40g Build

[yoda]

Hello. Just wanted to show some pictures of my recent project. Now that all my kids are out of diapers and in school, I decided to get back into reef keeping. After thinking about the budget and how much time I would be able to devote to maintenance practices, I decided that I could handle a tank around 30 to 50 gallons. I monitored the used tank market on Craigslist for a while, but struck out.

In the end, I decided to just buy a new 40g Breeder tank and build my own stand and light hood. I love getting on RC and reading other people's tank build threads, so I thought I would do one of my own. Below are pictures from my build.

Getting ready for the stand:

My assistant. I call this one Kid #2.

Stand after trim and sealing paint.

I drilled the tank for an overflow and single return line. The overflow box was made by gl*******s.com. Its rated for 700 gph max.

Plumbing the tank. Later on, I changed the bottom half of the overflow pipe to a soft tube to reduce noise.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

I wish I could see the pictures.
Sounds like you are making a good progress.

Tomoko

 

[yoda]

http://i1212.photobucket.com/albums/cc443/jreagan36/Beginning.jpg

 

[yoda]

I am working on the pictures. I thought I had this figured out. Maybe RC doesn't like photobucket for some reason.

 

[yoda]

 

[yoda]

 

[yoda]

 

[yoda]

One advantage of working at a machine shop is that you can occasionally get a few nice parts build for free. I had our welder build me these mount arms for a light hood. I had multiple mount holes drilled so that I can adjust the height of the arms in the future.

I had originally planned to light the tank with two 150w HQI MH. After doing a lot of reading here on RC, I became intrigued by the use of LED lighting. After doing some reading on the DIY forum, I went with a DIY LED light kit from RapidLED.com. I didn't get a lot of pictures of the build, but here was the kit after I opened it:

Here is a 75 gpd RO/DI unit I found on Ebay for $130 after shipping.

We got water! The RO/DI unit filled the tank overnight, and measured 3 ppm on my TDS meter. Not bad for $130.

 

[__SKINNY__]

Looking great!!!! keep the pic's coming,Good to see kids showing interest in the hobby.
When i setup my 72gal bow front i had no "kid help" but once it was done the 13 year old was mesmerized and wanted a small tank of his own,so i got him a 29high from a fellow reefer and he has been great with it so far.Keep up the good work and try to involve him in as much of it as you can.

 

[yoda]

I let the tank run empty for a few days. I then ordered some Live Rock and Live Sand from Aquacon.com. I tried to buy the rock and sand locally, but I found the selection to be limited, so I ordered online instead.


The Live Rock and Sand arrived. I purchased 25 lbs of Fiji and 25 lbs of something called Bali Alor, along with 40 lbs of Live Sand, enough to give me a 1" sand bed.

Here is the Fiji rock. The coralline algae coverage was poor, but I was happy with the shapes of the rock. I was hoping to get some flat boulder shapes.

Here is the Bali Alor rock. I stuck it in the sump temporarily because I was going to put the sand in the main tank first and let it settle before I put the Bali in. The coralline coverage on the Bali rock was much nicer.

Side note: Any chance of me ever getting a TOTM nomination ended when I built the baffles in the sump. I had forgotten how easy it is to smear silicone when applying it, and ended up getting it everywhere. Kid #2 chastised me over it, and I hung my head in shame.


Live Sand Nuclear Winter: We've all been there before...

Here is a slightly used Corallife Needle Wheel Skimmer I bought on on Ebay for $50. It will live in the sump eventually, but initially I hung it on the side of the tank while I was working with the Live Sand. It went nuts when I plugged it in. This was the amount it had in 10 minutes. I guess the new rock and sand had alot of die off.

 

[yoda]

Nuclear Winter ended, and the nitrogen cycle has begun... Woo Hoo!

This last picture is the Bali mixed with the Fiji. Everything is still covered in dust, so you don't see much color yet. Also, everything in the picture looks white-washed. Part of this is the camera not being set right. It is auto adjusting to the bright sand and the LED lights. It looks a little better than this in person. I will have to play with the camera settings.

 

[dubaygv]

Great start! Keep the pics coming!

