Jason's 40 Breeder build

[Jchris896]

I've had a fascination with fish for as long as I can remember. Growing up, there was always an aquarium in the house, always freshwater. When I got old enough, I decided I wanted to try a saltwater tank, so I set up a 55 gallon in my room, with a wet/dry trickle filter and a HOB siphon overflow. I had some success keeping fish, but was hesitant to venture into the world of coral keeping. As I got older, my interests changed and the aquarium was taken down. I got married, had kids, and never had the time, money, or energy to get back into the hobby, but the spark never left me.

15 years passed, many job changes, and a divorce left me wondering what to do with my free time. When I was cleaning out the shed in my ex wife's house (our old house :rolleye1, I came across one of my old tanks, an 18 gallon tall. I took it home to my townhouse, and decided I would set up a new tank. This time I wanted to try corals.

After many hours perusing the threads here, and countless other sites, I gathered up an aquaclear filter, a heater, bought an ecoxotic panorama led fixture and set about to create my mini reef. I currently have zoas, polyps, xenia, ricordea, duncans, frogspawn, and a pair of clowns that have been thriving over the past several months.

A little over a month ago, I came across the $1 per gallon sale at Petco and couldn't resist a 40 breeder, and a 20 long. I decided I was going to take my time, and do it right!

I am a very DIY kind of guy, so I contemplated building my own stand, but after seeing a thread here about a shelving unit available at Lowe's I went to check it out. The unit in question is a perfect fit, has a 1,000 pound capacity, and was the perfect height for what I wanted. I decided I would use this as the basis for my stand, and I plan on skinning it with some beautiful cherry or maple shortly.

I sealed the bottom shelf with silicone, and gloss white latex to help with spills and make cleanup easy.

The tank fits perfectly, and at approximately 500 pounds filled, will be only half the rated capacity of the stand. The 20 long is a perfect fit underneath.

 

[Jchris896]

I've always liked the look of a peninsula tank, and contemplated doing so with this one.

The size and layout of my townhouse doesn't lend itself well to this configuration, so ultimately I settled on a spot in my "dining room"

After losing a clownfish in my smaller tank to a carpet surfing incident, I knew I needed some kind of a top, but didn't want a full hood. I came across this at Lowe's, and cut it down to fit. I think it will work well.

 

[Jchris896]

I wanted to try my hand at building my own sump, and the 20L I bought at the Petco sale is perfect for this. I contemplated using glass baffles, but bought a sheet of .220 acrylic on an impulse at Lowe's, and had them cut the pieces to my specs. My first attempt with the "adhesive caulking" I found (no mold inhibitors) didn't work so well.

After some research, I knew acrylic wouldn't be easy to bond to the glass, but GE Silicone 1 was the best candidate for the job. It seemed to work very well, and cured much quicker.

I added a 4" filter sock and holder, and the sump was complete.

 

[Jchris896]

I knew I wanted to avoid the HOB overflow, so after much deliberation and many recommendations, I bought the gl*******s 700gph kit, with two 3/4 in returns.
I set up to drill my first hole, and after many nerve wracking thoughts and a bit of sweat, I was successful on my first hole! :thumbsup:

2 more holes later, and the drilling was complete. I organized all the bits and pieces and set about to install the overflow and returns.

 

[SmoothSmoke]

Good luck! I will be following your build. I too used the glass holes kit for my 29.

 

[Jchris896]

I already had a preliminary plumbing plan, and I knew I wanted to include a manifold with the ability to include two reactors down the road. After extensive planning, a couple of trips to the store for missing pieces ( ok, maybe more than a couple :lol: ), I began to mock up my plumbing.

I used split ring hangers to support the plumbing, to relieve pressure on the tank.

 

[Jchris896]

I've always like a black background, so I rolled on a couple coats of gloss black latex.

I waited overnight for the paint to dry, and installed all the plumbing.

Initially, I was going to go with a Mag 5 for the return pump, but I happened to notice Amazon had the Mag 9.5 for only $15 more, and I had already incorporated a valve right after the pump, so I went with the 9.5 knowing I could always dial it back if I needed to, and I could use it for a larger build in the future. :beer:

I sat back, stared at my work for what seemed like hours, trying to remember if I had glued all the joints, and tightened all of the unions, and decided it was time for a leak test. I don't have the luxury of doing this outside, so as the water filled the tank, I was on pins and needles, my heart missing a beat at any sound that may have been a leak, of glass cracking. :hmm4:

When the tank was filled, and my heart rate had returned to normal levels, I fired up the pump. Success! Only one small leak in the return, that was easily fixed. I let the pump run for several hours and was able to match the flow of the Mag 9.5 to the return, and the water level in the return section in my sump settled into a constant level. I knew I needed to test the back siphon capacity in the event of a power outage, so I nervously unplugged the pump. I watched nervously as the water drained into the sump, and was relieved when it stopped flowing, and I still had two inches of capacity left in the sump. :rollface:

It was time to drain the tap water, and begin filling with RO/DI. Let the waiting begin!

 

[Jchris896]

Right now, the tank is almost done filling with RO/DI.

The rest of the build will be a bit slower as time and money allow.

Here is a list of equipment that I have chosen, for functionality as well as affordability.

Hydor Smartwave 425 kit
Aquamana 55X3 165 watt LED
SCA 302 skimmer
a pair of Two little fishies reactors
JBJ auto top off

I can't decide if I want to start with dry rock, or live rock but I do know that I want a more minimal look in the display, and fill the refugium section of my sump with live rubble for additional bio filtration.

