TheCoralNabber
New member
Ok, well here it is, my 40 Breeder setup. I decided to leave in the links since some of the pictures are pretty large. To start off with a little about myself and my in-experience in this hobby before I get to the good stuff. I started off with fresh water for many years when I was about 10 or so, until I was about in high school, when I lost interest. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢d had a 10 gallon with just fish, had tried a few plants, but didnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t know jack about how to keep them. Upon keeping fw fish, I of course got to see the beauty of salt water fish, but at the time didnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t have the money, or the knowledge on how to upgrade to salt water, but knew that some day I would have a salt water tank of my own. Fast forward about another 5 years or so, and my aunt got a 75 FOWLER system for Christmas from her boyfriend at the time, at which I obtained more exposure to salt water fish, and continued to increase my itching for keeping salt water fish. A few years later my best friend Luke started working at a LFS in Greensboro, NC and had a few salt water tanks. After seeing his tanks, I decided to enter into the hobby as a reefer. My first tank, which was a 20H reef tank, http://community.webshots.com/photo/153690959/1153713712028616002lwNAmf was my first of many endeavors into the hobby. I have learned a lot from that one tank, like say no to Sea Clone skimmers, and anemones are cool, but like to move around and kill all of your corals, as well as you can have too much live rock in a tank. Of my corals that I first obtained all I have remaining are that anemone and a bubble coral that has stayed with me for 2.5 years now. Now it is time to replace my 20H with a 40B which I purchased from a LFS that was in the process of moving to a new location in Raleigh, NC. This was purchased in July of 05, and Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢d had plans to build a stand all along, but just recently got around to it. Now to get to the good stuff!
The base of the stand, ie the 2x4 frame has been around for a couple of months and was made similarly to countertopguyââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s stand from his thread here http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=553005
I thank him for letting me pick his brain, and give me a lot of my inspiration for this stand. He also gave me a bag of sand for letting him use my 20L for a month or so.
The 2x4s were purchased from a trusty Home Depot. The oak plywood was purchased from Loweââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s as well as Home Depot. The oak trim was purchased from Loweââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s as well. The hindges and door handles were purchased from HD
I donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t have any pictures of the 2x4 base since my computer crashed on me about a month ago and I lost what pictures I had of it. For the stand I used two sheet of oak plywood, and used a lot of solid oak pieces for the trim work. I donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t have my own workshop, but a co-worker has a lot of tools in his garage, and we worked on the stand together. http://reefbucket.com//files/25/Stand.jpg Here is a picture of the 2x4 stand sheeted in plywood and with the majority of the trim work already finished. http://reefbucket.com//files/25/Stand.jpg
I came up with the design myself for the stand, cutting the plywood first for the stand, nailing it to the frame. The canopy we used a lot of nails in places that would be covered usually with trim work, as well as with wood glue held together with clamps. The doors were made with the Oak plywood, and we cut Ã"šÃ‚¼Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚ x Ã"šÃ‚¾Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚ pieces of oak to trim around them. This picture shows the trim and how the doors were made fairly well. http://reefbucket.com//files/25/IMG_1690.JPG
It was finished with two coats of Behr Tung Oil
http://reefbucket.com//files/25/IMG_1689.JPG
There is a picture of the finished stand, with the tank sitting on the stand.
I pulled the canopy off of the top of the tank, and screwed in my reflector as well as mogul base. http://reefbucket.com//files/25/IMG_1682.JPG That picture also shows how the canopy was made. I had cut strips of plywood to join the pieces of the canopy together. While the canopy was off, I took the tank off of the stand, and took it outside and hit it with some spray paint to touch up the painted on back of the tank. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve always preferred a black background to a blue one.