 

[yoda]

The LR and LS has been in the tank for 3 days now. I did some water testing:

Specific Gravity: 1.023
Temp: 78 F
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 1.0 ppm
Nitrate: 40 ppm
Phosphate: 0 ppm


I thought I had the salinity at 1.026 the other day. I have been fighting air bubbles in the hydrometer, so the number may have been skewed.

I expected to have some ammonia and nitrite. I was very glad to see 0 phosphate.


Some tank specs that I failed to mention before:

Lighting: Right now I have 23 Cree brand 3w LED's. I was supposed to have 24, but I accidentally overloaded one when I was debugging the fixture. Of the 24 LED's, 12 are 8,000K white, 8 are actinic blue, and I put in 4 red colored LED's, just because I tend to prefer a daylight look to my aquariums. I have enough room for perhaps 50 or so LED's in the fixture, but I am going to see how well a group of 24 works. I will have to order a replacement for the one I popped, so I am thinking about getting a few other colors just to play around a bit.

Circulation: I am running a Mag 7 pump from the sump, which gives me around 415 gph after figuring in a 4ft head loss. Then I have 2 Hydor powerhead fans in the tank that are rated at 750 gph each. this gives me 1900 or so gph of flow, or 48X the tank volume.


Plans for the tank: I am interested in keeping a couple of Acropora types that have a table type growth pattern. Also, I used to keep a Pocillopora Damicornis coral and a yellow Bali Acro that I now miss. There are also a couple of Zoanthid types that I would like to try.

I certainly like most all corals and reef animals in general, but I am setting this tank up to be a small SPS/Zoo tank. I'm sure I'll eventually sneak in other animals if I think they will do well in the tank. As far as fish goes, I am pretty limited with a 36" x 18" footprint. I love six-line wrasses, so I think one of those is in my future. Other than that, I'm not sure. My boys ask me every day when I am getting fish, so maybe I will let them decide, as long as they will get along with a six-line.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

I still have your yellow Bali acro (looks like Bali Green Slimer under my light). I can frag a small piece for you for sure. I have a number of zoas. Is there any specific one you are looking for?

 

[yoda]

Tomoko -- Thanks! Yea, there are several zoas that I would be interested in. I used to have some that had metallic red polyps, kinda like this one:

http://www.bluezooaquatics.com/productdetailcc.asp?did=11&cid=330&pid=12865

The ones I had looked kinda bigger though.

These look awesome:

http://www.bluezooaquatics.com/productDetail.asp?did=3&pid=1556&cid=303

 

[Tomoko Schum]

I have the 2nd one, or ones the look exactly like them called Bam Bam. My foxface or Powder Blue Tang has decimated a large part of them in my 120, but they are coming back. I also have a small frag of it in my 15G which my alpheus pistol shrimp likes to bury in the sand. I rescue it periodically to keep them alive. You might as well take these guys away from my shrimp.

 

[yoda]

Tomoko -- I would love to have a small frag of those! They look unreal. Once my tank cycles, I was thinking about my first purchase to be a group of zoa frags from somewhere. When I do, I'll message you and see if there is a type you want and I'll get them to trade.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

Sounds great

 

[yoda]

The tank has been up and running with LR and LS in place for over a week now. Here are a couple of pictures now that the tank has cleared up a bit:

As you can see, I'm not the most creative person when it comes to aquascaping. I just wanted a bunch of flat surfaces for corals, and a bunch of small caves for my future 6-line wrasse.

The rocks must still have sand dust on them, because they appear so white that it looks like I used dry rock to start. There are a few places that are cleared off, so maybe I have a couple of hitchhiker snails that I haven't found yet.

Took some water quality tests tonight:

Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: .25 ppm
Nitrate: 40 ppm
Phosphate: 0 ppm

Note: I love the way the sand looks, but I might have messed up getting it. Its very very fine sand. In the tank, it has the texture of white flour. It gets blown around alot. It doesn't stay suspended in the water column forever, but it makes a cloudy mess for a while if anything disturbs it. If I had it to do over again, I'd buy something heavier grain like 1mm-2mm CaribSea. But it might be ok, we will see.

 

[kng]

Cool build. Love the LEDs!