40b mixed reef build

Sm51498 · Aug 27, 2016

I had put down some design thoughts in another thread along with some questions: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/getting-back-in-with-40b.263033/

However, I have also started my build and I'm going to track it here.

Basic frame. The legs run the whole sides to carry the weight straight to the ground. The cross members and skin are just to hold is together straight and make it look nice.

Here it is with the sides on, nothing fancy, just 1/4 ply. I'm going to frame the whole front with boards and then put on some doors. Nothing fancy, just clean and simple.

I also need to put in a shelf and I haven't decided if I want to cover the back. Covering the back locks in noise but would need vent fans to exhaust heat and moisture.

Reefing Madness · Aug 29, 2016

Sm51498 · Aug 30, 2016

I've decided on a Standard 10 gallon tank for my Sump. Just 2 chambers, one for the fuge that the tank will drain into and one for the equipment.
I went and picked one up at Petco. I also went ahead and made a nice size drygoods order from BRS and Amazon.

I changed up my plan a bit based on some thought about long term reliability. I was going to go with a single rw-8 circulation pump, but I ultimately decided to go with a single Tunze turbelle nanostream 6040. Double the price yes, but the warranty is better and their track record is better. I figure if I have to buy another rw-8 to replace the first one, I would have been better off with the Tunze to start. I still own some Koralia Nanos that I can supplement with if necessary.

I ended up going with 1/2" plumbing which I know is small. However, I'm doing a Bean Animal overflow, which means that it will be quiet of course but that it will also flow more than enough to deal with my return pump. My plan is based on slow flow through the sump. The longer dwell time in the sump will by my theory mean a better environment for my fuge and returning water fully treated by all of the equipment there. We'll see how it works.

No pretty pictures this time unfortunately. I've had a fence project pop up that takes up my daylight time at home but I will get some work on my stand tonight and post some pictures. I did clean up my tank to get it ready though.

Somehow I don't think it can handle this bioload long term.

MaddyP · Aug 30, 2016

Congrats! A word of caution though...I had some issues tuning a bean animal overflow with 3/4" drain lines. The issue was with the second drain that handles a trickle. A 1/2" pvc doesn't have much surface area around the pvc making any slight adjustment in flow more noticeable. My 3/4" trickle line would often catch air and make some noise.

steve&mari · Aug 30, 2016

Nice start it's a nice size tank can do a lot with it.

Sm51498 · Aug 30, 2016

MaddyP said:
A 1/2" pvc doesn't have much surface area around the pvc making any slight adjustment in flow more noticeable. My 3/4" trickle line would often catch air and make some noise.

I am a little concerned about this but the sump will only be running 100 or so gph. I was worried that if I went too large on my plumbing that I would have difficulty establishing a full siphon with such a low flow.

steve&mari said:
Nice start it's a nice size tank can do a lot with it.

I think the 40b is one of the perfect tank sizes. It combines great depth with a smaller but still decent size that leaves lots of cool scaping options. The only real problem is that it is awkwardly sized for most metal halide lights requiring two to adequately cover where a cube could be covered by one easily. Thankfully, I have two fixtures to stuff into the hood I'm building from an old tank.

Sm51498 · Aug 31, 2016

Well, no progress on the stand tonight, still fence mending. I did drag up my two old fishneedit 150w MH fixtures and fire them up after sitting in their shipping boxes for 3 years. I bought them for stupid cheap when they were liquidating. They buzzed something horrible on startup but quieted down fine. Not great fixtures but I doubt I will ever get a deal like that again and for an 18 inch deep tank they will do great.

My thus far accumulated stuff for this tank. Some stuff starts to arrive tomorrow and my BRS order arrives Friday so I may try to drill my tank that evening.

I'll be using a mix of larger substrate shown in this picture and pulverized lime stone. I haven't decided how much rock or what mix between live and dry I'm going to use but I am going to be using tampa bay saltwater for the live. I want to be relatively light on rock but I love lots of life on my rock and don't mind dealing with the pests. I'm thinking about supplementing with dry pukani for scaping.

Sm51498 · Sep 2, 2016

Rain has kept me from drilling the tank today.

My stuff is starting to stack up! It's always thrilling to get new toys. I ended up getting a great deal on a sc aquariums 301 protein skimmer.

Pretty much a bubble magus clone and I understand not a bad little skimmer, probably more than up to the task of my little tank.

As a result of getting this skimmer, I also went ahead and divided my sump into three sections, fuge, skimmer and return. It leaves plenty of space for everything I need but I've never had a sump that didn't get a bit cramped.