While the paint was drying I cut the pieces of PVC for the return line, and cleaned them with that wonderful purple cleaner. It is available in clear, which I will be sure to use on my next project to keep everything looking a lot cleaner. The tank was brought back inside and I cut the remaining parts of the return. I used 1ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ PVC for the returns, as well as for the drain. I get much better flow with the larger diameter pipe. http://reefbucket.com//files/25/IMG_1687.JPG
For the drain I had to cut off of section of the T and 90* parts so that I could fit the dorso into the overflow. I used my trusty dremel tool to perform this. http://reefbucket.com//files/25/IMG_1683.JPG
Finished dorso
http://reefbucket.com//files/25/IMG_1686.JPG
The plumbing finished
http://reefbucket.com//files/25/IMG_1691.JPG
The return pump is a Mag 5, which I had laying around, although I know that I will have to upgrade it to atleast a 7 or 9.5 in the near future. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢d rather have flow coming out of my return then having to run a power head or two. The reflector is a Spyder (sp?) which Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ll be running a Blueline 10K bulb on, which was purchased from headonkey, has about 3 months worth or use on it, but since this is going to be a softy/lps tank Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m not too worried about it. I got a 250W titanium heater by ViaAqua. The ballast is an Advance 175W M57 ballast, which Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢d had for a year and a half from when Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢d purchased my 75 and stand from my buddy Luke. Headonkey is currently borrowing my Coralife Super Skimmer 65 on his tank, but he has just about finished the mod on his ASM so I will hopefully be getting the skimmer back from him soon. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve had this same skimmer on my Oceanic 30 cube at work for about a month and a half now, and Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve been very happy with it. http://reefbucket.com//files/25/IMG_1602.JPG Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m confident that it will do a great job at skimming this tank. I am planning on running it in sump. I have a 20L for the sump, and was going to add some glass panes as baffles but Home Depot doesnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t cut glass any longer, so that shoots that idea down. I may try to add some later, but there is not a Loweââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s very close by for me to see if they still cut glass or not. The sand is YardRight Tropical Play sand 40# and the Premium Fiji live rock has been sitting in my fuge since August or so and was originally from Forsterââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s and Smith, but I bought it from a former reefer when he took down his 75 in Raleigh. The system is going in the same spot where my 20 is currently set up in my dining room, but Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m going to try and get that moved tonight after a game of golf since the high for today is supposed to be 70F and then some Texas Holdââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢em with the guys. Most of the corals will be coming from my 20H, others that Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢d been keeping in my 75 because of lack of room in the 20, as well as some that have been going nuts in my fuge on that 75 system. Needless to say I think that I may not have enough room for much else after it is all said and done, although there is one favia at the store that Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve got to get! Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ll be sure to post pics of the tank when it is in place either tonight or tomorrow and of everything when I have it stocked. Once I have it in place Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m going to perform a water change on the 75, and use that cycled water, as well as some live sand from my fuge to seed the new sand. Let me know what you guys think of all of this, and thanks for checking it out!
The base of the stand, ie the 2x4 frame has been around for a couple of months and was made similarly to countertopguyââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s stand from his thread here http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=553005
I thank him for letting me pick his brain, and give me a lot of my inspiration for this stand. He also gave me a bag of sand for letting him use my 20L for a month or so.
The 2x4s were purchased from a trusty Home Depot. The oak plywood was purchased from Loweââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s as well as Home Depot. The oak trim was purchased from Loweââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s as well. The hindges and door handles were purchased from HD
I donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t have any pictures of the 2x4 base since my computer crashed on me about a month ago and I lost what pictures I had of it. For the stand I used two sheet of oak plywood, and used a lot of solid oak pieces for the trim work. I donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t have my own workshop, but a co-worker has a lot of tools in his garage, and we worked on the stand together. http://reefbucket.com//files/25/Stand.jpg Here is a picture of the 2x4 stand sheeted in plywood and with the majority of the trim work already finished. http://reefbucket.com//files/25/Stand.jpg
I came up with the design myself for the stand, cutting the plywood first for the stand, nailing it to the frame. The canopy we used a lot of nails in places that would be covered usually with trim work, as well as with wood glue held together with clamps. The doors were made with the Oak plywood, and we cut Ã"šÃ‚¼Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚ x Ã"šÃ‚¾Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚ pieces of oak to trim around them. This picture shows the trim and how the doors were made fairly well. http://reefbucket.com//files/25/IMG_1690.JPG
It was finished with two coats of Behr Tung Oil
http://reefbucket.com//files/25/IMG_1689.JPG
There is a picture of the finished stand, with the tank sitting on the stand.
