deweyhowell
New member
Rock looks great! Find any interesting critters yet?
Mark's 40 Breeder build
- Thread starter Aframomum
- Start date
Swope2bc
New member
Today I decided to stop by Petsmart to see if they had any salt as I used up all of mine yesterday. Was hoping to get one of the smaller 5 or 10 gal boxes so I can try IO Reefcrystals but all they had was the bucket so decided to wait. As I was there just glanced at their selection of livestock and just about fell over when I saw the prices of simple colt coral frags ~ 2" piece for $49. Do I get a brick of gold with that?! :lol: I didn't have any intentions to get anything as I have a while to go and I don't really consider their livestock 'safe'.
I wound up ordering some salt from Amazon as my prime gives me free s/h so I get to try out the IORC after all.
Ever since putting the rock in the tank I've been hearing this crack-crack-crack sound, quite loud. Thought maybe a pistol or a mantis. Glad I separated all the rock as I was able to quickly pinpoint the rock it was coming from - looks to be a good size rock crab. I could see him in a hole picking at the inside of the rock and his claws were making that crack sound. He'll be heading to the sump soon as I can see him making quick work out of a firefish when I get one.
I also discovered the detritus that was left in the bottom of the rock bags was full of pods and other 'stuff' (worms, mini brittle stars, tiny baby crabs, etc) and so I poured it all into the sump. Made quite a bit of mess at first but after settling in my sump has really become alive with movement. For now I have a very slow flow going through it. I also scrubbed the pukani rock and put that in the sump for the time being.
Cycle seems to be on its way as ammonia is 0.5 and nitrites are 1.0 with tonights test.
I wound up ordering some salt from Amazon as my prime gives me free s/h so I get to try out the IORC after all.
Ever since putting the rock in the tank I've been hearing this crack-crack-crack sound, quite loud. Thought maybe a pistol or a mantis. Glad I separated all the rock as I was able to quickly pinpoint the rock it was coming from - looks to be a good size rock crab. I could see him in a hole picking at the inside of the rock and his claws were making that crack sound. He'll be heading to the sump soon as I can see him making quick work out of a firefish when I get one.
I also discovered the detritus that was left in the bottom of the rock bags was full of pods and other 'stuff' (worms, mini brittle stars, tiny baby crabs, etc) and so I poured it all into the sump. Made quite a bit of mess at first but after settling in my sump has really become alive with movement. For now I have a very slow flow going through it. I also scrubbed the pukani rock and put that in the sump for the time being.
Cycle seems to be on its way as ammonia is 0.5 and nitrites are 1.0 with tonights test.
Bogue Chitto
New member
I enjoyed your build, you are lucky to live that close to Tampa. I know you will enjoy this tank once you get it stocked and looking good. I always love to open boxes of live rock! My family thinks something is wrong with me for getting excited over some rocks. Something must be wrong with them.
Bogue and Isaacs, thanks for the compliments! The rock is truly amazing.
I would have to agree with you Bogue...something is wrong with your family not understanding the allure of boxes of rock! My co-workers gave me some quirky looks when I told them I drove to Tampa for rock. :lol:
Brett, I feel for you with being busy. Sometimes life can get hectic...don't you have a 90 planted in addition to the 40?
I have been purposely staying away from the LFS as its too tempting to snatch up a frag or two - gotta be strong now! Heck, I still have to setup my skimmer, reactor, and light so what am I thinking?
I would have to agree with you Bogue...something is wrong with your family not understanding the allure of boxes of rock! My co-workers gave me some quirky looks when I told them I drove to Tampa for rock. :lol:
Brett, I feel for you with being busy. Sometimes life can get hectic...don't you have a 90 planted in addition to the 40?
I have been purposely staying away from the LFS as its too tempting to snatch up a frag or two - gotta be strong now! Heck, I still have to setup my skimmer, reactor, and light so what am I thinking?
geekengineer
Member
We've got water!!! Well, very cloudy water ATM, but hey the tanks got water. :lolspin:
It actually went much faster then I thought. I was able to use the bags the sand came in to transfer the water from the containers to tank. I need to mix up my next batch to finish filling the tank and bring the sump up so I can start up my pump and get everything running.
My sandbed came out to around 3" deep and that used about 80lbs sand. Now I just need to wait for it all to clear up so I can see to the other side of the tank.
Great looking build. Will put my build to shame..
But I was curious what did you do to get the black output 90 degree PVC pipes for you water outputs? are those just painted? what sort of paint would be reef safe /waterproof? just latex paint?
geekengineer,
I got my black 90 elbows from here: http://www.glass-holes.com/PVC-Fittings_c23.htm
But, you can also use Krylon Fusion for Plastic spray paint. HD, Lowe's, Wal-Mart all have it. Scuff up the PVC plastic first as it will give the paint a better surface to adhere to. Also use multiple light coats with drying time in-between.
I'm glad you like the build. It was a fun project. This is the first that I took my time and I'm happy how it turned out. Don't worry, you should see some pictures of my older setups - jury-rig setup galore! My wife would have never approved of some of my setups I had in the past.
I got my black 90 elbows from here: http://www.glass-holes.com/PVC-Fittings_c23.htm
But, you can also use Krylon Fusion for Plastic spray paint. HD, Lowe's, Wal-Mart all have it. Scuff up the PVC plastic first as it will give the paint a better surface to adhere to. Also use multiple light coats with drying time in-between.
I'm glad you like the build. It was a fun project. This is the first that I took my time and I'm happy how it turned out. Don't worry, you should see some pictures of my older setups - jury-rig setup galore! My wife would have never approved of some of my setups I had in the past.
geekengineer
Member
ahh ok.. I could possibly 3D print some (since I own one) in black too but I just wondering if you painted them. I suppose they look more glossy that way. I might be able to dip the printed ones in acetone and maybe they look more glossy or I just order some but sort of takes the fun out of it. 
If I had a 3D printer I'm sure I would be making my own piping - what a cool gadget to have!
The filter media for my reactor came today so I was able to get that hooked up and running. Went with Seachem's SeaGel (carbon and phosphate remover combined) to see how it works.
Also used my new Salifert phosphate test kit and got 1.0ppm from my water, so will test in a day or two after having the reactor running to see if the media is sufficient.
Next up is getting the skimmer broken in and running.
The filter media for my reactor came today so I was able to get that hooked up and running. Went with Seachem's SeaGel (carbon and phosphate remover combined) to see how it works.
Also used my new Salifert phosphate test kit and got 1.0ppm from my water, so will test in a day or two after having the reactor running to see if the media is sufficient.
Next up is getting the skimmer broken in and running.
Attachments
Got my Reef Octopus skimmer set up last night.
Just had to finish the eggcrate stand to get the skimmer to the proper water level in the sump, adjust the gate valve, and presto! Foamy skimmate in a few hours. Guess my water was a little dirty after all.
Just had to finish the eggcrate stand to get the skimmer to the proper water level in the sump, adjust the gate valve, and presto! Foamy skimmate in a few hours. Guess my water was a little dirty after all.
Attachments
So you can drill the Aqueon 40g breeder from Petco? I thought there was a sign on the tank that said you cannot drill it because it is tempered?
I think the sticker was at the bottom of the tank, so I guess it means you cannot drill the bottom of the tank, but the top back wall is OK to drill?
I think the sticker was at the bottom of the tank, so I guess it means you cannot drill the bottom of the tank, but the top back wall is OK to drill?
Swope2bc
New member
I wondered about this at first too. If the sticker says "Tempered do not drill" it is in reference to that particular pane of glass. If it says "All glass tempered do not drill" it is referring to the entire tank as in many 55g tanks.
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