40 Gallon Breeder AIO + Tank Move (#2)

evrydayzawrkday

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I will start off with some background to how the hell I got here:

I started doing the hobby back in 2011, when yellow tangs were able to be acquired at Petco for 20 bucks and live rock was still a thing. Originally this was a 40 breeder, with some Fluval canister filter and a HOB refugium. Unfortunately the tank only lasted about two years, mainly due to my horrible work schedule (I was traveling almost five days a week), my wife was tired of taking care of the tank, so it was broken down.

Fast forward to 2021. My two little ones (3&7) wanted a reef tank for the longest, ever since they went to the Coney Island aquarium. I finally went ahead and did this, buying a Fluval Evo 13.5. Tank looked great, but I wanted a bigger one. I did a successful tank move (Lifegard 24.5g) around late June this year (pics below), but now the tank is starting to bow slightly in the front. The same lady who didn't want to take care of the tank, complains endlessly about how I ask for help now, surprised me with a 40 gallon breeder, stating "you better get more of those flower things, and grow the grass out too" (she is talking about Zoa and GSP). So here we are today, building out a tank and doing another transfer :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

The goal of this thread isn't to tell you a poorly worded story, but to document my journey in hopes that it helps others either 1) build out their own 40 breeder AIO or 2) plan for their tank move, as I have done this before successfully and with minimal hiccups (outside of accidently flooding the living room, god why does she put up with me). This forum has been instrumental in my massive success (my zoa, SPS, and others are growing rapidly) so I thought I would return the favor.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Equipment, Filtration, Dosing, Livestock.

Equipment:

Petco 40 gallon breeder
These are currently on sale (50 bucks is what she paid), but be careful. Apparently she went to four different stores in the Raleigh NC area to find this, as the tanks either were 1) cracked or 2) seams looked like a child did the work.

Tenecor Aquariums AIO insert
Initially I was going to use the Fiji AIO insert for the 40 breeder, but unfortunately that wasn't a good fit (massive gaps on the side, and a lot of room in the back). BRS was kind enough to take it back, and then I went with Tenecor. This wasn't 100% smooth either, but nothing I can't get around. As you can see in the pictures below the insert fits very snugly, but the design doesn't account for the lip of the rim. I had to take a Dremel and cut some of that out, but once that was done it went in without an issue.

Nero 3 (x2)

IM Mighty Jet Midsized AIO DC Return Pump

Looks cool. Going to give it a shot.

Radion X15 G6 Blue
Initially on both the Fluval and Lifegard I had an AI Prime 16HD. We now have a second tank in the house (my oldest, new build thread coming for that soon) and I gave her that. Taking this opportunity to blow $$$, I bought the X15 G6. I will say I really like the coloration with AB+ (except I cut back some of the whites), and I get very good spread / even par distribution.

Neptune Apex + Trident
I am lazy, and I can automate a bunch of stuff with this.

Tunze 9001 Protein Skimmer
This is carry over from my existing build, and honestly I love this protein skimmer. Super easy to dial in, and overall is quite quiet. I will say the magnet/mounting is a PITA, but that is my only complaint. I have a light bio load (see below) so I would imagine this would still suffice. If not I will upgrade to the 9004.

Jabao six head dosing pump
Because I spent all my money on the Apex/Radion I didn't have enough budget for another. I need to upgrade this ASAP though as I do not like the software, it sucks.

Filtration:
I keep filtration super simple:

Live rock
I have only ran AIO, and in the middle compartment of all of mine I have ran those bio gem things + lots of extra live rock within there. At least an extra 3-5lb worth.

Filter pad / floss / whatever you want to call it

Brightwell Purit

Personally speaking I have always used some sort of chemical filtration. I find that Purit does the best job, but to each there own.

Dosing:
Currently I am only dosing "All for Reef", ~7.5ml / day spanned over 24 hours in 12 doses. I am going to move to mag/alk/calcium separately since I am noticing some spikes with All for Reef.

Livestock:
I consider coral live stock, but I am not going to deep dive into what I have. Look below, I have over a dozen different types of zoas spread throughout the tank. For coral I do have a slim ball on top that is taking well, birds nest, and other random SPS I have acquired over time.

