My 40g breeder "upgrade"

[borderreef]

My current setup is a 135g mixed reef with a 60g sump. This is how it stands now.

I've concluded that the time, effort, and cost involved in maintaining a tank this large is more than I care for. I've found myself fretting and maintaining and not spending enough time enjoying my tank. Sooo, I have had the tank and much of the equipment for sale on Craig's list for a while, and finally found someone who wants the tank. Oh, and he wants it next weekend! So I'm beginning the big teardown this weekend. I started moving some corals into the in-line fuge tonight. Later this week I'll be using the 60g sump as a temporary holding tank as the new of the tank has his own sump. I'll post more pics as I go along.

 

[borderreef]

Some of my guests in their temporary home.

And here is the new tank.

A 40g breeder on its 36" high stand I built yesterday. The stand I'll skin later. I'll be drilling the tank for an external overflow with a beananimal style plumbing. There will be a 20g sump under-cabinet. More on the equipment later.

 

[tkeracer619]

Sweet! I love 40b tanks. Definitely easy to care for and good dimensions. Fish tanks need to be fun, when they are no longer fun it's best to change it up, you're doing the right thing.

 

[borderreef]

I'm definitely looking forward to this build. I've seen so many beautiful 40g tanks here and I hope I can do as well.

 

[borderreef]

I have an issue I'll need to address. I have an infestation of aptasia and bubble algea. I need this rock in my new tank so I don't have a cycle. So, I'm going to break out the hammer and chisel and start breaking up the larger rocks and cherry pick the best pieces. The rest will get an acid bath and cycle in buckets for a couple of months. After that I'll be able to slowly introduce clean rock.

 

[borderreef]

I was just looking at the big tank, planning my next move, when I spotted a pistol shrimp I thought was gone a long time ago. It's a good day

 

[mattgumaer]

Funny how tank changes will let you discover that 'long dead' inhabitants are still alive and doing well, just shy.

Matt

 

[borderreef]

Well, I just finished picking and chiseling as many of the softies off the rock as I could. What a pain. I also broke apart a bunch of rock and picked out as much that were clear of bubble algae and aptasia as I could.
I think that's about it for today. The tank is cloudy and there are slime trails all over the place from the softies. I'll let things calm down before I disrupt the tank again.
Maybe I'll work on the stand.

 

[nmotz]

I think you're doing the right thing too. Seems like too many people "bite off more than they can chew" in this hobby. I know it's fun to go crazy and buy big, but everyone has a different limit on how much time and resources they have, and it's easy to exceed that sometimes.

40Bs are really fun tanks. I have one right now that I unfortunately haven't been able to work on much because I'm in the military and have been gone for much of the last 8 months or so. Hope your build turns out great!

 

[borderreef]

Thanks nmotz, for your interest and for your service to our country! I had a 20 long and a 45 tall, and in retrospect really enjoyed them.

 

[Devaji108]

sweet 'll be fallowing as I am setting up a 40br as well after a 2yr break its nice to be back in. yeah like others have said. 40's are a nice size tank I think you will enjoy it a lot more.

any direction your tanking this build?

 

[borderreef]

sweet 'll be fallowing as I am setting up a 40br as well after a 2yr break its nice to be back in. yeah like others have said. 40's are a nice size tank I think you will enjoy it a lot more.

any direction your tanking this build?

Thanks. I'm enjoying it already. I'm just going mixed. I gravitate more toward the lps and soft corals, but will probably add a couple of sps for the dramatic color.

 

[borderreef]

I finished removing all the rock from the tank

Fish aren't too happy about that.
This is the rock I'm going to keep. I'll disconnect the sump from the dt and keep the rock and skimmer in it till it's time to go into the new tank.

This is just another shot of the corals in the 20g. I managed to catch the pistol shrimp I thought was dead and threw it in here as well.

 

[borderreef]

Ok, I'm nearing the point where the tank needs to be shut down and the rest of the inhabitants moved to temporary housing. This includes moving/removing the sandbed. The bed is 6 years old, and averages about 5" deep. I have course sand in the remote fuge and I plan on transferring some to the new sump. I have about 25# of live rock being transferred. The only inhabitant that will be life is a maroon clown and it's bta. The remaining fish and cucumbers are going to my lfs, since the 40g will be way too small.
In short, I do not plan on transferring the existing sandbed to the new tank. Instead I'll use new dry sand. I'm afraid that a bed that old, being stirred up, is just asking for trouble.

 

[borderreef]

Change of plans. I'm going to take about the top 2" of sand and rinse it and use it in the new tank. Funds are getting tight and there's no use wasting what I already have.
On a side note, I ordered the glass for my overflow. Should be ready tomorrow or Thursday.

 

[borderreef]

Got a little more done this morning. Moved all the rock I'm keeping to a Rubbermaid tub with a pump for circulation. The sump is empty and moved to the back yard (my wife will love that).Tonight I may try to get some of the tank emptied and capture the foxface and rock wrasse. They are going to my lfs. I'd love to keep them but the 40b will just be too small.

 

[borderreef]

I guess I should talk about my new tank. Money is tight, so I'll be using equipment I've acquired over the years.
It's a 40g breeder drilled for an external overflow and beananimal return plumbing. 20g sump, mag 9.5 return running gfo and gac. Octopus DNW-150 protein skimmer. Diy canopy with 2x 250w mh and 4x 39w vho t5s. Reefkeeper elite controller. I'm going to try one of the mag 5 Koralia powerheads, but I think it's going to be too much. All this sits on a 36" high stand I built and will skin at a later date.

Just got a call form the glass shop. My glass is ready for my overflows. Woohoo.

 

[borderreef]

Scooping out the sandbed makes me wish I had gone BB!!

 

[borderreef]

Made some progress today. I have the big tank cleaned out. Finally. I also got the glass for the overflow box. Drilled and beginning to put it together.

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I realized after drilling I'm missing the bulkheads. So I just ordered them and will have to wait. I hope everything makes it ok for another week or so.

 

[Devaji108]

^ nice! great job!
I was thinking of doing a glass overflow box to but ended up going with a GH 700 GPH

I will also be do a mixed reef but with a focus on gorgs. but we will see how it develops.