Upgrade tank troubles 65g or 40br?

[dublo8]

Alright so here's the skinny. You can see my sig for current tank info. I just bought a 40 breeder yesterday. I love the depth and the footprint of this particular tank. However, about an hour after I bought it my co-worker tells me that she has a 65 gallon tank that is 2 months old just sitting at her house. She is moving and cant take it with her and she is giving it to me for free!!!! SCORE!!!

Alright so here is the problem. I really really want to use the 65 and take back the 40br. However, the 65 has a center brace. I have a single 250 watt MH that I will be using. 1st question is, will the 250 watt MH be enough for sps in the 65? I know it will be fine for the 40 but the 65 is 24" tall and the breeder is only 18" tall. I was thinking about removing the center brace (yeah, yeah I know) and replacing it with either 1/4" or 3/8" acrylic bolted to the remaining parts of the brace.

Will my current lighting work for the 65? and does anybody have any pics of their replaced center braces? Or would you just use the 40br instead? thank you.

 

[Jhockey]

Why not use the 65g and have the 40b be a sump or the 20g be your sump and the 40b a frag tank? The only tank I have removed the brace was on a 50b and replaced it with acrylic and I used it as a sump with baffles and was only 2/3 full. No problems, but isn't the same. I know someone who did it to a 75g and didn't replace the brace and his tank broke.

 

[cubman20]

I just went from a 40br to a 65 and i ended up adding one more 250 to it works out a lot better with the center brace and you don't get the shade from the brace

View attachment 132593

 

[dublo8]

LOL you can see why i'm having these issues now. I love the 65g but that center brace would just kill all the light down the center of the tank and look unnatural plus I would lose a lot of light. I did some searches about replacing that brace with acrylic but I wonder about the long term affects.

 

[cubman20]

I like the 65 better the tank looks twice the size when you look at them

 

[Reefobsession]

Just get 2 250 MH or two LED pendents and use the 40 breeder as a sump. Perfect sump for that tank size.

 

[greech]

I have a 40B and love it but the 65's have always caught my eye because it's an easy upgrade (no new stand to build). I like the shallow breeder because I don't need a ton of light but I do sometimes want more height. If I were to do it again (after 2 years of running a breeder), I would go with the 65 but there is no way I would fill that tank without the centerbrace (the original one) intact!

Take the free 65 gallon, take the 40B back for cash and save up a little more for another halide to go on the other side. Or use the breeder as a sump if you can fit it where it needs to go. Can't you can deal with a little shadow until you can get another light?

 

[Toddrtrex]

I have a 58 -- same footprint as a 65, but no center brace -- and still went with 2*250MH for my lights.

 

[dublo8]

Thx guys. I may just keep the 65 and wait for some xmas cash to start rolling in. I dont think I can justify a $300 light purchase to my wife right now especially since she just saw how much the rocks were that I just bought lol. The stand and canopy wouldn't be done until after xmas anyways, so I have some time until the tank will actually be up and running.