A 40 breeeder in my living room

[Mpierce]

I had a 120 gallon in wall tank for the last 4 years. It was getting to be too much work and I wasn't keeping up with it as I should and things were starting to suffer. So I have decided to reboot and do a 40 Breeder because it sounds manageable. Most of the equipment from the 120 was sold and I purchased new lights, skimmer, and powerheads that are appropriately sized for the 40. With the tank in my living room one of the main goals is that it has to be QUIET.

If you are interested in the 120 build, It can be found here:
http://www.tcmas.org/v4/forums/showthread.php?44462-Pierce-s-mixed-reef-75-gallon

The 40 starts with a custom walnut stand that I built with some cool features, like the doors on the side of the stand. I also installed outlets inside the stand to help with some of the wiring mess that goes along with having a reef tank.















If I were to change one thing with this stand, it would be a place for the aquarium controller. Looking back I would have made a compartment that would have been accessed from one of the side doors and separated from the rest of the sump area.

-Matt

 

[Mpierce]

Sump in, ready for plumbing.



I drilled the tank for a herbie style overflow so I can make it basically silent. I also drilled a hole for the return line so I wouldn't have to have plumbing going up over the back of the tank.



Some goodies. I decided to go with 2 kessil A160WE for the lighting. I didn't want the goose neck mounts so I had a buddy who works at a metal shop bend me a couple mounts for the lights from steel. I then had them powder coated. You can see in the previous picture how they are mounted on the back of the stand.

 

[Mpierce]

Wet test.




The sump:
A second goal of this tank, was to keep operating costs down, so I try to choose equipment that is efficient. I run a reef octopus classic 110 skimmer. A single BRS reactor with carbon and GFO mixed. And the last of the filtration is just some live rock. I have opted not to do an actual refugium area on this sump because they always turn into a big algae mess for me. Water return duty is taken care of by a Lifegard quiet one 1200, which gets me a return flow of about 130-140 gph after head loss. I am of the thinking as long as the tank water is getting turned over 3-4x an hour that is plenty. This saves a lot of electricity over a larger return pump as the quiet one only draws 18 watts.

At Idle (no lights or heater) the tank draws about 60 watts. I have found that with a room temperature that ranges between 64-68 degrees F (it is cold this time of year in Wisconsin) I average about 200 watts to run the tank which equates to about 150KWH a month. With my utility costs that is about $18 a month. I expect this to be cut in half during the summer when room temperature is in the mid 70s and the 300 watt heater doesn't run 50% of the day.


Trigger systems 5 gallom ATO container. I mix kalkwasser for my top off. Currently that is the only dosing I do, and I hope will maintain CA and ALK as the tank matures. I have a tom's aqualifter for the pump and I just have it set with a timer on the apex, so I just add or remove a minute as needed to maintain a fairly stable water level. This allows me to not have any float switches etc for the top off. In the future I may add an actual ATO system, maybe tunze.




I use a Neptune Apex lite tank controller. I have added the VDM module and use it to control the Kessil lights. I run a bit of a goofy schedule so I can see my tank in the morning before work and also have the lights on late into the evening so I can enjoy the tank when I get home. Because of this the lights are on 14 hours a day. As you can see they stay very dim for the first couple hours and then ramp to 90% intensity and 65% color. I also have the color hold in the 40% range for a while in the evening because I enjoy that look the most.



The tank:
In the tank I have fiji pink sand (20lbs) and a little bit of special grade in the front since it is a little larger and doesn't get blown around as easy. I also have 2 vortec MP10QD for flow and 2 korallia nano 525 toward the back of the tank to move some water behind the rocks. I am not sure how much live rock I have, I just used what I had from my 120 and sold the extra I didn't use.

 

[Mpierce]

Left side:


Right Side:


FTS:


New frags. These will be the test and see how they grow with the new setup. If you look in the previous pictures you can see they have been placed so I will follow their progress.


-Matt

 

[Mpierce]

So curiosity always gets the best of me. I wanted to see if adding T5 lighting to my setup would yield any improvements. I had an old Coralife fixture body laying around so I decided to retro my Kessils,a couple 24" T5 bulbs, and moonlights into it. The Kessils were doing a fine job and I really like them, but I wanted to improve on the shaded areas etc etc etc. I used a HEP ballast (same as comes in ATI fixtures) and 2 Geissman actinic blue bulbs with the MIRO4 reflectors. So here it is:

 

[Leaellynasaura]

That is some great woodworking on the stand.

 

[Whipples]

great build! I love the way folks use 40 breeders, such a versatile tank! Did you modify a glass holes box for a herbie style drain?