I pulled the canopy off of the top of the tank, and screwed in my reflector as well as mogul base. http://reefbucket.com//files/25/IMG_1682.JPG That picture also shows how the canopy was made. I had cut strips of plywood to join the pieces of the canopy together. While the canopy was off, I took the tank off of the stand, and took it outside and hit it with some spray paint to touch up the painted on back of the tank. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve always preferred a black background to a blue one.
While the paint was drying I cut the pieces of PVC for the return line, and cleaned them with that wonderful purple cleaner. It is available in clear, which I will be sure to use on my next project to keep everything looking a lot cleaner. The tank was brought back inside and I cut the remaining parts of the return. I used 1ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ PVC for the returns, as well as for the drain. I get much better flow with the larger diameter pipe. http://reefbucket.com//files/25/IMG_1687.JPG
For the drain I had to cut off of section of the T and 90* parts so that I could fit the dorso into the overflow. I used my trusty dremel tool to perform this. http://reefbucket.com//files/25/IMG_1683.JPG
Finished dorso
http://reefbucket.com//files/25/IMG_1686.JPG
The plumbing finished
http://reefbucket.com//files/25/IMG_1691.JPG
The return pump is a Mag 5, which I had laying around, although I know that I will have to upgrade it to atleast a 7 or 9.5 in the near future. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢d rather have flow coming out of my return then having to run a power head or two. The reflector is a Spyder (sp?) which Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ll be running a Blueline 10K bulb on, which was purchased from headonkey, has about 3 months worth or use on it, but since this is going to be a softy/lps tank Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m not too worried about it. I got a 250W titanium heater by ViaAqua. The ballast is an Advance 175W M57 ballast, which Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢d had for a year and a half from when Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢d purchased my 75 and stand from my buddy Luke. Headonkey is currently borrowing my Coralife Super Skimmer 65 on his tank, but he has just about finished the mod on his ASM so I will hopefully be getting the skimmer back from him soon. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve had this same skimmer on my Oceanic 30 cube at work for about a month and a half now, and Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve been very happy with it. http://reefbucket.com//files/25/IMG_1602.JPG Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m confident that it will do a great job at skimming this tank. I am planning on running it in sump. I have a 20L for the sump, and was going to add some glass panes as baffles but Home Depot doesnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t cut glass any longer, so that shoots that idea down. I may try to add some later, but there is not a Loweââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s very close by for me to see if they still cut glass or not. The sand is YardRight Tropical Play sand 40# and the Premium Fiji live rock has been sitting in my fuge since August or so and was originally from Forsterââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s and Smith, but I bought it from a former reefer when he took down his 75 in Raleigh. The system is going in the same spot where my 20 is currently set up in my dining room, but Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m going to try and get that moved tonight after a game of golf since the high for today is supposed to be 70F and then some Texas Holdââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢em with the guys. Most of the corals will be coming from my 20H, others that Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢d been keeping in my 75 because of lack of room in the 20, as well as some that have been going nuts in my fuge on that 75 system. Needless to say I think that I may not have enough room for much else after it is all said and done, although there is one favia at the store that Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve got to get! Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ll be sure to post pics of the tank when it is in place either tonight or tomorrow and of everything when I have it stocked. Once I have it in place Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m going to perform a water change on the 75, and use that cycled water, as well as some live sand from my fuge to seed the new sand. Let me know what you guys think of all of this, and thanks for checking it out!
The need for improvements never end 
