40 breeder build

glb · Mar 29, 2016

BlueDevil said:
Nice work on your setup so far. Read through your whole thread. Did you finish your sump? If so, care to share the plans? Mine are still fluid and could always use some ideas.

Thanks! I've made a lot of mistakes but doing everything slowly gives me a chance to really think things through. I haven't done the sump yet but I've planned it. I'll have a glass baffle 8" high on the left for the overflow/skimmer department. The middle compartment will have an algae scrubber and a gfo reactor. I'll have a second 7" glass baffle next to that to make the compartment for the return pump. I'm planning to use all pvc with multiple unions so I can take it apart to clean it. The pvc for the overflow is 1" and the return is 3/4". That's with the glass-holes overflow and return kits. I might paint some of the pvc with Krylon Fusion just so it looks cool. There will be an acrylic "wall" to the left of the sump that will protect my electrical stuff. I'm going to use industrial-strength Velcro so I can take it off when I need to. I'll probably frame it with wood to make it a little more sturdy. I'll show pics as soon as I get it done.

enzo · Mar 31, 2016

How much muriatic acid do you put in I'm soaking in two 5 gallon pails

BlueDevil · Mar 31, 2016

enzo said:
How much muriatic acid do you put in I'm soaking in two 5 gallon pails

10:1 water to acid. All the acid bath and lanthanum bath details are in the rock curing thread.

enzo · Mar 31, 2016

Ohh how important is it to have lanthanum I couldn't find it anywhere

BlueDevil · Mar 31, 2016

enzo said:
Ohh how important is it to have lanthanum I couldn't find it anywhere

It should be available at Home Depot. It is also available online. As far as what other products might remove phosphates, I am not sure. It was readily available and a popular treatment so I stuck to it.

Can I ask you for a favor - can you ask these rock curing questions in the other thread please? They are more related to that than a build and I don't want to detract from the build discussions. Thanks!

enzo · Mar 31, 2016

So these two are the same rock they both have muriatic acid in them but look at the difference the one to the left is nice and foamy and the one to the right just has some bubbles coming out if it.

enzo · Mar 31, 2016

Don't mind the shovels around here it can be 70 one day and the next 33 with snow and that's what we are expecting on Monday and Tuesday snow. It's 65 now

enzo · Mar 31, 2016

Sorry I wasn't thinking no problem

BlueDevil · Apr 3, 2016

Got a whole bunch done this weekend. Puttied and sanded the stand, and coated the inside. I'm experimenting with Flex Seal liquid that you can brush/roll on. Rolling didn't work so well since it was so thick and sticky (the roller kept sliding instead of rolling). So I ended up painting it on with a brush. I coated the bottom and about the quarter of the way up the sides. The flex seal certainly did a great job at sealing any seams/gaps between the wood pieces. The rest of the inside I painted with white exterior paint. I only have one coat on there so far and will probably add one more at least and then poly seal it.

The biggest piece of progress was drilling the tank and installing the Synergy Reef overflow box. A massive shout out to @Reeflogic for the help with tank drilling. Rather doing the drilling for me cos I was too chicken having never done it before. The process was a breeze and everything turned out perfect. I absolutely LOVE how low profile this overflow box is. Highly recommended to anyone that is setting up a new tank!

I hit several roadblocks in the sump build. Firstly, the one glass shop that I did find in town that had the glass that they could fabricate for me wanted ~$440 for just 4 small panes of glass, one with a couple of holes for my oveflow pipes. So that idea was tossed out the window real quick! I went back to the acrylic baffles plan. @parroki hooked me up with a sheet of cast acrylic which was cut into the pieces I need. I am trying using the maine weather stripping to seal but no matter what I do, there is always the tiniest of gaps through which a trickle of water seems to find its way through. I am going to go ahead and set it up and test it out to see how much it impacts the water levels. Hopefully it will be a non issue in the grand scheme of things. Sump pictures to follow when I am done with the baffles and have had a chance to test out the seals.

Now to the pictures...

Drilled tank!

Synergy Overflow Box - LOVE IT!!

Stand interior:

cale0721 · Apr 3, 2016

Awesome! Jealous the overflow looks sweet. It's cool that we have someone that can drill tanks. Props @Reeflogic

glb · Apr 3, 2016

It looks great!! I can't believe the glass company prices. That's ridiculous. What is Maine weatherstripping? Do you mean to attach the acrylic to the sump?

BlueDevil · Apr 3, 2016

glb said:
It looks great!! I can't believe the glass company prices. That's ridiculous. What is Maine weatherstripping? Do you mean to attach the acrylic to the sump?

Sorry that was a typo. Meant to say marine weather stripping. Yeah I'm trying to attach acrylic baffles to a glass aquarium that I'm converting to a sump.

CastAway · Apr 3, 2016

Awesome!!

Cool seeing everyone contributing!

[emoji2]

glb · Apr 3, 2016

BlueDevil said:
Sorry that was a typo. Meant to say marine weather stripping. Yeah I'm trying to attach acrylic baffles to a glass aquarium that I'm converting to a sump.

Are you sure the material is reef-safe? I'm not sure but maybe someone else can chime in.

BlueDevil · Apr 3, 2016

glb said:
Are you sure the material is reef-safe? I'm not sure but maybe someone else can chime in.

Some others have seen it being used in setups before. And it's just rubber stripping so I don't think it would do any harm.

glb · Apr 3, 2016

If the leak in the baffle is below the waterline, I don't think it's really a big deal.

BlueDevil · Apr 3, 2016

glb said:
If the leak in the baffle is below the waterline, I don't think it's really a big deal.

Yeah it's below the water line. It's from under the baffle which is flush against the bottom. The water cascades down from the top of the baffle. I don't think it will be a huge deal especially as little as is seeping through.

glb · Apr 3, 2016

BlueDevil said:
Yeah it's below the water line. It's from under the baffle which is flush against the bottom. The water cascades down from the top of the baffle. I don't think it will be a huge deal especially as little as is seeping through.

I don't think it really matters either. Your build looks great!

BlueDevil · Apr 3, 2016

glb said:
I don't think it really matters either. Your build looks great!

Thank you! All the small tasks out together add up to a whole lot of time spent! I pretty much spent the whole weekend working on parts of the setup and I still have a ways to go!

glb · Apr 3, 2016

BlueDevil said:
Thank you! All the small tasks out together add up to a whole lot of time spent! I pretty much spent the whole weekend working on parts of the setup and I still have a ways to go!

I love the fact that it takes a while to plan and build everything. It gives you time to really think things through. I've spent as much time thinking as I have doing, if not more! It will be fun to see how our builds come together.