colossal_tater's 40 gallon breeder; second trip around the merry go round

[colossal_tater]

Hey everyone! This is my second reef tank, but I've been all across the freshwater spectrum and have had tanks in some capacity all my life. My first reef was a standard 29 gallon acrylic tank. No sump, just hang on the back power filter and water changes. No equipment other than a heater. I ran into the bryopsis plague and also decided to break it down when I moved. I'm now settled into a house, and decided to try to do things "right" this time now three years later!

Goals for the build

• A tank that isn't too big. I'm on a rickety second floor that I don't trust to hold too much. And I really want it in a spot that is parallel to the floor joists
  
• Must have a sump so that I can hide equipment and easily put more fun equipment in the system
• Easy maintenance. With my first tank, I had no RODI unit and used to drive 40 minutes round trip and fill up 5 gallon buckets from my LFS. I also had very little room for extra equipment that could ease maintenance
• Sustain a beautiful reef environment. I'm sure we all have this goal!

I will be updating this description with my current equipment list (with prices!), livestock (with prices!), and full tank shots, so you can always find those at the top. I'll reply to the thread with more in depth posts on parts of the build and interesting updates.

Equipment

Item	Description	Cost	Breakdown
Tank	40 Gallon Breeder with overflow	$150	Aqueon 40 Gallon Breeder-$50 Eshopps Eclipse S Overflow-$100
Stand	40 Gallon breeder stand that can hide sump and plumbing	$78	Imagitarium Brooklyn Metal Tank Stand-$50 5/8" Plywood-$13 Krylon Fusion Satin Black Spray Paint-$5 Minwax Grey Wood Stain-$8 Metal Screws-$2
Sump	20 gallon long DIY sump with glass baffles (guide: http://advancedaquariumconcepts.com/build-your-own-custom-aquarium-filter-sump/)	$65	Aqueon 20 Gallon Long-$20 Silicon Caulk-$8 Glass baffles (2x6", 9", 10" by 11 11/16") -$18 Needlepoint Canvas-$1 Eggrate (way bigger sheet then needed)-$17
Sump Plumbing	1" downdrain, 3/4" return. Didn't drill return, so made a DIY PVC return line	$81	Gate valve-$15 Silicon Tubing 1ft (from pump to pvc return)-$8 Locline and flared nozzle-$15 PVC Fittings and Line (2 unions, 10ft 1", 10ft 3/4", Elbows)-$33 PVC Primer and Cement-$10
Return Pump	Return pump capable of 300-600 GPH	$70	Jaebo DCP-4000 DC Pump 1056 GPH-$70
Lights	Something capable of making a mixed reef thrive	$0	120 Watt Black Box LEDs from previous build-$0
Rock	Dry rock	$140	20lbs of Marco's Rocks-$60 Cool 3lb Cave rock I impulse bought at LFS-$30 40 lbs Atlantic Coral rock from Amazon-$50
Sand	Wanted something small enough that gobies would like it, but big enough it wouldn't blow around too easy	$50	Caribsea Fiji Pink Sand 40lbs-$50
Salt	Whatever is best for a reef tank. Went with instant ocean for starting. May switch later	$40	Instant Ocean Sea Salt-$40
Heater	Wanted to go with two smaller heaters that can total the complete capacity I wanted	$44	Aqueon Pro 100w x2-$44
Skimmer	Something capable of handling a well stocked 40 gallon	$250 (estimation)	Just an estimation, haven't bought one yet
Tank Cycling	Test kits and bacteria seeds	$10	API Saltwater Test Kit (already had, but expired)-$0 Seachem Aquavitro Seed-$10
RODI Unit	4 stage RODI unit. I already had one, but I needed to replace filters and resin	$30	Replacement filters and resin-$30
Water Mixing Station	I want to have fresh RODI water and salt water ready to go at all times	$122	32 Gallon Brute Trashcan x2-$70 5 gallon bucket-$5 2x4s, plywoods, and screws-$12 1" Uniseal x2-$6 Ball valve x2-$6 Undersink Shutoff valve-$10 Misc 1/4" Tubing-$8 Misc PVC and fittings-$5

Total: $1130
Total if I counted all the stuff I already had (RODI unit, Lights, Misc stuff like refractometer, thermometers, etc.):$1350

Livestock

• Firefish - $20
• Bangaii Cardinal - $33
• Yellow Watchman Goby - $30
• Turbo Snails x2 - $4 each
• Hermit Crabs x5 - $2 each
• Pink tipped Urchin - $8
• Sally Lightfoot crab - $13

Full Tank Shots

July 26, 2019: Initial setup with hardscape (no sand or water yet)

August 2: Sand and water in; cycling begins in full force

 

[jaxredsoxfan]

Really like the aquascape and it looks like you have a good plan. Look forward to seeing it come together!