I'm going to take my time and try to get the perfect aquascape that I will be happy with for quite awhile.

Any questions or suggestions from the peanut gallery are encouraged!!

Thanks for reading!

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Very nice build so far! :thumbsup:

 

[mandarin_goby]

I have a 40 breeder also, and just added a 20L sump (I went with a Lifereef HOB overflow and a Mag 7).

I also have a metal Petco stand and took some plexiglass I had laying around from old poster frames, spray painted the back of them (I picked a dusty turquoise color) and attached them to the stand with magnets for easy-off. Just an idea if you plan to add panels of some sort to the stand to hide stuff. I've seen people use thin sheets of wood too...I'm not handy at all, so I went the plexi route.

I highly recommend base rock and clean-up snail/hermit crews from reefcleaner's site:

http://www.reefcleaners.org/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=3&Itemid=58

I'll be following your build, and welcome

 

[Jchris896]

I have a 40 breeder also, and just added a 20L sump (I went with a Lifereef HOB overflow and a Mag 7).

I also have a metal Petco stand and took some plexiglass I had laying around from old poster frames, spray painted the back of them (I picked a dusty turquoise color) and attached them to the stand with magnets for easy-off. Just an idea if you plan to add panels of some sort to the stand to hide stuff. I've seen people use thin sheets of wood too...I'm not handy at all, so I went the plexi route.

I highly recommend base rock and clean-up snail/hermit crews from reefcleaner's site:

http://www.reefcleaners.org/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=3&Itemid=58

I'll be following your build, and welcome

I have no doubt I'll be ordering from reefcleaners again. I ordered a small CUC for my current tank, and I honestly don't think the guy can count because I got about triple the number of ceriths that I ordered! :dance:

I'm planning to build the stand skin with 1/2" wood to replicate a piece of furniture, and attach it to the metal stand from the inside with mirror clamps and small screws. It will be easy to remove when necessary. :idea:

 

[Jchris896]

Good luck! I will be following your build. I too used the glass holes kit for my 29.

Thanks for reading! How is the noise with your overflow? During my water test, it was noisier than expected, but I believe most of the sound was coming from the drain pipe rather than the overflow, and I think the sound will be deadened a bit when I skin the stand.

 

[Jchris896]

Very nice build so far! :thumbsup:

Thanks! I figure as long as I take my time, and think things through it will turn out great! :thumbsup:

 

[mandarin_goby]

Sounds like a plan If I had more resources, I would've gone the wood route...looking forward to seeing the final result!

 

[Jchris896]

Sounds like a plan If I had more resources, I would've gone the wood route...looking forward to seeing the final result!

It may not be for a few weeks, but I'll keep the thread updated. Now that the major parts are in place, I'm going to concentrate on the aquascape, and start cycling the tank. That will give me plenty of time to buy the lights and skimmer that I won't need right away.

 

[mandarin_goby]

Is your Mag 9.5 loud? When I dial back my Mag 7, it sounds very unhappy unless I lift it off the bottom of the tank Still trying to find a happy medium between listening to a trickle sound from the overflow or a vibrate-y sound from the pump.

And yeah, I had the same heart-stopping moment when I first got the overflow/pump going!

 

[Jchris896]

Is your Mag 9.5 loud? When I dial back my Mag 7, it sounds very unhappy unless I lift it off the bottom of the tank Still trying to find a happy medium between listening to a trickle sound from the overflow or a vibrate-y sound from the pump.

And yeah, I had the same heart-stopping moment when I first got the overflow/pump going!

I took a bit of preemptive action regarding the Mag 9.5 as I had heard they can be loud. Before I placed it in the sump, I spread a 1/2 inch thick bead of silicone on the bottom of the pump and let it dry so that I wouldn't have to listen to the vibration of the plastic body of the sump on the glass. I can't even hear it at all.

 

[Jchris896]

I am pondering my stocking list already, and here is what I would like to have:

I know I want to try my hand at some SPS as well as the LPS that has been thriving in my current tank, so reef friendly fish are a must.

I know for a fact that I want a jawfish of some sort, and a small school of 5-7 green chromis. In addition, I want one slightly larger "show piece" type fish to complement the others. Any ideas?

 

[mandarin_goby]

I took a bit of preemptive action regarding the Mag 9.5 as I had heard they can be loud. Before I placed it in the sump, I spread a 1/2 inch thick bead of silicone on the bottom of the pump and let it dry so that I wouldn't have to listen to the vibration of the plastic body of the sump on the glass. I can't even hear it at all.

Great idea! I'm going to look into that, thanks for the suggestion. That'll be a cheaper fix than trying an Eheim

I had 2 chromis at one point, and 5 min after I put them into the tank, there was only one. I hear they eventually whittle themselves down to a more, well, manageable number all on their own. Now, I have just one happy and fat chromis. I don't have anything fancy, fish-wise...I have a pajama cardinal, a starry blenny, a Hector's goby paired with a pistol, 1 chromis and a clown + rose bubble tip anemone. I just added a very shy, tiny mandarin.

 

[darbo1212]

I got a 40 gal a few weeks ago I wish I would have known it could have been drilled. The man at petco said it was tempered glass so I did not even try it. i went hob filter for now.:headwally: