Budget Breeder Build

[adrianr514]

Hey all you cool Fish and Fry, so this build is actually a couple of weeks in already and I am just now getting around to posting. So after getting rid of my reefer and moving down to an IM 25 Lagoon I was left with the urge of needing a little more room.

Ideally I want something larger than 100 gallons but the apartment complex I am in doesn't allow for tanks larger than 30 gallons without permission. Sadly the largest I was able to convince management to let me have was a 40 Gallon tank. Since I already had a 40B just sitting in storage I decided to put it together.

First off is the equipment.

Tank: Aqueon 40 Breeder
Stand: Imagitarium Brooklynn style stand
Sump: Trigger Systems Sapphire 26
Salt: Tropic Marin Pro @ 35ppt
Lighting: Ecotech Radion XR30 G4 Pro
Overflow: Eshopps Eclipse M
Return Pump: Ecotech Vectra S1
Skimmer: NYOS Quantum 120
Reactor: Dual Aquamaxx FR-SE
Power Head: 3 Ecotech MP10s
Controller: inkbird temp controller
Doser: Kamoer X1
Other: CO2 Scrubber

Desired Parameters:
Ca: 440
Alk: 8.5
Mag: 1450
Nitrate: ≤ 1ppm
Phospahte: .01ppm to .05ppm

For plumbing I went with a 3/4" dual return Teed off to either side of the tank with two @Vivid Creative Aquatics RFG nozzles. To get the plumbing put in place I reached out to my reefing mentor @Sisterlimonpot who came over and pretty much did everything for me while I acted helpful. I am absolutely terrible at this whole measure twice cut once thing so I am glad he helped me out.

Once it was all said and done this is what it looked like.

Next came the fun part, the aquascape! So I knew I wanted to go with an SPS dominant tank so I planned to not go past the half way mark on the tank. With this in mind I decided to go with Dry rock and my choice of rock was Marco Rock.

I went with Marco rock because it offered the most variety with types of rock to allow me to build the scape I wanted. I ordered 60 pounds of rock mixed between flat and cut base rock.

To hold everything together I used E-Marco 400 which is essentially just branded Hydraulic Cement. It was easy to use and dried fast while making a rather strong bond.

Coming into this I knew I didn't want any sand so I made sure to paint the bottom black.

I am currently waiting on my XR15 G5 Blues so until then I am running a single XR30 G4 Pro centered as much as possible.

Lastly here is a picture of my Saltwater mixing/Storage container.

It is a 34Gallon Brute on wheels that I placed a float valve at 25gallons. I have a @Sicceus19 Syncra Silent 5.0 turning the water around. I used two separate ball valves to either recirculate the water for mixing or to pump water out to fill up the tanks after water changes.

 

[Hemmdog]

That came out so good wow! It’s like a much nicer version of my 40b! I used Brooklyn metal, eshopps M, trigger emerald. The rest of your equipment is much nicer than mine
Well done!

 

[lpsouth1978]

Looks like an awesome build! 40b's make such a great small reef!

 

[Fishnut]

Your off to a great start.

 

[adrianr514]

That came out so good wow! It’s like a much nicer version of my 40b! I used Brooklyn metal, eshopps M, trigger emerald. The rest of your equipment is much nicer than mine
Well done!

Thanks, Believe it or not most of the equipment is reused or second hand. the only thing in this build aside from the plumbing that was new is the Sump.

Definitely loving your 40 and looking forward to seeing your terrarium once its finished. Will be following along.

Looks like an awesome build! 40b's make such a great small reef!

Yes they do, they are very manageable but I still want something bigger. Going to have to start bribing management.

Your off to a great start.

Thanks!

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

I never got to see the tank full of water.... looking good!

 

[jrlg]

nice tank and set up I have the same ADJ power strip and I use glass milk jugs for additives as well, figure its safe and for $2 deposit, it well worth it.

 

[adrianr514]

nice tank and set up I have the same ADJ power strip and I use glass milk jugs for additives as well, figure its safe and for $2 deposit, it well worth it.

Not to mention it's quality milk.

 

[FactoryKTMmotocross46]

That looks great. I like the rockwork.