For actual "live stock" I have a pair of clown fish that I have had since they were little tiny babies, a coral banded shrimp and a bunch of snails / crabs.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The move.

One of the main things I want to help people understand is the process of moving tanks. I have seen some good stories, some kinda bad and really ugly ones. I have done this successfully, and hoping this one goes as smoothly as the other.

Here is the process I took:

Build your tank out
In the case of an AIO, this means silicone down your filtration section. For those running sumps, there is a whole laundry list of things you need to do.
Once you are done I would HIGHLY recommend a 24 hour leak test. I have water-cooled so many PC in my time, and although they look sound they may not be. Do yourself a favor and do this now, and saving yourself the pain later.

Plan, then acquire.
I would recommend taking a tape measurer and measure out your existing tank length / height, draw out your existing aquascape, and then determine the following:

1) What you want the new aquascape to look like
2) How much additional rock (live or dry) you will need
3) How much sand you want

From there acquire your items. For myself, I am getting additional live rock (~5-10lb of live Florida / Fiji / ocean rock, LFS has it for 9 USD/lb), net new sand (I do not transfer sand), Fritz 9000 (for additional help cycling), Reef Smart pods (or whatever pods you can grab locally).

Assemble the tank
At this point you are adding in your sand, new rock (if acquired above), and if possible some live rock from your existing tank. This is where good seeding rock comes in (e.g: that 3-5lb of extra stuff above). From there, I would also recommend adding in the Fritz, pods, and then allow 24 hours to fully cycle through. This allows the cloudiness to go away, and for you to really see what you are doing during the transfer itself.

Before you move anything, be 110% sure your parameters are in line. I am talking about Alk, Ca, Mag and Salinity.

Perform the transfer
I would recommend before starting your transfer, kill all the pumps and move over your hardware first (e.g: light, probes, etc). I would also recommend draining into a clean bucket around 75% of the water, just in case you come into a situation where the rock displaces more water than you expected. Anyways, at this point just move your stuff over and proceed on.

Monitor
For the first week I would recommend testing Nitrate/Ammonia daily. Yes, you may have a slight ammonia spike, but mine dropped almost immediately once I introduced the Brightwell Purit. Last recommendation, I would wait 1-2 weeks before adding any new livestock.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Task List.

- Build new tank stand with adjustable casters (X)
- Obtain new filtration insert, and then fit to size (X)
- Clean, silicone and then leak test (X)
- Leak test (X)
- Assemble / move into position ( )
- Fill, and then move ( )

If anyone is interested in the specs around the cabinet I built I can provide it. I honestly winged it, and as per my neighbor (who is a general contractor), I apparently went a little overboard :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes: The cabinet is squared, but the doors are not (I had Lowes cut that piece since my circular saw broke, it was off by a few cm).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pictures, current and new tank (WIP).

For reference, most of these zoa started with 2-3 heads. They are now exploding in growth.
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IMG_2376.JPG




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IMG_2371.JPG
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Ron Reefman

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Lot's of good info here.

Your tank is kinda, sorta an aio. You have a lot going on in the stand. I'm building a 40g aio right now. I'm literally building the tank, 40g (24" x 24" x 19") and after it's done I'll have a custom insert made. BTW, this will be my 7th or 8th tank build in 25 years.
 
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evrydayzawrkday

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Lot's of good info here.

Your tank is kinda, sorta an aio. You have a lot going on in the stand. I'm building a 40g aio right now. I'm literally building the tank, 40g (24" x 24" x 19") and after it's done I'll have a custom insert made. BTW, this will be my 7th or 8th tank build in 25 years.
I would consider it an AIO since I don’t have HOB or sump :)

right now we have three tanks. Two five gallons and this beast. Can’t wait to leak test and get it filled.
 

TheWB

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I will start off with some background to how the hell I got here:

I started doing the hobby back in 2011, when yellow tangs were able to be acquired at Petco for 20 bucks and live rock was still a thing. Originally this was a 40 breeder, with some Fluval canister filter and a HOB refugium. Unfortunately the tank only lasted about two years, mainly due to my horrible work schedule (I was traveling almost five days a week), my wife was tired of taking care of the tank, so it was broken down.

