Creating the Ultimate College Dorm 40 Breeder

[KrisReef]

I know college is about pushing the limits, and I bet you can get away with at 12 gallon and swear its only 1o.
Check this out:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/wv-reefer’s-12-gallon-long-and-dirty.399105/

Study hard and prosper!

 

[nagreen]

What's up dude. I'm actually a senior down the road at Clemson and have been keeping tanks for the past 3 years in college. The crappy thing you have to realize is that whatever you set up, you're going to have to move in less than a year home for the summer, and then back to school next fall, and again the next year, etc.

So here's my recommendation:
I know you said you already have the 40b and stand butttttt, what if you sold it and sold one of the mp40's and use that money to buy an AIO tank. Innovative Marine makes a sweet 3og 3ft long tank that would give you ample room in the back for filtration and would be easily movable. The one mp40 would be plenty of flow in that, especially because the IM 30 has two return nozzles you can point toward dead spots. it's the same length as the 40b, meaning you could use your same T5 lights you have now if you want to. Or upgrade to LEDs. You wouldn't have to worry about drilling a tank and you would get that same surface skimming since you have the dual overflows. Other IM options are the 20g or the 4og.

As far as the water goes, I'm not sure what school you're at, but I'd find a friend that lives off campus somewhere with a faucet, and go by there every couple of weeks and fill up a few 5g buckets of RODI and just keep them in your suite.. it'd save you having to deal with plumbing.

As far as staying within the 10g limit.. following the rules is never fun. especially if you have a chill RA. go for it man. i fully support it.

I'm curious to see what you do though because I know the struggle! I'm not practicing what I preach about the AIO tank btw, as I currently have a Red Sea Reefer Nano that i'll probably have to move to another apt in May lol.. So honestly do what you think you'll enjoy most or what is most convenient.

Goodluck! I'm following along

 

[Mark Waltermire]

What's up dude. I'm actually a senior down the road at Clemson and have been keeping tanks for the past 3 years in college. The crappy thing you have to realize is that whatever you set up, you're going to have to move in less than a year home for the summer, and then back to school next fall, and again the next year, etc.

So here's my recommendation:
I know you said you already have the 40b and stand butttttt, what if you sold it and sold one of the mp40's and use that money to buy an AIO tank. Innovative Marine makes a sweet 3og 3ft long tank that would give you ample room in the back for filtration and would be easily movable. The one mp40 would be plenty of flow in that, especially because the IM 30 has two return nozzles you can point toward dead spots. it's the same length as the 40b, meaning you could use your same T5 lights you have now if you want to. Or upgrade to LEDs. You wouldn't have to worry about drilling a tank and you would get that same surface skimming since you have the dual overflows. Other IM options are the 20g or the 4og.

As far as the water goes, I'm not sure what school you're at, but I'd find a friend that lives off campus somewhere with a faucet, and go by there every couple of weeks and fill up a few 5g buckets of RODI and just keep them in your suite.. it'd save you having to deal with plumbing.

As far as staying within the 10g limit.. following the rules is never fun. especially if you have a chill RA. go for it man. i fully support it.

I'm curious to see what you do though because I know the struggle! I'm not practicing what I preach about the AIO tank btw, as I currently have a Red Sea Reefer Nano that i'll probably have to move to another apt in May lol.. So honestly do what you think you'll enjoy most or what is most convenient.

Goodluck! I'm following along

I do agree with what you’re saying about the AIO. I’ve just gone down the route of 10 and 30 gallon tanks my whole life up until a year ago and I really don’t want to go that small again. I feel like 40 is the perfect size where you can choose a lot of different fish, have enough room, and not be too big. I still have to talk to the RA and ask him about his thoughts on “how big of a tank I can have.” I’m also not too worried about breaking down the tank because I know that a good cleaning of all the sand and equipment once a year is probably a necessity that most people fail to do because they get distracted by life and I’m someone who enjoys the journey getting somewhere moreso that once I have it.

I also just bought the 2 Mp40’s so I’m hesitant to flip them right away. I did get a steal of a deal on them; $365 for the two of them so I could easily make some money back by selling one on eBay for somewhere around $300 since I have a box and everything and they’re QD models.

