40g Breeder Build Thread

[Saladbar12]

Moved this over to the members tank forum since it's your build thread. Also took the liberty to add your build thread banner which is also a link to this thread. And now I'm signed up to follow along.

Thanks!

 

[Saladbar12]

Anyone have any suggestions on paint for the stand? I am going to be painting it black, but not sure if there is anything specific I need to look for in the paint. I was thinking of just going with the rustoleum paint, the same as I did for the back glass panel.

 

[Badfish2too]

Thats what I usually use. It doesnt really matter though. Although I tend to layer a thick coating of a latex paint on the inside bottom. In theory waterproofing it more, and the latex gets in all the cracks and gaps between the wood better.

 

[Saladbar12]

Thats what I usually use. It doesnt really matter though. Although I tend to layer a thick coating of a latex paint on the inside bottom. In theory waterproofing it more, and the latex gets in all the cracks and gaps between the wood better.

Good to know. Thanks!

 

[Saladbar12]

Well after a couple of evenings and a most of the morning today I finally got water in the tank and it is up and running. I was honestly a little nervous putting everything in my apartment as it is somewhat small and also on the 3rd floor but I think every thing is ok so now onto adding the salt and my live sand!

 

[Saladbar12]

It’s been a little more slow going this past week. I got the tank through the initial cycle and was quite impressed. I used fritz zyme 9 and live sand and I got through the initial cycle in 3 days. Now currently in the tank is it’s first inhabitants, my pair of bangaii cardinals. They are doing well and I’m just monitoring everything day by day making sure it stays stable before I move over my clownfish pair. Here is a picture of one of my cardinals. (They are a little camera shy)

 

[Badfish2too]

I like the way you aquascaped it

 

[Saladbar12]

I like the way you aquascaped it

Thanks! I kind of went for a lion king pride rock type thing there on the left

 

[Badfish2too]

Thanks! I kind of went for a lion king pride rock type thing there on the left

Ha! I totally see it

 

[Philly Reefer]

Nice build. Following your build as I am building my own 40B. I also have the same overflow but the medium size one.

 

[count krunk]

I have a breeder as well if you want to click into to see my trials and tribulations. I wanted bangaii cardinals as well but found some pj's for $12 so ended up with those.

I may have missed it, what light/lights are you going with?

 

[Saladbar12]

I have a breeder as well if you want to click into to see my trials and tribulations. I wanted bangaii cardinals as well but found some pj's for $12 so ended up with those.

I may have found it, what light/lights are you going with?

I am going to be running three primes on it. 2 of the 16hds and one of the regular hd.

 

[Sebastiancrab]

Hey all,

Im not really sure if anyone is going to follow along with me on this 40g breeder build at all or not, but I thought it would be pretty fun to create my first thread here on R2R since I am extremely excited about how it has been going. I am going to try and update this thread with as many progress photos and info as I can and I am happy to answer any questions that anyone has as well. Thanks for following a long and here is a picture of the current 20g tall as it sits that will be moving into the 40g when its done.

Following along. I am planning a 40 gal breeder with 20 gal sump now. I like what you did with the aquascape. Why are you going with so many lights? I would think it would need two fixtures. And was there a reason you didn't get a BB?

 

[Saladbar12]

Following along. I am planning a 40 gal breeder with 20 gal sump now. I like what you did with the aquascape. Why are you going with so many lights? I would think it would need two fixtures. And was there a reason you didn't get a BB?

I originally started out with a 10g which I bought a single prime hd for. When I quickly upgraded to my 20h the single prime wasn’t strong enough to grow sps as the par numbers were in the 120 range at its highest so I bought a 16HD to go with it. So I already had two primes and bra just released their prime 16HD lighting video and 3 is what they recommend for sps tanks to get proper spread and coverage. I’ll be testing everything with par numbers once I move the corals over and I’d be happy to share the numbers here if you’d like.

 

[count krunk]

I have a 175w MH and mars aqua style LED blackbox over my breeder, so prob about the same level of light

 

[Saladbar12]

I did some par measurements this morning using just my two primes that I already had. I wanted to confirm before I spent the money that I would actually need the 3rd prime and I was pleasantly surprised by the numbers here. I am going to give it a go at least for a while with the two primes and maybe add a 3rd as my sps grow larger and larger.

 

[Johniejumbo]

I’m going to follow along. I have a 40b as well and always like to see what others do with theirs.
I know next time I go to build a new stand I will get a sheet of of Formica laminate to line the inside with. My paint hasn’t stood up very well to the moisture and salt creep.

 

[Saladbar12]

Small little update. I had been battling the noise of the overflow box the past few days even though I have it controlled with a full siphon using a gate valve and my vectra pump being able to fine tune it. I decided I would try and see if I could get it even quieter by using a little piece of sponge filter to stop the splashing happening as a result of the water falling through the weir. It worked surprisingly well and now my system is dead silent.

 

[count krunk]

Be sure to rinse or change it once a month or so

 

[Saladbar12]

Be sure to rinse or change it once a month or so

Already got it on my maintenance calendar