40G Breeder AIO Custom Build

[NeonRabbit221B]

So not sure what to do. I siliconed it in place and had a leak in the front. I went ahead to doubled up on it the second time and had another leak. I am not sure how much of a leak would cause an issue but the chambers are definitely not sealed off or water tight. So frustrating and this is after taking down my old 30g and moving everything to a 30g rubbermaid.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Anyone? Still have some tiny leaks at the base...

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Well I went ahead and did it. Might remove some of the locline and get a slightly stronger return pump as the flow without additional powerheads was next to null... Significant leak behind one of the larger rocks in the return pump chamber which sucks. Overall I like the look and the fish are happy again.

 

[TheWB]

I like it. Nice DIY wall. It’s too bad you couldn’t isolate and seal up that leak but it shouldn’t be a big deal.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

I like it. Nice DIY wall. It’s too bad you couldn’t isolate and seal up that leak but it shouldn’t be a big deal.

Thanks man. I got a little too happy when my bicolor used a shell in the wall as a hide out this morning. Guess it worked out!

 

[TheWB]

That is pretty cool, did you get a picture? I had some plans for the back wall of my tank but ultimately decided against it since it’s the plastic wall to the rear sump chamber. I really like the look though so maybe next time. Did you have any thoughts of running the wall all the way across the back of the tank to complete the look?

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

My original design was to have two that met in the middle but tbh it took up so much room in the tank that I was wondering on why I did the upgrade in the first place. I will likely do a tint film on the back and sides.
I will grab a picture tonight as I saw him sitting in there this morning.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

My final stocking list:

Valentini Puffer (in QT for another 5 days)
Coral Angle Beauty
Scissortail Dartfish
Bicolor Blenny
Blood Orange Clown
Sand Sifting Star (Moving to my friends 120)
Turbo and Turban Snails
Blue Legged Hermit

Corals:
Softies and LPS but may try SPS. (moving some back over from my Evo after an anticipated mini cycle)

Obviously the Star is going but have been able to target feed to an extent which has been nice. Might be able to move my snails/hermits to my 13.5 Evo if the puffer takes to tasting them. Any CUC suggestions?

 

[TheWB]

My final stocking list:

Valentini Puffer (in QT for another 5 days)
Coral Angle Beauty
Scissortail Dartfish
Bicolor Blenny
Blood Orange Clown
Sand Sifting Star (Moving to my friends 120)
Turbo and Turban Snails
Blue Legged Hermit

Corals:
Softies and LPS but may try SPS. (moving some back over from my Evo after an anticipated mini cycle)

Obviously the Star is going but have been able to target feed to an extent which has been nice. Might be able to move my snails/hermits to my 13.5 Evo if the puffer takes to tasting them. Any CUC suggestions?

I really like the color and size of the Blood Orange Clowns. At one point my tank was just going to be two of them and an anemone. They can get pretty big because of the Maroon lineage and ultimately I decided I wanted more fish than just the two. Hopefully yours is less aggressive than a Maroon.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

For the 4ish months I had him in the 30 gallon he was pretty chill with everything else. Maybe get an Ocellaris just to keep bioload lower? She does seem pretty lonely.

Not a great photo but he was at the back of the tank.

 

[TheWB]

For the 4ish months I had him in the 30 gallon he was pretty chill with everything else. Maybe get an Ocellaris just to keep bioload lower? She does seem pretty lonely.

Not a great photo but he was at the back of the tank.

Nice. Gotta love the personalities of blennies.

 

[CavalierReef]

That wall looks incredible! Thanks for sharing the process.

 

[CavalierReef]

For the 4ish months I had him in the 30 gallon he was pretty chill with everything else. Maybe get an Ocellaris just to keep bioload lower? She does seem pretty lonely.

Not a great photo but he was at the back of the tank.

I have a nice barnacle piece that I've been saving for years. Looking forward to working it into my aquascape to house a blennie. They have great personalities.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

I will post an update once the dino bloom dies down a bit. I really liked how this came together in the end!

