Husker 40 Breeder

[HuskerBioProf]

I am back at reefing round 2 (after my "back at reefing" 120 rimless was a piece of crap that I couldn't keep from leaking).

There are so many 40 breeders, so I thought I would differentiate mine by naming it after its placement in our football watching basement cave ["what is a 'husker'?!?"].

I have been working on this setup for the past 3 months. I just started adding water this week, so I figured it was time to start the build thread.

I have always been frustrated by wanting more equipment but not having room under my aquarium in the stand. This build was planned to allow for plenty of gear underneath and perhaps a bigger tank in the future.

Here was the general "plan":

More pictures to come! Any comments are welcome.

 

[HuskerBioProf]

So... I have pretty much literally never built anything before. But, I read through a lot of the threads on these forums and through the entire Rocket Engineer template thread. After that, I thought I would give it a shot. Keep in mind, the craftsmanship will not be to the level of a lot of the stands on here...

It all started with the frame. Getting square and level felt pretty good.

(the idiom is "measure twice, cut once"-- it really should be "inspect twice, purchase once." Home Depot has some janky lumber)

 

[HuskerBioProf]

Again... I have ZERO building experience (unless you count making a 10" shelf in my 8th grade Woodshop class). I had to borrow most of the power tools for this project. Needless to say, I was pretty excited to finally get the frame together square and level. I could see how people could get really into woodworking. I am already thinking of some other building projects...

 

[HuskerBioProf]

I bought a custom built setup (40B + 20T sump) from the LFS that was never picked up by the client. It was a pretty good deal, and the guy did a really good job on making clean plumbing. The only problem was everything was linked together with unions to drilled bulkheads, so my stand had to have the EXACT distance between sump/display tank. Otherwise, I would have to redo all of the plumbing.


First, painting the back black:

Next, to see if it all the plumping fits properly with the stand height.

 

[HuskerBioProf]

My 3rd stall garage (which is functioning as my workshop) does not have a level floor-- it slopes away from the house. Our deck is level, so I decided to take the stand out there to determine if everything is level before putting on the plywood.

As you can see, I messed up the bottom plywood because I couldn't find my jigsaw. I was making all the cuts with a circular saw in this straight edge cutting system I rigged up. Afterwards, I found my jigsaw and I cut a little piece to fill in that funny shaped area.

Everything was level. I also did a leak test, and tested all the plumbing out to makes sure everything ran smoothly.

 

[HuskerBioProf]

So, given my limited experience in building, I thought the easiest way to finish off the stand would be to skin it in plywood and paint it. However, our basement has a lot of oak woodwork, so I wanted to try my hand at a wood stained stand. I wanted the stand to look like an antique-ish piece of furniture. I decided that I wanted to try my hand at adding some trim. I borrowed a miter saw (that I have never used before), did some practice cuts, and gave it my best shot.

It certainly isn't carpenter's grade, but I was happy enough with it. Certainly hats off to people who do this for a living.

Decided on this vertical trim for the corners.

Added the vertical trim, added the front panel (after cutting our door holes), and painted the interior with Killz.

 

[HuskerBioProf]

Decided to go with a darker stain to go with our basement. It was "red mahogany", I believe. Again... not perfect, but I am pretty happy with how it turned out given the fact that I haven't ever done this kind of thing [I know I keep trying to sell my naivety].

I added about 5 coats of marine grade Spar Polyurethane. It kind of turned my nice bright interior to a gross creamy yellow. Oh well. I also sealed all of the seems with polyurethane foam, so it should be reasonably water tight underneath the cabinet.

I also decided on 2 AI Hydra 26 HDs. We didn't want a canopy, because it would look funny with the stand extending longer than the aquarium. So we decided to go with the metal pipe system to hang the lights. I think it works pretty well with the "antique-ish" feel we were going for. A lot cheaper than the AI hanging brackets, and I prefer the look of the metal pipe.

 

[HuskerBioProf]

It is now moved into the house.

Equipment so far:

Lighting: 2x AI Hydra 26 HD
Flow: 1x Hydor Koralia 1950 (planning on upgrading this... not sure what yet)
Overflow: Dual 90 elbows in a "Durso-like" overflow system
Sump: 20 Gallon tall
Skimmer: Reef Octopus 110 Space Saving Skimmer
Return Pump: Mag Drive 700 GPH

Planning on getting an ATO reservoir to the left with a Tunze osmolator soon.

