40 Gallon Breeder TBS build and log

[dwculp]

This is not my first reef tank; back in 2004 I started this thread: http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...d.php?t=456077

It became very popular and spawned a few other threads. In 2007 that tank crashed hard. A series of unfortunate events led to the utter and total demise of that tank.

1. In the summer of 2007 I took kids to a week long robotics contest. My school district turns the AC off to unused classrooms in the summer. My classroom had an exception. However, at the beginning of the week someone sent a new program to all the controllers and my AC was shut off. I came back to a tank ½ full of water, stagnant and HOT. Luckily no fish died and I rescued the tank but it was in a very precarious condition.

2. I moved schools during that summer also, the same district, just a different school. The tank was already in a precarious condition due to the AC being turned off and the move a couple of weeks later made it even worse. I really wanted to leave it in my old classroom until it stabilized but the new teacher did not want it in there at all.

3. The principal wanted my tank in the foyer which was far from my classroom. I couldn’t watch it or maintain it easily; this further led to its demise.

4. Finally, the tank gave out. I came in one Sunday morning to do tank maintenance and found a stinking, putrid mess. My instinct was to try and save it, but I decided I couldn’t. I took the rocks out, scrubbed them and put them in buckets and threw the sand out.

I took a year off from fish (my boss didn’t want another stinking putrid mess) and the next year I set up a small 29 gallon FO using some of the rocks from the old tank. I put a small Clarki clown, a bi-color pseudochromis and a yellow-tail damsel. They have lined there happily since 2008. I slowly turned that tank into a small reef with the addition of lights and some soft coral. A pic of that tank is here:





I was finally able to move back to my old school at the start of this last school year (2010-2011) and I had plans for a new TBS reef tank, however, she was coming along in November so I put off those plans:



Finally, this summer I decided to get the reef up and going again, so that I don’t make this story longer and bore you more, I ended up putting it in our home instead of the classroom (if you want to know why, read here: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2036329 )

Tank: 40 gallon breeder (I just love this tank size!)
Skimmer: My original CPR Bak-Pak with a MJ1200 with venturi mod
Lights: 4X39W T-5 retrofit from Reef Geek (not installed yet)
Heater: 150 Watt Jager
Flow: 1 MJ1200 with sure flow mod (1600GPH), 1 standard MJ1200 and one Koralia 1. The modded MJ is on the right anout 6 inches below the surface and centered. The other two are on left. Is this too much? Any comments?

I decided to go with the TBS (http://tbsaltwater.com/) package again because I LOVED the rock and sand I got last time with an amazing amount of hitchhikers. For those that don’t know, TBS farms their rock by placing seed rock on a lease site in the Gulf of Mexico. Richard (the owner) dives for the rock, puts in in barrels of sea water while on the boat then places it holding tanks of sea water and ships it to you in water. There is LITTLE die off and the rock gets to you crawling (literally) with life. Some people don’t like the rock but I do.

The tank with the back painted with Krylon blue and full of water waiting for rock and sand:


On Saturday I got email from Richard that part 1 of my package was on the way via Soutwest Airlines. I was on pins and needles all day. I finally got to pick up around 2:00pm. The rock was on the bottom of the Gulf just over 24 hours before! Loaded up the car:



Once home I spread the tarp and put the boxes down. Two boxes of sand and two boxes of rock:



I HAD plans of photographing everything as it came out but got so excited I totally forgot  So, here is after I got everything in:


I had snails crawling up the glass BEFORE I even had the second box of rock open.

So far for hitchhikers (besides the sponges, coral and macro algae):
2 porcelain crabs
1 cucumber
LOTS of snails of various sizes and shapes
A couple of hermits
A few small crabs
Lots of spaghetti worms
Lots of feather dusters
Worms crawling around in the sand

So far no Mantis

Pictures of day one in the next post.

[dwculp]

Pictures of day one after the water cleared:

[dwculp]

Day 1

AM Testing
SG: 1.025
AMM: .5ppm
Temp 25C (77F)

I did a 10 gallon water change to help bring the ammonia down a little. Richard actually recommends your don't change the water until your amm gets to 1ppm.

More and more hitchhikers have become visible as the day progressed. I have discovered LOTS of small snails, a dime sized crab, a few hermits, two porcelain crabs, quite a few worms, feather dusters and more.

PM Testing

AM Testing
SG: 1.025
AMM: .4ppm
Temp 25C (77F)

General comments:

Sand: One thing I did not like about the TBS package last time was the sand size. It was really slightly smaller than crushed coral. It was pretty as it was encrusted with coralline of different colors but I still was not a huge fan of it. I was glad to see this sand is much more naturally colored and an overall grain size smaller. It is still a large grained sand but MUCH smaller than the last time. I like it!

