40 breeder reef build

[Reefinmike]

I’ve owned reef tanks for ~13 years now however it’s been a good 7 years since i’ve had a proper, well planned sps dominate tank. I set up a 90 gallon this winter and learned many lessons, one complete reset and constant fine tuning of the stand and equipment. I intend to take the lessons i’ve learned with my 90 to start up a 40 breeder. Clean look, well thought out design, and minimal visible equipment in the aquarium is the goal. This aquarium is just 7 feet away from my 90 gallon so I plan to run it on the same Apex with an auxiliary EB8 and pm1 module to monitor temperature and Ph. I have pressurized tap water, reverse osmosis and Kalkwasser 1/4” lines running by that i’ll tap into. My 90 gallon is reliant on kalkwasser topoff, a skimmer and an outside air intake to keep the ph above 8.0. I have a refugium on my 90 but i can’t grow any algae with my low fish load. On this 40B I want to try going skimmerless with a moderate fish load and a large refugium to combat low ph.

CHAPTER 1: The Stand

This poses many challenges. I’ve always made my stands from 2x4 and half inch ply. I want to maximize space under the tank so I decided to use 3/4” plywood as the main support structure and skin it with thin sand ply. The spot I picked for the aquarium has a hump in the concrete floor below the laminate flooring. Because of this i need to be able to shim the entire perimeter of the stand as I add weight to the top. A full ply bottom wouldn’t allow me to shim the back side so this is the best i’ve came up with. I cant put the sump in until the stand is properly shimmed and because of the air gap between the laminate floor and concrete, I have to add weight to the top to shim. The first picture showing the 40 breeder and 29 gallon sump would have probably been stable enough to fill the 40 and shim before finishing the stand but I decided to not take any chances. I added a center brace with the top side being 2 pieces of 3/4” ply cut out for a fan and a vertical piece of 2x4 sandwiched between some 1x4. Once i shim for the sump and add 1/2” foam, there will be a 1/2” gap around the sump that i’ll seal off. The right side will be the “dry side” of the stand for apex gear, test kits, etc. The sump on the left side will be uncovered for drain and return plumbing and possibly a skimmer in the future. Stand/sump ventilation is important but I hate seeing and hearing fans. Once I can add the right side panel, it’ll have a 2” high arch cut out of the bottom side to disguise a fresh air vent. A 4” fan will be in the center brace pushing air from the right to left. I plan to have my overflow on the left side of the tank and i’ll have the plumbing running through a “chimney” in the wall cavity. The fan will force warm, humid air from the sump, up through this chimney and into the room. Most everything is glued and screwed together. This thing is perfectly square and unbelievably strong.

The entire setup will happen over the next 4-6 weeks and I’ll document it all here. Next up is overflow options/plumbing, sump design, equipment/life support system, canopy/lighting, finishing touches and introducing sand/rock/livestock. I’ll have the stand skinned and painted in the next few days.

 

[NY_Caveman]

This is going to be great. Cannot wait for more.

 

[FishingLovingSons]

Starting a build on a 40b now, tagging along.

 

[PanchoG]

Looking good !

 

[Apotack]

Sump looks too tall, will make it impossible to do any maintenance

 

[Reefinmike]

Thanks for all the replies! I’m not expecting too much interest because 40 breeder builds are so common but I’d like to document my progress here to hopefully help someone else and bounce ideas off of each other.

@Apotack I thought this one through very thoroughly over the past couple weeks drawing up plans. The stand must be short for optimal viewing from the couch. A 20 gallon sump would work but it’d cut the refugium space and additional water volume in half. There is 8” of space above the sump and a 5” gap between the top of the sump and the door opening. Should I decide to add a skimmer in the future, a cup up to 6.5” high can be removed at a slight angle. The only maintenance i’ll have to do is replacing the filter floss twice a week and a water change every month or so.

Here are some pictures of my 90. The overall goal is to have this 40 look like a 3/4 scale version with regards to the stand and canopy dimensions. The sump setup will be very different but I will be borrowing some ideas from the 90. My biggest regret with the 90 is the corner overflow being so visible. I minimized visible equipment to one koralia by mounting my 3k gyre vertically on the overflow behind the rock pile.

 

[Reefinmike]

I’ve made tweaks to the stand to eliminate any chance of exposing the electronics to water or humidity. My refrigerator is on the other side of my 90 so I took the liberty of cutting out the drywall to run plumbing, wires and placed outlets above the tank. The fridge rolls out easily if i need to maintenance it. This system needs to be 100% self contained aside from a remote topoff reservoir.

