40 gallon breeder build thread

[quaddity]

Well as fate would have it I ended up with a nice 40 gallon breeder drilled with a center overflow, 20gal long sump with baffles and refugium. Tank is already running with 40lbs of fiji pink sand and the refug is full of pods, algae, live rock rubble, etc. The guy I bought the pink mushrooms from a couple weeks ago was selling it with a lot of accessories today for $170. I ended up trading him a .22 long rifle I have had since I was 11 for his son to start target shooting with. Score. I got rid of a gun that has been sitting in storage since the early 80s and get an up and running tank. He sold the lighting though so I'm thinking I'm going to go with 4 T5 bulbs on this one instead of halides. I may just do a FOWLER tank and keep some small angels and such that I wouldn't be able to put in a reef. Definitely want a goby/pistol shrimp pair.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Nice, now Tre can live my unfinished build through this one.

Sounds good, though i'm a sucker for reefs over the FOWLR, but hey can't complain about a new tank. Looking forward to seeing pics.

 

[quaddity]

I'm thinking FOWLR mainly so I can get some different types of fish I couldn't put in the 90. But I know it's going to be impossible for me not to take frags from my 90 and put into this tank. So here it is up and running with some old tiny fluorescent light from a reptile tank I had in the garage. Not sure what I'm getting for lighting if I do FOWLR probably just a cheap Chinese PC 36" light reef I'll probably do dual 150 halides but maybe 4 T5.

Sump has a clip on with a CFL light for the refugium. There's no skimmer though and I don't think this guy ran one. There's room for one though so I'll need to figure out what I want to get for that The autotop off is just a float switch spliced into an extension cord. It does work though.

Sump and overflow get a good cleaning tomorrow. Then I need buy some live rock. Already see cured Fiji on craigslist for $2.50 a lb.

 

[quaddity]

There's 40 lbs of Fiji pink sand in there now. Tonight I'm adding 80 lbs of coarse aragonite (lots of shells and stuff) to up the sand bed to 4" and give gobies and pistol shrimp something to build burrows out of.

Lighting I'm still looking at my options there's someone selling a 250w DE halide pendant and ballast for $100 on CL today but I think the edges of the tank maybe too dark.

 

[Joe Fish]

Yeah, I think one wouldn't be enough. A $100 though... not bad at all unless the bulb is no good.

 

[quaddity]

Someone local to me is selling me a 36" Current 2x96 PC fixture with moonlights for $65. Wasn't going to go PC but for that amount of money and the tank being a FOWLR they should be fine. Good enough for mushrooms, zoa, xenia too. I added about 70 lbs of coarse aragonite sand tonight for 4" sand bed now. Guy had 7 lbs of small chunks of live rock left in his tank so I picked that up for $10. Refug needs some.

Once I pick up that light tomorrow and add rock I'm ready to go.

 

[Chris_A]

Lighting I'm still looking at my options there's someone selling a 250w DE halide pendant and ballast for $100 on CL today but I think the edges of the tank maybe too dark.

It would be just fine depending on the reflector. The tank I have mine on is 36x20x12 and there's no problems what so ever lighting the edges. In fact, I kinda think it might be too much light in the middle, had to move a lot of corals to my other tank (same size) with a 150 watt. The rest had to be put on the edges and slowly moved inward.

It's a Reef Optix III fixture, Icecap 250 and BlueLife SPS 14,000k lamp (that burns closer to daylight on the Icecap).

Nice tank!

Chris

 

[quaddity]

Added 75 lbs of coarse aragonite last night and mixed it together with the fiji pink. Built a small reef with 10lbs of rubble I'm going to put in the refugium when I finish cleaning it.

Added the 36" 2x96 Current PC fixture I bought off a local guy today. My canopy is strange in that it sits on the inner rim of the tank so the light couldn't actually go in the canopy and I don't have legs. Sits on top perfect and provides plenty of light. Really wasn't thinking of using PC on this tank but for $55 for a Current 2x96 with a moonlight I really couldn't pass it up. It's much brighter then I thought it would be.

Now I'm waiting patiently to find a good deal on rock on CL. Can't wait to put a tiger pistol shrimp and watchman goby in it. Plenty of substrate for tunnels.

