40 Gallon Breeder reef tank build...

Pigpen17 said:
Looking good! Every time I walk by a 40B, I want to pick one up. Like I need a second tank!
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People who see pics of my tank, or even see it in person (in the stand with the canopy) always think it's a much bigger tank.

40B tanks are really an ideal tank dimensionally for a reef tank on the smaller side. Not too small to be difficult to aquascape or stock, nor too large (if room space is limited).
 
Just added my rock with shrooms on it. They are starting to open back up. I moved the goniopora to the right of it. The shroom rock had lots of nice coralline as well. I'll take another pic after everything has settled in...

august-tank3.jpg
 
Here's a couple of pics...

My Banghaiis...

banghaicardinals.jpg


And a nice grouping of some corals with my new mushroom rock...

corals.jpg


And a full tank shot with more actinic...

august-tank4.jpg
 
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Looking awesome! You must be enjoying the fruits of your labor tremendously! I've put in my rock order finally!! So I'll have some actual pics with life soon!!
 
Swope2bc said:
Looking awesome! You must be enjoying the fruits of your labor tremendously! I've put in my rock order finally!! So I'll have some actual pics with life soon!!
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Beautiful growth on your corals so far Mark!
I can't wait to restart my build and get it going lol
 
Thanks all. Yes, I'm enjoying the heck out of it, as is my entire family.

As far as taking pics...I just use a point and shoot, and adjust my Kessil (spectrum and intensity) for photos and then adjust it back afterwards. I leave the settings on my cheapo camera to "auto" and take a variety of pics.

I open them in Photoshop so I can adjust the photos as needed to make the tank look like it does in person because the camera doesn't do well with differing light levels in the tank. The camera makes some areas wash out and other areas too dark and the color rendition is awful. I adjust levels, color balance, sharpen as necessary, etc. then optimize them for web viewing. I don't enhance anything to improve it's natural look, so what you see is pretty close to what I'm seeing in person. Lighting on aquariums, especially reef tanks with actinic make it hard to photograph.

For those who don't have Photoshop, there is another program called Serif PhotoPlus that does pretty much the same thing, and it's free to download. Just Google it.
 
It's really interesting watching the interaction of my fish. My Cardinals are out and about all over the tank. My clownfish almost always hang out in the upper left front corner of the tank, occasionally coming down and playing directly in the current of one of my pumps.

One of my clowns is outgrowing the other, though both are still pretty small. One of my Cardinals tries to keep my Clowns in their "place" by chasing them back into the corner, but the bigger Clown always comes back and chases the Cardinal away like it ain't taking any crap from some Cardinal. really funny to watch.
 
I just read your entire thread. Great stuff! My daughter is planning to do a build for her senior project. I think your 40B set-up would be perfect. The back wall would be great for those looking at her tank who are not familiar with reefing, adding a habitat-like appearance. Thanks for the ideas. I can't wait to show her.
 
IdahoCindy said:
I just read your entire thread. Great stuff! My daughter is planning to do a build for her senior project. I think your 40B set-up would be perfect. The back wall would be great for those looking at her tank who are not familiar with reefing, adding a habitat-like appearance. Thanks for the ideas. I can't wait to show her.
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Thanks! Best of luck. Have her post her build here on RC for support and ideas.
 
Caught 6 of my 7 fish all in one pic on the left side of my tank. That is rare...would have got all 7 but one of the Cardinals took off just moments before taking the pic...

lefttankfish.jpg


And I got a nice shot of my Firefish and Twin Spot Goby hanging out together...

firefish-twinspot.jpg
 
And I took one pic of my full tank, with my Kessil A160WE on full intensity and a bit on the actinic side. This is one helluva bright light. Hard to believe this little LED fixture puts out that much light. I never have it on full intensity unless it's also on full actinic.

august-tank5.jpg
 
Thanks. Today I'm going to be cleaning my sump, adding some more chaeto and doing a water change.

My chaeto has actually been disintegrating because there is nothing to feed it! I have no measurable phosphates or nitrates because my weeds are all taking it in and using it.

Today will be my first water change. Yes. you read that right. The tank has been fully operational for three months, with all these corals and fish and I have yet to make a water change! :eek2:

But I should point out that I know what I'm doing with this tank. I've done this with all of my FW tanks as well. I carefully observe the algae growth, fish behavior, track my bioload, feeding and water parameters. I let nature take its course and let it tell me how it is functioning.

I have a LM Blenny and my Twin Spot that need to be fed by algae and pods and how my rock and sand does with algae, along with my "weed" growth and behavior are all prime indicators of tank health. To usurp the role of nature and go on some kind of arbitrary man-made schedule defeats the natural order of things.

So yes, today is the first water change for my tank. It's time to replenish some of the vital components of sea water that have been consumed and really for no other reason. I have no need to reduce nitrates or phosphates. Everything is in balance and working together. Obviously, one look at my tank and one would assume I've been doing regular water changes but I haven't. Perhaps if I kept LPS or SPS it would require a different method but I'm doing what works for my situation.
 
I also starting with a 40 gallon, seems to be a good medium to learn on

mmittlesteadt said:
I'm new to the forum, but after a brief introduction here, I am starting a thread to show progress on my 40 gallon breeder tank.

I don't have room for a larger tank, so I realize I have to keep the size in mind regarding stocking. I am taking my time with this. While I am accumulating the necessary equipment, I am fixing up a cheap All Glass stand and building a canopy for it.

I already have an Eshopps PSK-100 Skimmer, a BRS 4 stage 75g/D RODI and a dual 3 foot flourescent light fixture. I plan on adding two more LED light strips as well and a powerhead among many other things.

Below is a pic of my refurbed stand and canopy. The stand had no lip around the top edge to frame in the tank bottom, so I added that as well as more trim along the bottom. The canopy does not have a lid to open, but it is very lightweight (though braced) and easily lifts off to work with the tank. The entire stand and canopy will be painted black and then faux finished to look like dark red/maroon granite.

I plan on only keeping soft corals, inverts and a few fish. I'm kind of new to reefkeeping so I'm reading up, asking lots of questions and taking my time.

cabinet.jpg
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