Dr. Jimmy's 40 Breeder DIY Build

[Dr Jimmy]

Hello R2R. I'm coming back into saltwater after finishing my PhD (6 years ago) and now that my boys are a bit older. When I moved, I tore down a 90 gallon mostly fish tank (a couple corals but I never had much luck with them). This time around, my wife thought it would be good to have a tank in the bedroom as our boys sleep in there with us and it could serve like a night light. I do think we'll be in a bigger tank within a year or two (probably 120-180).

I've already had a little bit of a rougher go this time around. This is mostly due to some poor practice that I knew better of (quarantine *every* fish). But it did give me a nice excuse to upgrade. The wife just wanted a simple hang on back filter, though I knew a sump would be superior.

So, let's start this build thread off with what does actually exist in the new build. This is namely... the SUMP! I picked up a 20L and some acrylic sheet. I had some extra HDPE so I pulled that in as well. I'm pretty limited in terms of what I can do in the sump as the stand is pretty short (tank height was desired to be at bed height, which gives me 21" in the stand). I sectioned it to have a drain section (for full siphon) and a pair of filter socks. I have built in overflow protection if the socks get dirty. It has a skimmer and reactor section, a "media section" which I've filled with bioballs to help provide bacteria area, and a return section. I also added a DIY heater holder. The first section holds the base with a nylon bolt and the section section is a press fit to hold the top of the heater. I still need to build a probe and ATO line holder, but I need to figure out the diameter of the probes... anyone want to help out with that?

More to come... including the custom built stand (I do woodworking on the side, with an LLC and everything... which is how I have the tools for acrylic/HDPE fabrication).

 

[andrewey]

Looking good and can't wait to see how this tank progresses! You may want to rethink the bioballs for their proclivity to trap detritus and turn into a "nitrate factory". Great job on the silicone and acrylic work!

 

[Dr Jimmy]

Looking good and can't wait to see how this tank progresses! You may want to rethink the bioballs for their proclivity to trap detritus and turn into a "nitrate factory". Great job on the silicone and acrylic work!

They are very easy to remove if they become a problem. My hope is that they occur after the filter socks and skimmer... and there's polyfil above them as well... so they shouldn't have much in the way of detritus that can get to them. I initially put that section in for media bags but I'm cycling the tank right now without rock or sand in the tank. There's a long story behind that... which can be summarized: my Royal Gramma came in dirty and had an ich outbreak that we tried treating with copper... but the rock/sand sucked up silly amounts of copper. While I'm deciding what to do as far as new sand/rocks... the bacteria needs a place to grow. Bioballs fit that bill for $5. And there will be rock/sand in the tank for new bacteria to grow on if I get to removing the bioballs (in rounds obviously). I do appreciate the "heads up" on bioballs. I've never used them before but I did try to account for stuff getting caught in them

 

[andrewey]

Sounds good and sounds like a well thought out plan. Sorry to hear about your Royal Gramma- hope it makes a full recovery!

 

[Dr Jimmy]

Sounds good and sounds like a well thought out plan. Sorry to hear about your Royal Gramma- hope it makes a full recovery!

Not only has he seemed to make a solid recovery... it turns out, he might be a jerk. I'm doing tank transfer method with freshwater dips early in that process. All tankmates are mostly happy except the goby that the RG has not enjoyed being around in QT. I have another picture of him going after him... which is why I built the box to give some safety to the goby.

 

[Dr Jimmy]

I have seemingly finished cycling (again). I may be putting the fish back in this weekend after their 2 weeks doing Tank Transfer Method in QT. At this point, the clowns have mostly accepted their fate as far as catching them for transfer. The Royal Gramma has escalated his irritation each transfer. Including literally trying to jump 4" out of the tank when I caught the clowns this last time. As far as stocking goes, I would really appreciate some feedback...

Currently:
1x Orange Storm Clown, 1x Black and White clown
1x Royal Gramma
1x Tangaroa Goby (would like to get him a Tiger Pistol)

Desired:
1x Melanurus Wrasse (my favorite, and I've never owned one)
1x McCoskers/Carpenter's Wrasse
1x Chromis (does this one fluoresce under reef lights? the ones in the store look super boring but my kid likes them... I've seen a fish that looks kind of similar but glows crazy neon blue in the LFS main display)
1x PJ Cardinal (again... not anywhere near on my even interested in list, but my 3 year old says he likes these... and Yellow Tangs... and in the 40B, I probably shouldn't do the Tang)
1x Dwarf Angel. My wife and I are going back and forth right now. We had a Flame Angel before and we both really liked it. I also really like the Coral Beauty. I'd actually love to keep both but I think this is probably asking for trouble in a 40B. Thoughts?
2x shrimp (Fire or Cleaner). Again, would really like 2x both Fire and Cleaner... but that's a lot of shrimp in a 40B.

I also want a Zoa and Acan garden and have enough room in the tank for that. Thoughts/opinions very much welcomed and encouraged.

I've attached the Coral Beauty that is at the LFS right now and the new rockwork.

