40 gallons and counting

[Saltyreef24]

Looking good. Cant wait to see it with water in it.

I used the modular marine overflow its essentially the same thing. I plumbed mine as a full syphon and 2 emergency standpipes. With a little adjustment of the gate valve its dead silent.

Sounds awesome. Mine will be plumbed similar, except there are only 2 drains on it, so one will be the primary with a gate valve, and the other will be the secondary/emergency, with maybe a trickle running through it.

 

[Saltyreef24]

I had a AI hydra 52 on my 42 gallon, a much older generation from 8 years ago and loved it. I’m leaning heavily towards the AI primes either goosenecked or possibly mounted in a custom hood. Have you purchased your lights yet? I’m not sure how good the coverage would be with 2 primes. In the wheel house is to try 2 and then supplement with an AI blade or possibly orphek or reefbrite

Wow a 52 must’ve put out some good light. I figured I would try the 2 primes and then add to it if I need more light, since I read that they can be linked up rather easily. If 2 is really shy of how much light I end up needing, I might try to add a hydra 32 to them, but idk how compatible they are to sync up spectrum/timing, etc across AI’s different models. Also, I have a 12” Reefbrite actinic light on my current tank that I could theoretically move over

 

[RockRash]

Currently in Oahu trying to find out how to bring home some different coralline algae, bacteria, and maybe sponges etc. from the live rock out here. At the very least, I have a shooter bottle of crushed coralline algae and seawater to stick in my luggage. Fingers crossed I can find a way to bring back more goodies.

Also, my wife and I saw some wonderful creatures when snorkeling, including a sailfin tang that was well over a foot long. We also just encountered TWENTY Hawaiian green sea turtles, or Honu, resting on the beach last night. I attached a pic of some to show y’all, along with one from today.

Awesome pictures! Ya I'd be tempted to take some rocks or something home to lol.

 

[Sdoutreefer]

Gonna be a good build!

Man... I miss my 40b :crying-face:

 

[Saltyreef24]

Okay I am back home and my shooter of crushed coralline and live rock crumblies is in my current tank (13.5g battling Dino’s) while I am tinkering again. I just received an AI Prime for Christmas and will be purchasing 1-2 more to accompany it soon. Also on my list is a couple of ai prime mounts, and also set of 2 AI Nero 3 powerheads. Hopefully I will have a chance to build my stand this week, but this is one of the busiest weeks of our year at my work so we will see what time I have left. More updates will be coming soon as I plan this out and build it out.

 

[jdpeters]

Okay I am back home and my shooter of crushed coralline and live rock crumblies is in my current tank (13.5g battling Dino’s) while I am tinkering again. I just received an AI Prime for Christmas and will be purchasing 1-2 more to accompany it soon. Also on my list is a couple of ai prime mounts, and also set of 2 AI Nero 3 powerheads. Hopefully I will have a chance to build my stand this week, but this is one of the busiest weeks of our year at my work so we will see what time I have left. More updates will be coming soon as I plan this out and build it out.

I feel you I have all the ambition currently and blessed with the resources but lack time to get my build fully rolling

 

[Saltyreef24]

I had a chance to swing by and frame out my stand today. I used the basic design of the rocket engineer plans, originally posted on the reef central forum.
(https://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1169964)
However, I eliminated the 4 non-load bearing 2x4 screw strips, as my plywood sheathing which will be applied next will perform their purpose. This modification was to increase the footprint of the inside of the stand, and allow for easier fitment of my 20L sump. For the meantime, I have 4 ct. 3” stainless steel construction screws attaching the legs to each corner. These stainless steel screws were used all throughout to eliminate corrosion concerns, except 2 spots where I hit another toenailed screw, and supplemented a 2.5” coated deck screw instead.

Separately, I will be lighting the tank with 2 AI primes. I chose the rigid mounts because they will hold a steady position, even if bumped into, enhancing stability of tank conditions compared to a gooseneck which might need to be finessed.