I do appreciate your support though in breaking the rules. I agree about things being risky if something happens, but I would also be running an apex on it most likely so I would have that to help mitigate issues, of course hoping none ever arise however. Progress won’t be made on the actual build until at least after Christmas no matter what happens due to the way things are.

 

[Mark Waltermire]

Alright so some progress on the build design for right now. For lighting, I have decided that I will go with 2 Kessil A360WE's alongside the 6 bulb ATI fixture. I will put one Kessil on either side, and angle them slightly inwards to try and get the most effective use of the lighting.

I had originally planned on trying to begin the build after Winter break, but I am now leaning towards holding off until next Fall when I will be in an off campus apartment. For right now, I am thinking of going with a standard 10 gallon tank and putting my Maroon clownfish, anemone, and possibly a couple of other softies in it. This tank would also be lit by an A360, which I am aware will be total overkill for the size of the tank.

The reasoning behind this change would be:
1) I do not have a method to create RODI water as the sinks have non-removable bubblers on them, and I cannot find a hose or similar water source anywhere else.
2) Rules are set in place saying 10 gallon tanks only
3) Moving around the tank at the end of the year will be much harder with a 40 gallon
4) I'm not quite yet ready to tear down my 72 gallon for taking the Apex, reactors, pumps, etc. I also want to drill the 40 breeder for a sump as I believe that will lead to a cleaner build.

 

[Tuffyyyyy]

Can you get a used IM10 or something? CoralFish12g had a nice 12g tank that he ran his freshman year of college.

 

[Mark Waltermire]

Can you get a used IM10 or something? CoralFish12g had a nice 12g tank that he ran his freshman year of college.

I am on the lookout for one, but that will depend on availability obviously. I do recognize though that I'm not going to run an apex on a 10 gallon tank because that's excessive in my opinion, unlike what Coralfish12g did on his tank.

 

[Tuffyyyyy]

I am on the lookout for one, but that will depend on availability obviously. I do recognize though that I'm not going to run an apex on a 10 gallon tank because that's excessive in my opinion, unlike what Coralfish12g did on his tank.

Absolutely. I'm sure there's a way to rig it properly in an ordinary 10-gallon tank, but I'd want an IM10 just because of how much simpler it is to put an ATO in that rear chamber. ATO and an auto-feeder and you've got no concerns about leaving the tank alone for a study-filled (or party-filled) weekend.

 

[OMGitsManBearPig]

While the 40 would have been epic, I am really looking forward to what someone with your experience can do with such a smaller tank. The challenge goes up, not down. Hopefully you can find a cost effective and elegant solution for the water issue.

 

[Mark Waltermire]

While the 40 would have been epic, I am really looking forward to what someone with your experience can do with such a smaller tank. The challenge goes up, not down. Hopefully you can find a cost effective and elegant solution for the water issue.

If I go the route of a 10 gallon anemone, zoa, and maybe some Euphillia then I should be fine using the purified water they have on campus for filling water bottles. It's definitely not RO water, but they are definitely running it through some extra filter system because it tastes way different than the tap water. I am still on the lookout for some spigot that I can connect to.

 

[wesman42]

Another thing to keep in mind, when I was at MIT, they actually had power meters on each suite....it's how they caught our Hall mates with an inflatable hot tub [emoji23] fun times

 

[Mark Waltermire]

Another thing to keep in mind, when I was at MIT, they actually had power meters on each suite....it's how they caught our Hall mates with an inflatable hot tub [emoji23] fun times

That is a good idea, but I believe some computer science majors take advantage of the free electricity to mine crypto currency so I don’t think that’d be an issue. Whenever I go through with the 40 build next Fall I’ll probably be in off-campus housing and then I will have to be paying for the electricity of the tank.

 

[Jarhead-CO]

Not gonna read every line to see if its answered but to plum your ro/di in just buy a dishwasher hook up kit and install it on your cold water side and add a valve. If done correctly when you leave just disconnect and close the valve most people wont notice that.
Will cost like 40 bucks total.

 

[Sarah24!]

Hello,

As much as I love reefs and have one, and was forced to live in the dorms for my under grad program. Some schools can or will expel a student for violations as petty as a fish tank.
Most people know the difference betweeen a 40 breeder and a ten gallon beta tank lol.

As neat as an idea as is, I wouldn’t do it unless you can secure that room until you graduate. Not to mention you can’t be certain you won’t get different roommates. Plus anytime they do a check it could always be a different person who may not accept it.

