Taylor's 40B Build

Thanks, it worked out pretty well. If you look back in the large acrylic thread about a year, you will find more pictures of me build it. I actually built a 42" one for a 120 first. It flowed over 300 GPH and worked really well, but I decided to build this little 40B first. I may still put the 120 up later, but wanted to get back into it with something small and cheap to maintain. Finally got my first two corals the other day. A pretty slick mushroom that is neon pink and purple, and a frag of a torch. Still alive a few days later, so things are looking up! LOL

Here is a video of me running the larger one. I even simulated two out of the three lines clogging and it still just kept on running.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oya6X3aLUOo
 
Well I haven't done much with the tank lately. We went out of town for two weeks with my brother-in-law watching the tank. During that time we lost a fire fish. I have been getting a decent amount of algae growth on the rocks and back glass due to little means of N&P export. I purchased one of the new L2 scrubbers from Turbo, and got it set up 4 days ago. I already see signs of green growth on the screen. Hopefully in a week or so, I will have a good means of nutrient export. My sump is pretty small and completely full of equipment.

Here is the area I had to work with:

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I created a stand that fit tight inside in the lip of the sump. I created a cutout for my emergency drain and measured the two drains for the ATS. I cut them out on the CNC and laminated two of them together to help keeping them from flexing.

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Here is the scrubber laying on its side with the pipes cut to length.

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Here it is sitting on the stand. I used the soft silicone tubing to hook it all up and am surprised at how quiet the system is. From a few feet away even with the doors to the stand open you can't hear it. I didn't even have to put any vibration isolating feet on it. Super impressed with the unit.

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My sump is officially full! I literally have no room to add anything else.
 
what kind of t5 fixture are those single bulb setups you have on the sides of the MH?

It is just a basic T5 retro kit. I think I got it from ReefGeek. They were a decent online vendor who sold lighting equipment. But it is basically this shopping list.

It is just one of these:

https://premiumaquatics.com/products/ati-dimmable-2439w-2-bulb-t5-ballast.html

Two sets of these:

https://premiumaquatics.com/products/german-cap-t5-pair.html

Two sets of these to hold the end caps:

https://premiumaquatics.com/products/t5t12-push-mount-standoffs-pair.html

Finally, two of these:

https://premiumaquatics.com/products/reef-brite-36-t5-reflector.html
 
Bump... Update?

It is doing ok...Right now it just has a little tang, a pair of clownfish, a royal gramma and a few snails. Although this happy little crew has been living an even free life for about 6 months, so it is pretty settled in now.

I have had a few incidents that set the tank back. We went on vacation for 10 days, and my brother in law misunderstood and filled the ATO with saltwater twice, so when I got home it was really high and killed most of the inverts and the RBTA.

I did get rid of those Jebaos and put a single nanostream on it. It has been trouble free and I highly recommend them...Spend a little more upfront and get a quality unit.

I have really been too busy to mess with it much between my real job and building sump kits and overflows. My hope is to build up a 180 in the next 6 months and use this one as a QT system. I really have a hard time filling a tank up with nice fish and corals if I don't have proper QT procedures for both fish and corals, and right now I don't have the room...Literally, there isn't a free space in my house where I can put them. It is just too easy to wipe out a tank without them. My wife gets upset when even one fish gets sick, so if I wiped out a whole tank, she probably couldn't handle it...LOL

The scrubber is doing good. I clean it off every 14 days and get a decent handful of slimy stuff...I still haven't gotten it to create that nice long dark green stuff they I always see pictures of. I need to talk to Bud and see what is wrong with my settings. I am sure it is something I am doing. Either too much light or not enough, or too long of a photo period....
 
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