40 gallon breeder

[cooperdude916]

I've been in to reef tanks most of my life but have never had the space to have a decent sized tank myself. I've mostly kept smaller tanks around 20 gallons on and off the last few years. My girlfriend and I moved into a new apartment and I was able to convince her to let me get a bigger tank. One of the walls in the apartment is the perfect size for a 40 breeder so that's what I ended up getting. I have a single AI prime HD that I used on my last tank and some other leftover equipment from it. I put in about 32 lbs of rock and 40 lbs of sand. The tank has been set up about a month or so and it currently has 6 hermits and a chocolate mocha clown. My future plans for stocking consist of a flame angel, some sort of wrasse, a shrimp and goby pair, and a hawkfish. I do also plan to keep some corals in the future but those will wait until the tank's been up for at least a few months.

 

[Bryn]

Looking good, and most importantly a plan which is not moving too quickly. Welcome to R2R and into the hobby big time.

 

[cooperdude916]

Looking good, and most importantly a plan which is not moving too quickly. Welcome to R2R and into the hobby big time.

Thank you very much! I plan on getting a wrasse or something more active within the next couple of weeks. The clown is still super shy, although It's been in there for a little over a week so it's still getting used to everything. It still won't eat the flakes that I have but it does eat the pellets and it loves mysis. Aside from that I don't plan on adding much for awhile. I have a vacation scheduled for December and I don't want to have too much in the tank until I get back from that.

 

[Bryn]

Thank you very much! I plan on getting a wrasse or something more active within the next couple of weeks. The clown is still super shy, although It's been in there for a little over a week so it's still getting used to everything. It still won't eat the flakes that I have but it does eat the pellets and it loves mysis. Aside from that I don't plan on adding much for awhile. I have a vacation scheduled for December and I don't want to have too much in the tank until I get back from that.

You already know the Hurry-Up-And-Wait game, good for you. So many times, myself included when we just cannot sit on our hands, is when things start going wrong.... ;Woot

 

[cooperdude916]

You already know the Hurry-Up-And-Wait game, good for you. So many times, myself included when we just cannot sit on our hands, is when things start going wrong.... ;Woot

I'm already having a hard time staying patient. I want to do this one right though so no rushing.

 

[Bryn]

I'm already having a hard time staying patient. I want to do this one right though so no rushing.

Let me make a suggestion. Spend the time sitting on your hands... planning your next tank. This is what I'm thinking if money not so much space will allow. BTW you will need a second prime at some point for LPS, and two would work for SPS, but three is more ideal. Have a look at the BRS (Buld Reef Supply) 5 min video series.

So my plan is this. Petco has a Dollar a Gallon sale, and this is where you get another 40G Breeder, and a 20G long. Take the new 40G breeder and drill it for overflow, and return, paint the back and bottom black, attach an overflow box, bulkhead etc. Take the 20G and get a sump kit. One afternoon empty your original 40G Breeder, and replace it with the new 40G Breeder, and place the sump underneath, plumb it up, and add the sand, rock, and coral and fish and away to go. Now you can add a refugium, skimmer, better filtration. Killer setup.

 

[cooperdude916]

Let me make a suggestion. Spend the time sitting on your hands... planning your next tank. This is what I'm thinking if money not so much space will allow. BTW you will need a second prime at some point for LPS, and two would work for SPS, but three is more ideal. Have a look at the BRS (Buld Reef Supply) 5 min video series.

So my plan is this. Petco has a Dollar a Gallon sale, and this is where you get another 40G Breeder, and a 20G long. Take the new 40G breeder and drill it for overflow, and return, paint the back and bottom black, attach an overflow box, bulkhead etc. Take the 20G and get a sump kit. One afternoon empty your original 40G Breeder, and replace it with the new 40G Breeder, and place the sump underneath, plumb it up, and add the sand, rock, and coral and fish and away to go. Now you can add a refugium, skimmer, better filtration. Killer setup.

I actually just watched that video a few days ago. Once money allows it I am going to get a second prime. I'm hoping a year or so down the line I'll be able to afford something like the Waterbox Marine AIO 50.3 as its about the same size but has the section in the back for all of the fitration and a refugium. Or if money allows it a Waterbox reef 100.3 since it has a similar size and a nice sump.