Fast forward to 2021. My two little ones (3&7) wanted a reef tank for the longest, ever since they went to the Coney Island aquarium. I finally went ahead and did this, buying a Fluval Evo 13.5. Tank looked great, but I wanted a bigger one. I did a successful tank move (Lifegard 24.5g) around late June this year (pics below), but now the tank is starting to bow slightly in the front. The same lady who didn't want to take care of the tank, complains endlessly about how I ask for help now, surprised me with a 40 gallon breeder, stating "you better get more of those flower things, and grow the grass out too" (she is talking about Zoa and GSP). So here we are today, building out a tank and doing another transfer :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

The goal of this thread isn't to tell you a poorly worded story, but to document my journey in hopes that it helps others either 1) build out their own 40 breeder AIO or 2) plan for their tank move, as I have done this before successfully and with minimal hiccups (outside of accidently flooding the living room, god why does she put up with me). This forum has been instrumental in my massive success (my zoa, SPS, and others are growing rapidly) so I thought I would return the favor.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Equipment, Filtration, Dosing, Livestock.

Equipment:

Petco 40 gallon breeder
These are currently on sale (50 bucks is what she paid), but be careful. Apparently she went to four different stores in the Raleigh NC area to find this, as the tanks either were 1) cracked or 2) seams looked like a child did the work.

Tenecor Aquariums AIO insert
Initially I was going to use the Fiji AIO insert for the 40 breeder, but unfortunately that wasn't a good fit (massive gaps on the side, and a lot of room in the back). BRS was kind enough to take it back, and then I went with Tenecor. This wasn't 100% smooth either, but nothing I can't get around. As you can see in the pictures below the insert fits very snugly, but the design doesn't account for the lip of the rim. I had to take a Dremel and cut some of that out, but once that was done it went in without an issue.

Nero 3 (x2)

IM Mighty Jet Midsized AIO DC Return Pump

Looks cool. Going to give it a shot.

Radion X15 G6 Blue
Initially on both the Fluval and Lifegard I had an AI Prime 16HD. We now have a second tank in the house (my oldest, new build thread coming for that soon) and I gave her that. Taking this opportunity to blow $$$, I bought the X15 G6. I will say I really like the coloration with AB+ (except I cut back some of the whites), and I get very good spread / even par distribution.

Neptune Apex + Trident
I am lazy, and I can automate a bunch of stuff with this.

Tunze 9001 Protein Skimmer
This is carry over from my existing build, and honestly I love this protein skimmer. Super easy to dial in, and overall is quite quiet. I will say the magnet/mounting is a PITA, but that is my only complaint. I have a light bio load (see below) so I would imagine this would still suffice. If not I will upgrade to the 9004.

Jabao six head dosing pump
Because I spent all my money on the Apex/Radion I didn't have enough budget for another. I need to upgrade this ASAP though as I do not like the software, it sucks.

Filtration:
I keep filtration super simple:

Live rock
I have only ran AIO, and in the middle compartment of all of mine I have ran those bio gem things + lots of extra live rock within there. At least an extra 3-5lb worth.

Filter pad / floss / whatever you want to call it

Brightwell Purit

Personally speaking I have always used some sort of chemical filtration. I find that Purit does the best job, but to each there own.

Dosing:
Currently I am only dosing "All for Reef", ~7.5ml / day spanned over 24 hours in 12 doses. I am going to move to mag/alk/calcium separately since I am noticing some spikes with All for Reef.

Livestock:
I consider coral live stock, but I am not going to deep dive into what I have. Look below, I have over a dozen different types of zoas spread throughout the tank. For coral I do have a slim ball on top that is taking well, birds nest, and other random SPS I have acquired over time.

For actual "live stock" I have a pair of clown fish that I have had since they were little tiny babies, a coral banded shrimp and a bunch of snails / crabs.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The move.

One of the main things I want to help people understand is the process of moving tanks. I have seen some good stories, some kinda bad and really ugly ones. I have done this successfully, and hoping this one goes as smoothly as the other.

