40 Breeder Build

[Cdodge1]

Hey guys,

Alright so here are some recent photos:




If you're wondering what that grey box hanging inside of my tank is, it's some baby mangroves. I found some at the beach and I wanted to see if I could get them to grow. There is a lot of root growth, and some leaf growth.

[Cdodge1]

My favorite shot of the Kole Tang so far! I love this little guy.

[kalan850]

Nice! everything is lookin good!

[Cdodge1]

Originally Posted by kalan850

Where's the progress at? I need to figure out a good way to plumb my 40b. will u explain yours in detail for me? It looks reall clean.

Hey Kalan, thanks for the kind words. The tank is completely set up and running! I'll be adding a ton of coral soon enough!





First, I'm using the Herbie overflow method. If you are not familiar with it, check this out. It explains it very well and I'm happy with it so far.I drilled 3 holes in the bottom of the tank in the back right-hand corner. two, for the 3/4" bulkhead, and one for the, 1/2" bulkhead. Don't make the mistake of ordering 3/4" and 1/2" glass drill bits, like me, they will be waaay too small.

30mm Glass Drill bit works with 1/2" ABS Bulkheads.
35mm Glass Drill bit works with 3/4" ABS Bulkheads

I used schedual 80 (the dark grey pvc) for the piping inside the overflow, as well as the return. My two drain pipes are 3/4" regular pvc (the cheap, white kind). The exact planning of the plumbing is really dependent on what kind of sump you have. Generally, I just eyeballed the pvc cuts. I have a lot of experience with pvc so I wouldn't recommend eyeballing it, unless you feel comfortable. Also, invest in a $10 pvc cutter. Its much cleaner and easier than a hacksaw.

For the return pump, I have a Mag 5, which is perfect for a 40 breeder.

Here's the sump description/ specs:
New Refugium / skimmer sump for Aquariums up 200 gallons. Filter has two 4" removable filter socks with CNC cut brackets ( 3/8" thick ) that lock socks in place. Has a large Skimmer section than flows into refugium or grow out area then return pump section. Designed to house larger protein skimmers, all built with ¼" Acrylic + black pvc to help with keeping light in for more growth + a cleaner look. All computer cut with flow through lines to help with bubbles as water flows through the filter & 3rd wall. Filter comes with two 1" Bulkheads & two 4" filter socks. Filter is 30 x 15 x 15


Hope this helps! If you have any other questions, let me know!

[kalan850]

Originally Posted by Cdodge1

Hey Kalan, thanks for the kind words. The tank is completely set up and running! I'll be adding a ton of coral soon enough!





First, I'm using the Herbie overflow method. If you are not familiar with it, check this out. It explains it very well and I'm happy with it so far.I drilled 3 holes in the bottom of the tank in the back right-hand corner. two, for the 3/4" bulkhead, and one for the, 1/2" bulkhead. Don't make the mistake of ordering 3/4" and 1/2" glass drill bits, like me, they will be waaay too small.

30mm Glass Drill bit works with 1/2" ABS Bulkheads.
35mm Glass Drill bit works with 3/4" ABS Bulkheads

I used schedual 80 (the dark grey pvc) for the piping inside the overflow, as well as the return. My two drain pipes are 3/4" regular pvc (the cheap, white kind). The exact planning of the plumbing is really dependent on what kind of sump you have. Generally, I just eyeballed the pvc cuts. I have a lot of experience with pvc so I wouldn't recommend eyeballing it, unless you feel comfortable. Also, invest in a $10 pvc cutter. Its much cleaner and easier than a hacksaw.

For the return pump, I have a Mag 5, which is perfect for a 40 breeder.

Here's the sump description/ specs:
New Refugium / skimmer sump for Aquariums up 200 gallons. Filter has two 4" removable filter socks with CNC cut brackets ( 3/8" thick ) that lock socks in place. Has a large Skimmer section than flows into refugium or grow out area then return pump section. Designed to house larger protein skimmers, all built with ¼" Acrylic + black pvc to help with keeping light in for more growth + a cleaner look. All computer cut with flow through lines to help with bubbles as water flows through the filter & 3rd wall. Filter comes with two 1" Bulkheads & two 4" filter socks. Filter is 30 x 15 x 15


Hope this helps! If you have any other questions, let me know!

thanks man! my build is still in the planning process and this helps out a lot. i do have a pvc cutter that i can use. about how much did your plumbing cost with bulk heads and hole saws included if you don't mind me asking? also i'm considering just using a regular ball valve(instead of using a gate valve) to tune the siphon unless i can find a gate valve that is affordable ya know. where did you find yours?

