Jay's 40gal breeder build

JayBird_757 · Oct 23, 2016

Hey everyone my name is Jay and I am slowly getting back into the hobby, sorry had this build in the DIY forum(whoops) anyways I'm starting a new build w/ a 40 gallon breeder(Aqueon) that my girlfriend won me at this years MAMAX2016. I originally started out with a 30 gal long a couple years ago so please forgive me if I'm a lil rusty.
~what flow rate should I be looking for? (I know for my 30g it was around 300-360gph).
~plumbing pipe size? (I know you want your overflow to be bigger than your return).
~Lighting (I have a Coralife 4x39w w/ lunar lights again from my 30g just wondering other options, heard AI prime's and hydra 26's and 52's are pretty hot this year).
~power heads(I have 2 koralia's from my 30 that i might reuse)
~overflow options (I have a CPR CS90 HOB overflow but was wanting to either go w/ an eshopps Eclipse medium or a modular marine 800+gph box). Also how easy is it to drill the back of the tank.
~I have a sump(about 10/15g) that i was using with a aquatic life mini protein skimmer 15 i think but I'm thinking about going w/ a big boy skimmer so I might make my own out of a 20g long while petco still has their $1 per gallon sale still going on.
Any help/ advice/ recommendations will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance - Cheers-

JayBird_757 · Oct 23, 2016

Some pics of the tank and what I am working with. Pretty much still have everything from the 30g. Won a sweet RODI unit from the expo as well

JayBird_757 · Oct 23, 2016

Gifted myself last Wednesday. Decided to run a 20 gal long for my sump since Im a big DIY'er. As for baffling I cant decide whether to use fully customizable cut glass or go with a DIY acrylic kit from eBay or i'm really liking the one from exotic marine systems.

Mocked up the sump with some cardboards piece's last night and came up with the following dimensions. Also does 11 and 11/16's sound about right for width on a 20 gal long?
1 - 4 x 11 11/16
1 - 5 x 11 11/16 (totaling 10in for the first chamber with a 1 1/4 gap to refugium

1 - 8 1/2 x 11 11/16 middle bubble trap
2 - 7 1/2 x 11 11/16 front and rear bubble trap (all spacing is 1 1/4)

Any critiques and or recommendations or advice would be great. thanks and cheers!

Chrisfish · Oct 23, 2016

Welcome back to this awesome hobby. I'm in Virginia beach as well.

Nice start

helen ann · Oct 23, 2016

Hello Jay!
Looks like a sweet build!!!

JayBird_757 · Oct 23, 2016

Will be putting some life back into all this "dead rock" hopefully next week. Anybody have any predictions on how long this might take to get some good beneficial bacteria to grow with colder weather settling in and setting it up in the garage?