BigDaddyD1992's 40g breeder 20g long sump build!!! Pictures!!!

[BigDaddyD1992]

The ball is finally starting to roll on this build! Ive been working on it for a little over a year and a hlaf now slowly buying things. The latest big step ive made on this build is I finally grew a pair and drilled my 40 breeder[emoji23] [emoji23] [emoji23] . It wasnt anywhere near as bad as I had thought it was going to be, now the overflow box is siliconed and the loc-line is in! Its finally starting to feel like a reef tank!

My sump is a 20g long that I siliconed glass baffles in to separate skimmer chamber, bubble trap, refugium, and return pump chamber. The measurements are 12"L x 12"W x 8.5"H for the skimmer chamber, 9"L x 12"W x 8"H for the refugium, and 7"L x 12"W x 7.5 for the return.

Heres a list of everything i have for this build right now:
Vertex Omega 130 protein skimmer

BRS Mini carbon reactor w/ Colbolt Aquatics MJ-1200

1/2 gallon of BRS Bulk Premium Rox 0.8 Carbon

3 Hydor Korilla 600gph powerheads

BRS refractometer

4" filter sock holder w/ 3 filter socks

BRS 4 stage value plus 75gpd RO/DI filter

Sicce Syncra Silent 2.0 Pump (568 gph) w/ silicone 3/4" tubing

Algae Free - Piranha Float glass cleaner

CPR Overflow Box w/ 3/4" ABS bulkheads

Loc-Line

HMO-150 Finnex Heater w/ digital controller

5 lbs of Mirical Mud refugium substrate

Hw-marinemix Reefer salt

40 lbs CaribSea Ocean Direct Live Sand

58lbs of Fiji Dry Live Rock (ordered 50, they sent 58 thanks BRS!)

Now heres some pictures

Quick shot of my growing book collection

(ignore the book on leopard geckos, old habits die hard [emoji6])

Some of the things I will be buying here in the coming months will be a Radion XR30W LED light and RMS Radion Mounting System, 40 more lbs of sand, another Hydor powerhead, the pvc parts to plumb my herbie overflow, diy screen top, Tunze Osmolator Universal 3155 Auto Top Off, and ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate test kits(to get me started).

Ive been working really hard to put this new build together and take my time to learn everything i can about the hobby, ive been researching for the past year and half to make sure im prepared to take care of this tank properly and be successful! I know a lot of my friends have failed because they didnt take the time to learn about reef keeping and rushed and threw everything together in one day...
Im excited to hear your guys feed back on what you think of this bulid so far, and maybe any suggestions?

 

[mvallee_ma]

Looks great! definitely a lot of prep and planning has gone in. looking forward to seeing this up an running

 

[BigDaddyD1992]

Thanks! Ive been putting a lot of thought and energy into this and im super exited to start my own tank. Ive helped out of other saltwater tanks and cant wait to get mine up and running! I think ill be getting another 20g long for a quarantine set up. But it wont be till after the tank is up and running. I dont think ill be quarantining my first fish, but every other one after that will be before it goes into my tank. First fish is going to be a true percula clownfish.

 

[BigDaddyD1992]

I planned on buying copeopods from algaebarn, anyone have any experiences with them? And im going to get some other micro fauna from a place called inland aquatics, any experiences with them also?

 

[borderreef]

The ball is finally starting to roll on this build! Ive been working on it for a little over a year and a hlaf now slowly buying things. The latest big step ive made on this build is I finally grew a pair and drilled my 40 breeder[emoji23] [emoji23] [emoji23] . It wasnt anywhere near as bad as I had thought it was going to be, now the overflow box is siliconed and the loc-line is in! Its finally starting to feel like a reef tank!

My sump is a 20g long that I siliconed glass baffles in to separate skimmer chamber, bubble trap, refugium, and return pump chamber. The measurements are 12"L x 12"W x 8.5"H for the skimmer chamber, 9"L x 12"W x 8"H for the refugium, and 7"L x 12"W x 7.5 for the return.

Heres a list of everything i have for this build right now:
Vertex Omega 130 protein skimmer

BRS Mini carbon reactor w/ Colbolt Aquatics MJ-1200

1/2 gallon of BRS Bulk Premium Rox 0.8 Carbon

3 Hydor Korilla 600gph powerheads

BRS refractometer

4" filter sock holder w/ 3 filter socks

BRS 4 stage value plus 75gpd RO/DI filter

Sicce Syncra Silent 2.0 Pump (568 gph) w/ silicone 3/4" tubing

Algae Free - Piranha Float glass cleaner

CPR Overflow Box w/ 3/4" ABS bulkheads

Loc-Line

HMO-150 Finnex Heater w/ digital controller

5 lbs of Mirical Mud refugium substrate

Hw-marinemix Reefer salt

40 lbs CaribSea Ocean Direct Live Sand

58lbs of Fiji Dry Live Rock (ordered 50, they sent 58 thanks BRS!)