I did have a large tank but I also had a single room and I was able to convince them it was related to my field of study. Another example is the engineers who help start jpl labatories blew their dorm room up by creating rocket fuel. Instead of expelling them, they put them in a barn 100 yards away and said keep working. It could work again lol.

 

[OMGitsManBearPig]

Not gonna read every line to see if its answered but to plum your ro/di in just buy a dishwasher hook up kit and install it on your cold water side and add a valve. If done correctly when you leave just disconnect and close the valve most people wont notice that.
Will cost like 40 bucks total.

This is a good point. Any chance your suites have washing machines? I have my RO/DI hooked up to the washing machine supply in my home. A simple garden hose Y off the supply tap with one going to the washer and the other going to the RO unit. Get a Y connection with shutoffs and you wouldn't even need to disassemble it.

10 bucks at home depot.

 

[Mark Waltermire]

This is a good point. Any chance your suites have washing machines? I have my RO/DI hooked up to the washing machine supply in my home. A simple garden hose Y off the supply tap with one going to the washer and the other going to the RO unit. Get a Y connection with shutoffs and you wouldn't even need to disassemble it.

10 bucks at home depot.

I figured out for $7 you can buy a t-adapter to go from the 1/2" on the toilet to 1/4" RO line. I think this is the route that I will take.

 

[Battlecorals Verified Sponsor]

Here's a few photos from my sumpless desktop 40B, which ran from I think 1999-2001 in a college dorm. It had a 400W Iwasaki and 4x110W VHO actinic over it (and free electricity). It had a Remora Pro skimmer (aerator) and a Geo v1.0 PVC calcium reactor. Water movement was all from MJ1200s on a RedSea Wavemaster and an Aquaclear hang-on filter filled with live rock rubble. It was TOTM in October 2001 on some "other" forum, and there are at least one or two threads about it over there. Unfortunately I imagine most of the photos have fallen victim to the photobucket disaster.

It was loaded with SPS, and 3 clams along with assorted other corals, a breeding pair of psychedelic mandarins, and a very fine Sailfin Blenny. There is a writeup about it in Mike Paletta's book "Ultimate Marine Aquariums"

You can just make out the refugium made from a highly modified rubbermaid wastebasket at the top right of this photo

Spawning S. picturatus.

A "live powerhead" covered in green polyps with an Acropora frag on top:

Front shots were rare because it looked better from the top, and I've never been good at keeping up with scraping coralline algae

Tiny king of the tank:

Nice!

 

[OMGitsManBearPig]

I figured out for $7 you can buy a t-adapter to go from the 1/2" on the toilet to 1/4" RO line. I think this is the route that I will take.

same concept. Should work fine. If you incorporate a valve or quick disconnect of some kind, then you'll really be set.

 

[Dom]

I have a question:

From what I know about going away to college, at the end of every semester, the student has to pack up and move out. Does that vary from school to school? I ask because I wonder how you will move this setup in and out of your dorm room. Aside from that, your project seems well thought out.

 

[alanbetiger]

1+ on a pico tank instead of the breeder.
1. Having moved myself in college 9 years in a row (undergrad and post grad) smaller is easier to move if your plans change.
2. If you have a really nice 40 gallon breeder, you'll plan on showing it off. Rightfully! People talk and all it takes is one person to talk to their "non-cool" RA and everything goes out the window since you already stated they have a limit.
3. Drunken college students around a fish tank can mean a big mess to clean up. My 29 gallon freshwater tank on a solid wooden stand because a random dude got ticked when we asked him to leave the party. Pushed it over and ran. This was before cellphone cameras etc
4. cheaper

 

[Jarhead-CO]

I figured out for $7 you can buy a t-adapter to go from the 1/2" on the toilet to 1/4" RO line. I think this is the route that I will take.

I would have said that but I'm just not a big fan of having that in the bathroom unless you have a second bathroom. Making the water in a cooking space is probably easier since you should have counter space to mix salt in and place jugs or buckets. Personally I wouldn't want to be cramped up in a bathroom doing all that. Granted the bathroom in my new house has room for a 200 gallon tank muhahahaha, but seriously take into consideration making water having buckets and lines and the system and roommates needing to use the bathroom.