Back from the dead, 40 gallon beeeder build

Mr.Tang · Jan 1, 2017

So, I've been tankless for almost 10 years. My last setup was about 600 gallons with an awesome fish room in my garage. But with the economy going to ****, I was forced to liquidate everything. My wife was sadden but vowed I would never have a tank again. It all came back to $$. Now the economy in our area is roaring, the itch has come back!
My plan is to go smaller and use new technology to keep costs down. I will diy most everything like tank stand, hood, sump,ato, and I'm sure there's some I'm not thinking about.
I would like the tank to be highend mixed tank. I want to go bare bottom(I've got the white board like WWC uses on their display tanks). The rock will be dry(no hitchhikers)and it will be very important to me to get the look. I want an open scape but with plenty of places for fish to hid.
Water flow in the tank will be a pair of WP60 on a controller. I plan on using 2 of the marsaqua LED lights. And I am even considering using a D.C. Pump(DCT 9000) for the return pump.
Your thoughts?

Mike_J · Jan 1, 2017

It all sounds good to me! I'm excited for you to have it come to fruition. Welcome back to the hobby and to R2R! Keep us posted on your progress. We'll look forward to seeing your tank up and running and stocked! Have a blast and happy reefing!

Bunnee911 · Jan 1, 2017

Welcome back

Mr.Tang · Jan 2, 2017

So more thinking out loud on this tank.
How far away does the mars aqua led fixture need to be from top of water? And is 2 fixtures overkill? Using wp60 too much flow. I was thinking of turning it down and as coral grew would slowly turn up the pumps. Are D.C. Pumps really the best option today. What happened to using just normal mag pumps? My stand/hood will be the easy part. I've built several stands in the past. Figuring out the rocks, that where I will struggle

Tokash23 · Jan 3, 2017

Ill be following along as im in the process if doing a 40 breeder as well. I was only going to do one of the marsaqua lights ill be curious to see what other people think.

Mpierce · Jan 19, 2017

Sounds like a crazy amount of flow for a 40. The more lights the better, can always turn them down so you get the spread you want without cooking everything. I would be somewhat cautious of the "cheapo" DC return pump since if it goes down I assume you will be having some major issues. Personally I would go with a couple of the wp8 pumps or maybe a couple of the new rossmont mover/waver system. More than 2000gph on each side of the tank is pretty overkill. Skimmer, sump, drilling the tank?

Squirrel_reefer · Jan 19, 2017

Mr.Tang said:
what happened to using just normal mag pumps?

its a preference thing, I personally love them and have never had a problem, other people hate em

Mr.Tang · Mar 4, 2017

Ok fellas, tank build is going slow but with some progress. I ordered 2 marsaqua 175 watt leds for my lights. I think these will give me the best bang for the buck. I can hang them low enough(using 2) that I don't have to turn up the power. And with 2, there will not be a shady spot.
I started the stand. The frame is done, the Inside is done(need paint) just need to skin the outside and add some trim.

This is the look I think I want

Now, for my next decision. Flow in the tank. What's the hype about these gyre pumps?? I originally wanted to use these

Or 1 size smaller.

What's been the experience with the new gyre pumps??

ReefNo0ob · Mar 4, 2017

Mr.Tang said:
Ok fellas, tank build is going slow but with some progress. I ordered 2 marsaqua 175 watt leds for my lights. I think these will give me the best bang for the buck. I can hang them low enough(using 2) that I don't have to turn up the power. And with 2, there will not be a shady spot.
I started the stand. The frame is done, the Inside is done(need paint) just need to skin the outside and add some trim.

This is the look I think I want

Now, for my next decision. Flow in the tank. What's the hype about these gyre pumps?? I originally wanted to use these

Or 1 size smaller.

What's been the experience with the new gyre pumps??

I have one jebao pp8 in my 55 gal same footprint as the 40 breeder and works amazing...VERY powerful! Right when i set it up the waves almost solashed over the rim because i dialed it up too high!

Mr.Tang · Mar 4, 2017

ReefNo0ob said:
I have one jebao pp8 in my 55 gal same footprint as the 40 breeder and works amazing...VERY powerful! Right when i set it up the waves almost solashed over the rim because i dialed it up too high!

Here's what I think my 2 choices are

And

What say you?

Mr.Rocc · Mar 4, 2017

I personally love the push pull with the 2 pumps on opposite sides. I've only heard great things about the pp8s.

ReefNo0ob · Mar 4, 2017

Mr.Tang said:
Here's what I think my 2 choices are

And

What say you?

2 powerheads would be nice because theyre wirelessly connected to each other and alternate turning on and off but the crossflow power head is slim and less clutter in the dt. Its all personal preference both would work great imo

Mpierce · Mar 4, 2017

Or check out the rossmont pumps. They have a super small footprint. Reasonable price. Can add the controller when you want.

Jaebo pumps are only good for 2 years or so in my experience. The rossmont are newer but I would put my bets on them being higher quality.

Mr.Tang · Mar 14, 2017

Ok so everything is going slow. Slow is good. Things get down right. Lights are here, powerheads are here, return pump is somewhere in China.... stand is built. Need to decide on color. Here's a pic

So now I've got to design the canopy. That's the next mini project.

jtdesotel · Mar 15, 2017

You drilling it or doing hob?

Reefltx · Mar 15, 2017

The dct 9000 is too much imo, unless you plan on using it for other things. I have a dct 4000 at the lowest setting.

Ruckus16 · Mar 15, 2017

Reefltx said:
The dct 9000 is too much imo, unless you plan on using it for other things. I have a dct 4000 at the lowest setting.

I agree. I also think the pp-8's are overkill. I have two pp-4's in my forty breeder both running under 50%. I also have a dct4000

Mr. Tang · Mar 17, 2017

jtdesotel said:
You drilling it or doing hob?

DRILLING! I got to have a sump. Want to use a 20 long. I'm hoping to have some real estate in the center area of the sump to house frags. Kinda where a fuge would go.