 

[quaddity]

I found cured Fiji on Craigslist yesterday for $2.50 a lb. He still had some nice pieces and the guy gave me about 10 lbs of rubble for the refug for free. So I built the reef yesterday. There's a small watchmen goby and a talbot's damsel in there. I went to Home Depot this morning and picked up one of those 16W 6500k sealed CFL spotlights to use on the refugium. I cleaned it up but it still ain't the cleanest I think the flow is way to low through the sump and return. I don't know if the return pump isn't working the best or what but I'll be getting a replacement soon I think.

He's ready for a pistol shrimp buddy:

Like these Talbot damsels and they are mellow for a damsel:

There's about 15 lbs of rock in the sump and refug and a bunch of chaeto.

 

[quaddity]

Here's the flame angel in the 40. Diatoms have come and gone already was extremely quick mini cycle:

 

[quaddity]

Well after back to back malfunctions on this tank 10 days ago things have been running fine. The watchman goby paired up with the pistol shrimp and they are busy building an elaborate house. I was having a party at my house for St. Patty's Day and they started building right in front of the glass. It was good entertainment for everyone there

 

[zoalover34]

looking good man! Ive alwyas wanted a flam angel but don't wanna risk it eating corals in my 29 plus its not really big enough

 

[quaddity]

looking good man! Ive alwyas wanted a flam angel but don't wanna risk it eating corals in my 29 plus its not really big enough

Yeah I'm tired of the PC lights on this thing. I'm buying a halide for it today and selling the PCs. Too yellow looking. I'll probably put some corals in as a test. There's Kenya Tree growing in there now which the Flame doesn't touch. Need a fish that will eat the weeds like Kenya and Xenia and leave everything else alone

 

[zoalover34]

Lol.. good luck with that 1.. how long are those pcs lights? I need a new fixture or something to supplement my mh.. also what brand is it?

 

[quaddity]

Lol.. good luck with that 1.. how long are those pcs lights? I need a new fixture or something to supplement my mh.. also what brand is it?

It's a 36" Current USA Satellite dual 96W PC with 1 SunPaq and 1 Dual Actinic in it. I put a 175 watt SE MH on it today. Not a lot of light for the tank but I'm not growing corals in it either. Looks a million times better with a 20k and the shimmer over the yellow looking PC. $80 for the reflector, ballast and 3 Coralife 20k bulbs. Same bulbs I'm running in my 90.

 

[quaddity]

Back from the dunes and my wife took good care of both tanks! Watchman goby and tiger pistol shrimp are really active now in the late afternoon. They have tunnels and openings all over now:

 

[quaddity]

I had some time today and mounted the 175W SE halide on this tank and got rid of the yellow looking PC lights. Now with a 20k bulb and shimmer I like the look much more. Nothing supplementing I'll probably just leave the one light. As I think it's bright enough and the most I'll have for corals in there is some zoa, mushrooms, and kenya. Worked good for me as it's the same bulbs my 90 gallon uses $90 for a nice reflector and a year old ballast with 3 20k bulbs with a few months of use each. We added a red fromia starfish to the tank a few days ago.

 

[scottlocks]

sweet SW tank. now only if i had the money and experice for a SW tank, well good night, its like 10:48 PM bi bi

 

[quaddity]

sweet SW tank. now only if i had the money and experice for a SW tank, well good night, its like 10:48 PM bi bi

Experience you get by doing. Money well... you'll need a good amount of it for sure

I bought everything off Craigslist so it could cost a ton more if it was new.
Tank running with stand, hood, sand, sump and refugium $170
Live rock ($2.50 a lb) $65 worth plus free 10 lbs of rubble for sump
175 watt halide $90
flame angel $40
damsel $6
watchman goby $24
tiger pistol shrimp $20
75 lbs of coarse aragonite $30

$445 total not too bad.

 

[quaddity]

I took the 20k halide out and put a 14k in. A bit less blue now. Added a couple dozen cerith snails to the tank and refug today since my bad luck killed most of them a couple weeks ago. Tons of pods in refugium. My pistol shrimp has been missing in action for 2 days. The goby has been hiding in there too. He came out real quick and grabbed some food this morning then went back in and sealed it up. I'm hoping the shrimp is molting and just hiding out.