Now heres some pictures

Quick shot of my growing book collection

(ignore the book on leopard geckos, old habits die hard [emoji6])

Some of the things I will be buying here in the coming months will be a Radion XR30W LED light and RMS Radion Mounting System, 40 more lbs of sand, another Hydor powerhead, the pvc parts to plumb my herbie overflow, diy screen top, Tunze Osmolator Universal 3155 Auto Top Off, and ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate test kits(to get me started).

Ive been working really hard to put this new build together and take my time to learn everything i can about the hobby, ive been researching for the past year and half to make sure im prepared to take care of this tank properly and be successful! I know a lot of my friends have failed because they didnt take the time to learn about reef keeping and rushed and threw everything together in one day...
Im excited to hear your guys feed back on what you think of this bulid so far, and maybe any suggestions?

Looks like Christmas!

 

[BigDaddyD1992]

Looks like Christmas!

Thanks borderreef! It sure felt like christmas everythime i got some of this stuff in the mail! Lol
And theres still more to buy haha

 

[BigDaddyD1992]

Can anyone thing of anything that i dont have that would be a useful suggestion for my system? Ill be getting my light within about a month or so.

 

[BigDaddyD1992]

Placed an order for my pvc plumbing and valves and stuff should be here tomorrow!

 

[mpderksen]

Controller?

 

[BigDaddyD1992]

Im wanting an apex gold, but i feel like i may end up going with digital aquatics reef keeper lite plus. The apex would be a dream come true but my budget wont allow it right now i dont think lol. Its going to be my purchase after i buy my radion xr30. The reefkeeper has a lot of pretty good reviews on brs, anyone have any good experiences witht these controllers?

 

[mpderksen]

Yep, I have one that ran my 75 a while before I got my Apex. Now it's on my 25 and does everything that tank needs. Solid.

 

[BigDaddyD1992]

Awesome! Thats what ill be going with i think, and i can always upgrade in the future if needed. Any experience with the reefkeepers salinity probe? Brs started selling the probe and module on their site. They're a little expensive is why im asking lol.

 

[kmcochran0010]

Can wait to see this up and running.

 

[BigDaddyD1992]

Can wait to see this up and running.

Thanks! Hoping to have water in it soon! Still about $400 worth of stuff i want (not including the light) before i fire it up. Plumbing will be here today, ups said its out for delivery!

 

[BigDaddyD1992]

So i just got everything out of the box, silicone tubing and a couple of the spigot 90s i already had but this is what my plumbing will consist of:
15ft of schedule 80 3/4" pvc pipe
4ft of silicone tubing
6 or 7 unions
3 sigot slip 90s
4 slip 90s
3/4" spears gate valve
Spigot 90 elbow barb

I wont be using all of the the pvc and the silicone obviously but i figured extra wouldnt hurt!

And i also picked up Julians thing and 3 spare tips for different applications. I have a small dry skin problem and saltwater doesnt help at all lol. So im hoping this will help keep my hands out of the tank a little more.

What do you guys think? Any suggestions witht he plumbing?(i know ill probably get some crap for using 90s for herbie overflow method [emoji6])

 

[Ou8me2]

Im wanting an apex gold, but i feel like i may end up going with digital aquatics reef keeper lite plus. The apex would be a dream come true but my budget wont allow it right now i dont think lol. Its going to be my purchase after i buy my radion xr30. The reefkeeper has a lot of pretty good reviews on brs, anyone have any good experiences witht these controllers?

If it was me personally I would probably not get a controller yet cause you can run without one for a while. You already said you wanted a Apex, so that tells me you will get one eventually. So I'd just save up for the Apex and not buy the Reef Keeper.

 

[moondoggy4]

What are the dimensions of the box for the overflow? I am also ding a slow 40 build as well.

 

[BigDaddyD1992]

If it was me personally I would probably not get a controller yet cause you can run without one for a while. You already said you wanted a Apex, so that tells me you will get one eventually. So I'd just save up for the Apex and not buy the Reef Keeper.

Yeah i wont have a controller for a little while, at least till after my light. The set up i want is going to cost as much as the apex gold so it will be a while lol. And i like the way you're thinking, i already want the apex and plan on getting one eventually so i might as well just wait!

 

[BigDaddyD1992]

What are the dimensions of the box for the overflow? I am also ding a slow 40 build as well.

I have a CPR Retrofit Overflow Box RSS12 Medium 7 1/4" L x 4" W x 5 1/4" H

Got it from BRS $57.99, its the one rated for a 120g tank. Was reading in some of the reviews on their site and some of the people said to oversize it a little bit and this was perfect

 

[BigDaddyD1992]

Got some goodies coming tomorrow!