Dueling Dragons Reef - Waterbox 180.5 + 2x 40g Breeder Build

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SaltwaterScoop

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I'm starting to lean towards traditionally orienting the 40 gallon breeders and using their stand area for the controllers + equipment. I'll just need to figure out how to incorporate a shell & shelves for the steel frame.

Another bad photoshop lol
trying somerthing.png
 
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Custom Lid
I ordered a custom lid from Top Lids at the beginning of February and they said it's about 2 weeks out! I'll probably add some "jumpers" once it comes in. I'm thinking maybe a wrasse? I'm hoping it'll be here soon because I was messing around in the sump last week and the anthias that is most likely going to be the male decided to jump on my head :face-with-head-bandage:. I put him back in and he was eating 10 min later so I'm assuming he's fine.

40 Gallon Breeder additions
I also ordered the plumbing supplies to get the 40 gallon breeders plumbed into the main tank! I still only have 1 40 gallon so I'm on the look out for another 40 gallon breeder...no local fish stores have them in stock. I've also been looking on here for lights & powerheads for the tanks.

This is what I have planned for plumbing. I am thinking of putting the overflow and return next to each other and close to the main tank on either side so that I can get decent return pump pressure to the 40 gallons from the return manifold.

testing.png


My current concerns:
  • Will there be enough room in the sump for all 3 tanks to drain (might have to run the water lower than usual).
  • Will there be enough pressure from the return pump to reach the tanks (pump is running at 30% right now). This is why I am only doing 1 return hole per tank.
What do y'all think?
 

Petcrazyson

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Custom Lid
I ordered a custom lid from Top Lids at the beginning of February and they said it's about 2 weeks out! I'll probably add some "jumpers" once it comes in. I'm thinking maybe a wrasse? I'm hoping it'll be here soon because I was messing around in the sump last week and the anthias that is most likely going to be the male decided to jump on my head :face-with-head-bandage:. I put him back in and he was eating 10 min later so I'm assuming he's fine.

40 Gallon Breeder additions
I also ordered the plumbing supplies to get the 40 gallon breeders plumbed into the main tank! I still only have 1 40 gallon so I'm on the look out for another 40 gallon breeder...no local fish stores have them in stock. I've also been looking on here for lights & powerheads for the tanks.

This is what I have planned for plumbing. I am thinking of putting the overflow and return next to each other and close to the main tank on either side so that I can get decent return pump pressure to the 40 gallons from the return manifold.

testing.png


My current concerns:
  • Will there be enough room in the sump for all 3 tanks to drain (might have to run the water lower than usual).
  • Will there be enough pressure from the return pump to reach the tanks (pump is running at 30% right now). This is why I am only doing 1 return hole per tank.
What do y'all think?
Looking good friend! Love the layout.
 
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I ordered all of the supplies required to plumb in the 2x 40 gallon breeders. I also got 2x MP10s and 2x XR15s for them from the reef2reef marketplace. I plan to drill, plumb, and test 1 of the 40 gallons next weekend.

Here are some pictures from today. The anthias are so fast...I can never get a good picture but at least the Sailfin and Clowns like to pose.

DSC_9960.jpg

DSC_9975-3.jpg
DSC_9991.jpg
DSC_9727-2.jpg

DSC_9807.jpg
 
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Birthday Update and name change!

"The Three Kingdoms Reef"

Old Name - The tank was previously known as “The Upside Down” because we were watching the new season of Stranger Things when we set up the tank and planned to add a group of cleaner shrimp to hang upside down on the rockwork but since we are going LPS heavy, we decided against the cleaner shrimp to avoid them bothering the LPS during spot feedings.

New Name - Experiment time! We recently plumbed in 2x 40 gallon breeders to the system to house future inhabitants that wouldn’t work well in the main tank like non-reef-safe creatures / plants / seahorses (undecided atm but leaning towards gorgonian + plants + seahorses in 1 of the tanks). 3 Tanks = 3 Kingdoms ;)

~240 gallons of Water Volume



March 18th: Drilled & Painted the 40 gallon Breeders
PXL_20230318_183025827_2.jpg

PXL_20230318_234302489.jpg


March 19th: Plumbed the 40 gallon Breeders. I made sure to add unions for every connection.
PXL_20230319_181537400 (1).jpg

PXL_20230319_223958124_2.jpg


March 20th: Cut the old cabinets to fit under the stand, added another Kasa smart powerstrip, added labels, and organized power supplies.

