40G Breeder Club

[Esper]

I came here to see if anyone had set up a 40 breeder lately, as I just got my dream tank at the petco sale. it turns out, EVERYBODY's setting one up! rather than being dissapointed, THIS IS GREAT! now we can all help each other out. let's post them all here, the system details & stuff, so people can look in one place for good information.

 

my tank will be a room divider, with some strange equipment...and the stocking list is top secret. i'll post pics next weekend when the stand comes in.

[seabass]

let's post them all here, the system details & stuff, so people can look in one place for good information.

Like you said, there are a number of them here (as they make excellent reef tanks). Now if we could just get them classified as nanos, we’d be good to go. Mine has been setup for about 8 months now:

If interested, click my signature for specifications, more pictures, and some background information.

[NanoReefer411]

Nice breeder. Wow only after 8 months? Looks great!

[Poker_Fish777]

love the aquascaping

[seabass]

Thanks NanoReefer411 and Poker_Fish777!

 

I’m not the only one with a 40 Breeder here. The dimensions are 36x18x16; which is 44.9 gallons if you plug it into Reef Central’s Tank Volume Calculator. Let’s see some of the others too. Just starting out is fine; I think that’s what Esper and some others would also like to see (kind of a collective knowledge base that everyone can draw from).

[debbeach13]

Esper keep us posted on your progress. What strange equipment? Come on let us in on it. I will be watching this thread for more ideas. May it become a mentor thread.

It is looking like I may move to Tampa and if I do I am upgrading my 29 to a 40B. So I need input from the 40B club.

Seabass I have been following your tank and love it. I am glad the T-5 have really been doing a good job for you. They do not require fans correct? OK need more examples.

[seabass]

Seabass I have been following your tank and love it. I am glad the T-5 have really been doing a good job for you. They do not require fans correct?

Thanks debbeach13! There is a fan that is incorporated into the fixture (no other fans are required). It’s a little louder than I’d like, but I don’t think much about it anymore. Someday, I’d like to replace the fan with a quieter one (I haven’t checked on the required size yet).

[fewskillz]

I'm in the 40b club, technically. Mine is still sitting empty in the corner, still making plans and taking my time. I've got a 20l to use as a sump/fuge for it whenever the time comes.

[Esper]

seabass, nice tank! thanks for starting us off so nicely!

 

alright, i'll share the details of the tank at least...no pics until the stand comes in.

 

my tank will be lit by a T5 2x54w light that's too big for it...but it won't have much more than mushrooms and xenia, anyway. its a hand-me down, but why not use it.

 

the skimmer is a used one of these, an etss 1400. the iwaki 70 that runs it will do double duty as the return pump from the sump. i'd like to use a penductor and call it a day for water movement, but we'll see. I might add a maxi-jet 900 to keep detritus off the barebottom if necessary.

 

because of the size of the skimmer, and since the tank will be barebottom, I can keep a very high bioload. still undecided on exactly what, though...preferably something that schools.

[FateX9]

esper youre kidding right? an etss 1400 on a 40?!

thats insane and i thought the reef devil would be over skimming

 

i havent set mine up yet since i will be finally graduating in december and dont know where ill end up

 

but i can tell you what i will be using

i have been aquiring the hardware for this setup for a couple of months now but here it is

 

so far i have 4 velocity pumps, 2 T4 (1200gph @3') and 2 T3 (800gph @3'), 250W icecap ballast, 2x95W actinic vhos(aro ballast) and reef devil skimmer

i still need a pendant, 15k bulb, chiller, tunze osmolator and an om squirt and super squirt

 

i figure the chiller will be last unless i can get an awesome deal on one

already spent $700 on a tank that wont be setup for a bit, how fun!

 

the stocking will be mainly micros, chalices and zoas

as for fish its probably going to be a pair of clowns yet to be purchased

either onyx, leucos or my current pink skunk pair, a small school of green chromis and my high fin goby and randalli shrimp pair

but until then im stuck with my 29

[FLIPbmw]

My 40br

 

Pic @ 3.5months

[Fishtails]

Also have a 40. Been running two months so far. Just put my lighting on the tank; 2x250w XM's, or 500w total. Some say overkill, I say just fine. I will admit I'll have to keep an eye on the tempature. Right now I'm still at 78. There is around 50+lbs. "mixed" LR; that is including Fiji, Gulf/Flordia, and more. Filtration is adequate, DIY sump and I'm barely getting any turnover at around 15x/hr. Will soon add Seios, but my MJ's are fine for now. Fish stock is just limited to a pr. of Red Firefish. Planning on a few more, but not sure what.

 

Pictures will come as soon as I add finishing touches to my canopy, which will be soon.