~30 pounds of live rock. The rock has been in a 45 gallon bucket of saltwater for the past 2 months with a heater and a powerhead, while I worked on building the stand.

I ordered some doors (didn't even want to try making them myself), and they should be in soon.

You can see that I also added pond liner to the inside of the cabinet. If there is a leak or an overflow, it should easily hold approximately 10 gallons of water until I can get to it.

I also added a partition on that right side for all of the electrical work. I am still working on making the wiring "pretty."

Here is the aquascape. It is sitting on egg crate now. I ordered 60 pounds of Tropic Eden reef flakes for the substrate. I have seen a lot of great bare bottom tanks, but I just love the look of sand.

I am making up more water now. I just got my system hooked up to my RODi for making water: 2x 45 gallon trash cans. 1 for saltwater and 1 for top off water. I am pretty excited about this, because I had to go to the LFS for top off/water changes with my 75 gallon.

 

[Deefish714]

Ouch what happened to the holes you cut in the plywood for the doors

 

[HuskerBioProf]

Ouch what happened to the holes you cut in the plywood for the doors

Haha... We can call that a novice mistake. I made those cuts before I had the clamped guide setup (the one I show in some of the earlier pictures, that I used for most of the long cuts). I thought I could just make jigsaw cuts along the line and have them be straight. Turns out I can't. Fortunately, the doors will overhang enough that those terrible cuts won't be visible.

 

[Deefish714]

Husker 40 Breeder

Looks good tho brotha. Love the stain match for the room. Almost remind me of my stain on the cabinet I built. Btw stain is a b at least it wasn't easy for me.

 

[HuskerBioProf]

Looks good tho brotha. Love the stain match for the room. Almost remind me of my stain on the cabinet I built. Btw stain is a b at least it wasn't easy for me.

Thanks.

That is a really cool top to hide the trim. I was thinking of doing something like that with this stand, but I wanted to build it so it could also hold a larger tank.

 

[blackbear]

looks good! just curious, what are the tank dimensions? ive been trying to figure out if i need one or two of the hydra 26 HDs, but i cant seem to find info anywhere on how much the light covers

 

[plecoco]

Very nice!

 

[HuskerBioProf]

looks good! just curious, what are the tank dimensions? ive been trying to figure out if i need one or two of the hydra 26 HDs, but i cant seem to find info anywhere on how much the light covers

Thank you!

Regarding the lights, I know how you feel. The Hydra HDs are new enough that not a lot of people are reporting their coverage and experiences. My tank is a standard 40 Breeder (36"L X 18X W x 17" T). The hydras have a reported 24"x24" footprint. I will say that, based on the height I have them hanging, each one is covering about 20" in the full light. If you had a 36" tank with 1 Hydra HD hanging high enough, you might be able to get decent coverage in a 36" tank.

To give you an example, each one of my lights basically has a spotlight coming down on each of the rock piles in my aquascape. The bleed over between the lights makes it so the coverage in the middle is still good. If you only had one light in the middle, you would really want to center your rocks/corals in the middle of the tank.

Also... these lights look WAY better in person. I haven't been able to get true-to-color photos yet. Mine always turn out too purple with my camera/phone. I would recommend seeing them on a tank in person if you haven't.

 

[HuskerBioProf]

Very nice!

Thanks! It feels like it is getting closer.

 

[HuskerBioProf]

And the thing came today that I may be most excited about: my Tunze Osmolator. One thing that caused my old 75 gallon setup to suffer was lack of RODI, making water changes/top off a pain in the butt (there were a few other janky aspects of this tank, given it was my aquarium I started as an undergrad). This time, I have a trash can for RODI water and one for saltwater. That, combined with the auto top off makes me feel like I have made it in life...hah....

I also got some handy cord organizers at home depot as well as some stuff to stick up my switch box at a convenient place.

I just ordered Tropic Eden Reef Flakes sand (60 pounds). With this small of a tank, I don't mind paying a little extra to see what all the fuss is about. People seem to love it. I was happy Premium Aquatics actually had it in stock, because it sounds like it sells out often. It should be here this week along with my doors.

 

[HuskerBioProf]

And as a side note... The reason for the name of the thread. My wife and I were born in Nebraska and are huge husker sports fans. We had to move away for work for a few years, but are happy to be back.

 

[plecoco]

Very detailed pics. I like the step-by-step postings.

 

[mystikal]

I have a similar ATO container lol, it was used/for storing food. I think its great because I do not have to top it off so often