I used black acrylic on the fuge section to hopefully reduce algae growth on the skimmer.

Lastly, I'm super impressed by how tiny this little tunze powerhead is. I have a hard time belIrving it will produce as much flow as they say but If it does, that's super impressive.

I am a bit disappointed in the look and feel of the controller for the pump. It looks and feels a bit cheap. It will be hidden so it's not a huge deal and so long as it works I'll be happy but it feels like 80s tech.

Anyways, still a month or more away from water but with the sump built and the equipment stacking up its starting really come together.

Sm51498 · Sep 3, 2016

Not much done today but I did drill a tank for the first time in my life. Weird that I haven't yet since I've been in this hobby 10 odd years but I have now. It took something like 10 or 15 minutes a hole which was tedious but I got it done. I didn't get them the most even but it's good enough and will be covered by the overflow box that I will build.

I dry fit the majority of my sump gear together, got it just right. I'm happy with it.

Still to do:
Finish stand
Paint stand
Build Bean Animal drains
Plumbing
Wiring
Build ATO
Build water station
Wet test equipment
Fix any issues that crop up

I figure I'll get salt water, rock and sand in sometime in october. Sometime after initial setup, I'll start running a calcium reactor.

Sm51498 · Sep 17, 2016

I've been quietly making slow progress. I finished the stand and then today did the plumbing. I'll wet test tomorrow I think.

I still need to build the light hood and figure out how I want to hang it. I have decided to use LEDS for my actinic supplementation. It's just so much cheaper and adjustable in the long run.

SantaMonicaHelp · Sep 17, 2016

That is some great dedication! *Giant thumbs up*

- C. Smith

915MANG · Sep 17, 2016

Very cool build, just picked up a 20g long. I was gonna buy a 40g Breeder, but I plan on using 2 20g Longs.

Steadyreef42 · Sep 17, 2016

Sm51498 said:
I've been quietly making slow progress. I finished the stand and then today did the plumbing. I'll wet test tomorrow I think.

I still need to build the light hood and figure out how I want to hang it. I have decided to use LEDS for my actinic supplementation. It's just so much cheaper and adjustable in the long run.

Great thread! Check out my 40b build. I wish I would have went for the bean Animal tho.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ricks-40-gallon-breeder.254447/

Sm51498 · Sep 17, 2016

915MANG said:
Very cool build, just picked up a 20g long. I was gonna buy a 40g Breeder, but I plan on using 2 20g Longs.

20 long is a great size too. That length makes for interesting options.

915MANG · Sep 22, 2016

Sm51498 said:
20 long is a great size too. That length makes for interesting options.

Thanks I like the 20g longs. Im still thinking about getting a 40g ha ha

Sm51498 · Sep 22, 2016

915MANG said:
Thanks I like the 20g longs. Im still thinking about getting a 40g ha ha

I've been having thoughts of a shallow cube to grow mangroves in. I know how this works

Sm51498 · Sep 25, 2016

I suppose it will come as a surprise to no one but I want to plug Tampa Bay Saltwater. I ordered today and 15 minutes later I had an emaiL telling me I would have my rock at 3. I have high standards and I had high expectations after the hype. I can tell you that not only does this rock live up to the hype it's better. There is life exploding off of every inch of it.
Like this enormous orange trunicate:

This orange sponge yellow sponge and fan worms

Colonial trunicates:

Everything is covered in snails, I've seen pistol shrimps, a porcelain crab, a mithrax crab and barnacles galore all fanning the water to capture detritus.

I know people worry a lot about bad hitchhikers and I probably have a few. However, I likely do not have anything on the scale of aefw or redbugs or coral eating nudibranchs. Those come in on what they eat. Your corals. What I do get is something vital to my approach, massive biodiversity filling every niche of detrivore, filter feeder and most things in between. If only 10% of the life on this rock survives long term my tank will have 10x the biodiversity of most aquariums. So I am very likely to have the right sort of wild prey animal for every coral and a detrivore to help break down waste into a form that can be stripped out by my fuge and skimmer. The more the ecosystem in my tank does the less I have to do. Plus, it's stunningly beautiful

So if you want real incredible live rock with great service, consider tampa bay saltwater.

Sm51498 · Sep 26, 2016

If you do decide to go with this rock, Check your bag thoroughly. This morning when I was cleaning some stuff up from getting the rock in the tank I found a porcelain crab and a pistol shrimp in the bucket I poured off the shipping water into

. They are now happily hidden away in my tank. Loving this, I could stare at this for hours and find new stuff all the time.