[Schwazreef]

Some of you guys have see pics of my 40 before the memorail day crash. IF not search for an old schwazreef thread. Since then I have been doing my best to bring it back from the edge. No RBTA, the clowns now host the GSP. No SPS, though im gonna get some more monits and birdsnests this winter. No more midas blenny, repace with Kole Tang. But other than than, running very similar. Trying to work on a good zoa collection. Bought about 4-5 colonies and a bunch of frags the other day since, this pic, and am waithing for some of them to fill out a bit. Gonna pic up a sixline in nov. Heres some crappy pics:

 

 

[noobwithatank]

k so ill be in this club soon. been working on a tank/stand.

 

i dont know what to do for my plumbing tho.. so can anyone help me out.

id like a corner over flow, with 2 returns. an idea on what type of overflow i should do?

 

also confused on the return/out/pump aspect..like what size should i use an what pump is recommended?

 

 

i hope to work more on the stand tonight if it stops raining as i need to move out one of my trucks.

 

[mattyice]

well i might be joing the club adding another tank to my collection, i just need to try and sell my bearded dragon and i will joining, cant wait i will have the perfect set of tanks it will go from the 90 bowfront, cut in half down to the 40B, cut in half down to the 20L, cut in half down to the 12 eclipse lol

[alizarin]

I'll make a thread about mine at some point but here's a picture of my 40 breeder

 

* It's got a 20g long sump with 3/4 of it as a refugium.

* Refugium lit by screw in daylight compact flourescent bulbs from home depot.

* CPR bakpak skimmer

* Quietone 3000 as return pump through a SCWD, connected to a couple lockline bulkheads by the wall.

* 60lb live rock

* Coral: Xenia, Mushrooms, Hammer, Frogspawn, Zooanthids, Yellow Polyp, GSP, Neon toadstool, Sinularia, palythoas

* Livestock: Ocellaris clown, chromis, damsel, emerald crab, serpent star, unknwon star in refugium

* Lighting - Phoenix 14k 150w metal halide

* 3 Maxijets on a Tsunami wavemaker

* Custom overflow made from pvc pieces

 

Mistakes I've made:

* Quietone 3000 through a scwd - not really enough flow so I added another 240gph with powerheads for now

* Evaporation is more than my 15g nano =( ... of course

* I thought 150w would be okay since it's supposed to cover a 24" block well. It's a bit dimmer appearing than I expected compared to PCs.

* My pvc overflow needs a pipe coming higher than the water surface so it doesn't overflow out the air hole when I've got my hands in the tank... like a durso stand pipe.

 

 

 

A question -

How many watts of t5 do you think you could put on a 40br without overwhealming mushrooms? Seems like the common configurations are 2x39, 3x39 or 4x39 36" t5's.

[helbert76]

here is a pic of my 40 breeder i just started up. want to make it a zoa dominated tank

 

another pic

[supermarvin76]

I love 40 breeders as well. I am in the planning statges of mine. I am planning for a LPS dominated tank.

 

I would like to use the 4x39w T5 SLS fixture.

 

My question about this is this: I know that it is "enough" light for what I want to do, but is it spread out enough to cover the 18" front to back on the 40?

 

All the tanks above look great!!

[Rewd]

40B here too. Not set up yet but it will be soon. I love this tank and at work (I work at an LFS) I always recommend the 40B for people interested in SW.

 

For you guys who have had your tanks established.. what kind of maintenance schedules do you run by? I do 30% water changes/gravels vacs on all my FW tanks weekly. Is that feasable or necessary for a SW 40B? Or is it overkill?

 

all your tanks look beautiful

[ezramore]

Been working on mine off and on as money becomes available. Here is the link to my little build thread.

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...mp;#entry884731

[Esper]

ok, decided to DIY my stand, and leave the etss 1400 in the closet. don't need it when i have NSW 15 minutes away. =) the tank is set up, but looks like crap right now while I get everything dialed in. turns out it has lots of live zoo- or phyto-plankton that my chromis has been eating constantly. since i'm not using a skimmer the stocking list has changed...i can't make up my mind.

 

pics will come shortly.

[seabass]

I would like to use the 4x39w T5 SLS fixture. My question about this is this: I know that it is "enough" light for what I want to do, but is it spread out enough to cover the 18" front to back on the 40?

I use the Nova Extreme T-5 Fixture, which uses a single polished reflector instead of individual reflectors (like the Sunlight Supply Tek Light). I’m not sure, but I feel that this helps spread (and blend) the light throughout the entire tank. The lights cover about a third of the top anyway, so I think that either fixture would be just fine.

 

 

A question -

How many watts of t5 do you think you could put on a 40br without overwhealming mushrooms? Seems like the common configurations are 2x39, 3x39 or 4x39 36" t5's.

I’m not sure where to find them, but would I think that a 2x39W fixture would be fine for just mushroom corals. However, with the list that you provided, I’d get a 4x39W fixture (I have found that mushrooms can adapt to a variety of light intensities). I’m not sure if the Nova Extreme T-5 Fixture is less intense (due to the reflectors) than the Sunlight Supply Tek Light, but I get that impression.

[msn711]

My 40br, JR (aka 30 breeder that's 2 inches shorter):