 

[Bryn]

I actually just watched that video a few days ago. Once money allows it I am going to get a second prime. I'm hoping a year or so down the line I'll be able to afford something like the Waterbox Marine AIO 50.3 as its about the same size but has the section in the back for all of the fitration and a refugium. Or if money allows it a Waterbox reef 100.3 since it has a similar size and a nice sump.

You keep doing what you are doing and everything will be fine. Poor stability of your water level I would say is the number one killer of tanks. Watch you nutrients and parameters, and things will be looking good.

 

[cooperdude916]

Update on the clown: he has a little cave in the rocks. He's also terrified of the crabs.

 

[cooperdude916]

Just added a beautiful black nox angelfish yesterday. It seems to be acclimating pretty well and its been out exploring this morning. It's still too shy to get a close up pic but hopefully it'll come soon. The sixline is doing fine with the new addition but the clown wont go anywhere near it. I'm also dealing with some cloudy water and I'm not too sure whats causing it. I just put some carbon in the filter and hopefully that'll help clear it up within the next couple days.

 

[Wolvesreef]

You need to add more bacteria and some prime so that the ammonium does not rise so much, as you can see, your rock is still very white, you still need more life there. how are the fish doing? I also have a 40 gallon one.

 

[cooperdude916]

You need to add more bacteria and some prime so that the ammonium does not rise so much, as you can see, your rock is still very white, you still need more life there. how are the fish doing? I also have a 40 gallon one.

I might have to try this. It's kind of hard to tell in the pictures I have but there is a decent amount of algae growing on the rocks. Especially on the left side of the tank. I'll have to check my parameters later today because it's been a little while since I've done that. The fish all seem to be doing pretty great. They are pretty social and they eat like crazy.

 

[cooperdude916]

Update: I swapped the carbon again this weekend and the water has cleared up quite a bit. All three fish are doing great and they seem to school together a lot. They're all becoming very social, both with eachother and me. The angel has some white particals all over him and the six line has some too but I noticed at night time they both live in the same borrow that was dug out of the sand in between some of the rocks. I'm pretty sure the marks on both of them are just sand particles from them digging the hole.

 

[roninmagik1]

How's the light spread with your single AI Prime HD? I'd be curious if you could maintain some coral at least in the middle near the top, where you'd be getting the most par?

 

[Acros]

That looks like really good light spread form one AI Prime. What are your settings, if you don’t mind sharing?

I have one over my 29 gallon. Considering getting another one before adding acros.

 

[cooperdude916]

How's the light spread with your single AI Prime HD? I'd be curious if you could maintain some coral at least in the middle near the top, where you'd be getting the most par?

The tank was just recently torn down because I ran into a lot of problems with it. When I had it up though the spread was pretty decent. There was some shadowing on each end of the tank but I definitely think you could keep some LPS and maybe even some lower light SPS in the middle section with it

 

[cooperdude916]

That looks like really good light spread form one AI Prime. What are your settings, if you don’t mind sharing?

I have one over my 29 gallon. Considering getting another one before adding acros.

This was just some basic preset I got online somewhere. I was really surprised by the spread. Overall it looked pretty nice but there was a couple of inches on each end that were shadowed. I still think even on the ends some soft corals would do fine though

 

[jackthetang]

I've been in to reef tanks most of my life but have never had the space to have a decent sized tank myself. I've mostly kept smaller tanks around 20 gallons on and off the last few years. My girlfriend and I moved into a new apartment and I was able to convince her to let me get a bigger tank. One of the walls in the apartment is the perfect size for a 40 breeder so that's what I ended up getting. I have a single AI prime HD that I used on my last tank and some other leftover equipment from it. I put in about 32 lbs of rock and 40 lbs of sand. The tank has been set up about a month or so and it currently has 6 hermits and a chocolate mocha clown. My future plans for stocking consist of a flame angel, some sort of wrasse, a shrimp and goby pair, and a hawkfish. I do also plan to keep some corals in the future but those will wait until the tank's been up for at least a few months.

a shrimp and hawkfish wont work