What i’ve come up with should effectively protect all the electronics from some freak accidental spray or if the 40 ever leaked. This will house my eb8, dj8, pm1 and a hard wired gfci outlet. An easy to remove screw allows the bath liner panel to drop for easy access. It can be removed to see back there better. I will have thick plastic protecting the dj8’s buttons. When I outgrow kalkwasser topoff I could cleverly hide a 2 part reservoir under the electronics. The right side panel will go on on once I silicon the sump’s baffles. The side will have an arch cut out of the bottom allowing air to be drawn in by the center fan so I wont see any obvious vent or fan. With the fuge light on at night, the arch also serves as a night light.

 

[count krunk]

with the horde of 40 breeder owners, there will always be a decent crowd to look at your build for ideas to apply to their own!

Moot point now, but another stand option is 2x2 and 1/4" ply. no middle brace. Plenty of strong. 2x4 stands are way stronger than what is required. Remember, most manufacturers will give you a particle board stand!

 

[Reefinmike]

I considered using 2x2 or 2x3 and thin ply like you suggested. It’d be plenty strong without a center brace and It’d make access a bit easier. I went with 3/4” ply because i wanted two doors and a center brace to match my 90 gallon. The 3/4 ply is very sturdy and it gives me an additional 1.5”. Going from 3.5 to 5 inches of shelf width is a big deal. This tank is 18” away from my couch where I usually sit to do all my testing. I plan to use the right door to shelf all my testing equipment and i’m seriously contemplating using a large funnel to make some sort of makeshift sink in the left door. I have a pressurized tap line and ro/di gravity line running right by the tank so why not make use of it? It’d be perfect for cleaning the test kits and i could pop my siphon hose in there when im doing a water change on the tanks.

 

[FishingLovingSons]

What all apex modules are you planning on running- for what equipment?

 

[Reefinmike]

What all apex modules are you planning on running- for what equipment?

I’m just using an eb8 plugged into the apex on my 90 with a pm1, breakout box, temp and ph probe. I’ll top off with a gravity line, float valve and solenoid controled by two float switches. I’ll start out using a doser to dose kalkwasser then switch to using kalk in my ato as the demand grows and eventually dose “1 part”- sodium carbonate. This is the path i’ve taken with my 90. Manual calcium dosing can be done easily after weekly testing. A couple float switches will stretch over to my “water closet” to alert me when my topoff reservoir is low and to shut off the ro unit when all reservoirs are full. I’ll wire in a feed mode button and leave one outlet available for a skimmer level float should I get one in the future. For now I think i’m going to defer the $ i’d spend on a skimmer to a quality fuge light that can also be used for a small frag system. I’m thinking of having the bottom half of my fuge growing cheato with a frag rack on top. A fresh air intake on my skimmer only increased ph ~.12 so I feel my money is best spent on a different method. People say don’t chase ph but i’ve witnessed (and documented in fusion) elevated ph increase the alk/cal usage, growth, color and health.

 

[Reefinmike]

I’ve painted the original ply structure and skinned it with 1/2” sand ply. I’ll paint the outside black and build the doors and shelving tomorrow. I wont finish the right side until the sump is installed. I’ve been dry fitting everything while I can still move the stand around. I wired in a gcfi outlet to power the dj8 and the eb8 coming in tomorrow. I used some pvc to run cords and cables to the dry side. I really like how the arch on the end turned out. It’ll effectively vent the stand without an unsightly vent grate or fan visible.

 

[Reefinmike]

I finished the doors yesterday. Everything still needs a third coat of paint. Since there is only 18” between the stand and couch I put both sets of hinges on the left for easier access. The left door will hold all my test kits, equipment and refills. The right door needed to be minimalistic to allow air to be drawn through the stand and out the “vent chimney”. I can use the upper shelf while testing water and hang tank tools like pipettes, grabbers, poking sticks nets underneath. The main purpose of the bottom shelf is to add rigidity to prevent the door from warping. I’ll probably end up using it to store my minimal fragging supplies. I’ll line the outer edges with door weatherstripping so the back of the tank acts as the 4th wall. The chimney rises 3” above the top of the tank and will be hidden by whatever light hanging/canopy configuration I end up deciding on. The chimney will also carry the tank plumbing, aquabus cable, topoff/kalk line and some switch wires from my water production/reservoir closet.

I plan on having the sump finished in the next couple days. I hope to have the tank drilled, plumbed and running this weekend.

