Mark's 40 breeder spirulina battle

[Msteven1]

Hello all,
Well after fighting a Biocube 29 for a couple of years, I've made the decision to go bigger and put in a basement sump and water station. Aptasia and vermatid snails did me in, so this time I will quarantine fish and corals. I'm in not in a hurry on this one. I plan to use the BRS/WWC hybrid method, using Marco dry rock, and letting the tank run dark for 4 months. I'll use the time to research and add what I need to create a successful mixed tank. I plan to ask plenty of questions, post pictures, and enjoy the community.

I will post my plan and pics of where I'm at now in the build soon!

 

[Msteven1]

My goal is a mixed reef.

Zoa garden
Acan garden
Hammer, torch, duncan
Mushrooms
Acros

Since I had a plan to add a sump to the Biocube, I have quiet a few things to get started.

40 Breeder tank
20 gallon long for sump.
Eclipse M overflow (600 gph)
Somatic 60 skimmer
Jebao DCS 12000 return pump.
Tunze Osmolator 3155 ATO
Jebao powerhead
Heater

For water station, I'm using to Brute trash cans and an external pump.
BRS 4 stage RODI ( I added another resin stage to make it 5)

Lights? I'm leaning towards 3 AI Prime HD's. Any thoughts? I have plenty of time because I'm going to run this dark for 4 months, monitoring nitrate and phosphates. Then start a cycle.

I have 40 plus pounds of Marcos rock. I'm going with a sand bottom, just not sure about what to use based on how much flow I will need for SPS.

I do have a 10 gallon and two 5 gallon tanks I plan to use for quarantine. I have the 10 gallon set up, but I'll save the details for later.

Future Items list.
Fuge or algae reactor
Automatic water change
Reactors or dosers for Ca and Alk
UV Sterilizer?
Rollermat
Apex controller (wish list, not a must, lol)

 

[Msteven1]

Here is the tank, drilled and painted.

Here is DIY stand. I used 1x4 pine for frame, pocket hole screwed. Then skinned with 3/4 birch. Simple moulding and door. I could make it look like a piece of furniture but I decided to save that for my next upgrade, lol.

Wood filler, sanded, painted semi-gloss black

 

[Msteven1]

Tank in place. The original plan was to have it on the first floor. I had already ran plumbing to the basement. However after several conversations with the wife, "we" decided to put it in the basement. I had just finished a remodel and we will spend much more time down here.
So the DCS 12000 return pump was originally going to see 13 ft of total head. Calculations showed I could get 5 to 10 times tank turnover. Now I'm only going to see maybe 3'. Adding a shutoff valve on return side to throttle it down for now.
Thoughts/suggestions on adding a canopy? If I use AI Primes how high should I mount them? I'm concerned a spill out into the room.

My future view from recliner

 

[Msteven1]

So I thought I'd post a few pics of my sump/water station area. It's a work in progress. Once I leak test the system I will paint everything white, add shelves and more lighting.

20 gallon long sump, bubble trap, Somatic 60 skimmer, Jebao 12000 pump. Plumbing finshed.

Water mixing station

I plan to clean things up this weekend, so I'll post more soon.

 

[Philly Reefer]

Nice set up. Welcome to 40 breeders club.

I have the same tank/sump and even overflow box.
And.. I have 2 AI Primes 16 HD too. According to BRS, it should be mounted 10" from the water surface.

I was going to say your return pump is way too big... Before I see that your sump is on another room. I have jebao dcp3000 and I have it lowest settings (30%) but its directly below the tank.

If I can redo my tank, I would also put the overflow box close to the corner. Being in the middle looks good but its not working well with water movement.

 

[Msteven1]

Nice set up. Welcome to 40 breeders club.

I have the same tank/sump and even overflow box.
And.. I have 2 AI Primes 16 HD too. According to BRS, it should be mounted 10" from the water surface.

I was going to say your return pump is way too big... Before I see that your sump is on another room. I have jebao dcp3000 and I have it lowest settings (30%) but its directly below the tank.

If I can redo my tank, I would also put the overflow box close to the corner. Being in the middle looks good but its not working well with water movement.

I will probably buy a new pump and use the 12000 for my water mixing station. For now I plan to get my aqua-scape set up and just run the system dark for a few months.
What are you using for water movement?
I saw that BRS video also. I'm tempted to go with 3 AI Primes and do some SPS.

 

[Philly Reefer]

I will probably buy a new pump and use the 12000 for my water mixing station. For now I plan to get my aqua-scape set up and just run the system dark for a few months.
What are you using for water movement?
I saw that BRS video also. I'm tempted to go with 3 AI Primes and do some SPS.

LoL.. if you read through my build thread, I had 3 AI Prime HD at a time. 2 HD and a 16HD. But I decided, if I go SPS, then I'll add another 16HD or just upgrade to radion.

I have 2 MP10s for my water movement. 1 might be good enough actually. I only use 50% on mine.

 

[Msteven1]

I just scanned through your thread, looking good!!

 

[Gravity]

Nice setup. I just started a 40 gallon tank too. Looking forward to your build.

 

[Philly Reefer]

I just scanned through your thread, looking good!!

Thank you

 

[Msteven1]

I did some rearranging and clean up this weekend. Next up paint walls, add sink and electrical outlets.

For now I have sump set up to due manual water changes, but no buckets. Small pump to empty first chamber to drain, then fill from fresh saltwater can.
Any ideas on DIY auto water change?

Future sink area. I'm going to put quarantine tanks next to sump, and have a nice work area.

 

[Philly Reefer]

I don't have a quarantine tank. but I think there's a guideline of how far apart they should be. Between DT(in your case sump) to the quarantine tank

For auto water change, I don't know any DIY solution. But I think you can do it with some doser

 

[Msteven1]

Been a bit busy, but ordered my roller mat and primes. I'm also going to redo baffles in sump with a Fiji baffle kit since in needed a sock holder for the roller mat.

 

[Msteven1]

Lights mounted! Unfortunately one light won’t come on. Already sent email to support

 

[Msteven1]

Fiji baffles installed. Klir roller mat fits

 

[Msteven1]

Ok. First try. Comments please. And suggestions please.

 

[Msteven1]

I’m going to add sand. I wanted to leave plenty of room for growth. Lots of room for sticks on top.
I’m gonna do a Euphyllia garden, probably on left side.

 

[count krunk]

I would stick with the jebao you have now. I'm pretty sure I have a 10000 on my 40 Breeder. It's dc so you can run it at a lower power.

And you can make a manifold and have plenty of juice there. I have a simple manifold now running a mini brs reactor.

My tank has some serious surface agitation going on and the flow goes in a circle. I like it and it seems flowy enough, for now!

 

[Msteven1]

I would stick with the jebao you have now. I'm pretty sure I have a 10000 on my 40 Breeder. It's dc so you can run it at a lower power.

And you can make a manifold and have plenty of juice there. I have a simple manifold now running a mini brs reactor.

My tank has some serious surface agitation going on and the flow goes in a circle. I like it and it seems flowy enough, for now!

I have the 12000 on lowest setting and it’s giving me 5x turnover, so good to go! Like you said, nice surface agitation.