 

[andrewey]

Couple notes about stocking- you may be overstocking with your current list. I would only put one wrasse in a 40b and it may be easier just to go with the melanarus. I would not put a yellow tang in a 40 breeder. They sell very nice chromis- if you search around they're not the normal "blue/green chromis"- they have similar personalities, but have pretty striking coloration. I personally wouldn't put any angels in your tank. They look nice, but none of them are really "reef safe" and you're running the risk they'll nip at your acans and/or zoas. Plus most "dwarf" angels need a ton of space, more than a 40 can provide. Definitely go with the cleaner shrimp- depending on aquascaping, 4 may not be too many
If you did that, you'd have 7 fish in the 40 (plus 4 shrimp). That's already pretty heavily stocked for a 40 breeder.

 

[Dempsey941]

I have seemingly finished cycling (again). I may be putting the fish back in this weekend after their 2 weeks doing Tank Transfer Method in QT. At this point, the clowns have mostly accepted their fate as far as catching them for transfer. The Royal Gramma has escalated his irritation each transfer. Including literally trying to jump 4" out of the tank when I caught the clowns this last time. As far as stocking goes, I would really appreciate some feedback...

Currently:
1x Orange Storm Clown, 1x Black and White clown
1x Royal Gramma
1x Tangaroa Goby (would like to get him a Tiger Pistol)

Desired:
1x Melanurus Wrasse (my favorite, and I've never owned one)
1x McCoskers/Carpenter's Wrasse
1x Chromis (does this one fluoresce under reef lights? the ones in the store look super boring but my kid likes them... I've seen a fish that looks kind of similar but glows crazy neon blue in the LFS main display)
1x PJ Cardinal (again... not anywhere near on my even interested in list, but my 3 year old says he likes these... and Yellow Tangs... and in the 40B, I probably shouldn't do the Tang)
1x Dwarf Angel. My wife and I are going back and forth right now. We had a Flame Angel before and we both really liked it. I also really like the Coral Beauty. I'd actually love to keep both but I think this is probably asking for trouble in a 40B. Thoughts?
2x shrimp (Fire or Cleaner). Again, would really like 2x both Fire and Cleaner... but that's a lot of shrimp in a 40B.

I also want a Zoa and Acan garden and have enough room in the tank for that. Thoughts/opinions very much welcomed and encouraged.

I've attached the Coral Beauty that is at the LFS right now and the new rockwork.

I like the concept of the stocking, but not 100% on dwarf angels in a 40b outside of a Pygmy or flameback. As for the shrimp I would stick to one or maybe a pair cleaner shrimp they enjoy their rock space and the gramma will dominate that region of the tank. The melanurus will probably be fine, but I think they get more frisky with inverts than say a yellow wrasse. Had a McCoskers wrasses for a long time in my 40breeder and he was fantastic. The rest of the stock looks okay should be a good build to follow along with!

 

[Dr Jimmy]

To be clear, I never considered a Yellow Tang. Definitely some other interesting ideas. Thanks to both of you

 

[Dr Jimmy]

Today, a look at current inhabitants. RIP Cleaner Shrimp (not sure why it died, thinking the RG may have played a role... but not sure). Note that all fish are currently going through Tank Transfer Method for ick... which the RG happened to bring into the first tank.

These are:
Orange Storm Clown (dominant - named Chia (my 3 year old named her))
Black and White Clown (named Owen)
Royal Gramma (named Rainbow, incognito hitman)
Tangaroa Goby (named Lightning) - looking for a partner shrimp some day

 

[Dr Jimmy]

Fish are back in the new DT. Royal Gramma pretty much hates me at this point. Every time I transfer him, he fakes like he's dying... or that his feelings are hurt. To be clear, he's completely fine. It also seems that... for at least 6 hours yesterday, he's ok with the Goby in the main tank. We'll see how that changes but the Goby doesn't seem to have laid out where he wants to live yet. For 4 hours, he was sitting about 1/4" from the front of the glass, not near any rocks. I'll work on a picture when the lights come on.

I've done a lot of thinking about fish stocking/recommendations. I'll admit, I'm still not sure on a dwarf angel. My wife enjoys the line: "we can never get fish I like". She said this as she was looking at an anglerfish... "that's because the fish you like... would eat the fish we like". And she does like the flame angel. Granted, with it having a chance to eat corals... this is basically par for the course. My 7 year old seems most interested in the cheap, drab chromis instead of the reef blue chromis. He then identified "but this one is only $10 instead of $30". I'm really hoping he isn't thinking that he's more likely to get the fish he wants because it's cheaper. We had to wait for the fish to finish their quarantine before getting more.

Some other updates: picked up a 5 gallon Trigger systems ATO box and a Tunze 3155 ATO. Both were on sale. Arriving today is an Inkbird temp controller. I do think I'll eventually get to an Apex, but that's much less important with FOWLR than an LPS tank. I'd be happy with just LPS... the wife seems like like SPS (because of course she does, with also liking puffers, triggers, and anglers ). Also arriving Thursday is an LED strip light for the sump. I need to get to work on cleaning up electrical cords.

 

[Dr Jimmy]

Some tank shots including sump.


Those lights will definitely be coming back down btw

 

[Dr Jimmy]

I'm not sure how many will be supportive, but corals are in the tank. I did put them through a 1 week isolation in a smaller QT tank. Removed from frag plug, dipped in freshwater, then peroxide, then Coral RX, then glued to a new frag plug (followed by the 1 week isolation). They seem pretty happy in the tank.

My camera really struggled with pictures. Short version: acans (micromussa), blasto, ricordea, zoas. They seem pretty happy. Looking at a cleaner shrimp this weekend. Stats all stable.