[Cdodge1]

Originally Posted by kalan850

thanks man! my build is still in the planning process and this helps out a lot. i do have a pvc cutter that i can use. about how much did your plumbing cost with bulk heads and hole saws included if you don't mind me asking? also i'm considering just using a regular ball valve(instead of using a gate valve) to tune the siphon unless i can find a gate valve that is affordable ya know. where did you find yours?

I'm glad I could help. I don't mind at all. Here's an approx price breakdown for me:

2x 1" Bulkheads- $5 ebay
1x 0.5" Bulkhead- $3 ebay
1x 30mm Glass Drill bit-$7 ebay
1x 35mm Glass Drill bit- $7 ebay
1x 1" Gate Valve- $5 Ace Hardware
1x 8'X 0.5" section of PVC- $6 Home Depot
1x 8'X 1" section of PVC- $7 Home Depot
Schedule 80 free scraps-$0
Other couplings, elbows, adapters- $10
Total cost: $50

I rounded up on most of these prices. Schedule 80 pvc is NOT needed but does look less brutish in the display tank. It's up to you if you want to splurge. Expect to pay a lot more for Schedule 80 than regular PVC.

My advice would be to get a gate valve. You'll regret it if you put on a ball valve. A gate valve $2-3 more, however it is totally worth the frustration you will save by not getting a ball valve. In addition, gate valves make it much easier to fine tune the water flow, where as ball valves are used primarily to either turn flow on or off. It would be like trying to use your E-brake to bring your car to a controlled stop every time.

[Benson0219]

Nice work on this tank! Great job.

[saf1]

Kole (Yellow Eye) tangs need more room.

Tip for that sort of tang is to leave one area of glass (least visible for you of course) covered in algae so it will have a 24x7 source of food. It will clear rocks and everything else in due time but they are grazers. My favorite tang and once I kept a piece of class covered it was the best thing I ever did.

Nice job on the tank by the way. I just missed the dollar per gallon sale by a day in my area

[dantdodge]

Lookin good man! Do you have a picture of the sump refuge that we can see running

[naterealbig]

Yeah tank is looking real good. If I could make a suggestion on the rock scape: the pile of rocks on the right side should be adjusted. If you are looking from the top, make the smaller pile look like a backwards "c" and move the backwards 'c' an inch to the left. I think this will add just enough uniqueness to the right side of the tank, so that it won't look unbalanced. A couple of monti Cap's on the smaller pile would make for a true bonsai feel, and would be a great use of some of that negative space.

How are the zoas doing? Looks like you might be ready for a sps frag or two . You're hard work and patience have paid off here. Keep up the good work!

[Cdodge1]

Originally Posted by Benson0219

Nice work on this tank! Great job.

Thanks! I appreciate it!

Originally Posted by saf1

Kole (Yellow Eye) tangs need more room.

Tip for that sort of tang is to leave one area of glass (least visible for you of course) covered in algae so it will have a 24x7 source of food. It will clear rocks and everything else in due time but they are grazers. My favorite tang and once I kept a piece of class covered it was the best thing I ever did.

Nice job on the tank by the way. I just missed the dollar per gallon sale by a day in my area

Hah, I know my tank is too small for an Adult Kole Tang. I bought a Juvenile. You can see him next to my purple firefish, he's still small about 3in. I know I'll have to get rid of him in about 8-10 months :/ I have a really open aquascape with lots of swimming room. Some people have much larger tangs in 75-90 gallons that have huge "rock-walls" that leave as much or even less swimming room than my open aquascape! I plan on leaving most of the back panel of glass untouched so the tang can graze all day

Originally Posted by dantdodge

Lookin good man! Do you have a picture of the sump refuge that we can see running

I'll post a pic of the sump soon.

