40 Breeder - slow build thread

[BriDroid]

After dipping my toe back in a little over a year ago, I’ve officially outgrown the 11 gallon cube. I’ve really missed not having a sump too. With space around the house limited, I decided that a 40 breeder with a sump would be the way to go and keep the wife happy!

So far I’ve just been gathering equipment to start the build. I plan on documenting everything here. From drilling my first tank for the overflow and return to adding fish and corals from the 11 cube. I hope to have everything done sometime this summer…

Since I’m going to be taking the 11 cube out of commission after this (I only can deal with one tank), I’ll be moving my Hydros system over to this new build.

 

[BriDroid]

Equipment list:

Tank - Marineland 40 breeder picked because of a sale and the black silicone.
Stand - going to be a custom build in the future.
Overflow - Eshopps Prodigy M
Sump - Fiji-20 Advanced Reef Sump 2nd gen.
Return pump - Reef Octopus VarioS 2 controlled with a Wave Engine.
Wave makers - two Icecap 2K gyres controlled with a Wave Engine.
Protein skimmer - Bubble Magus Curve 3 Extreme.
Lighting - three Kessil A160WE Tuna Blue pendants controlled with the 0-10V output from my X4. Either I’ll use the goosenecks or maybe a custom mounting option attached to the wall behind the tank?

For rocks and sand I’m planning on going with Tropic Eden Morroca rock and Tropic Eden Mesoflakes for the sand.

I’ll probably order some real live rock rubble to put in the fuge section of the sump to help get things started.

 

[BriDroid]

March 7, 2026-It’s started!!!

I ended up going with 2 20 pound Marco Rock The Perfect Mix coralline foundation, shelf, and hybrid rock combo boxes. I talked to Marco Rocks and they said by ordering 2 of the 20 pound boxes vs one 40 pound box, I’d get smaller pieces. I received about 56 pounds of rock total. A lot more flat bottom foundation pieces than I think I’ll need, but those shelf’s are amazing!

It’s all cooking in 20 gallons of saltwater with a powerhead and a heater in the garage. I’ve added some PolypLab Genesis bacteria. Tomorrow I’ll start adding some ammonia. I plan on letting it go for a few months.

 

[kevgib67]

Waiting for pictures!

 

[TheNative192]

This is awesome! I am excited to see how this turns out. At some point I may drill my tank to add a sump as well so let me know how that goes!

 

[BriDroid]

Started “cooking” some dry rock today.

 

[BriDroid]

After putting it off for fear of breaking the glass I finally decided today was the day to drill the tank. I measured and dry fit the overflow box multiple times since you only get one chance.

I have to say it was way easier than I thought it would be! I drilled the 60mm hole for the overflow and a 35mm hole for the 3/4” return.

 

[BriDroid]

More progress today! Painted the back late last night. Mounted the overflow and the return bulkhead today. With what the template said, my water level should be right at, or slightly above the tank rim. I’m waiting on some fittings to plumb the return so I can get it wet.

 

[ncsuben]

@BriDroid I just ordered a 40 breeder as well and am planning on DIYing a 20 long sump. Gathering info and your progress looks great so far. Wondering if you had any specific sources you found helpful? Any particular reason for choosing the Prodigy M?

Happy building!

 

[BriDroid]

@BriDroid I just ordered a 40 breeder as well and am planning on DIYing a 20 long sump. Gathering info and your progress looks great so far. Wondering if you had any specific sources you found helpful? Any particular reason for choosing the Prodigy M?

Happy building!

From what I’ve read, the outer box sits a little higher so it’s supposed to be a little more quiet. I didn’t want to modify the top trim at all and I’m hoping like heck that the water level will be right there or right above. It looks like it will be.

Plus I like the slim internal overflow box. It’s just a hair wider than the top lip.

 

[BriDroid]

I got the main drain line done today. It’s all glued in and fits good. It was such a pain that I’m doing the emergency and the 3/4 inch return with barbs and soft tubing. That’s more my speed! I have black 3/4” silicone tubing to hopefully keep the algae down in the return. I’m going clear silicone for the emergency, I figured it should mostly stay dry, and it will be nice to see if there is any water in the line.