Back of Left and Right Cabinets
PXL_20230320_011440088_2.jpg
PXL_20230320_144553470_2.jpg


Used some old vinyl siding for hiding the wires/plumbing between the tanks
PXL_20230320_161325095.jpg


Temporary Overflow Plumbing
PXL_20230320_165946543.jpg
PXL_20230324_180025636.jpg


March 24th: Mixed saltwater and turned on Left Tank and adjusted Return

March 25th (My Birthday :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:): Turned on both tanks! No leaks so far!
DSC_0088.jpg

DSC_0094.jpg

DSC_0120-2.jpg

DSC_0176.jpg

DSC_0203.jpg

DSC_0209.jpg

DSC_0274.jpg

DSC_0277.jpg

PXL_20230325_191105082.png
 
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Petcrazyson

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Birthday Update and name change!

"The Three Kingdoms Reef"

Old Name - The tank was previously known as “The Upside Down” because we were watching the new season of Stranger Things when we set up the tank and planned to add a group of cleaner shrimp to hang upside down on the rockwork but since we are going LPS heavy, we decided against the cleaner shrimp to avoid them bothering the LPS during spot feedings.

New Name - Experiment time! We recently plumbed in 2x 40 gallon breeders to the system to house future inhabitants that wouldn’t work well in the main tank like non-reef-safe creatures / plants / seahorses (undecided atm but leaning towards gorgonian + plants + seahorses in 1 of the tanks). 3 Tanks = 3 Kingdoms ;)

~240 gallons of Water Volume



March 18th: Drilled & Painted the 40 gallon Breeders
PXL_20230318_183025827_2.jpg

PXL_20230318_234302489.jpg


March 19th: Plumbed the 40 gallon Breeders. I made sure to add unions for every connection.
PXL_20230319_181537400 (1).jpg

PXL_20230319_223958124_2.jpg


March 20th: Cut the old cabinets to fit under the stand, added another Kasa smart powerstrip, added labels, and organized power supplies.

Back of Left and Right Cabinets
PXL_20230320_011440088_2.jpg
PXL_20230320_144553470_2.jpg


Used some old vinyl siding for hiding the wires/plumbing between the tanks
PXL_20230320_161325095.jpg


Temporary Overflow Plumbing
PXL_20230320_165946543.jpg
PXL_20230324_180025636.jpg


March 24th: Mixed saltwater and turned on Left Tank and adjusted Return

March 25th (My Birthday :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:): Turned on both tanks! No leaks so far!
DSC_0088.jpg

DSC_0094.jpg

DSC_0120-2.jpg

DSC_0176.jpg

DSC_0203.jpg

DSC_0209.jpg

DSC_0274.jpg

DSC_0277.jpg

PXL_20230325_191105082.png
Yay you went for it! Nice work! Make sure you pay attention to the sump water level though. Great pics as always
 
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Yay you went for it! Nice work! Make sure you pay attention to the sump water level though. Great pics as always
Thanks! Yeah, I was worried about that too. Here's the sump level after 30 minutes with everything off. Looks like the main tank slowly drains under the return lines a bit.
PXL_20230325_214704695.jpg
 
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Very good job!!
Thank you!!

Quest for a Lid
I am still waiting on my lid from Top Lids. Looks like it should ship within the next 2 weeks. They've been very active with communication. Once I get the lid, I plan to add a sand sifting goby and a few other critters to the main tank.

Aquascaping the 40 Gallon Breeders
I have all of the materials ready from BRS to start aquascaping (Marco rock, E-Marco-400, BRS Glue). I'll start on this soon! I am in the process of rinsing the sand for those tanks as well. I decided to go with 40 lbs of CaribSea Dry Aragonite Special Grade Dry Sand split between both tanks.

Stocking the 40 Gallon Breeders
I am temporarily housing a single clownfish in each of the 40 gallon breeders so they'll eat the autofeeder food from the return line :face-savoring-food:. I decided to cleanup their main tank (my old 25 gallon) in the meantime. Once I aquascape each of the tanks, I'll start planning the 40 gallon inhabitants.
 
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Thank you!!

Will do :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

Added sand and created some lids for the 40 gallon breeders out of black egg crate
PXL_20230330_233801250.jpg
PXL_20230330_233810032.jpg
Think it be a bit better if you switched the light around horizontally, for better spectrum and intensity of light spread? Just me though.
 

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They are oriented normally with the LEDs spanning left to right.

Like this:
PXL_20230331_160449743~2.jpg

PXL_20230331_160305871.jpg
Gotcha. With the angle the diffuser made it look to me as it was from front to back lol.
 

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What are you thinking for the 40s? If you are still are thinking about seahorses, make sure you do research on the temperature requirements they have.
 
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What are you thinking for the 40s? If you are still are thinking about seahorses, make sure you do research on the temperature requirements they have.
I'm still undecided. I am thinking about gorgonians and macro algae in one. Thanks for the heads up! Maybe pipefish would be better for 77-78ish water?
 

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