Here is the process I took:

Build your tank out
In the case of an AIO, this means silicone down your filtration section. For those running sumps, there is a whole laundry list of things you need to do.
Once you are done I would HIGHLY recommend a 24 hour leak test. I have water-cooled so many PC in my time, and although they look sound they may not be. Do yourself a favor and do this now, and saving yourself the pain later.

Plan, then acquire.
I would recommend taking a tape measurer and measure out your existing tank length / height, draw out your existing aquascape, and then determine the following:

1) What you want the new aquascape to look like
2) How much additional rock (live or dry) you will need
3) How much sand you want

From there acquire your items. For myself, I am getting additional live rock (~5-10lb of live Florida / Fiji / ocean rock, LFS has it for 9 USD/lb), net new sand (I do not transfer sand), Fritz 9000 (for additional help cycling), Reef Smart pods (or whatever pods you can grab locally).

Assemble the tank
At this point you are adding in your sand, new rock (if acquired above), and if possible some live rock from your existing tank. This is where good seeding rock comes in (e.g: that 3-5lb of extra stuff above). From there, I would also recommend adding in the Fritz, pods, and then allow 24 hours to fully cycle through. This allows the cloudiness to go away, and for you to really see what you are doing during the transfer itself.

Before you move anything, be 110% sure your parameters are in line. I am talking about Alk, Ca, Mag and Salinity.

Perform the transfer
I would recommend before starting your transfer, kill all the pumps and move over your hardware first (e.g: light, probes, etc). I would also recommend draining into a clean bucket around 75% of the water, just in case you come into a situation where the rock displaces more water than you expected. Anyways, at this point just move your stuff over and proceed on.

Monitor
For the first week I would recommend testing Nitrate/Ammonia daily. Yes, you may have a slight ammonia spike, but mine dropped almost immediately once I introduced the Brightwell Purit. Last recommendation, I would wait 1-2 weeks before adding any new livestock.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Task List.

- Build new tank stand with adjustable casters (X)
- Obtain new filtration insert, and then fit to size (X)
- Clean, silicone and then leak test ( )
- Leak test ( )
- Assemble / move into position ( )
- Fill, and then move ( )

If anyone is interested in the specs around the cabinet I built I can provide it. I honestly winged it, and as per my neighbor (who is a general contractor), I apparently went a little overboard :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes: The cabinet is squared, but the doors are not (I had Lowes cut that piece since my circular saw broke, it was off by a few cm).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pictures, current and new tank (WIP).

For reference, most of these zoa started with 2-3 heads. They are now exploding in growth.
IMG_2375.JPG
IMG_2376.JPG




IMG_2375.JPG
IMG_2376.JPG
IMG_2377.JPG
IMG_2378.JPG
IMG_2379.JPG
IMG_2380.JPG
IMG_2381.JPG
IMG_2382.JPG


IMG_2371.JPG
IMG_2372.JPG
IMG_2373.JPG
IMG_2374.JPG
Following along. I ike a good 40b build. I have a Tenecor AIO kit for a 20 long that I have not had a chance to use yet but it dry fits perfectly. I'm surprised that you had to modify this one. Did you let them know it was too tall?
Looking forward to seeing how this one turns out.
 

Tenecor Aquariums

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Following along. I ike a good 40b build. I have a Tenecor AIO kit for a 20 long that I have not had a chance to use yet but it dry fits perfectly. I'm surprised that you had to modify this one. Did you let them know it was too tall?
Looking forward to seeing how this one turns out.
Looks like your tank is coming along nicely. You said your tank is a "Petco". Is it an Aqueon you bought at Petco? Asking because we spec our aio kits for Aqueon tanks. The modification you did is something we are considering for all our aio kits to add a little more room for adjustment. Please let me know if this went into an aquaeon. Chain store glass tanks are not the tightest spec but I think we can make our kits more forgiving.
 
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evrydayzawrkday

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Looks like your tank is coming along nicely. You said your tank is a "Petco". Is it an Aqueon you bought at Petco? Asking because we spec our aio kits for Aqueon tanks. The modification you did is something we are considering for all our aio kits to add a little more room for adjustment. Please let me know if this went into an aquaeon. Chain store glass tanks are not the tightest spec but I think we can make our kits more forgiving.
Hey there!
Yea, this is the Aqueon 40B from PetCo, the ones recently on sale. The modification wasn’t awful to do, but the measurement on the filter wall is to the top of the tank and not the rim :) otherwise it’s a perfect fit.
 

