40 breeder build

C

cedwards04

New member
Edit: Build plans changed, no longer diy all in one. Will now have a 20 long sump.


After a lot of back and forth with the wife, I have finally got the ok for our first "reef" tank. I will be building a DIY all in one type tank using a 40 breeder. Wish I had the room for a traditional sump, but I don't at this time. I will be reusing some equipment/lovestock from my current 20gal fowlr.

Unfortunately my local petco is not doing their 1/gal sale right now so I'm trying to hold off on buying the tank for a bit. Right now I am gathering equipment and sketching out plans while I research what others have done.*

My equipment so far is:
Sb reef lights 16" extreme WiFi*
Jebao pp4 wavemaker
Cobalt mj900 return pump
Tunze 9004 skimmer
Tunze osmolator ato
Heater
Small fluval powerhead for mixing saltwater
Refractometer

I purchased 40lbs of dry special grade sand. I have approximately 30lbs of fine sand that I will lay in first, and I will put the special grade on top to hopefully help with sandstorms. I will seed the tank using a scoop of sand from my 20gal fowlr, I will also move all of my liverock over. I purchased 40lbs of dry base rock that I will begin curing when it shows up.

I plan to run some live rock rubble and chaeto in the fuge. My sump area will be 4 inches wide by somewhere around 24 inches long. I don't want to run it the entire length for aesthetics reasons. It will have a media basket in the overflow for if I want to run gfo or carbon. It will then flow into my skimmer section, and then to the return section. The return section will house the ato switch. The return plumbing will feed the refugium section which will also drain back into return section. This way I can regulate flow through the fuge via a simple valve.

I plan to keep lps almost exclusively. I have ordered red sea coral pro salt along with red sea test kits. I am very much a noob although I am a long time member and have been researching and dreaming of this for many many years. I am super excited to get started and I welcome any suggestions or tips a long the way. I will post pictures once I move past the planning stage.*
 
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Congrats..enjoy..and all that good stuff.... Sounds like a good plan so far..
Only thing I'll mention is that IMO the single pp4 won't be enough..
 
mcgyvr said:
Congrats..enjoy..and all that good stuff.... Sounds like a good plan so far..
Only thing I'll mention is that IMO the single pp4 won't be enough..
Click to expand...

I wondered the same and don't mind ordering a second one should I need it. You may very well be correct. It is currently in my 20gal tall, and is overkill for it so I thought there was a chance it would be enough.
 
A little confusing. You are planning and AIO (All In One) but you mention a small sump...

Suggestion, if you have space for a sump, use the largest possible. Several reasons; larger water volume overall, space for added/supplemental equipment, room to arrange & maximize space.

Typically an AIO has all the filtration, heating, media contained within the four outer panes of the DT.
 
RobZilla04 said:
A little confusing. You are planning and AIO (All In One) but you mention a small sump...

Suggestion, if you have space for a sump, use the largest possible. Several reasons; larger water volume overall, space for added/supplemental equipment, room to arrange & maximize space.

Typically an AIO has all the filtration, heating, media contained within the four outer panes of the DT.
Click to expand...

i believe that he's calling the "AIO filter section" his sump ;)

i'm currently doing a very similar build, turning a 40B into an AIO.
but my "sump" section will be on the side, not running the length of the back.


J.
 
+1 to a second PP-4, I found one of those to not be enough, although I was using an older model. I'm not using two PP-8's, and it's too much. In hindsight 2 PP-4's would have been about perfect. Especially if you want LPS, two PP-4's working together on a wave setting could make some interesting flow to watch with Euphyllia and Duncans.
 
I will not have enough available space under the stand for a traditional sump, so I was referring to my AIO section in the back of the tank as the "sump". It will be roughly 4"×24". I will have a small space in the stand that can house a 2 gallon or so auto top off reservoir. The stand will double as a bookshelf for my daughter, the tank is going in her room.

I will go ahead and pick up another pp4, not a problem.

My shipment from brs came in today as well as my dry base rock. The rock I purchased is clean and free of any dead organisms and has been lab tested to be phosphate free, we'll see how that goes. Gonna give it a rinse and toss it in a tub of saltwater with a pump. Let it be cycling with a piece of live rock while I wait a bit to see if petco puts their tanks on sale. I'm not the most patient person when it comes to saving a few bucks so if they don't do it soon I will just cough up the extra $50 and buy it at full price.
 
Also, I could use some recommendations on livestock while I'm waiting to get the tank ready. My 20gal fowlr currently has 2 green chromis and a solid blue damsel, as well as a red cleaner shrimp, a couple of hermit crabs, and a few snails.

I would like to add some color, and my daughter wants a clown obviously, but what next? I'd love to eventually have a mandarin goby but I understand from research that my tank will likely not be big enough and I would need to wait a long time for a good pod population to even have a half decent chance at that.

I plan to add a few nassarius snails to the tank, but I think just moving the rest of my current inverts over from the fowlr should be enough clean up crew.
 
Dottybacks, Wrasses, and Anthias' come to mind as having good colors to choose from. Will you have a top or screen to protect from jumpers?
 
I have debated running a screen. I plan to build a canopy to hide the light fixture, so I'm not sure if I need a screen or not. I don't mind building one if it is needed.
 
Wanted to get a head start on the cycle of the tank, so I got 40lbs of special grade dry, plus 40lbs of dry rock all rinsed out today and is now cycling in a tub full of saltwater with a powerhead/heater and a piece of liverock from my established tank. The wait begins...
 
I have had good luck with two AI Prime HD's on my 40 breeder. I have a long nosed Hawk Fish and two Clowns. I have a yellow Wrasse in QT which is also going in that tank as well.
 
cedwards04 said:
Wanted to get a head start on the cycle of the tank, so I got 40lbs of special grade dry, plus 40lbs of dry rock all rinsed out today and is now cycling in a tub full of saltwater with a powerhead/heater and a piece of liverock from my established tank. The wait begins...
Click to expand...

Get nitrate and phosphate test kits. Youll need to do water changes to reduce those as they leach out. Can take several months, but not a bad idea to get started while you wait.
 
RobZilla04 said:
Get nitrate and phosphate test kits. Youll need to do water changes to reduce those as they leach out. Can take several months, but not a bad idea to get started while you wait.
Click to expand...

I do have them to test and be sure, supposedly this particular rock was lab tested to be phosphate free, so hopefully it at least doesn't leach much.
 
Picked up a 2nd pp4 and petco's 1/gal sale is going on so I will go pick up a 40 breeder today for half off. Then I can start the build.
 
cedwards04 said:
Picked up a 2nd pp4 and petco's 1/gal sale is going on so I will go pick up a 40 breeder today for half off. Then I can start the build.
Click to expand...

Hi cedwards04,

In what state are you? My local ad shows only dog food until March??
(good luck w/ the tank build--post pics please)

thanks
 
Small update. Plans have changed a little. The wife decided to allow me to rearrange my daughter's room a little and move some things around, giving me a spot to dedicate to the tank only, so I no longer have to do a "all in one" and can now have a real sump. So, I'm headed back to petco to pick up a 20 long for my sump!

This will slow me down on the actual build a little bc I have to take care of some things for her first, but the wait will be worth it.
 
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