 

[Peace River]

Looks like a good plan and a good start! The 40b is a great tank with a lot of flexibility!

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

Welcome to R2R! Off to a good start.

 

[colossal_tater]

Really like the aquascape and it looks like you have a good plan. Look forward to seeing it come together!

Thanks! That gives me some confidence. I had the wall of rocks look on my first tank, and I hoped to do better here.

Looks like a good plan and a good start! The 40b is a great tank with a lot of flexibility!

Thank you! I really love the 40b. Had one sitting in my closet for two years and sold it when I moved. I couldn't resist another.

Welcome to R2R! Off to a good start.

Thank you! Always been a lurker, but the support you can get here was too much to resist.

 

[colossal_tater]

Here's some updates. A lot of changes! 3 fish and a small cleanup crew. I'll try to let this sit for a month or so. Although, I will (hopefully) be adding some corals at the end of the month from a local expo a nearby reef club is putting on in Knoxville.

August 19 - Cycle Complete
On July 14, I had started all my rock in a 32 gallon trashcan that I'm now using as part of my mixing station. I added bacteria, Dr. Tim's ammonia, a powerhead, and no heater and left it in my basement. My basement stays between 70 and 75 this time of year. July 26, I had no parameter changes and decided to just take the rock out and scape my tank with no water. I left the rock out for a whole day and then filled the tank with water and set everything up including my heater. I turned the heater up to 82. I continued adding bacteria until I ran out of Aquavitro seed. On August 2, I added 40 lbs of Carribsea fiji pink live sand without washing it. I just added it directly from the bag and used some filter floss to polish the water (it got incredibly dirty fast!! But the tank was clear in just 4 hours)

I was a little upset because I had no parameter changes by August 8. I had to leave for a trip to Seattle, so I asked my house sitter to keep the tank topped off and prayed for changes when I get back. Lo and behold on August 15, I came back and Ammonia was at 0ppm. Nitrites were off the chart, but nitrates were present. By August 19, ammonia and nitrites were at 0 and nitrates were even higher. I added a bit more ammonia and it cleared the next day. The cycle was complete!

August 20 - First Fish
I ran up to the fish store immediately after the ammonia cleared in 24 hours. I was just too excited! I was looking for a royal gramma, but I ended up getting a beautiful firefish. We named him Simpson. To the right of him in this picture is his hole under the rock. He goes in there every night when the lights go off all night. He's out swimming the whole time the lights are on, but always stays pretty close to his hole except feeding time.

I'm not practicing quarantining, which I'm sure will come back to bite me. So far Simpson seems healthy, but he does occasionally rush towards the sand and kind of swoop against it. I'm keeping an eye on that, but it happens very infrequently.

August 22 - Second Fish
I've always wanted a Bangaii Cardinal and there was a beautiful one up at the store the same day I got my Firefish. The owner said he's been there over a month. He stayed on my mind and I just had to get him. We named him Spicy Thai. He just hangs out on the right side of the tank most of the day. He is a voracious eater though and quite small. I can't wait to see him grow!

August 31 - Some Cleanup Grew and A Goby
My birthday is September 1, so I had to treat myself with some fish! I was also starting to get some brown algae all over the tank. Not too much considering my cleanup crew ate it all in about 2 hours! I got the following cleanups: 2 turbo snails (they had some awesome coralline on them and I started with all dry rock), 5 regular hermits, pink tipped urchin, and a sally lightfoot crab (my wife loved it too much for me to say no, but he is awesome!). I also got an awesome yellow watchman goby. We named him Gobi-Wan Kenobi I'll find him a pistol shrimp eventually!

 

[colossal_tater]

September 7 - RBTA Mistake
I was dumb and at a fish store a couple hours out of town. I got sucked into a rose bubble tip anemone, and dumbly bought it. Two days later it went down my overflow (I'm using an eshopps eclipse overflow that sucks a lot of water in a small location, I wonder if the coast to coast overflows have this same problem) and separated into two: one really tiny one and then a bigger one that seemed like it had torn like a ring around the outside of the original one, except it was like one long noodle. About a week later the small one disappeared so I assumed it was dead. The one that was like a long noodle appeared to reconnect and form back into a nice anenome. It moved around some and was looking good, but eventually dried up and died about a week and half after the incident.

Lesson learned: No RBTAs until the tank is stable. $50 mistake...

The long noodle one a couple days after it split:

 

[lpsouth1978]

Tank is looking good! I love a good 40b build. Welcome to the club!

 

[colossal_tater]

September 21-22: Fish death disaster
I had noticed my first fish, a firefish, flashing a couple weeks after I got him. My banggai cardinal showed no signs, but my watchmen goby started to flash as well. About a week after my watchmen goby started flashing, the firefish disappeared and I expected the worst. I got a huge algae bloom so that confirmed things. A day later my goby got even worse and died before my eyes. It was a really sad couple of days.

