My 40 breeder project with custom LED lighting

[notwithit]

Thanks for the nice comments all!

I'll be looking at zoas and rics mainly. A clam of some sort most likely and a few acans. Have a friend that will be sending me some sps from his 24g when I get this all up and things happy.

I am doing a similar build. I have a 40B. Gonna use my current tank (20H) as the sump. I am also going to do a custom LED fixture. 30"L x 8.5"W heatsink, and 36 CREE XR-E LED's with 80 degree optics.
Tank looks good, can't wait to see it all put together . Any livestock plans?

Let me know if you have any questions. It took me quite a bit of research and trial and error to get everything working how I wanted to and it still isn't quite what I had hoped for but will work nicely anyways.

 

[notwithit]

Ohh. And a mandarin goby. I absolutely love them and would like one that is able to eat frozen foods. Mandarin and probably some fish that my wife thinks is great so that she is satisfied :-D

 

[notwithit]

Started on the stand today. Sorry it has been so long since the last update.

I took the idea from I think its aqua central or something like that, but will be doing the outside differently.


Wish I would have turned two of the corner 2x4's so that they'd allow the 20g sump that'll be under there to get in without being tilted, but such is life. I'll have a permanent sump I suppose!

 

[notwithit]

Woohoo. Got a mag 5 today for quite a good deal and a couple of bulkheads. Time to have it plumbed. Also, just waiting on a week or two before finishing the stand. Looks like there may be water in it by december!

 

[gar732]

Wish I would have turned two of the corner 2x4's so that they'd allow the 20g sump that'll be under there to get in without being tilted, but such is life. I'll have a permanent sump I suppose!

FYI, those 2x4s can support the weight of that tank without a center support. I built the stand for my 75gal without a center support without any issues. You'll learn to hate that center support when it comes time to do anything with your sump. Here's a link if you want to check it out. http://https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/member-tanks/32359-gabes-piece-ocean.html

Can't wait to see the lights on that tank!

 

[Mr E Wrasse]

cool thread! I also took advantage of the Petco sale and got a 40breeder as well waiting on my LED fixture to come in and I still have to drill the tank.
I just got done building the stand and built it with 1x4's.. no center brace... just doubled up on the ends and countersunk all of the screws. haven't done the trim yet
You could definitely get away with losing the center braces

 

[notwithit]

Thank you guys for the suggestions!

I almost decided to do without both center braces but have decided that the front middle brace being removed will do.

Now to figure out doors and a small middle 1x2 to let the doors swing into and latch on.

 

[notwithit]

Been such a crazy few months. I've been working 60+ hour weeks lately and my brain has just about exploded from having to do so.

Haven't been able to do much to the aquarium stand as A) I've been too busy and B) My cat exploded my LED light fixture and I am waiting on the plastic company to just make a new casing for me since I don't have time anymore to build plastic stuffs.

The tank is drilled and plumbing is done. I've done a leak test and all seems to work well except for getting the durso to work where it won't slurp. That will be once I get the in tank plumbing done.

I am going to make some upgrades to the case this time to try to make the lights work a bit better. You will see them at a later date, as of right now I'd like to keep my design plans a secret.

Thanks for the patience, I know this is quite a boring thread and I generally end up talking to myself a bit.

Will have some pictures of the tank and such up later.

 

[notwithit]

Heres a few photos.

The tank got drilled, first time ever drilling it. The bit I used was a bit off center so it made it a bit weird to cut. Nonetheless it got done!

I painted it black and put bulkheads in.

And heres the plumbing completed.

Any questions?? Thoughts? Thanks for reading!

 

[extremehobbyist]

how much did the led system end up costing total?

 

[kingfisherfleshy]

Get her filled!

 

[notwithit]

how much did the led system end up costing total?

I don't have an actual price right now. Turned around and saw the stupid thing jump up on the table the lighting was on and tip it off.... Heres whats left of it.

So I'm waiting for the plastic company to design me a new enclosure and I'll be making some new upgrades to the led wiring and how it all works. Once it's done I may post an estimate or possibly could sell you one ;-).

Get her filled!

Would love to! Need some miracle mud, chaeto, mangroves, sand, and live rock to do so! Wanna ship em to me :-D.

That and the whole light fixture exploding thing makes things a bit more difficult.

 

[Lt Nos]

Wow, creepy, this is my build as well but I've made half the progress and havnt got the light yet, interested to see how things work for you.

Why durso and not the herbie method?

 

[notwithit]

I'd love to see your build Lt Nos

I did durso cause it just seemed the most simple and seemed like it would work well for what I wanted.

If you'd like help with the LED build let me know, I've had quite a bit of setbacks and figured out ways around and its worked pretty well so far.

 

[Lt Nos]

I'll take all the advice/leads I can get on that front, I know I want LED, but the brand names are pretty astronomical. I will start a build thread when I buy the wood for the stand next week, I'll pm you the link to my thread when I get started. Until then I'll be subscribing to this thread, thanks ahead for the tips!

 

[notwithit]

Thanks. I'm still at a standstill on the light as my plastic supplier has given me 5+ excuses as to why they aren't able to get done what I asked. Will definitely be checking out your thread though!

 

[notwithit]

Still have no light fixture.... This aquarium has been quite a frustration to me so far.

The plastic company I was trying to work with just stopped talking to me and now have not been open the past 5+ times I've drove past. I did find a LFS that does acrylic work, so that will be the way that I probably end up going. Then its time to redesign how the lights are wired and redoing the driver enclosures and just..... "Sigh" it has been a trip so far.

Anywho, hopefully should get back to moving forward shortly... although 1 degree outside generally is not conducive to doing anything