 

[inletfish]

I would skip the fuge. A fuge that small would provide little to no benefit for your system. I would use one for filter floss and the other for whatever chemical media you may need (i.e. Carbon, GFO, Chemipure, etc).

Looking forward to seeing how this progresses.

i disagree. brs does a nice video of the efdects of putting high quality lighting on a refugium and it working outstanding meaning much smaller fuges with a much larger effect and more frequent harvest of algae growth.

im also partial to them bevause i hate using chemical filtration.

my jbj 45 has floss, pond matrix and a tiny skimmer, 1.5 inch sandbed in display and about 20 lbs of rock tops. thinking about making a tiny fuge in one chamber also

 

[45ZoaGarden]

i disagree. brs does a nice video of the efdects of putting high quality lighting on a refugium and it working outstanding meaning much smaller fuges with a much larger effect and more frequent harvest of algae growth.

im also partial to them bevause i hate using chemical filtration.

my jbj 45 has floss, pond matrix and a tiny skimmer, 1.5 inch sandbed in display and about 20 lbs of rock tops. thinking about making a tiny fuge in one chamber also

I’m on the fence. Yes a fuge would help but you should try for a bigger one. You can bash fuges and chemical filtration all you want but they work. Within a week of putting an Ai prime fuge light and cheato in my dads 150 which used to be a fish only system, it dropped the nitrates from 250ppn to less than 30ppm. My jbj 45 runs a cheato reactor, two bags of purigen, carbon, gfo, poly filter, floss, heavily skimming, and is growing a mangrove. I have no nutrient issues and happy corals. There’s no ill effects of using “chemical filtration” though most people here bash it. Frankly in small, aio tanks like we have, they don’t have a big enough area for a fuge. That’s why “chemical filtration” is king. Your best bet is probably doing a hob cheato reactor or running the tubes for the reactor into the stand so you don’t have to look at it.

 

[CavalierReef]

IMHO there is room for and a need for a combination of chemical and biological filtration in our small aquariums. I certainly intend to use both. If a small fuge does nothing more than house and encourage pod production, it's a plus.

 

[inletfish]

I’m on the fence. Yes a fuge would help but you should try for a bigger one. You can bash fuges and chemical filtration all you want but they work. Within a week of putting an Ai prime fuge light and cheato in my dads 150 which used to be a fish only system, it dropped the nitrates from 250ppn to less than 30ppm. My jbj 45 runs a cheato reactor, two bags of purigen, carbon, gfo, poly filter, floss, heavily skimming, and is growing a mangrove. I have no nutrient issues and happy corals. There’s no ill effects of using “chemical filtration” though most people here bash it. Frankly in small, aio tanks like we have, they don’t have a big enough area for a fuge. That’s why “chemical filtration” is king. Your best bet is probably doing a hob cheato reactor or running the tubes for the reactor into the stand so you don’t have to look at it.

sorry to offend you. i didnt bash anything i simply said i dont like to use chemical filtration. i didnt say ill effects or anything of the sort.

i dont like buying stuff that goes in the trash every two weeks ish and replace. if i can avoid throwing money away i do my best to.

my old 150 ran with nothing but a skimmer and a fuge. i would use carbon and gfo only if things ever got out of line which was maybe twice in 2.5 years.

 

[45ZoaGarden]

sorry to offend you. i didnt bash anything i simply said i dont like to use chemical filtration. i didnt say ill effects or anything of the sort.

i dont like buying stuff that goes in the trash every two weeks ish and replace. if i can avoid throwing money away i do my best to.

my old 150 ran with nothing but a skimmer and a fuge. i would use carbon and gfo only if things ever got out of line which was maybe twice in 2.5 years.

I didn’t take offense. I was just stating my opinion. By people on here bashing, I was referring to others, not you

 

[inletfish]

I didn’t take offense. I was just stating my opinion. By people on here bashing, I was referring to others, not you

gotcha. hard to tell tone in text.

i completely agree with you on the quality lights making a dramatic improvement.

i also just realized how old this thread is lol.

I will post an update once the dino bloom dies down a bit. I really liked how this came together in the end!

screw it man. let see this bad boy