40 Breeder Budget build

[Lingwendil]

Figured I would finally post this over here...

 

I recently started planning to upgrade my 20 long to a 40 breeder, and decided to build my own stand that would double as a bookshelf. I wasn't happy with any of the available stands that were readily available, and didn't want to modify one. So, I started out with the Rocketengineer plans from RC, and built a basic stand out of kiln-dried douglas fir, with some scrap plywood.

 

 

Stand desired dimensions-
~36" tall, 38" long, 20" deep.

Cut list-
4x 38" (orange/red
8x 28" (purple)
4x 28" (green) (went full height, personal preference)
6x 17" (blue/yellow) (added a center piece on the bottom)

 

I decided to use #9, 2.5" GRK R4 multi-purpose screws, star drive head. Highly recommended, I'll never bother with philips head again!

 

Got it all cut at the lumber yard, paid ~$75 out the door with screws, and went to work.

 

Squared up the top and bottom frames-

 

Did some minor adjustment to the uprights to get them all perfect-

 

Glued Every joint, and used at least two screws for each attachment-

 

 

And then came the fun part-

 

I took a torch to it, as any sensible man would.

 

 

I went a little too far on some spots, but not too bad.

 

Continued-

 

 

[Lingwendil]

 

A quick test to see how it looked. A bit dark. I don't want it too dark as the wood itself will darken over time naturally, and there was a bit of loose soot on the surface of the wood that needed to be cleaned up.

 

 

So, after all that torching, you need to clean it up a bit. I used a combination of wire brushes, scotchbrite pads, and sandpaper to finesse it to how I liked it. Here's just after sanding-

Here's after a wipedown with a damp rag to clean off the dust.

An application of boiled linseed oil to bring out the grain and add contrast-

 

And finally a coat of oil based polyurethane (Varathane satin)

 

Not bad for construction grade lumber, and not a single drop of stain 🙂

[Lingwendil]

Got it up into the room and mounted the 1/2" EMT light hanging arms. I bent them in the store with the bending tool that was on the shelf 🙂

 

 

 

Compare the ~36" total height of the stand to the ~28" height of a typical commercial stand. This height is very nice for me- the center of the tank is just at eye level from a seated postion at our dining table.

 

 

Picked up some cheap CaribSea sand from petco. Going a bit more coarse than usual this time to do things a bit differently. This stuff is $8.99 per 10# bag in store, $4.89 a bag if you buy online, plus 10% off for picking up in store. Fits the budget nicely. Pretty close to the Tropic Eden partial bags I have on hand too.

 

 

 

Ziploc baggie of the cheap stuff for comparison-

[Lingwendil]

Picked up some dry rock (and the partial bags of sand) for $60 locally from a guy on Facebook Marketplace, I figure ~30# of sand and ~35# of rock. Some very nice pieces that are very light and porous, with lots of pieces that have very high surface area.

 

 

 

Initial stacking and playing around had me set on having two structures, with a clear space between them. I think this will be a good layout (If I can replicate it after bleaching some of the rock)

 

My goal is minimal contact with the sandbed so detritus doesn't end up packed away underneath.

 

And we're pretty much caught up at this point 🙂

 

Goal for tonight is to do the shelves.

[Lingwendil]

Sunday afternoon I got the rock soaking in a water/bleach mix to get the last of the organics dealt with on a bit of the rock. I went ahead and added all the dry that I had on hand to deal with it all at once.

 

 

Hopefully I can remember my layout 🤔

 

I got the shelves cut and glued, but they are a smidge smaller than I like. I may have to add a couple strips under them on each side to support them with the brackets I have, which is no big deal. Worst case I make new ones later. They'll work fine though, so I need to sand and finish them and get them installed.

[Lingwendil]

My girl's daughter wanted to help, so she gets to blast the crud out of the rock, and babysit the bin while it flushes out the bleach.

 

 

It wasn't too bad, but a ton of organic debris came out during the blast session, and it sure smelled like rotten marine vegetation mixed with swimming pool 🙂

[Lingwendil]

 

Grabbed a pair of these for now, I'll try to scrounge for an Icecap gyre 1k at some point 🙂

[knox_legend]

Following along as I’m also about to start on a 40 breeder budget tank as well. Looks like you’re off to a good start! 

[Lingwendil]

Got the sand rinsed, rock set up, and tank is wet with ~40 gallons of RO and kordon salt since I had it on hand. Those pumps work pretty damn well! 

 

Ordered a Finnex HMA titanium 150W heater, but I at least have the cycle starting. I think this rock layout is pretty close to what I'll run long term.

[Lingwendil]

More updates-

Thank has moderate nitrates and nitrates, with zero ammonia. Cycle is more-or-less about done. Doing a water change Thursday or Friday night. Got a light on the tank, and added a bit of rock from the 2.5 that had a single yellow polyp to act as a test piece. Also added a hermit from the little tank as well, and some red ochtodes macro bits.

 

The lights are Aavid thermalloy LED spot heatsinks with synjet coolers (diaphragm instead of fan) that are handsome and compact. I added a couple of acrylic discs that were sanded lightly (To diffuse the color blending) to act as splash shields. Still not done but nice so far.

 

[eviltabouleh]

Nice DIY LED idea. What puck are you using with the cooler? I have been trying to do the same with some cree pucks from an broken old AI Sol and have been stuck on the diffuser. you have given me some ideas

 

[Lingwendil]

Older pic, but they look like this under the lens-

1x Luxeon K16 royal blue (equivalent to 16 individual royal blues) at 500mA

1xmint, 1x sunplus cool white at 1000mA

1x violet and 1x cool blue at 600?mA if I remember right, with a lime on the same channnel as the mint and white.

 

It's an ongoing testbed so I'll make changes here and there.