Jake’s 40 Gal. To Freedom (mixed 40 breeder build)

[jk_s124]

So I’m finally starting a thread about a project I have been slowly (painfully slowly) working on for the past 2 years. My wife and I have twin 9 year olds, so they are the priority to our time and budget. The good thing though, its forced me to move slow and methodical. Saving and scrounging for pieces for this build.
It started almost exactly two years ago. Bought a 40 breeder and stand from a buddy who was upgrading. I was still very new to the hobby and was just starting to get my biocube on track. I decided to wait on the 40 for a few years. Partly because of budget and time and partly because I wanted to see if I could first succeed with my biocube.
So....the tank and stand. 40 breeder drilled and custom black walnut stand.

Some nice features on the stand. The shop light and outlets on both the front left and right corners are a great touch. No center bar in the way when the doors are open, and side doors give great access to the sump. The only thing missing is a space for the controllers. So I will be building a side stand for my ATO reservoir and the control panel. I am also building a canopy.

I have 20 pounds or so of Marco dry rock that I aquascaped, soaking in a spare tank since February. I have been ghost feeding and dosing with microbacter 7 since May.

Well that’s it for now. I’ll post again about my plans for lighting, filtration and all that good stuff.

 

[RobB'z Reef]

Great stuff man! Looking forward to your progression! You know I'll be pushing you along slow poke!

 

[fishguy242]

nice scape ,following along

 

[jk_s124]

Great stuff man! Looking forward to your progression! You know I'll be pushing you along slow poke!

Thanks Rob!

nice scape ,following along

Thanks! First attempt at cementing rock together. Probably tweak it a bit when I put in the display.

 

[Lazydayz]

Really like the scape! Lots of places for coral

 

[jk_s124]

Really like the scape! Lots of places for coral

Thanks Lazy!

 

[Lowlandreef]

Very excited about your new tank!

 

[jk_s124]

Very excited about your new tank!

Thank you very much Adriaen!

 

[thatsruff]

So I’m finally starting a thread about a project I have been slowly (painfully slowly) working on for the past 2 years. My wife and I have twin 9 year olds, so they are the priority to our time and budget. The good thing though, its forced me to move slow and methodical. Saving and scrounging for pieces for this build.
It started almost exactly two years ago. Bought a 40 breeder and stand from a buddy who was upgrading. I was still very new to the hobby and was just starting to get my biocube on track. I decided to wait on the 40 for a few years. Partly because of budget and time and partly because I wanted to see if I could first succeed with my biocube.
So....the tank and stand. 40 breeder drilled and custom black walnut stand.

Some nice features on the stand. The shop light and outlets on both the front left and right corners are a great touch. No center bar in the way when the doors are open, and side doors give great access to the sump. The only thing missing is a space for the controllers. So I will be building a side stand for my ATO reservoir and the control panel. I am also building a canopy.

I have 20 pounds or so of Marco dry rock that I aquascaped, soaking in a spare tank since February. I have been ghost feeding and dosing with microbacter 7 since May.

Well that’s it for now. I’ll post again about my plans for lighting, filtration and all that good stuff.

Exciting!

 

[jk_s124]

Exciting!

It is! Hoping to have the stand up and everything plumbed and running by October or November. Then I’m going to continue the cycle through untill the spring before moving corals over. During that time I plan to move some of my fish over and add a few new fish and creatures.

 

[RobB'z Reef]

If I don't see plumbing by the last week of September...I know where you live man.

 

[jk_s124]

If I don't see plumbing by the last week of September...I know where you live man.

Hahaha! Well I’m lucky that most of the plumbing was done. Just needs to be reassembled correctly and checked for leaks.

 

[jk_s124]

Equipment list! ... aka tentative list of things and stuff that’s sure to change depending on how I’m feeling at any given time.....
40 breeder drilled
20 long sump
Old ATI 2 bulb T5 fixture (ATI coral blue bulbs) modified to include 2 kessil a160we (planning 3 eventually.....or maybe 2 a360s...hmmmmm).
Icecap 1k (with battery back up) possible inclusion of a icecap 2k.
2 hydro koralia 425’s.
BRS titanium 200 watt heating element and BRS controller.
Apex classic.
Apex LMS module and 2 LED string.
Apex EB8.
2 BRS 1.1 dosing pumps for Alk and Ca.
Aquahub DIY auto top off with Toms aqualifter pump. (Will be mixing kalk into a 5 gallon ATO reservoir tank)
Old 25 watt Emperor UV sterilizer. Replaced ballast/power supply. Was used before in a pond, so needs a good deep cleaning yet. Will be feeding this with a small 90 gph pump. I’m aiming for a long dwell time to help reduce parasites and ich and all them nasty things.
Vertex Omega 150. Oversized and I hear they can be tough to dial in, so I’m a little on the fence with this. I was given a great deal on it however, so its worth a shot. I also tend to stock my fish a bit on the heavy side.
Mightyjet 538 dc return pump.
Filter media cup with filter floss and media bag filled with rox carbon and gfo. This in lieu of filter socks and carbon/gfo reactor. I would personally rather ditch a handful of filter floss several times a week instead of washing filter socks. I’m also trying to limit the amount of secondary pumps in my sump. I don’t want to put in a manifold, so I’m hoping a bag of carbon and gfo in a media cup will work as well. I’ll put filter floss above and below the media bag. I want to soften the water flow above the media bag, and help catch any small particulate below.
Rock and 2 liters of seachem matrix for extra Bio filtration.
Think that’s it for now. Took a picture of some of the listed equipment.
Thanks for looking!

 

[fishguy242]

hi,you think 90gph through uv may not be enough,may overheat and burn up bulbs too fast,check flow specs,thinking ,maxi jet 1200 @ 296 will be slow enough if not too slow ,def check spec's ,can go a little under but not 100's gph

 

[jk_s124]

hi,you think 90gph through uv may not be enough,may overheat and burn up bulbs too fast,check flow specs,thinking ,maxi jet 1200 @ 296 will be slow enough if not too slow ,def check spec's ,can go a little under but not 100's gph

Thanks I’ll check that out!

 

[jk_s124]

hi,you think 90gph through uv may not be enough,may overheat and burn up bulbs too fast,check flow specs,thinking ,maxi jet 1200 @ 296 will be slow enough if not too slow ,def check spec's ,can go a little under but not 100's gph

I checked the pentair site for suggested flow rates.

The emperor 25 watt that I have is the same as the 3.5 diameter pentair unit which is shown on the bottom of this chart. They list the suggested flow rate for Protozoa at 79 to 131 gph. This is the main application I want to use the sterilizer for. I’m aiming for a parasite/ich management and not complete elimination approach. It looks like the 90 gph should fall into this range. Should I still be concerned about using this flow rate? I really don’t want to burn through bulbs or compromise the sterilizer. Thanks again for bringing this up. I want to get this right.

 

[fishguy242]

yes,that looks good to me,unable to find emp flowchart?

 

[jk_s124]

To my knowledge emperor aquatics is now pentair aquatics. I think they are identical units. Mine just happens to be old (vintage).

 

[Johniejumbo]

I like the build thread name. And I’m a sucker for a good 40b build! You have some great equipment. Looks like a good start.

 

[jk_s124]

I like the build thread name. And I’m a sucker for a good 40b build! You have some great equipment. Looks like a good start.
[/QUOTE
40 oz was the great road trip sing along album with my friends when I was in high school. Thanks for looking!