I immediately set up a quarantine tank for my banggai cardinal and treated him with copper. I had given my goby a fresh water dip the day before and ruled out flukes. So I was leaning towards velvet. I'm going to be leaving my display tank fallow for 76 days just to be safe.

 

[colossal_tater]

September 28: Knoxville frag swap
Even though my tank was lying fallow, I had been planning on going to the Knoxville coral swap for a long time. So I ended up going and getting some frags. I don't have pictures, but I'll post them later:

• Small Torch - $20
• Red and blue acan - $20
• 3 headed red and yellow zoa - $25
• Green finger leather - $25
• Small stag acro - $15

As of writing on November 5, the acro is still alive, but not looking very well. The torch died two days after I got it. Looked like brown jelly disease from my research, but I'm not sure. All the polyps retracted inside, died, and the skeleton started showing. I dipped all the corals with bayer and cut them off their frag plugs and put them on new ones. Everything else is looking really good.

I did win a $50 gift card raffle too so that was nice!

 

[colossal_tater]

October 14: The ultimate disaster - my tank broke
Man... I have never had so much bad luck with a tank. I was doing some renovation near my tank and my cat pushed one of those 50+lb extendable ladders onto my tank. I'm not blaming the cat as that ladder should have never been leaning there. But it was a mess. I was luckily working on my computer nearby (leading a meeting actually... that was embarrassing) and was able to spring into action. Still, 20 gallons (maybe more) of water got on my upstairs hardwood floor.

My wife and I managed to get most of it soaked up with a couple rugs we had near by and shop vacuumed the rest up (shop vac happened to be right by the tank). We had a little bit of ceiling damage in the room below, but so far that has been the only issue other than cleaning the rugs and the area up.

I really wanted to give up after this. My two favorite fish had died and I was dealing with an algae outbreak from one of them rotting away that I couldn't find. But after having a Cameron-from-Ferris Bueller's Day Off-moment I decided to continue with some prodding from my wife. She didn't want me to give up.

We got a new tank (petco happened to be having the $1 per gallon sale again) and I put my rocks and invertebrates in my water mixing station (brute trash can) with a heater. I put my corals in a 5 gallon bucket with a light and heater. I needed to drill, paint the back, and go on a business trip, so I didn't get everything set back up for a couple of weeks. But as of writing, I'm back in action. I'll post a picture when I get back home today.

I'm hoping to have better luck this time now that I can finally laugh at the whole situation!

Lessons learned so far:

• Quarantine!!
• Don't leave anything heavy near your tank

 

[ImGoingCoastal]

Man, that sucks!

Any updates? Not to throw salt in the wound but it sounds like your tank may have not been fully settled originally. Anyhow, good luck and hopefully the second round is much more successful!! I love the 40B. It's dimensions are amazing. I'm about to start mine back up in the next month or two.

 

[colossal_tater]

Update! It's been almost 4 months since the tank breaking disaster. Here's a current pic.

I'm battling diatoms still, so I've left my frags on the rack for now. But it's been about a month that I've had a skimmer now and I added a cleanup crew from reefcleaners.org and some chaeto in my sump about two weeks ago. So it's really on the downward swing now.

I'm going to post an update of what I've added to this tank and when here in a bit. ATO, skimmer, new lights, new powerheads, a few DIY things. And I got my first batch of 3 fish through a prophylactic quarantine treatment (including the Bangaii Cardinal from the first round of fish).

 

[Msteven1]

Following along. Like the scape. I'm starting up a 40 BR soon. I'll start a build thread when I do.

 

[colossal_tater]

Man, that sucks!

Any updates? Not to throw salt in the wound but it sounds like your tank may have not been fully settled originally. Anyhow, good luck and hopefully the second round is much more successful!! I love the 40B. It's dimensions are amazing. I'm about to start mine back up in the next month or two.

Lol quite a delay here, but did you get 40b setup?

 

[colossal_tater]

Following along. Like the scape. I'm starting up a 40 BR soon. I'll start a build thread when I do.

Thanks! How's the 40 breeder coming?

 

[ImGoingCoastal]

Thanks! How's the 40 breeder coming?

It's going well! Just added fish yesterday. How's yours coming along?

 

[colossal_tater]

Really well. I'm planning on updating this build thread with everything I've done (and getting the top description up to date). I've kind of went crazy on it with the stay at home stuff.

Here is a video from last month:

 

[ImGoingCoastal]

I love your scape! It's awesome! You're doing the same as me with the frag rack in the back! Mine is growing zoas like crazy. Sps was too but then I think I let alkalinity get away from me.