 

[Mpierce]

great build! I love the way folks use 40 breeders, such a versatile tank! Did you modify a glass holes box for a herbie style drain?

I drilled 2 holes close to one another and put the overflow box (ebay) over them. One is valved for full siphon and the other, smaller 1/2" drain, is just for emergency. I also drilled a hole for the return line so I didn't have anything hanging over the back.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Great work on the build!! Love the cabinetry and the reef is looking great!

 

[Christopher B Keyes]

So awesome! Nice job with the stand. I love it!

 

[Sir Chris]

I need a 48 inch long stand build with no center and I've come 2 the fact either I over build or put that ugly center support. I'd like some1 2 sketch up a schematic of thebuild and I build it. But it's the center support that I don't want and a clean through 2door reclaimed door as a cabinet door cut in 1/2.

 

[Sir Chris]

So curiosity always gets the best of me. I wanted to see if adding T5 lighting to my setup would yield any improvements. I had an old Coralife fixture body laying around so I decided to retro my Kessils,a couple 24" T5 bulbs, and moonlights into it. The Kessils were doing a fine job and I really like them, but I wanted to improve on the shaded areas etc etc etc. I used a HEP ballast (same as comes in ATI fixtures) and 2 Geissman actinic blue bulbs with the MIRO4 reflectors. So here it is:

If u don't mind how much have u put into ur hood. I'm lookn at getting the ap700. As I love T5s and the 700 is exactly what I was lookn for all in1 tuning vs 2 two light and 360blues in between so thank u kessil. But are u seeing a difference.

 

[Reefing newbie]

whole thing looks awesome. keep up the good work.

 

[Mpierce]

If u don't mind how much have u put into ur hood. I'm lookn at getting the ap700. As I love T5s and the 700 is exactly what I was lookn for all in1 tuning vs 2 two light and 360blues in between so thank u kessil. But are u seeing a difference.

Well I bought the 160s new so thats like $480, I had the empty fixture laying around so $0, and then the two bulb t5 retro was about $100 (bulbs,ballast, reflectors, end caps, wires and misc hardware). So all in all it was just shy of $600. Yes thus far I really like it. I think the kessils would have been just fine on their own, I just always find myself playing with things. If I had the cash I would put the ap700 way up on the top of my list. For a 36" tank I think it would be great. On a 48" you probably are a little limited with what corals can be placed toward the ends of the tank.

 

[Mpierce]

I need a 48 inch long stand build with no center and I've come 2 the fact either I over build or put that ugly center support. I'd like some1 2 sketch up a schematic of thebuild and I build it. But it's the center support that I don't want and a clean through 2door reclaimed door as a cabinet door cut in 1/2.

If I build another stand I will be making it out of 2x4s and skinning it with whatever hardwood I am feeling at the time. I think that is the most cost effective way of building a stand. There are plenty of good examples that have been built this way.

 

[Reefing newbie]

If I build another stand I will be making it out of 2x4s and skinning it with whatever hardwood I am feeling at the time. I think that is the most cost effective way of building a stand. There are plenty of good examples that have been built this way.

That's what I did with my current stand. It's easy and you only need a circular saw and a drill at minimum. Costs depending on what kind of wood you use a skin. I ended up with 3/4 inch oak but you can customize everything to the way you want it. I highly recommend it.

 

[Mpierce]

It's 4 months in. Had a few run ins with cyano, beat it out with ultralife RSR. Have continued to used Vibrant aquarium cleaner at 1ml/20gal 1x a week.

 

[Sir Chris]

Well I'm hoping he ap700 gives full light 2 100% of the tank if not I'll add 180s or 360s 2 the sides but I'm a T5s guy and I can't beat he colors I think so either I was goin 2 do what u did with 3 360's and 2 48' 2 tube T5s. But the control it what's got me on that good. It's just 2 simple 4 what time and $ I'd put into 1 as I only have 1 48' now over my 20g that I'm cyanoing right now and made a cool airaitor that doesn't make a mess and lose evap. So going 2 my 75g I want something I don't have 2 worry about as it's a deep blue ballast and has 2 b turned of and on and no ramp. And wasn't having a problem with the HE 24' but got this as it burnt out and didn't want a 24 as I was switching and got if for same $ and it's a HO. So I wanna have that peice of mind on my lighting and. It worry I have 2 get home 2 turn it off or turn the timer on and hat kills the moons.

 

[Mpierce]

Beat the cyano out for a while, But some small patches have started popping up again. I may have to do another round of RSR if it doesn't knock back with nutrient control.

 

[Rakie]

Looks good, 40b are almost the perfect dimensions for a smaller tank. The gallonage is lower than a 50/60 cube, but the 40b still feels like a better fit.