Booth2010's 40G Breeder

[booth2010]

Hey yall its Booth2010, after taking a year or so break due to moving and living in a second story apartment I am getting back in the hobby. The reason being I am moving again in late May early June and will be in a nice 2,800sqft home and wont be moving for at least 3 years, soooo the enabler (wife) has given me permission to start a new build. I was originally gonna do a cichlid tank but then I mentioned a saltwater and she didnt say no so I took it for a yes LOL. I have been calling this build Build 5.0 because I have gone through 1, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, and 4 just in planning what my tank would be when the time came. Well now is that time (at least the time to start gathering materials)!

The tank is going to be a Tetra 40G Breeder (36"wX18"dX16"h) that I picked up last week during PetCo's $1 per gallon sale. Not the ReefSavy or CAD Light quality I had planned for the other builds but it will do untill my dream 250G tank if that ever gets to happen.

The overflow is going to be a Coast to Coast style overflow spanning the whole 36", Im hoping 4" tall and 3" deep will work but I will not know until I dril the tank and see where the pvc rests. I will be doing the BeanAnimal style drains with 1" PVC.

Well got busy at work... More to come later...

 

[booth2010]

I decided to buy a sump this time around instead of making one so I went with a NextReef NRS-30. It has the 2 filter socks I wanted, large chamber for all sorts of equipment, I can change the water level from 8" to 9" or 10". I like the color, all reviews say they are well built. Its also 2/3 the size of the DT so hopefully it all works out.

I will be going with the Sicce Syncra Silent 3.5 as my return pump unles someone chimes in and says I should go with the 4.0...

For the lighting I am going with the Reef Breeders Photon 24.

I will be building a DIY top from acrylic rods and the clear netting found at BRS.

I will be using 3 powerheads I had in the previous tank: Hydor Koralia 240 and 425 and a Jebao WP25 (I think it was). I do plan on upgrading to VorTechs at some point in the distant future.

I will be using 40ish lbs of Dry Pukani from BRS and for substrate I am going to use Carib-Sea Special Grade Arag-Alive! Live Reef Sand.

The salt I am going to use is HW-Marinemix Reefer Salt Mix.

So far I have purchased the tank, all plumbing parts except for return plumbing, and the sump... Purchased it yesterday should be here next week hopefully... Then again doesnt really matter as it wont get wet till June layball:

 

[booth2010]

So quick update, I will post more this weekend with a complete list of everything. For some reason NextReef was not responding to the emails from the site I bought their sump from (they even changed all sumps from them to Out of Stock, not sure whats going on) so I asked for a refund and received it that day. Ready Set Reef seem like good people. Anyways after a little more research and seeing a thread over at RC about Trigger Systems sumps I fell in love with their Emerald34 except for one thing... the emerald part of it. So a few emails later between me and David over at Trigger Systems I now have an Emerland34 but in Dark Blue Transparent 2424... Does that make it a Saphire34??? :bigsmile: Cant wait to see it!

 

[booth2010]

Okay so here it goes from the ground up, some things have been mentioned already but I want to get the whole list out:

-Wood stand built by myself
-Custom Trigger Systems Emerald34 Sump - Customization is blue acrylic instead of green
-Sicce Syncra Silent 3.5
-Reef Octopus Classic 110 Skimmer - may upgrade to a Skimz SN123 Monzter Mini depending on how clean my older one will get and how well it will preform
-Eheim JAGER 150W heater
-3 -1" pvc drains for Bean Animal overflow
-1 -3/4" pvc With Loc-Line at output being split to 2 1/2" nozzles once in the tank.
-40G Breeder Tetra tank
-40ish lbs of Pukani dry rock
-40-50lbs of Carib-Sea Special Grade Arag-Alive! Live Reef Sand
-HW-Marinemix Reefer Salt Mix
-Vortech MP10wQD (will be buying a second within 6 months)
-Jebao WP25
-DIY lid using acrylic rods and netting from BRS
-Reef Breeders Photon 24

I think thats it besides my RODI unit which I need to buy new filters for as it has been sitting not in use for about a year. I hope to buy and ATO and maybe some sort of media reactor sometime. A controller would be cool but doubtful I will get one until the upgrade in the very distant future.

Will post possible stock list this weekend.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Sounds like you are off to a great start!

 

[booth2010]

Here is the side view of what I plan so yall can get a general idea

Here is a top and front view of the tank, the purple is my planned rock work but we will see. In my previous tanks this is usually what I hated most as it was never how I pictured it

 

[booth2010]

So two weeks after order my sump has been made and is hopefully being shipped today! The picture is awesome, I cant wait to see it in person. Them folks over a Trigger Systems are awesome. So here it is my "Saphire" 34!!!!

I will post more pics when I get it. This is the picture they sent me this morning.

 

[booth2010]

The sump came in yesterday and it looks awesome! I am going to water test it Saturday and I will take some pics of it then. I am also going to start building the stand this weekend as well. I hope to get the frame of it done. I will be adding crown molding to it and I have never worked with it so I will be taking my time with that, plus that stuff is expensive so going slow is a must.