Rocks:More varied in size, shape, and porosity then last time. One of the complaints I heard about TBS rock was it was boulder shaped. This rock is MUCH better, with lots of holes and more varied shapes, it is "rougher" then the rock I got last time. As normal, the TBS rock is LOADED with life and very colorful. The pictures do not do it justice. These are the base rocks, cant wait to see part 2!

Critters: Typical of TBS rock it is loaded with life. So far I have not found a mantis shrimp or any bad crabs. I actually ENJOYED the crabs last time. I do notice that there did not seem to be as much macro life on these rocks as last time. During part one in 2004 I had more large crabs and snails. Still, LOTS of creepy crawlies to ID. Hoping for more hitchhikers during part 2!!

Tomorrow I am going to transfer a few rocks from the 29 gallon to help speed the typically already short cycle. I think in 2004 the tank cycled in 5 days.

[fishmonkey]

Seems like you are off to a good start!

[Banjo]

Cute baby, lol.

[dwculp]

Day 2

SG: 1.025
Temp: 25C (77F)
Amm: .5ppm???

I hate test kits where you have to read a gradual shade change of a color, they can be so hard to read and depending on what light and background you are viewing the vial through you can get different results. I have two test kits and between the two my ammonia level is around .5-.6 ppm. I did a 10 gallon water change and that brought things down to somewhere between .25 and .5 ppm.

I am not testing for anything else right now as there is not a big need. When ammonia starts to fall (hopefully in the next couple of days) I will start testing other parameters.

I still hear clicks and pops coming from the tank, I am positive I dont have a mantis, they are pretty bold and outgoing and would have shown by now.

The hitchhiker cucumber is on the move today, he spent all of yesterday on one rock but is now two rocks over.

The lights are scheduled to arrive tomorrow. I have never installed a retrofit kit before, I know a bit of electronics and electricity and I know which end of a screwdriver to use so hopefully I wont have much difficulty getting these installed. I cant wait as I am tired of looking at an unlit tank!

[dwculp]

I think I have decided to turn down the flow. The Maxi-Jet 1200 with the Sure-flow mod spews out 1600 GPH in flow, this is 40X the tank volume and is just too much I think. I am going to get a Maxi-Jet 900 which will bring the flow down to around 1000 GPH or 25X the tank volume.

[anthony27]

very nice job

[dwculp]

Why is that when you are trying to get suction cups off the glass they seem to be impossible to get off. However, they will just fall off the glass, with pump attached of their own free will when you least want them to?

Switched out the Maxi-Jet 1200 with a 900 Pro pushing 1000 GPH.

[Esardog]

Thank you for putting forth the effort to chronicle this build -- being a newbie (don't even have a tank up yet) these build threads are invaluable learning labs. As a fellow TXan that makes it better for me. Subscribed and following along.

[dwculp]

Day 3

AM Testing:

Ammonia: ~.6
SG: 1.025
Temp: 25C (77F)

PM Testing:
Ammonia: ~.8
SG: 1.025
Temp: 25C (77F)

I did a 15 gallon water change which is around 40%-45% total water volume. After the water change the water parameters were:

Ammonia: ~.4
SG: 1.025
Temp: 25C (77F)

I am hoping to see a downward decline in ammonia in the next day or two. Last time I did a TBS tank my ammonia never really got above .25 and was 0 by day 5.

I got the retrofit kit from www.ReefGeek.com today and partially installed it. WOW! Those T-5 lights are bright. I will be running only TWO of the four bulbs for awhile and only for about 5 hours a day. I will give a full report with pictures of the retrofit install tomorrow.

I am getting a carbon and GFO reactor from Bulk Reef Supply tomorrow. It should help clear the water and may even help a little with the ammonia.

[dwculp]

Im going to give an update with lots of pictures later today, but I just found I have at least 2-3 dozen snail egg sacks all over my glass today. I had lots more before I killed them by cleaning glass before I realized what I had

[Jaxom]

Tick tock tick tock tick tock ............. I'm patiently waiting until later today for the pictures to post ........... How's the tank doing, hope all is well, sounds like my luck, ready for part 2 and Richard is on a long needed vacation LOL.

[dwculp]

Having an infant makes it difficult to make daily updates I am currently a stay-at-home dad. I still work, but I took 12 weeks of paternity leave starting in March which took me to the end of the school year and now it is summer vacation.

Anyways, the tank is doing well, I got the lights installed and I still plan to make a detailed post on that process. My ammonia levels have leveled off at just below .5ppm. The levels have not risen since yesterday so I suspect that they will begin to fall very soon.