 

[Reefinmike]

Before deciding on a final sump design, I did a “dry run” today adding in the sump and testing out fit and function to make sure everything is accessible enough with room to expand in the future. Space is certainly tight but I feel I’ve made use of nearly every square inch. I used some thick plastic to seal off the dj8 from any chance of water exposure while leaving the switches accessible. I’m really happy with how well I’ve isolated the electronics from water exposure. I can drop the access panel with one screw and a second screw drops the lower shelf and dj8 in one fell swoop for maximum access/visibility. After initial setup and fine tuning of equipment choices i’ll only need to access the electronics every few months when cleaning pumps.

Stay tuned for more progress. I wanted to have water running 6+ weeks ago but i’m glad I took the time to really think through the design of everything. That being said, there is no way i’ll have water running this weekend as planned!

 

[Reefinmike]

One step closer to getting water running in the tank. I finally decided on a sump design and ordered my glass. I ordered the width a bit too narrow so I siliconed a glass shim to the side of the tank. By chance the shim I cut snapped off course and contoured nicely to the baffle height. The sump tank is an old 29 gallon, I removed and applied new silicon to the entire tank while gluing in the baffles. I also painted the trim black with krylon fusion because i hate oak.

Next step i had to shim up my stand. The entire back wall of the stand needs shimmed 3/8”, the front right 1/4” and front left needs no shimming. I filled a 30 gallon container with water and stacked 50lbs of rock on the stand to simulate the weight of the tank. The air gap between the laminate, foam and concrete below requires weight to properly shim the stand.

 

[Reefinmike]

Big step foward today. I popped two 35mm holes in the tank for 3/4” bulkheads. Having only ever drilled a glass top before, i was a bit nervous. I’m pretty happy with how the holes turned out. I only plan to run about 300gph through the sump with a herbie setup so i feel 3/4” is sized more appropriately. A 3/4” gate valve adjusted to a full siphon would be cracked significantly wider than a 1” valve and much less likely for snails, limpets, etc to clog. The return will go over the top just right of the overflow box. I set the overflow about 4” from the left edge to tuck away a powerhead, possibly an emergency heater, probes etc.

I should have water in the tank by the end of the week. Once i have water in the tank i’ll decided how to hang my light. I want easy access in the tank with minimal light spillage.

 

[Reefinmike]

Well, after 2 days full of water and running, I can say i successfully drilled the tank. I plumbed the drains and ran a temporary return with a mj1200. The flow rate is perfect but it’s too noisy. I’m considering a cobalt aquatics version for my return pump. I’ve owned mj1200’s for a good dozen years and they’re bulletproof.

I added my “quarantine damsel”- a 4 year old yellow tail that’s been isolated and 100% disease free for at least 7 months. I’ll be picking up some “bacteria in a bottle” tomorrow to aid the cycle. This will be my first sterile start. Of course i’ll be ready to do a water change at the first sign of distress but I plan to just feed lightly for a month. He has ~60 gallons of water so I don’t think this will be too stressful on him.

I still need a final coat of paint and a few finishing touches on the stand. I plan to build an enclosure for my light so I can suspend it 4-5” above the tank while shielding light spillage. I want to keep this tank very accessible and easy to work on. Updates may be few and far between from here out.

 

[Reefinmike]

I finished off the right side of the stand and added some trim around the bottom to hide the shims. It's been running for nearly two weeks and all is well. I really like the flowrate that a single mj1200 provides and i’m seriously considering just keeping it as is. I haven’t seen a mj1200 fail in 13 years.

 

[count krunk]

looks good! is the pump the noisy bit of the drain?

 

[Reefinmike]

The fans on both tank’s lights are by far the loudest component in the room. I cant hear the mj at all. The drain is absolutely silent as well. While I like the idea of dual redundant pumps, I feel safer with just one. My backup drain can handle a completely clogged main drain no problem whatsoever. Twice the flow would likely be just fine but i’d rather have a huge margain of error considering i only drilled for two 3/4” bulkheads. I didn’t feel the risk/reward wasn’t worth drilling extra holes for a secondary emergency drain or return. I made use of an old eshopps overflow box that just barely fits the two pvc elbows and allows enough room to remove them for a scrubbing. Plumbing this way lets me avoid an external overflow side to allow ventilation up the “chimney” from the stand. I like the ghost style overflows but that’d mean i’d have to cut a more visible hole in the drywall or an obvious fan outside the tank. I’m extremely happy with how my hidden vent and central fan turned out. I intend for my canopy to disguise the vent up top.