Anakin Reef Walker's 40B Adventure

[AnakinReefWalker]

Hey all,
Been on R2R for a while now, I've always wanted to have a build thread of my own so here goes!

My 120g has sprung a leak, which means I've gotta swap tanks, at first I was bummed out, but I'm excited now as I love setting tanks up (it's the fun part!!)

I decided to downsize to a 40B because I was finding that a 120 was too much for me
A little background info: I'm a 16-year-old reefer here in the SF Bay Area, been reefing since 2014 now, first 30g was a disaster, but I learned the ropes on that one, R2R and other reefing forums have helped me a lot along the way through my journey

I'd like this thread to be picture heavy, and i'll be updating with pictures, equipment, stocklist in a little bit, just wanted to leave this introduction here

Let's get this show on the road

 

[WV Reefer]

Hey all,
Been on R2R for a while now, I've always wanted to have a build thread of my own so here goes!

My 120g has sprung a leak, which means I've gotta swap tanks, at first I was bummed out, but I'm excited now as I love setting tanks up (it's the fun part!!)

I decided to downsize to a 40B because I was finding that a 120 was too much for me
A little background info: I'm a 16-year-old reefer here in the SF Bay Area, been reefing since 2014 now, first 30g was a disaster, but I learned the ropes on that one, R2R and other reefing forums have helped me a lot along the way through my journey

I'd like this thread to be picture heavy, and i'll be updating with pictures, equipment, stocklist in a little bit, just wanted to leave this introduction here

Let's get this show on the road

that sucks about the leak but you get a new tank so yay!!

looking forward to following along.

 

[AnakinReefWalker]

that sucks about the leak but you get a new tank so yay!!

looking forward to following along.

Thanks for following along

 

[AnakinReefWalker]

Alright, so pics are here as promised, been quite busy these past two days with the tank swap and personal life.

BRS Shipment came in Always love these

Ordered in my HOB overflow, replacement pads for my Tunze magnet cleaner, and reagent refills for my Hanna Alk checker

The second pic is the stand i'm going to be using for my 40B. Got it off Petco for 50 bucks and for the price I can't complain, it seems to be sturdy enough and because its metal it's somewhat minimalistic. I recommend it if you're on a budget.

 

[AnakinReefWalker]

Going to be using an Eshopps Pf-300 as my overflow as it seems to be a pretty popular choice for a 40B

 

[AnakinReefWalker]

Got the back painted, using the 10g sump I used on the 120

 

[AnakinReefWalker]

Finished up the plumbing, 1 inch drains headed down, 1-inch return which reduces to a 3/4 inch pipe, that connects to some Loc Line pieces which were on my 120.

I also thought I'd share a little more regarding this build, this tank is not a fresh start, I'm going to be using the same sand and water that was in my 120. The tank itself is sitting in my garage, I prefer this as I can be a little careless with spills The rock from the aquascape comes from my 120g, however I kept them out in the sun to dry, I had a pretty bad algae outbreak in the tank which is why I pulled a lot of rocks out (less real estate for the GHA = easier for my ATS to outcompete the GHA for nutrients).

 

[AnakinReefWalker]

Here's a rough look at the aquascape, so far I'm liking it however I would like it to be taller, which is why I'll be adding to the hanging arc in the middle, I'm planning on using zipties to connect small light weight rocks.

 

[Craigb350]

Looking good, you don't see many tanks with the overflow boxes on over here, I like them as there is a lot more room in the tank instead of a wier.

 

[AnakinReefWalker]

Also this morning I found my Pink Watchman Goby Earl on the floor
He jumped out of the interim tank I had set up to hold the fish while I get the 40 running, I loosely put a screen on top of it but I figure I must've left a little part out
I was planning on keeping the 40B open top, but after this I'll be working on a screen top

 

[AnakinReefWalker]

Looking good, you don't see many tanks with the overflow boxes on over here, I like them as there is a lot more room in the tank instead of a wier.

Thanks! I too prefer this over having a large overflow tower taking up space in the tank, I don't have experience with drilling which is why I opted for a hang on back

 

[Craigb350]

I always have covers on the tank, mainly because of all the wrasse I keep, but for piece of mind.

 

[AnakinReefWalker]

I always have covers on the tank, mainly because of all the wrasse I keep, but for piece of mind.

Yeah, I have a dusky wrasse and a yellow coris in my tank right now, and I'll be looking to add more wrasses in the future so the screen top is a must have

 

[Phelipe's Ocean]

Any full tank shots[emoji16]?

 

[Phelipe's Ocean]

I always have covers on the tank, mainly because of all the wrasse I keep, but for piece of mind.

Yeah I agree, especially when getting into high end collectors wrasses

 

[Phelipe's Ocean]

Also this morning I found my Pink Watchman Goby Earl on the floor
He jumped out of the interim tank I had set up to hold the fish while I get the 40 running, I loosely put a screen on top of it but I figure I must've left a little part out
I was planning on keeping the 40B open top, but after this I'll be working on a screen top

Innovative marine makes custom tops easy I have one on my tank. You can order their custom kit and cut it to the size of your tank.

