40 gal breeder reef to be!

[Puffcrusader696]

Hello everybody, I haven't been on this forum since my last reef crashed over a year ago due to a heater thermostat problem which allowed my heater to cook my reef at 95 degrees for about 12 hours. Well I am coming back into the hobby again with a 40 gallon breeder tank and a heater. I've got a lot of work ahead of me haha My other reefs were a 55 gallon reef and a 20 gallon long reef which I combined into my 40 gallon breeder which is where they cooked. So now I'm digging this tank out for a second shot I'm in high-school so I might try and get some school credit for it as an independent study which is quite convenient. I'm excited I might see if I have some old pictures of my reef to put up later... I got rid of a lot of them because it was pretty hard losing all that work before I really got to see anything develop since it was about 9 months old when it fried... Any refreshers on how to do stuff would be welcome I haven't tapped back into my knowledge in a while and I need some refreshing haha

 

[Puffcrusader696]

Some pics from the beginnings of my two reefs

 

[allsps40]

Cool. I also have a 40 breeder. Is a good smaller tank but not too small.
Some pics for inspiration on your build. Good luck and have fun. I enjoy the build part of making a reef.

 

[Puffcrusader696]

very nice tank I was thinking of making mine an SPS tank... my tank before was mostly LPS and I really like the SPS better but never tried keeping them... I'm gonna give it a go this time

 

[Puffcrusader696]

Well I have made some steps I have ordered all the sand and base rock I need... I have ordered a sump, an eheim canister filter , all the plumbing and pumps I need as well as a skimmer Oh and I forgot to mention I already have the RO unit... which helps a lot aw well Pics will be coming when I have the tank dry scaped

 

[frozenreefer]

are you just going to run carbon in the canister? is your tank drilled?

 

[Puffcrusader696]

no its not drilled so I'll have an overflow and i wont use carbon because of the phosphates in it... ill use Seachem uhm... renew i think because it is phosphate free...

 

[Puffcrusader696]

Got some equipment yesterday

 

[Puffcrusader696]

What do you think of these LED strip lights?

http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+10704+21598&pcatid=21598

I was thinking about chaining a bunch of them together with reflectors... I ordered one just for my refugium so I think I'll judge the light it puts out there to determine if I will put them on the whole tank... I know I will need a lot of them so I was thinking about also coupling them with some T5 fluorescent which I would also retrofit into a hood... any input?

 

[Ston3]

I would recommend getting a few par38 spotlights instead. They are stronger, have better penetration, and also fit into a regular socket. Stunner strips are more for color enhancement rather than growth.

 

[Puffcrusader696]

Thanks I'll look into those... should I accent the par38 lights with some of the stunner strips? like the ultra violet one for color and and the 453nm for moonlights? I'll think of some sort of setup and see what anyone thinks

 

[Ston3]

You could. Also look into the other led fixtures. There's alot out there. If you choose the par38, I would recommend the 60 deg optics. The nanotuners makes it with several different optics and the ability to customize the colors.

 

[allsps40]

Thanks for the comments on my tank. Puff I went with a single 250 watt pendent. It lights a 40 perfectly at 10 inches and does not heat up my tank more than 1-2 degrees. I am interested in LEDs but still a bit skeptical on long term sps success. Plus the high cost of a good LED pendent is 4-5 times more that I spent on my MH.

 

[Puffcrusader696]

Yeah I agree with the you allsps but I really am interested in the low to no heat because it is going to be in a hood (hopefully with no fans because of noise) and I can't have a big impact on the electric bill or my dad will make me get a job :-/ ... and Also i don't like having to spend lots of money changing halide and fluorescent bulbs every 6 months... So i figure a quality LED setup will cost a lot up front but save a lot in the long run... plus if i do it right i should have pretty good growth... we will see wont we? this is exciting lol

 

[Puffcrusader696]

Eshopps in sump PSK-100 skimmer

Eshopps 300gph overflow

 

[Puffcrusader696]

Haven't gotten a sump yet... its on its way and its a 19 gallon with three baffles I got some rock though... its only 50 lbs and there is more on the way... pics of rock layouts soon

 

[Kevin_Bullis]

Good to see your back into the hobby, I am just getting back in myself. And it's cool that your from Corning, I have swam against your swim team at Section IV Sectionals the last three years. You guys are pretty beast.

 

[Puffcrusader696]

Haha one of my best friends is on the varsity swim team you've probably seen him

 

[Puffcrusader696]

Stunner strip came in the mail today for my sump I put it on my tank just to see how much light it put out... Not bad for 50 bucks...

Completely dark room with the stunner

 

[Puffcrusader696]

Well i have two lighting solutions/designs... I need to know which one you guys think is best... these aren't final as i may decide on something different... well anyway... what do you all think?

4 ecoxotic panorama strips, 3 par38 spots, and 3 stunner strips for color. total = $880.90 + shipping etc...



7 ecoxotic panorama strips, 2 stunners for color. total = $758.91 + shipping



Whaddaya think?

EDIT: this was all done in paint in like 2 minutes so sorry for the bad quality and misshapen objects... lol