 

[ScottR]

Following!

 

[Wes10C]

Nice, im diggin the aquascape.

 

[Vivid Creative Aquatics]

This tank looks great!

Question - how's the Vectra S1 doing with the dual 3/4in RFGs?
Is it enough GPH to create a nice punchy, randomized flow?

 

[adrianr514]

This tank looks great!

Question - how's the Vectra S1 doing with the dual 3/4in RFGs?
Is it enough GPH to create a nice punchy, randomized flow?

It actually reduces down to 1/2" at the bulkhead, this way I am able to keep relatively low flow through the sump and still keep the randomness of the RFGs going in the tank.

 

[adrianr514]

So today I wanted to share a video of the Aquascape.

With the picture being 2D its real hard to get a complete grasp of what the scape truly looks and feels like.

Yes that is a yellow tang and yes that a yellow belly hippo. I do plan on swapping them out once they get bigger. For now they're doing a great job at being a utility fish and grazing algae off the rocks.



I am also still trying to figure out the best placement for the vortechs.

I currently have one the the back bottom on constant mode to keep flow moving behind the scape to reduce any settling of organics in the back.

The other two are on the right side of the tank in an offset manner to try and maximize flow along the front and top of the scape.

So far i'm finding this placement along with the RFGs to give me the most flow coverage without having to really blast any of the powerheads.

I am also finding that the shape and design of the scape creates a lot of channels (currents) adding to the random effect of the water.

For the video I did place the system into feed mode to allow for a better look at the scape from the top down.

These are my current schedules/flow settings for my pumps

If you have any advise please share or suggestions please share!

Also if there's anything you want a better look at let me know and I'll do what I can.

 

[thunderreefer]

Wo

Hey all you cool Fish and Fry, so this build is actually a couple of weeks in already and I am just now getting around to posting. So after getting rid of my reefer and moving down to an IM 25 Lagoon I was left with the urge of needing a little more room.

Ideally I want something larger than 100 gallons but the apartment complex I am in doesn't allow for tanks larger than 30 gallons without permission. Sadly the largest I was able to convince management to let me have was a 40 Gallon tank. Since I already had a 40B just sitting in storage I decided to put it together.

First off is the equipment.

Tank: Aqueon 40 Breeder
Stand: Imagitarium Brooklynn style stand
Sump: Trigger Systems Sapphire 26
Salt: Tropic Marin Pro @ 35ppt
Lighting: Ecotech Radion XR30 G4 Pro
Overflow: Eshopps Eclipse M
Return Pump: Ecotech Vectra S1
Skimmer: NYOS Quantum 120
Reactor: Dual Aquamaxx FR-SE
Power Head: 3 Ecotech MP10s
Controller: inkbird temp controller
Doser: Kamoer X1
Other: CO2 Scrubber

Desired Parameters:
Ca: 440
Alk: 8.5
Mag: 1450
Nitrate: ≤ 1ppm
Phospahte: .01ppm to .05ppm

For plumbing I went with a 3/4" dual return Teed off to either side of the tank with two @Vivid Creative Aquatics RFG nozzles. To get the plumbing put in place I reached out to my reefing mentor @Sisterlimonpot who came over and pretty much did everything for me while I acted helpful. I am absolutely terrible at this whole measure twice cut once thing so I am glad he helped me out.

Once it was all said and done this is what it looked like.

Next came the fun part, the aquascape! So I knew I wanted to go with an SPS dominant tank so I planned to not go past the half way mark on the tank. With this in mind I decided to go with Dry rock and my choice of rock was Marco Rock.

I went with Marco rock because it offered the most variety with types of rock to allow me to build the scape I wanted. I ordered 60 pounds of rock mixed between flat and cut base rock.

To hold everything together I used E-Marco 400 which is essentially just branded Hydraulic Cement. It was easy to use and dried fast while making a rather strong bond.

Coming into this I knew I didn't want any sand so I made sure to paint the bottom black.

I am currently waiting on my XR15 G5 Blues so until then I am running a single XR30 G4 Pro centered as much as possible.

Lastly here is a picture of my Saltwater mixing/Storage container.

