Joe's 40 Breeder Build progress

[Jlahr16]

Okay, so I have had this project sitting in my room for a couple years now due to going away to trade school and spending most of my money on student loans, now that most of that is out of the way/taken care of I cant wait to get this thing cycling water.

I am going to apologize ahead of time because there will be a lot of pictures, possibly too many.

My idea is to set this tank up as a peninsula next to my desk dividing it from the entrance to the room. Pictures will help show what I'm talking about.

Equipment List (still growing):
- Standard 40B Display 36x18x17
- 40B custom baffle Sump
- SCA 302 Cone Skimmer
- Eheim 1262 Return Pump
- 3/4" SCWD in return
- 2x MP 10's (or 20's if I can find some used ones) on either side of the overflow box.
- 4x 24" T5 custom retro hooded fixture (probably 6x in future, unless I add some leds in between)

Potential Stocking List (will be slightly mixed but mostly SPS dominant):

- SPS Dominant
- Ricordia Garden
- Frogspawn or Torch

- Kind of undecided on fish, I really wanted 2 Anthias but I'm having a hard time justifying that with the small size of 40 gallons in the display... (let me know what you think or possibly a good alternative), keep in mind there is very minimal rock in the display, Just two Cerameco pieces, bonsai and branch. it will be a double island aquascape

So.... Lets start with some Pictures of what I had done before I decided to hold off on the project.

 

[Txdragonslayer]

I am looking at doing something similar in my office. Follwoing.

 

[FeliciaLynn]

Looks great so far! Excited to see how this turns out!

 

[sromero287]

Looks awesome

 

[Jlahr16]

Well, I think its time to resurrect this thread from the grave!

I have put some time into getting this tank running but have not actually completed the canopy or doors though I do have the doors made

I have upgraded some of the equipment which includes:
2x Mp40w qd pumps
BRS gfo/carbon mini reactor
Neptune apex 2016 with WXM module to control the vortechs
Rapid Led DIY dimmable Led light for 40b

I also have some equipment which i plan on introducing to the tank soon:
Reef Octopus Varios-8 (why not ) will feed the tank as well as a manifold for gfo reactor/future equipment and water-change nozzle.
Vertex Zeovit 2.0L reactor

I have 3 blue chromis and a Fire Shrimp in the tank that went through qt, unfortunately lost a diamond goby during that stint.

here are some pics of the progress

 

[Jlahr16]

Well after some thought, I think i'm going to end up selling the Theiling Rollermat. I was really hoping I could incorporate it into the build but my stand is too short by a few inches (length wise) with the other equipment I plan to add. Unfortunately I can't return it as I no longer have the brown box BRS shipped it to me in, just the Theiling box itself. So if anyone in the LA or Socal area is interested in it, I'm willing to part ways with it. Not really interested in Shipping it, but I guess there is a price for everything. It is brand new, never seen water and have only taken it out of the box to do some refined measurements. I am looking for $350 with local pickup, willing to meet up or personally deliver within reason.

With that said, the tank is seeing some Diatom issues but I think I have found the culprit! I had forgotten the Eheim 1262 pump had a sponge on the input side of the pump, this has never been cleaned and has been in it from the beginning oops. I also found the the sponge guards on the MP40's clog up really quick and there is no reason to really have them on without wandering corals (maybe snails) but ill take the chance. After all of this has been addressed, the flow to the front on the tank has been much improved and already seeing a huge difference. Now I get to battle them out with some vacuuming. Oh, I also added a eductor on the loc-line return and have a second one ordered and on the way, I wasn't too sure about the likeliness of these working too well but man was I surprised.

 

[Jlahr16]

Okay guys, I need some advice!

I am not sure if this issue is diatoms or Dino (please not)... I have some pictures of the sand bed that hopefully can help with some sort of ID. Unfortunately I do not have a microscope to check that way. The "algae" goes away when the lights go off and come back when the lights come on, progressively worse as the day goes on. within about an hour of the lights going off it looks pretty darn good again under the moonlights. As you can see from the pictures, I have turned up the power on my power heads to see if this would affect anything, but all it has done is channeled out some areas that stay really white.