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Hey there!
Yea, this is the Aqueon 40B from PetCo, the ones recently on sale. The modification wasn’t awful to do, but the measurement on the filter wall is to the top of the tank and not the rim :) otherwise it’s a perfect fit.
Thank you for the clarification. We have every single aqueon tank in our design lab and these kits are sized based on actual real world sample tanks. Apparentl, There is a lot of variance in them and we are now modifying our filter walls almost exactly as what you did. We appreciate the real world feedback. Let us know if we can improve further. All the best.
 
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evrydayzawrkday

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Thank you for the clarification. We have every single aqueon tank in our design lab and these kits are sized based on actual real world sample tanks. Apparentl, There is a lot of variance in them and we are now modifying our filter walls almost exactly as what you did. We appreciate the real world feedback. Let us know if we can improve further. All the best.
It’s a solid kit. My only recommendation is potentially switch from the basket to a media container in chamber 1. Personally speaking I can make it work, but others may prefer the media tray.
 
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evrydayzawrkday

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First real update:

About 24 hours into the leak test, all is well. Unfortunately it appears that with the IM MightyJet I received may need to be RMA, so I already reached out to BRS. On the lowest speed (which is the most appropriate flow) it makes an awful whining noise. I have tried cleaning it and all, nada. Dunno.

I noticed this on a few of my tanks, but is it normal for the AIO section to have "less" water than the display? In this case its around an inch different between display and filtration.

IMG_2437.JPG

IMG_2439.JPG
 

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Just this past weekend I cut the aio filter out of my 40 frag tank. Wasn’t happy with how hard it was to keep parameter stable. Ended up moving it to the living room and plumbing it into my 120 gallon’s sump. Use the same return pump! Its a good pump, you will definitely need to turn it down in your 40!
 

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I noticed this on a few of my tanks, but is it normal for the AIO section to have "less" water than the display? In this case its around an inch different between display and filtration.
Totally normal.

Here is a photo of the back of my Waterbox 15 peninsula.

20220717_131913-r2r.jpg
 
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evrydayzawrkday

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Just this past weekend I cut the aio filter out of my 40 frag tank. Wasn’t happy with how hard it was to keep parameter stable. Ended up moving it to the living room and plumbing it into my 120 gallon’s sump. Use the same return pump! Its a good pump, you will definitely need to turn it down in your 40!
LOL yea, I was looking for 10x turnover/hour but I think this was a bit much lol. I am going to see if I can swap it out for a Siccee 1.5 or 1. I am thinking the 1 should be sufficient but I could be wrong.
 

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I think mine was on 1.3 or 1.4
 

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evrydayzawrkday

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UPDATE! I have completed the move with minimal issues...

1) I got water all over the place, mainly because I was trying to get a 3 year old to hold a tube in place :)
2) My Banded Coral Shrimp freaked out and dropped a claw. It is doing fine now in the new tank.
3) I forgot to seal the chambers in the rear, so there is a slight leak between them. No biggie really, just an OCD type of thing.

Anyways, here are the pics!

48 hours after the reseal, initial water + seed rock placed in...
IMG_2524.JPG

IMG_2522.JPG


After 12 hours I tested and had some nitrate, zero on the ammonia so I decided to move forward with the move. Took ~6 hours (including breaking down the hold equipment, cleaning, and moving) but it is now all done.

IMG_2530.JPG

IMG_2531.JPG

IMG_2532.JPG

IMG_2535.JPG

IMG_2534.JPG
 
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evrydayzawrkday

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Oh, other gotchas.

1) I had to redo the stupid Red Sea cover/net thing. I screwed that up, and it wasn't square somehow (and was upsetting my OCD, although it was fine).
2) The original 3D printed tubing holder wasn't working (rim is now to thick). Had to recreate it and alter it (so its four dosing tube + ATO holder. I will post the STL file later if folks are interested
 
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