It is a 34Gallon Brute on wheels that I placed a float valve at 25gallons. I have a @Sicceus19 Syncra Silent 5.0 turning the water around. I used two separate ball valves to either recirculate the water for mixing or to pump water out to fill up the tanks after water changes.

Wow, that looks great!

 

[adrianr514]

Wo

Wow, that looks great!

Thanks!

 

[Apeman]

Looking good! Can't wait to see what else you do with it!

 

[adrianr514]

For today’s episode of Quarantine builds I received my Aquatic Life Universal fixture mounts for my IM 25 Lagoon.

So my lagoon will essential be my frag/Coral QT/Mushroom tank. So this is the same tank that I took down and replaced with the 40 breeder.

So why is it back up you may ask. Well I had a small 16 gallon tank at my office. Full of Zoas and mushrooms. When I was laid off I brought it home but didn’t want another tank. So my options were throw everything in the 40 breeder or do something with it.

From the get go I knew I wanted this to be a SPS dominant tank and that I didn’t want any Zoas in it. That’s when I decided to just sell the Zoas. Well as expected I wasn’t getting any offers on my Zoas that were in my opinion reasonable or fair. That’s when I decided to frag them all up and sell individual polyps for less and get back what I was asking for in the first place.

So i did just that and turned the Lagoon into a frag tank until I could sell all the Zoas.

Jump back to the mushrooms, well they were not happy at all with the flow in the 40 breeder. It was too much for them so I pulled them all out and threw them in the lagoon.

Then just like that my temp frag tank became a permanent fixture... I know, I know. Leave me alone.

So for a while I was running a single AI prime on it but I wasn’t getting the type of even coverage I was looking for and that’s when I got a killer deal on a close out 4 bulb T5-HO fixture. I’m currently running all ATI bulbs, 1 Coral Plus, 2 Blue Plus and a single Actinic. The Actinic doesn’t seem to be doing much so I’m probably swapping it out for another Blue Plus

Which brings me back to the fixture

Mounting them was pretty straight forward. Everything was included except for the fact that I had to run to Lowe’s for 1” self tapping screws as they only provide wood screws and these APS stands are aluminum.

Leveling them was pretty easy but actually mounting fixture with the budget hanging kit it came with was a pain. Eventually after lots of fighting I was able to get it level. Now I just need to borrow a par meter to know how high or low i need to move the fixture. I am shooting for around 150 par in most of the tank.

Now my last rant of the day.

Why?!?!?!?!?!?!

End rant.

 

[adrianr514]

Boom!!! Today finally came. Well first off let me start with the Lagoon.
I had an extra power bar lying around so I decided to retrofit it onto my APS stand. A Dremel made quick work of it.

Now to the big announcement, last month before losing my job I had placed an order for some G5 Radions. Unfortunately they were on back order everywhere so the waiting began.

Fast forward to today. The lights finally came in.

First thing I noticed was just how gorgeous the blue heat sinks were. Really gave it an edge over the outgoing lights in the looks department.

Build quality is what you expect of Ecotech.

To mount these bad boys I went with the RMS rail.

Setting up the rail was pretty straight forward. Used a tape measurer center the rail and then mounted the lights.

After sliding the lights around a bit I found the perfect spread for now. By that I mean I need to get a hold of a par meter and find the best spread by adjusting the intersecting points of the light to be even with the rest.

So far I’m really liking it, it’s giving a lot of the corals gorgeous coloration with its default AB+ setting.

As someone who used a diffuser on my XR30 I was worried about light blending. I was in the camp where the diffuser light on the G4’s was the best looking in both blend and softness next to T5 lighting.

So far I have not seen any disco effect or need for a diffuser. When they finally come out I will get some just to try them but I honestly can’t see me needing them.

Now to my only gripe. The rail system doesn’t have good cable management. The plug end is too big to route between the mount and rail. This is the best I could do and it’s bothering me.To route it under I’m going to have to remove the light, mount and rail to be able to do it and right now it’s more work than I want to do.

 

[jrlg]

I am looking into getting the G5 XR15 Pros for my tank..... still not available