My params at the moment:

Amm: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate ~10ppm (red sea)
Phos: .02 according to Hanna ULR
PH: 8.08
Salinity: 35.5 ppm

 

[Jlahr16]

Also just thought I would add, that I tested my RODI water with a salifert silicate test kit and have come up with a reading of 1 ppm. Obviously the lower the better with this, but what level of silicate is considered a problem?

 

[Jlahr16]

Hello everyone! I have some new toys and am awaiting a nice delivery on Monday, can't wait to get this tank running how I want it.

Quite possibly the most patient build on r2r? Try not to look at the dates of previous posts. still don't have any coral in the tank but that time is approaching rather quickly now!

I should have many more updates for this thread come next week/end.

Here are some teasers in the mean time (don't mind the crazy wires everywhere down below.. things are changing down there soon )

As you can see, I've managed to finish 3 of the doors and have the last one built but still need to stain/seal it. This will be done at the same time as the canopy that I have built which needs stain/sealed as well.

 

[pluikens]

Great looking setup. Really nice cabinet! I'll be following.

 

[Jlahr16]

Great looking setup. Really nice cabinet! I'll be following.

Thank you!

 

[Jlahr16]

Had a pleasant delivery this morning - Can anyone guess what I'll be doing later this week?!

This sump is seriously a work of art!

 

[Jlahr16]

Well.. to say it was a hectic day would be an understatement. Tell me what you guys think of the transformation below the tank! Unfortunately I need some different plumbing fittings to finish the return line off the back right bulkhead so I had to make due with the out of place 3/4" vinyl for now.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

 

[Bob3655]

ooh a 40b peninsula build, very cool. Its coming along very nicely. Taking it slow and planning everything out and going with quality equipment is the way to go. Is that an elite 150 int. If so where did you get yours from. I've had my eye on that skimmer for a little while now. props to probably the sweetest 40b setups ive seen

 

[Chrisfish]

Very nice set up, looking forward to seeing more

 

[Jlahr16]

ooh a 40b peninsula build, very cool. Its coming along very nicely. Taking it slow and planning everything out and going with quality equipment is the way to go. Is that an elite 150 int. If so where did you get yours from. I've had my eye on that skimmer for a little while now. props to probably the sweetest 40b setups ive seen

Thanks bob! It is in fact an elite 150 int. It's the older model with the red controller. I got it used from another member on this forum, haven't been able to get it dialed in yet but now that I can adjust the water height with this new sump I'm hoping to find its sweet spot. It may just be tooo big until I actually have a bioload but I love the build quality of the skimmer a lot. I also have a sca 302 but I'm not too impressed with it, all it does is make micro bubbles all over the skimmer chamber.

 

[Jlahr16]

Very nice set up, looking forward to seeing more

Thank you Chris! I am so happy that the sump change out is now behind me, I was dreading it and for good reason, took me a total of 12 hours from before to after. Though I did have the tank up and running again within 6 hours and just kept my vortechs running the whole time to keep the water in the tank circulated for my 2 fishes and shrimp. Also included a few water spills, may have plugged the RO Skimmer controller into the new Varios 8 that is currently only plumbed to the top of the sump by accident thank goodness for a well working GFI outlet. It of course had to be the very last thing I was doing for the night, or so I thought...

 

[Brian Kracht]

That is an awesome idea making it a peninsula tank, I would have never thought to do that with a 40B and just doing it yourself. Sweet build!

 

[Jlahr16]

That is an awesome idea making it a peninsula tank, I would have never thought to do that with a 40B and just doing it yourself. Sweet build!

Thank you for the kind words Brian! Its nice to finally have some feedback from you all, this thread was pretty lonely to start with haha.

On another note, I broke down and bought a new skimmer, well new to me at least. Thanks to another member on the forum I'll hopefully have the Nyos 120 beginning of next week. Ive come to terms that the Elite 150 is just way too large for this setup, no matter how badly I want it to work out. I thought maybe being a DC pump I could run it at a low setting. Problem is that when I run it on its lowest setting, it just doesn't get enough air through the venturi and creates too small of bubbles all the way up - mostly water, next level up and it's overflowing the cup inconsistently. That combined with having to run the skimmer chamber at a 6"-7" height creates too much of a waterfall from the refugium chamber. Guess I'll probably be selling the elite 150 since a tank upgrade is nowhere in the near future.

 

[tealgirl]

Loving this build so far. The peninsula design is great