 

[jdpeters]

I had a chance to swing by and frame out my stand today. I used the basic design of the rocket engineer plans, originally posted on the reef central forum.
(https://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1169964)
However, I eliminated the 4 non-load bearing 2x4 screw strips, as my plywood sheathing which will be applied next will perform their purpose. This modification was to increase the footprint of the inside of the stand, and allow for easier fitment of my 20L sump. For the meantime, I have 4 ct. 3” stainless steel construction screws attaching the legs to each corner. These stainless steel screws were used all throughout to eliminate corrosion concerns, except 2 spots where I hit another toenailed screw, and supplemented a 2.5” coated deck screw instead.

Separately, I will be lighting the tank with 2 AI primes. I chose the rigid mounts because they will hold a steady position, even if bumped into, enhancing stability of tank conditions compared to a gooseneck which might need to be finessed.

Right on you can basically park a car on that type of stand. Nice to make some progress

 

[Saltyreef24]

Right on you can basically park a car on that type of stand. Nice to make some progress

Yes it’s incredibly robust, even without the sides on yet. It’s a touch out of square and I think I’ll need a racket strap to rack it back to square before I put the sides on. It’s very nice to finally have the stand started; I can kind of see it coming together now, and so can my wife. She’s getting excited for our fishies to have a new, bigger home, and for Cosmo and Wanda (the clowns) to finally have an anemone.

 

[jdpeters]

Yes it’s incredibly robust, even without the sides on yet. It’s a touch out of square and I think I’ll need a racket strap to rack it back to square before I put the sides on. It’s very nice to finally have the stand started; I can kind of see it coming together now, and so can my wife. She’s getting excited for our fishies to have a new, bigger home, and for Cosmo and Wanda (the clowns) to finally have an anemone

I have a 27 aquarium fish room not a single rack is perfectly level or square lol. 1/4 foam board made up for my deficiencies lol.

 

[nextevolution3]

i have the same setup went with the overflow box on the side for a peninsula style

 

[Saltyreef24]

Finished all of the major construction of my stand today. I just need to build doors, sand, caulk and paint. Good news: I was able to force it square as I installed the sides and top.
Neo is curious what I am building.

 

[riche]

Did you ever get the lights set up? Is 2 good or would you prefer 3?

 

[Saltyreef24]

Did you ever get the lights set up? Is 2 good or would you prefer 3?

I set them up, but my tank isn’t filled yet so I can’t really tell for sure how bright it is. I’m pretty sure 2 will be enough for the corals I have now, but I may get another one when I get more sps or an anemone

 

[Saltyreef24]

I finally finished the main phase of construction on my stand and have it prepped for paint. I brought it home today, and test fit my tank and sump. There’s only 1 AI prime on the tank in the pic because the other is on my 13.5 gal. I want to get the fish and corals used to the new lights before switching them into the new system.

 

[KochergenJ]

Looks good!

 

[jdpeters]

I finally finished the main phase of construction on my stand and have it prepped for paint. I brought it home today, and test fit my tank and sump. There’s only 1 AI prime on the tank in the pic because the other is on my 13.5 gal. I want to get the fish and corals used to the new lights before switching them into the new system.

Congrats! Love the update. I’ve been cranking away at my 40 breeder I will make sure to tag you when I put together a build thread.

 

[Saltyreef24]

Congrats! Love the update. I’ve been cranking away at my 40 breeder I will make sure to tag you when I put together a build thread.

Thank you, and okay awesome! Looking forward to seeing it

 

[Saltyreef24]

Time for another update!
I finished sanding, caulking, and painting my stand, and have ran my return line, including an extra outlet in the sump in case I want to power any reactors down the road. I have also started running the drain lines from my overflow down to the sump. I am waiting to borrow a tool to make a cut out in the back of the stand for my drain lines, so in the meantime I finished making my crash box and filter sock holder and installed it in the sump. I have both mesh and felt filter socks for now, as I am undecided on which route I would like to go. Does anyone have a preference for one versus the other, and if so, why?

 

[jdpeters]

Good job on the progress and thanks for reporting back. I haven’t started my build thread but I should finally get water into my 40 in the next week. I’m not a huge DIY guy but I’ve learned a ton. I think the biggest thing for me is that I really haven’t saved any money doing it piecemeal and if I was to do it again I would of just paid the upfront money on a plug and play system. I’ve acquired some newer skills or at minimum fine tuned some.