NeonRabbits 40 Breeder Negative Space Build

[NeonRabbit221B]

After 6 months battling aiptasia and a poorly designed DIY foam back AIO I have decided to do a teardown and rebuild the tank in a more classic direction. My foamwall had several gaps that caused a massive buildup of detritus, took up a ton of room and had some very tight chambers for my pumps/heaters and filter media. I briefly thought about tearing out the wall, adjusting the foam wall, resealing, ect but have decided to take the dive and do a proper drilled overflow. The build will align with a move to a larger place so the plan is to have this tank setup and ready prior to the move date. Additional changes will be a significantly smaller and efficient aquascape, eliminating the sandbed and using tiles and incorporating some nutrient export methods.

Outline of Plan
Overflow will be a 800 gph Fiji overflow to a 29G sump with Melv's Reef baffle kit. The remaining parts needed for the sump will be 3D printed (sock holder, dosing line holders, ect). Why such a large overflow? Because I have two Rio 3100 and an Eheim 1262 which I know are drastically oversized but they were essentially free and I am currently unemployed/between jobs. I also have a Classic Berlin Skimmer and Red Sea pump and some magnetic refugium lights I also got for free which I will incorporate into the build. Lighting will be my two AI Primes.

Lets see how this goes!

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

So far I have completed my sump which will split the return line to go to the refugium and to an additional ball valve which can be used late. I also successfully drilled my tank but I was on edge the entire time. I purchased my PVC for the plumbing which will be done by this weekend. I am excited to have a traditional reef tank.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Looking for stocking advice... So far I have the following
Valentini Puffer
Algae Blenny
Maroon Clown
Ocellaris Clown

I was thinking about 1 or more of the following:
Flame Hawkfish
Flame Angle
Filefish

I am looking to do a negative space aquascape for optimal swimming room. Let me know what you can suggest.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Aquascape comments? Not in the tank yet but the scape is only 14.5 inches tall and the second piece allows for coral to be placed every 1" of height in the tank. I have not applied mortar but I plan on it.

 

[TriggerFinger]

Your aquascape looks nice!

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Thanks, I appreciate it!

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Today I drained the tank and put my fish into a 29G tote with the remaining aiptasia covered rocks and a HOB. It was a pain to tear down a tank and I am not looking forward to tearing down and moving my 3 other tanks in 2 days. Hopefully I was able to find all of my snails/hermits that tended to hide in the crevices of the foam wall.

Last night I had a few beers and decided it was a good idea to make another rock structure. Here is the pic before the mortar and sand was applied. So far I have three structures and an additional pile of uncycled rock to play around with if I change my mind which often happens.

After the tank tear down I was able to dimensionally check my plumbing. Luckily I used a ton of unions and was able to simply remove a section that was the wrong lengths and replace with flex hose. Things are really coming together!

Lastily, my 3D printer got a bad clog in the hot end. Luckily I am a natural DIY person so I made a media shelf, skimmer stand and filter sock holder out of some spare PVC, egg crate and a scrapped 3D print.

Very much looking forward to the move but not so much the crazy amount of aquarium work ahead of me. Wish me luck that nothing dies (including me)

 

[JoshH]

Looking good, LOVE the aquascape it looks fantastic!

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Looking good, LOVE the aquascape it looks fantastic!

Thanks Josh! The negative space aquascapes are easy and fun to do and only require about 2L of super glue and insta-set! Love how they turned out and likely will not go back to stacking rocks like I did before.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

I got my tiles placed and decided to glue 4 into a larger square after they kept shifting. My return pump(s) both died after about 72 hours... Last time I am using old equipment and basing a tank around it... Ordered a Sicce silent 3.0 to replace the Rio 3100. My 4 tank apartment move went well and everything except the fish going into the new tank has been set up. My new pump comes Wednesday and I am moving the rest of the house Friday. I also started a new job today so it has been a busy busy busy week.

Let me know what you think about the aquascape. I have an MP40 along the back toward the bottom and another running in the front near the top. It will be a mixed reef setup with two AI primes. Coral are still in QT until tank goes through the uglies.

 

[footgal]

Very nice aquascape! So the idea is kinda a very minimalistic sort of reef with corals being situated mostly on the main structure and not so much the walls/floor?