Originally Posted by naterealbig

Yeah tank is looking real good. If I could make a suggestion on the rock scape: the pile of rocks on the right side should be adjusted. If you are looking from the top, make the smaller pile look like a backwards "c" and move the backwards 'c' an inch to the left. I think this will add just enough uniqueness to the right side of the tank, so that it won't look unbalanced. A couple of monti Cap's on the smaller pile would make for a true bonsai feel, and would be a great use of some of that negative space.

How are the zoas doing? Looks like you might be ready for a sps frag or two . You're hard work and patience have paid off here. Keep up the good work!

Nate, always makes me glad when I see you or Danny check in on my thread I'll try to curve the rock pile on the right side to make it look like a backwards "C" as you said. The firefish lives in there so I'll have be careful if I decide to mess with it. But I agree, It'll add that extra oomph to it. I think my zoas are doing awesome, they are looking better and better everyday! I think the new light is adding a lot of color back into them. Can't wait to scoop up some sps from Danny! And What you said about the monti caps, exactly what I was thinking about doing!

[Cdodge1]

So guys, I have an update that isn't so good. Yesterday, I discovered a small crack going from my bulkhead to the side of the glass. The crack is on the bottom of the tank, essentially, the worst spot for a crack. Here it is after I broke the tank down:

It was not leaking a ton, just enough to cause some salt creep on the aquarium and plumbing. However, cracks only get worse and I was afraid that the bottom of the tank would bust out & 60+ gallons of water would spill onto the floor of my 3rd story apartment.

[dantdodge]

Dude that sucks did you find a replacement. Tank I know you told me that you were going to go look at one.

Where are you holding all your stuff? Everything good?

[kalan850]

oh NO! thats horrible man! seriously thinkin of reconsidering drilling my 40B

[Cdodge1]

Originally Posted by dantdodge

Dude that sucks did you find a replacement. Tank I know you told me that you were going to go look at one.

Where are you holding all your stuff? Everything good?

Yeah I know, it really sucks. I think I may have drilled it too close to the edge and that bulkhead was really tight. Also, my tank was unlevel and since my plumbing was all hard pvc, it probably put a lot of pressure on the glass. I'll post pics of the refugee camp in a minute.

Originally Posted by kalan850

oh NO! thats horrible man! seriously thinkin of reconsidering drilling my 40B

Kalan, don't let this discourage you. Instead, take my mistake and use it to your advantage. Like my above comment, there were a few things I should have done differently. Hindsight is always 20/20. First would be to add more space between the edge of the glass. Second would be to make sure the tank is perfectly level. Third would be to use flex pipe coming out of the bulkheads so as to avoid unnecessary force on the glass. I'm pretty sure if I had done that, this could have been avoided.

[Cdodge1]

Tank being broken down:




20 Gallon Brute Trashcan holding most of the water and my fish. Orange bucket has sand/ liverock :


Finally, I put all the corals in a shallow bin, under the light. I don't want these babies dying!

[dantdodge]

Welcome to the reef hobby you have now been officially been initiated. I have those buckets and other containers for when your down this way again waiting for you.

[Cdodge1]

So i got the tank back up in under a month. Most of my corals ended up dying. Some Zoas hung in there. Here it is about one week ago (sorry for poor quality):

[Cdodge1]

My Tail-Spot just chillin'

[Cdodge1]

[Cdodge1]

...and some more...

[Sugar Magnolia]

Nice to see you back in the game.

[Benson0219]

Great recovery! Hope this tank will do well for you.

[Cdodge1]

Originally Posted by Sugar Magnolia

Nice to see you back in the game.

Originally Posted by Benson0219

Great recovery! Hope this tank will do well for you.

Thanks guys! hopefully it's smooth sailing from here on out

[Cdodge1]

Recently purchased a dual 150 watt MH / 4 T5 , integrated Blue and white LED's Current USA combo fixture.

Also made a DIY hanging kit for less than $10. It actually looks pretty clean, and totally worth saving the $50 for a Current USA hanging kit. It took less than 30 min to make and mount to the ceiling.



My 40B isn't the best setup out there, but on a college student budget, I sure as heck am happy with it so far. My only issue is that living with roommates in an apartment, the air conditioning is always fluctuating and more often than not, it becomes very warm in the apartment (especially in my room). On bad days, there will be up to a 3 degree swing over the course of a day

Regardless, It's getting better and I'm looking to get a fan for the sump to cool it off.