More and more life appears on the rocks. I have spaghetti worms, snail eggs and lots of other new stuff.

In the mean time, I did make a video! Our Canon T1i has an HD video mode so I gave that a try, I had to use manual focus so the video isn't all that great but I think it really shows how amazing this rock really is! Remember, this rock has only been in my tank 5.5 days!

[dwculp]

Update: My ammonia levels have begun to fall after day 6, to tonights testing yields an ammonia level of .25ppm which is lower than the .4 ppm level of this morning.

[dwculp]

Now I am not quite sure what to think of my ammonia levels. I tested last night and the kit said .25, I tested this morning and it said .25. We are going away for 3-4 days for the 4th of July weekend and I decided to do a large 15 gallon water change, which is around 45% water volume. I tested the ammonia after wards and the test kit said........ .25%!!

It was the exact same color as before the water change, which makes no sense unless my levels are actually 0.

[sbshady]

Originally Posted by dwculp

Why is that when you are trying to get suction cups off the glass they seem to be impossible to get off. However, they will just fall off the glass, with pump attached of their own free will when you least want them to?

So true

[Jaxom]

I'm thinking that the reading is probably zero, but .............. do you have another ammonia test kit that you can try to see if you get a differrent reading or if you have time before you leave take a sample and have it tested. Have a great time on your vacation and a Happy 4TH of July. Like the video, been thinking about getting a new camera, I like the quality pictures and videos people get using the Cannon T1i.

[dwculp]

Came home from the trip and my ammonia readings are 0! I will contact Richard soon about part 2.

[Jaxom]

Woo Hooooooooo can't wait to see what Richard sends you. How was your fouth, hope you guys had a great time.

[dwculp]

The great thing about TBS rock is the amount of life that keeps coming from the rock. Just when you think you have seen it all, something pops out and surprises you.

I got home yesterday afternoon and their was a sliver of orange sponge drifting about the tank. It was about an inch long and a bit over 1/8 inch wide. I looked closer and it was SWIMMING and undulating in the water, it was a worm of some sort, or at least that is what I am assuming, but it was all over the tank, back and forth and up and down. I grabbed the camera and about that time it was sucked into the intake of my main water circulation pump.

Late last night I found a >1 cm bit of orange sponge on the bottom while doing some flashlight hunting. All of a sudden it sprouts legs and starts to WALK. It was a mini decorator crab. I did get (bad) video of him:



I bought a GFO and carbon reactor from BRS, the problem is that it isn't designed to HOB so I tried to rig a few ways to get on the back, eventually giving up and buying a Phosban reactor and running carbon. I bought the .8 ROX carbon from BRS and that stuff was TINY. I ended up using the spone filters from it inside the Phosban reactor in addition to the sponges from the Phosban reactor to make sure none of it got out and into the tank.

My cycle is done, parameters are steady. I emailed Richard, however, I cant take delivery until after the 14th as I am taking a group of students to Anaheim, CA for a robotics contest. I leave Friday and come home the following Thursday. Richard offered to ship yesterday but I would put part two in and then leave and I would rather be there to make sure nothing went wrong, or catch it before it went really wrong. My wife will be home, but she wouldn't know what to do!

I believe I am going to go ahead and get my Clarkii Clown from the 29 gallon and put him in tomorrow.

[dorky]

wow look so amazing

[Jaxom]

So how was the trip to Anaheim, CA for the robotics contest, hope they did well and had a good time. Any news when Richard is going to send part 2?

[dwculp]

It has been awhile! I got part 2 today and I have to say, Richard at TBS really went overboard! The amount of extras is insane!!

I picked up part 2, got it home and HOLY CRAP!!! You have got to be kidding me!! Richard sent so many extras I am having trouble getting them into the tank!!!!

The rock is KILLER, and I mean KILLER. The colors and life of these rocks is amazing, crabs and snails were dropping off of them as I lifted them out of the boxes. The colors were amazing. Everyone else in the business should be sued for calling their live rock "live".

Along with the rocks came bags of sponges and gorgonias. I got a big orange star fish, a couple of urchins, what looks like an arrow crab and some sort of fish!! He is colorful but TINY so we will see if he lasts.

I am acclimating the critters right now and taking a break before trying to figure out how to get the rest of the stuff in!!

Note - The clownfish, yellow belly damsel and bi-color pseudochromis were moved into the tank last week from my 29 gallon as I had to tear it down. The mushroom rock was also moved from the 29.

Here are pics both right after going in and later in the evening with the lights out and water clearer.

[dwculp]