 

[AnakinReefWalker]

Any full tank shots[emoji16]?

Will be coming soon, school is starting on Monday so i've been pretty busy with summer assignments and whatnot. Tank's looking pretty empty right now, severe algae outbreak in my 120 plus Angelfish nipping left most of the corals in a terrible state. Happy to say that all are on their way to recovery. It's amazing how corals can bounce back, just goes to show they aren't truly dead until there's absolutely nothing left

 

[Phelipe's Ocean]

Will be coming soon, school is starting on Monday so i've been pretty busy with summer assignments and whatnot. Tank's looking pretty empty right now, severe algae outbreak in my 120 plus Angelfish nipping left most of the corals in a terrible state. Happy to say that all are on their way to recovery. It's amazing how corals can bounce back, just goes to show they aren't truly dead until there's absolutely nothing left

Ah yes im not ready for school on monday at all[emoji23]. Thats true some corals bounce back extremely well.

 

[AnakinReefWalker]

Alright, well its been a while, excuse my absence, made it through the first week of school, was a little hectic due to some back and forth between counselors and I regarding schedules changes

Anyway, here's a list of my equipment that I'm running on my tank, along with future equipment plans, will be adding pictures tomorrow

2x Mars Aqua 165W LED fixtures (I find that 2 of these do a great job lighting up my 40b)
Eshopps PF-300 HOB Overflow
Kedsum ~1700 gph powerhead
Koralia Evolution 1500 gph
Tunze Care Magnet to scrape glass
1 bucket of Seachem's pond matrix in sump along with LR Rubble
Filter floss to capture particulates
Eheim Jager 300w heater
Bubble Magus Curve 5 skimmer (this thing is beast!)
Jebao return pump (I'm forgetting the model but it was one of the higher rated ones, I used this one on my 120 and obviously it would be overpowered for my 40b, the good news is that it is variable, so I have it running on the lowest possible setting
JBJ ATO
5 gallon ATO jug with Kalkwasser for Ca/Alk maintenance
Red Sea Reef Spec Carbon in Mesh bag
Began No3Po4x dosing today as I'm noticing algae popping up through the tank (more on that later)


Future plans
Currently running No3Po4x, that along with my biological filtration and skimmer should keep nitrates under control, I'm aiming for anywhere between 5-10
- If I find that No3Po4x alone is unable to keep my phosphate low, I have a spare dual reactor from BRS which I'll run GFO in.
Also planning on purchasing an Ink bird temperature controller, many have noted that once they got their temperature stable they noticed an improvement in their coral health
During Black Friday I would like to purchase a Coral Box wifi doser, last year they went for 40 dollars off, missed the boat, but I'll be buying it this year, I would like to switch onto 2 part dosing as its more stable than Kalkwasser dosing in an ATO

Anyway this is my equipment/filtration for now and the forseeable future, if anything changes i'll update ofcourse

 

[NY_Caveman]

Alright, well its been a while, excuse my absence, made it through the first week of school, was a little hectic due to some back and forth between counselors and I regarding schedules changes

Anyway, here's a list of my equipment that I'm running on my tank, along with future equipment plans, will be adding pictures tomorrow

2x Mars Aqua 165W LED fixtures (I find that 2 of these do a great job lighting up my 40b)
Eshopps PF-300 HOB Overflow
Kedsum ~1700 gph powerhead
Koralia Evolution 1500 gph
Tunze Care Magnet to scrape glass
1 bucket of Seachem's pond matrix in sump along with LR Rubble
Filter floss to capture particulates
Eheim Jager 300w heater
Bubble Magus Curve 5 skimmer (this thing is beast!)
Jebao return pump (I'm forgetting the model but it was one of the higher rated ones, I used this one on my 120 and obviously it would be overpowered for my 40b, the good news is that it is variable, so I have it running on the lowest possible setting
JBJ ATO
5 gallon ATO jug with Kalkwasser for Ca/Alk maintenance
Red Sea Reef Spec Carbon in Mesh bag
Began No3Po4x dosing today as I'm noticing algae popping up through the tank (more on that later)


Future plans
Currently running No3Po4x, that along with my biological filtration and skimmer should keep nitrates under control, I'm aiming for anywhere between 5-10
- If I find that No3Po4x alone is unable to keep my phosphate low, I have a spare dual reactor from BRS which I'll run GFO in.
Also planning on purchasing an Ink bird temperature controller, many have noted that once they got their temperature stable they noticed an improvement in their coral health
During Black Friday I would like to purchase a Coral Box wifi doser, last year they went for 40 dollars off, missed the boat, but I'll be buying it this year, I would like to switch onto 2 part dosing as its more stable than Kalkwasser dosing in an ATO

Anyway this is my equipment/filtration for now and the forseeable future, if anything changes i'll update ofcourse

Sounds good. I have been really happy using a temperature controller. I have two full sized heaters on it, so triple redundancy means one less parameter I have to worry about. (LOL, I still check the temperature readout at least once a day).