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Not 100% sure where I want to go with this one. I did make sure the structure has a large mix of flow and lighting placements and the tiled floor allows corals to encrust directly on them. Makes fragging easy as I can just snap the tiles and have instant frags. Appreciate the kind words

 

[Johniejumbo]

I like it! I’m a 40b fan and this one looks like it’ll be interesting.

 

[Sebastiancrab]

Thanks Josh! The negative space aquascapes are easy and fun to do and only require about 2L of super glue and insta-set! Love how they turned out and likely will not go back to stacking rocks like I did before.

Can you point the way to the insta-set? Did you do this with no rocks? Looks good!

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Can you point the way to the insta-set? Did you do this with no rocks? Looks good!

They also have larger 8 oz bottles for refills that are more moderately priced!
Not sure what you mean by "no rocks". I used mortar to reinforce

 

[Sebastiancrab]

They also have larger 8 oz bottles for refills that are more moderately priced!
Not sure what you mean by "no rocks". I used mortar to reinforce

You mentioned you were not stacking rocks anymore. Is your aquascape made entirely out of mortar and glue?

 

[naterealbig]

I got my tiles placed and decided to glue 4 into a larger square after they kept shifting. My return pump(s) both died after about 72 hours... Last time I am using old equipment and basing a tank around it... Ordered a Sicce silent 3.0 to replace the Rio 3100. My 4 tank apartment move went well and everything except the fish going into the new tank has been set up. My new pump comes Wednesday and I am moving the rest of the house Friday. I also started a new job today so it has been a busy busy busy week.

Let me know what you think about the aquascape. I have an MP40 along the back toward the bottom and another running in the front near the top. It will be a mixed reef setup with two AI primes. Coral are still in QT until tank goes through the uglies.

Great redo, and your plan and scape look great. You mentioned in your first post that you were getting a large amount of detritus buildup, and you were targeting a "cleaner" tank in general.

From a fragging standpoint the small tiles on the bottom are great, but these will lead to significant problems with detritus, food, and waste build up. These things will settle out in between and even underneath the tiles (the bottoms of the disks look flat, but they are not), and will create a substantial challenge with NO3, PO4, and algae/cyano, as you add fish and begin to feed the tank. I would consider a different medium for the bottom - ABS, HDPE, and nothing are options here. HDPE and nothing, will be the easiest to implement in a tank that already has water.

Keep up the great work.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

You mentioned you were not stacking rocks anymore. Is your aquascape made entirely out of mortar and glue?

Ah I understand now. I used dry rock which I smashed using a hammer and chisel. Bulk Reef Supply has a great how to video on negative space aquascapes. Once I had a ton of small chunks I just messed around with placement, glued some in place and if I didn't like the look then you can always easily break the joint back apart and reglue. Fun and easy project!

Great redo, and your plan and scape look great. You mentioned in your first post that you were getting a large amount of detritus buildup, and you were targeting a "cleaner" tank in general.

From a fragging standpoint the small tiles on the bottom are great, but these will lead to significant problems with detritus, food, and waste build up. These things will settle out in between and even underneath the tiles (the bottoms of the disks look flat, but they are not), and will create a substantial challenge with NO3, PO4, and algae/cyano, as you add fish and begin to feed the tank. I would consider a different medium for the bottom - ABS, HDPE, and nothing are options here. HDPE and nothing, will be the easiest to implement in a tank that already has water.

Keep up the great work.

Great advice as I have never used these before. Just a sheet of HDPE or several large blocks? I have about 3 weeks before adding my main coral back in so I will do some research while I am still in the early phases of setup. Thanks!

 

[naterealbig]

Do as close to a single piece as you can - slits/cracks/seams just leave more room for buildup.

You could do a nice sheet of 3/8"-1/2" HDPE in black or white (or any color). 3/8" would be best, because it won't want to float as much. Thinner than that, and it becomes more susceptible to bowing over time.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Looking for additions to the final stocking! Here is what I have:
Valentini Puffer
2 Clowns (M Maroon and F Ocellaris so we will see how this goes)
1 Lawn Mower Blenny
1 Hermit

I placed an order for some larger hermits and dwarf ceriths (read snacks for puffer) and will likely add a Tuxedo Urchin in about a month once coralline takes off.

Here were some ideas I was thinking off
Biota Aiptasia Eating Filefish
Longnose or Flame Hawkfish
Captive Bred Blue Mandrin (once tank matures a bit)
Wrasse that doesn't need a sandbed (6 line?)

Any ideas would be appreciated!