On a side note, I think I am going to have it running as a FOWLR for a while so I can use my tiny 24" T5 Bulb and save up for a ATI fixture. I hope to have it cycling by the end of the month but it could be as far out as mid June.

 

[jdpeters]

how much for that sump? im going to be working on a 40b build in the future. also considering the photon 24. probably the highest contender for a light fixture for me.

 

[booth2010]

how much for that sump? im going to be working on a 40b build in the future. also considering the photon 24. probably the highest contender for a light fixture for me.

I PMed you about the price, if I recall R2R isnt fond of discussing prices of things openly on the forums... Could be wrong though. But yes the Photon 24 was going to be what I went with but the wife keeps telling me to do it right the first time around this time so I am going to wait and most ikely get a 6 bulb 36" ATI unit

 

[spikedangles]

looks like its going to be a great build. looking forward to some pics!
Im in the planning stages of a very similar 40 breeder (bean animal/reef breeders). Im curious to see which way you go with the skimmer. Im also between the octopus 110 and the skimz sn123.

 

[booth2010]

I still havent cleaned the 110 but I plan on doing that this weekend then ima throw it in a bucket to see if it works lol. BRS wont get the sn123 in until early March they said so I have a month to figure it out. If I cant get the RO110 to work I might have the wife get me the sn123 as my bday present lol.

 

[booth2010]

Stand is coming along okay. I messed up and because of how the upright 2x4s are I only have 31" gap... Sump is 34"... So I am cutting into the corners of several 2x4s so can manage to get the sump in. If I take too much from and 2x4 I will add supports elsewhere. Kinda ticked at myself while sliding my brand new custom sump in I scratch the bottom... 1 nice 6" scratch and 2 smaller ones... :squigglemouth: At least its on the bottom.

Ordered my 150W Eheim Jager heater today and 35lbs of Pukani dry rock. I will get the rock cookin as soon as it arrives so it will be "cookin" for a month or so... All dead stuff should be gone!!!

 

[booth2010]

Alright sooo I think I have about everything I need to have the tank up and running. Let me know if yall think of anything I may still need.

Already Have:
-40G Breeder w/ C2C overflow
-35lbs Pukani Dry Rock
-150W Eheim Jager heater
-Trigger Systems sump
-Plumbing parts for drain and return (havent even strted plumbing it yet though )
-Stand is 90% complete
-RO 110 classic
-Jebao Wp25
-Couple hydor koralia nanos (will be replacing soon with possibly another WP25, will most likely buy MP10s during black friday if on sale)
-10lbs white sand from petco I have had for years (never used)

In the mail:
-Sicce Syncra silent 3.5
-ATI Sunpower 36" 6 Bulb
-2x Blue+, 1x Purple+, 1x Coral+

Still need to buy:
-20lbs Special Grade AragAlive Reef Sand
-New Refractometer (looking in storage today to see if I have old one still)
-Red Sea Marine Care Test Kit (this seems to be liked by most people)
-1x Blue+, 1x True Actinic (within next couple months)

As of now that is it, will have media reactors, ATO, new powerheads, and hopefully a controller (most likely RKL) by the end of the year. If yall can think of anything I might be missing let me hear it!

 

[steve&mari]

Killer start you have going we also have a 40b rimless nice little tanks. Keep pics coming we all enjoy pics lol.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Looks like you have everything accounted for.

 

[booth2010]

Got the ATI fixture on Wednesday and it looks amazing! Now I get to figure out a way to mount it. I think I have that figured but we shall see. The Sicce Syncra Silent 3.5 seems well built, heavier than I expected. Things are moving along, I hope to finish my stand this weekend if the wife doesnt have any plans for my birthday. Ordering an RW4 today and my Red Sea test kit.

 

[booth2010]

So the wife surprised me with a brand new VorTech MP10eES for my birthday today! So happy lol

 

[herozero]

Nice start! I have a similar sump design where the water overflows from the top of one chamber and into a sock, but the water fall noise into the sock was killing me. Your picture blew my mind, use mesh at the top of the sock! Bloody brilliant, thank you thank you thank you! Want to save me a google search and provide a link for the mesh?

One piece of advice: COOK YOUR DRY ROCK WELL. I didn't and I am currently fighting nasty algae for over a year now (but only began fighting it in earnest this last month). Going to seed with any amount of live rock? Good luck!

 

[booth2010]

Thanks yall for the feedback.

Nice start! I have a similar sump design where the water overflows from the top of one chamber and into a sock, but the water fall noise into the sock was killing me. Your picture blew my mind, use mesh at the top of the sock! Bloody brilliant, thank you thank you thank you! Want to save me a google search and provide a link for the mesh?

It came with the sump, its just a sponge filter. Its an either or really. I mean you can use both but its there as an option to use sponge or filter sock or neither, all depends on the reefers preference.

One piece of advice: COOK YOUR DRY ROCK WELL. I didn't and I am currently fighting nasty algae for over a year now (but only began fighting it in earnest this last month). Going to seed with any amount of live rock? Good luck!

Yea I know about the live rock, especially the pukani I have read it has a lot of dead stuff inside. Mine will be cooking for a week on wednesday and I plan to let it sit at least 3 weeks before putting in the tank.