmer: reef octopus 150int (Have) Return: reef octopus varios-2 (Have) Lighting: Photon v-2 24” (have) and a 36” retro fit 2 bulb t5 mounted to the canopy. (Need to order and install) circulation: 1 jebao sw-2, and 1 sw-4 (Have) Heating: 2 Aqueon 100w pro heaters (Have) conteolled by an inkbird controller. (Have) Here is better view of what I have and what I’m moving into. That’s an older picture. There are also a couple sneaky things about my build. The inkbird can/will turn on additional ventilation to my canopy and sump area when temps get too high. There is an 1.5” false wall on each side of the sump for hiding cords. It’s siliconed off in the interior at the bottom and there bottom 2-3 inches on the sides. Yada yada. what’d you all think? Happy reefing! -Joe Quote Link to comment
1967type1 Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 I like it and I did the exact same thing. I had a 40b and then upgraded to another 40b but this time I did it right and moved my over flows to the corners. Looks good. 1 Quote Link to comment
Ergodyne Posted January 23, 2018 Author Share Posted January 23, 2018 11 minutes ago, 1967type1 said: I like it and I did the exact same thing. I had a 40b and then upgraded to another 40b but this time I did it right and moved my over flows to the corners. Looks good. Hey thanks! It looks a little haphazard right now. The plumbing is all done, but the sump is still on the other thank, so I have an additional circulation pump as well as a couple back up heaters and the probe all in the display right now. Have you got a thread I can check out? I’m a little new to this particular forum. I had considered doing the corner overflow as well, but I sometimes I have issues with symmetry and decided on a centered overflow again. I also like the increased surface skimming. that being said, it’s definitely visible, ugly and in the way. Quote Link to comment
1967type1 Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 I didnt do a build thread on this breeder because I had a massive algae bloom in the water column not that long ago and its still is a work in progress. But I did a single over flow drilled into the back glass of the tank on the far right side with a single over flow wall in the corner at a 45 degree angle to maximize space in the tank. the return is drilled into the left side glass of the tank. both the back glass and left glass are painted black to hide all the pluming. 1 Quote Link to comment
Ergodyne Posted January 23, 2018 Author Share Posted January 23, 2018 Here are a couple pictures of my anemones. I’m a sucker for BTA’s top one is in the 40, other two are in my living room tank. Enjoy! 1 Quote Link to comment
Ergodyne Posted March 3, 2018 Author Share Posted March 3, 2018 Well, it’s been coming together. Later tonight I’m taking the old tank and stand to a friends house and coming back with some water art, and few trochus snails, stomatellas and a chiton or two to form a clean up crew. A few few weeks ago I was cleaning my reef octopus skimmer, and we got into an argument. Long story short, we both agreed to it was time for me to find a skimmer with a slimmer body and quieter air intake and better performance in the bed, I mean tank. My girlfiend bought me an eschopps Axium 120, and it’s been performing extremely well, with a real small foot print. Very happy with it so far. 1 Quote Link to comment
Ergodyne Posted March 19, 2018 Author Share Posted March 19, 2018 I added an aquatic life t5 hybrid to my lighting set up. The photon v2 does not fit between the fixtures, but the led array does, if you set it over the brackets. I’m sure that I’m losing some forward/backward spread from the leds by doing this, but I’m okay with it. On another note, this algae is driving me nuts. It looks just like Dino's, but the optimist in me says it’s some weird brown cyano. I’ve dealt with Dino’s once before, after I decided to stop trying it went away. I’m hoping a healthy dose “lazy procrastinator” will do it this time as well. Also new to the last post are 2 nassarius snails and a bubble tip. Happy reefing! 1 Quote Link to comment
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