Ultimate 40b build

[rdevoe11]

So last year I dove into saltwater tanks after spending years only doing freshwater (from mollies and tetras to cichlids and oscars). Got myself a 12g cube and went to work on it. In hindsight, I probably rushed it which eventually led to the tank being broken down. What I had thought was ample research for a first timer was clearly not enough (not to mention work/travel taking up a lot of time). So having put many more months in researching proper saltwater tank care and maintenance, along with putting some money aside (and taking advantage of Christmas lol) Im back to put together what I hope will be the ultimate 40 breeder mixed reef.

So thanks to Christmas, the petco $1 gallon sale, and some frugal habits heres my equipment list:

40b all glass aquarium
20L aquarium (sump)
2 Vortech MP10es
Bubble Magus NAC3.5 protein skimmer
Bubble Magus Doser
27.5" 160W 10000K Maxspect Razor
2 BRS media reactors w/pumps
Tunze Osmolator ATO
Speedwave DC 790gph return pump
Gl*******s 700gph overflow
Gl*******s 3/4" return

Still to buy/build:

DIY stand
ATO reservoir (looking at synergy reef's atomic cube)
dry rock/sand


I also recently picked up 2 10g tanks with plans to use 1 as my quarantine/hospital and the other in an attempt to culture/sustain a pod population with hopes to be able to feed a mandarin down the road.


Seeing as how Ive had so much time to plan this out, Ive already come up with my stocking list and a general idea for the aquascape. As for livestock, the plan is a pair of black ocellaris clowns, a mccoskers flasher wrasse, and much later on an ORA blue mandarin. As for inverts, the usual CUC, cleaner shrimp, 1 or 2 pom pom crabs (would love to watch them "box"), and the prize invert will be a rose bubble tip anemone.

Plans for the aquascape are to assemble two islands, one being noticeably larger than the other. I would like the larger of the two to have a cove, if you will, opening to the center of the tank. The smaller of the two will be offset to the back half of the tank, leaving ample swimming space (and room for a centerpiece maze brain coral). The larger of the two will be the coral island, holding mostly SPS, a small number of "high end" zoas, and possibly an LPS species or two. The smaller of the islands will be solely for the anemone (heres to hoping the separation of rock islands keeps it from destroying any corals).

In the meantime, Im looking to get my stand build going either this weekend or next, so the first week of February should mean rock, sand, and water!




Also, GO NOLES!!!

 

[Rob.D]

Looks like you have a good plan in place, if you decide to go with the Synergy ATO box you will be very happy with it and don't forget that his sumps and reactors aren't too bad either. Don't forget to post pics (lots of them!).

 

[rdevoe11]

Thanks! Ive seen a few synergy sumps in some pretty awesome builds and I would LOVE to have one..but unfortunately a near $400 sump didnt quite make the necessity list lol...however, when I finally buy my first house (only 24 and barely a year into my first "real" job lol) I have every intention of upgrading this setup to a rimless reef savvy and a synergy sump in that laser green acrylic would look sick underneath!

also, for some reason I had always thought mentioning glass - holes was a no-no for some legal reason....just now realizing why it censors from A-E haha :doh:


oh yeah, thats a good name you got there lol

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Looking forward to your build!!

 

[powers2001]

subscribed

 

[inurocker]

Subscribed

 

[chefb_5]

how so u subscribe? I would like to follow this thread.

 

[rdevoe11]

Got my custom sump today! Couple pics to follow...construction of the stand should start this week

 

[rdevoe11]

 

[mrBananas]

Subbed. I'll be expecting some frags for my birthday. :bigsmile:

 

[rdevoe11]

^ pffft..

so with the new sump design, Im opting out of using one of my 10g tanks as a pod farm, because who really wants an ugly green, smelly tank anyways? haha...Instead Ill be setting both 10s up as quarantine tanks for the first few months. Ill leave one of them permanent and empty/clean one as an emergency QT/hospital tank

 

[rdevoe11]

Bored lol...hoping to get stand going tomorrow after work

 

[solar]

The 2 islands work well for a 40 breeder. That is the scape I had in mine and i loved it. Nice equipment list.

 

[rdevoe11]

Got my Elite Aquatics skimmer stand today and prodibio biodigest for 50% off!

 

[rdevoe11]

Stand build started yesterday and here's where I'm at so far!

Got the inside painted white, once it dries ill hit it with the 2-part NeverWet hydrophobic coating (stuff is unreal lol). Still haven't selected a stain, but most likely a dark charcoal-black. Should look great on the 1/4" birch plywood.

Still have to drill the tank, nervous about it so I may ask my lfs owner to do it, risk-free of course, since I know he's done it lol. Put in my order for 50 pounds of dry Florida reef rock from reef cleaners. Love that its Eco-friendly, no hitchhikers, and he's only an hour and a half away!

No more than a week away from water!

 

[rdevoe11]

So the stand is done and I've got doors made and stained, just have to decide how I want to attach them. I got all the plumbing set up tonight and started getting equipment set up!

I got my rock the other day from John at reef cleaners and I'm planning to go get my live sand and water for the initial fill tomorrow!!

I ended up having to order a dual 10g stand for my dual QT setup so that won't be up for a few days

Here's some pics!

 

[powers2001]

I see you have the elite aquatics skimmer stand. I might get one as well.

 

[rdevoe11]

Wahoo finally got the tank plumbed with no leaks! Rocks from reefcleaners look awesome. I ended up using ~30 pounds in the tank as I wanted a pretty minimal 2 island look. The one on the left is actually a single rock lol.

I've still got a couple things left to do. I've got my tunze ATO still to set up with my synergy reef atomic ATO box and I've got together the dual stand for my dual quarantine tank plan.

In the mean time, I've started the cycle by adding a single raw shrimp tail and will begin testing in a week to 2 weeks and begin my prodibio biodigest regimen accordingly.

Here's some pics!

 

[rdevoe11]

FISH TODAY!!! going to pick up a McCosker's flasher (maybe a pair?) and more than likely a blue spot jawfish..Ill get them acclimated into my quarantines tonight. I plan on keeping them in qt for 4-6 weeks with 1 week for observation and then Ill begin treatment with cupramine, followed with a couple days to remove all the medication from the water via carbon and to observe the fish a little more. I also picked up one of the Elite Aquatics social acclimation boxes the other day, sorry if I beat you to it! :wink:

As for the tank cycle, its going well. I hit the tank with a dose of ammonium chloride almost 2 weeks ago. The cycle itself seems to be moving along pretty quickly. Diatoms showed up in the first few days and Ive been feeding the tank every other day when I remember, so Im expecting the diatoms to really take off in the next couple days. I did start tinkering with my skimmer but dont have it running full time and I did start running BRS ROX carbon in my single reactor.

Being patient sucks.

 

[rdevoe11]

So fish went into QT yesterday. I ended up getting a blue spot jawfish and a mccoskers flasher wrasse...both were eating well at the lfs and in my QTs night. Unfortunately the mccoskers did not make it for a reason unknown to me. I found him lying down, breathing slowly, which I understand is fairly normal so I let it go. Came back a little bit later to observe him going bat crap crazy and suddenly curling up and sinking to the bottom. He eventually stopped breathing and even then I gave it some time, but poor little guy never recovered :/ anyone else ever see anything similar?

On the bright side, the blue spot is doing well, eating, exploring a little and slowly overcoming his shyness.

Such an awesome looking fish :/