Because of the high sump and the low stand, I had to put the gate valve accessible from the back/side. Not what I wanted, but it will work. Once my parts show up I’ll be able to get the emergency drain and the return plumbed and do a leak test. I’m getting close now!

 

[BriDroid]

Filled with tap water today to check for leaks. I told the wife not to worry, it’s not going in the middle of the floor in my office, I just wanted to be able to get to any leaks if I needed to.

It’s holding water. One tiny leak at a union but a pair of channel locks fixed that. My VarioS 2 pump stalls at anything less than 50%, but it’s fine. I’m actually running it at 60% and if anything the flows a little light through the sump.

The water level sits right at the bottom of the top trim, I’m very happy with that! The emergency drain works when I block off the main drain and the sump doesn’t overfill when I shut off the return pump. I’m going to run it like this for a few days then fill it up with saltwater!

To say I’m pleased with myself is an understatement! I’m glad that I was able to build a tank myself! Never mind the wife’s stuff in the background

 

[BriDroid]

It’s getting exciting now! No leaks overnight! Today I put in my two Icecap 2K gyres and played with the wave engine to get them setup where I “think” it will be ok. Of course rocks are going to change that. I’m glad to report mine are both whisper quiet which is something I was worried about.

I also mounted my 3 Kessil A160WEs above the tank, just to get an idea on PAR and color. In freshwater, mounted 7” above the water surface, I’m getting 120-150 PAR at the tank bottom with the intensity at 80% and the color at 50% on my Hydros.

Now to start collecting RODI water so I can make saltwater and scape this thing! I’m only setup currently to collect 20ish gallons at a time. I do have a bigger Brute that my Marco rocks are currently soaking in that I’m moving over when all this is done.

 

[TheNative192]

I am excited to see how this turns out!

 

[BriDroid]

Beautiful clear water! Between the ocean direct sand and the tablespoon of Life Source I added it’s cloudy! With rocks and sand the total system volume is 46 gallons. Should be a nice upgrade from the 8 gallons I have now in my nano! Much more stable!

 

[BriDroid]

All scapes and the water is starting to clear up. I’m also processing 0.5ppm ammonia in 12 hours too.
Close to 50 pounds of Marco Rock and 40 pounds of Caribsea Ocean Direct “live” sand. I also dosed some Aqua Forest Life Source and a starter dose of Tropic Marin Nitribiotic. I think soaking the dry rock with PolypLab Genesis for a few weeks along with the live sand helped cycle faster.

 

[BriDroid]

Sump is setup and the turf algae scrubber is plumbed. Water cleared for a day and then got super cloudy again. I’m sure it’s a bacterial bloom with the tank cycling. Once the ammonia dropped to 0 and it would process in 12ish hours, I moved over my baby clown and a blue legged hermit. They’re doing well. I’m not running the algae scrubber yet, just plumed in. I still need to paint that board mounted on the side. The stand had threaded inserts for an adjustable stand. I am using them to hold a piece of marine plywood that I’ll use to mount the dosing pumps on as well as the Wave Engines. That way my controller board can be cleaned up and mounted off to the side.

 

[BriDroid]

Got the lights mounted as well today. I found an old YouTube video of a guy using TV wall mounts to mount the Kessil pendants and I liked the idea. I like that they are maneuverable if I need to. They’re about 7.5” above the water but I can flip the bracket and lower them 1” if needed. I did some preliminary PAR measurements at 7” and was very happy with the numbers, anywhere from 125-150 on the sand at 80% output.
I also have a shelf for test kits, etc above them which will be nice.
Now I just need this to cycle….

 

[BriDroid]

Lights turned on today, just because it was killing me . I’ll shut them off again.

Here they are at 20% brightness and color. I love the shimmer, close to MH bulbs that I truly miss. I also added some black vinyl to the algae scrubber since it was so bright, you can kind of see it on the right side of the pic and video.

I also really like the TV mounts, they will come in really handy when I need to get in the tank and work, which was one of my pet peeves !

YouTube video link

 

[Rocks reef]

That is looking great! Following along