Byrdman's 40 Breeder

[byrdman81]

Well I have started planning and getting equipment together for my 40 breeder. This tank will be predominately SPS with some LPS and softies blended in at the bottom. I currently have a 20L that will become my sump once I move everything out of it.
Ok finally here are some pics of the stand. This morning I got all my wood panels cut for the stand. I am using contact cement to put the three sides and bottom on the stand. The forth side will be removable with velcro for access to the sump if needed. The wood I am using is just a 4x8 sheet of hardwood nothing fancy at all. Hopefully it turns out when its all said and done. I will post pics of the stand again once i get it skinned. Without further adeau

Here is a pic of the nuts I welded on in case I need levelers. The stand come out pretty darn square so lets just hope my floor is too. The inside braces you see on the bottom is where my 20l sump will sit. I will have to also add cross braces for the sump to sit on but I forgot to add those.

 

[byrdman81]

I have a mp40 otw and have also already purchased at octopus 110. I am currently looking for a good 6 bulb fixture either new or used just depends on what deal I can get.

 

[allsps40]

I also have a 40 breeder with a 20L sump and the Octo NW110. Good little skimmer. The MP40 will be way to much for a 40b. I am looking at getting a MP10.

 

[Rickyrooz1]

Following along

 

[byrdman81]

The mp 40 came off of a person with a SPS dominated 34 gallon. It will be fine turned down.
Hello Ricky havent talked to ya in a while. I dont visit reeflounge much anymore.

 

[r0ck0]

I have a 17g tank, 24x12x14 and one mp10, I would go with two mp10's in a 40b. One mp40 will be a lot of flow but I think having two mp10 will allow more options for dynamic flow. Placing them on opposite ends of the tank and using the anti/sync eco smart modes would be nice too.

 

[byrdman81]

I already have the mp40. So for now that is what i will use.

 

[allsps40]

Make sure you turn it all the way down or you will have waves going on your floor. The MP10 does up to 1500 gph I think, the M940 is way more.

 

[byrdman81]

Thanks I'll keep an eye out. If it's too much turned down I'll sale it and get the 20 but as I stated before I bought it from a guy who had it in a 34 so we shale see

 

[UgoneBannas]

I constantly find myself cleaning my mp20 on my 40B. It slows down a lot after a while. The mp40 is the way to go.

 

[byrdman81]

Yea I believe so but I guess I'll find ou soon. I spoke with the guy who owned it he said he left it on 80%lagoon mode on his 30 gallon and said it was fine

 

[byrdman81]

I am continuing to work on the stand. Got another side liquid nailed on. This just leaves me the removable side to go. I routed all the edges even with the metal frame. Turned out pretty good. I messed up in a few spots but nothing that wont be hidden with the trim work thank goodness. I'll post some pics when i get it skinned before doors and trim. Waiting on mp40 and eheim return pump to come in. I may go buy the tank this weekend not for sure yet. I may wait until i get stand done either way I'll have the tank in the next couple weeks. Still going back and forth on lighting. Found a couple used t-5 fixtures i enquired about. Nova extreme 6 bulb and a 2x150 sunpod 36 in so we shall see what responses I get.

 

[byrdman81]

Got all four sides on and routed. Had to go back and liquid nails a couple spots where the contact cement I used that wasnt any good didnt stick. Tomorrow morning I am going to paint the inside white with Killz primer and the following day or tomorrow evening I will route the door openings to make them clean and place the top board on. If you look at the left hand side of my stand doors facing out, that is my removable side. I used velcro strips along the top and bottom to secure it in place. I am going to have to add a piece of wood strip in the middle on each side because when I planned the stand I moved the upright legs inside about 4 inches off the ends. This caused me to not have anywhere to place velcro to keep the wood from bowing out like it is in the pics. Its an easy fix just sucks I didnt plan it out well enough. Woodworking is fun but by no means am I any good at it. Hopefully once its trimmed everything will turn out ok.
Rear shot

Front shot

Top down shot showing distance between board and upright.

 

[byrdman81]

Ok well the stand is all skinned minus the doors and I just came in from finishing up the second coat of stain. The only thing I have left to do is trim out the doors and stain them and then place them on the stand. Overall I am fairly satisfied with the stand. If I had it to do over again I would have stained the entire stand before adding the trim and stained the trim also before putting it on the stand. This would have made it alot easier as a whole to stain and would have looked cleaner in the long run. While staining I also realized that on one of my side pieces I ran the grain up and down instead of left to right like the other 3 sides. Its not a super big deal but it still irritates me now that I see it.
My light fixture is here and I will probably buy the tank this weekend and drill it hopefully sometime next week. I am going to be drilling it for a corner overflow so need to figure out exactly how far out off the corner I need to drill for my two bulkheads. Here are are couple crappy pics on my Iphone of the stand when it was skinned before staining.

 

[byrdman81]

Here is a couple pics of the stand finished staining. I put my first coat on the doors. Hope to have second coat on doors tomorrow and the trim attatched to them this weekend. Then comes the drilling of the tank...

 

[byrdman81]

Lifes been real busy so the tank has kind of been creeping along. I need one piece of trim to finsish my other door then all thats left for stand is to mount the doors to it. I picked up my tank yesterday and just got finished drilling the hole for the drain. I made the durso last night at work outta 1.5 pvc. Right now there is a 7/64 hole in the top and as I fill it with water and get the return pump going I'll drill more holes to allow for correct flow and hopefully very minimal noise. I am waiting on my return bulkhead fitting to arrive from BRS but I believe it will go somewhere around where the hole saw is located so I can keep the overflow box to a minimal. Hopefully I can have the tank and stand inside by the end of next week if I get the bank painted and the other hole drilled.

Theres the top down shot of the setup.

Angled shot of tank on stand.

 

[allsps40]

Looking good. Here is mine for inspiration on your build.

 

[byrdman81]

Thanks. Yeah I can't wait to get mine up and running

 

[bawla47]

i had a mp40 on my 40g for a while. hard to keep sand on the middle area of my tank where it was. but besides that loved the flow. i had it setup for a nice wave. i have a video on youtube if you want to check it out, search my name on there. might help you setting yours up.

 

[byrdman81]

thanks bawla. I'll have to check it out. Do you still have your tank?