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My new 40 gallon breeder build thread

21K views 43 replies 9 participants last post by  PCKid 
#1 ·
Well as fate would have it I ended up with a nice 40 gallon breeder drilled with a center overflow, 20gal long sump with baffles and refugium. Tank is already running with 40lbs of fiji pink sand and the refug is full of pods, algae, live rock rubble, etc. The guy I bought the pink mushrooms from a couple weeks ago was selling it with a lot of accessories today for $170. I ended up trading him a .22 long rifle I have had since I was 11 for his son to start target shooting with. Score. I got rid of a gun that has been sitting in storage since the early 80s and get an up and running tank. He sold the lighting though so I'm thinking I'm going to go with 4 T5 bulbs on this one instead of halides. I may just do a FOWLER tank and keep some small angels and such that I wouldn't be able to put in a reef. Definitely want a goby/pistol shrimp pair.
 
#6 ·
Added 75 lbs of coarse aragonite last night and mixed it together with the fiji pink. Built a small reef with 10lbs of rubble I'm going to put in the refugium when I finish cleaning it.

Added the 36" 2x96 Current PC fixture I bought off a local guy today. My canopy is strange in that it sits on the inner rim of the tank so the light couldn't actually go in the canopy and I don't have legs. Sits on top perfect and provides plenty of light. Really wasn't thinking of using PC on this tank but for $55 for a Current 2x96 with a moonlight I really couldn't pass it up. It's much brighter then I thought it would be.

Now I'm waiting patiently to find a good deal on rock on CL. Can't wait to put a tiger pistol shrimp and watchman goby in it. Plenty of substrate for tunnels.





 
#8 ·
I found cured Fiji on Craigslist yesterday for $2.50 a lb. He still had some nice pieces and the guy gave me about 10 lbs of rubble for the refug for free. So I built the reef yesterday. There's a small watchmen goby and a talbot's damsel in there. I went to Home Depot this morning and picked up one of those 16W 6500k sealed CFL spotlights to use on the refugium. I cleaned it up but it still ain't the cleanest ;) I think the flow is way to low through the sump and return. I don't know if the return pump isn't working the best or what but I'll be getting a replacement soon I think.







He's ready for a pistol shrimp buddy:


Like these Talbot damsels and they are mellow for a damsel:


There's about 15 lbs of rock in the sump and refug and a bunch of chaeto.
 
#10 ·
Ack my heater malfunction and stopped heating last night. Tank was 68 degrees this morning. Some snails look like they didn't make it but maybe they are just frozen temporarily heh. Fish look fine. Hoping the pistol shrimp is OK. Looks like he was digging a new entrance and sealing up the old one last night. The new entrance is on the backside of the reef of course. The watchman goby could care less about the shrimp but it hardly comes out it just moves around inside it's cave.
 
#11 ·
Man I'm not catching a break. My auto top off float switch failed too and it put 5 gallons of DI into the sump. So my salinity went down to 1.018. Raising it back up slowly with a new heater in. Hopefully nothing else happens lost most of the snails, fish are alright.
 
#22 ·
If you're evaporating water... how is it your SG went down rather then up? I know in my reef if i don't top off, then it increases rather then decreases.

Also, in one of your earlier pics it looks like you have a coral in there (it's on the first pg) and now on the second page i see 2 corals? Maybe? What are they? and can we get some close ups here?
 
#12 ·
Well after back to back malfunctions on this tank 10 days ago things have been running fine. The watchman goby paired up with the pistol shrimp and they are busy building an elaborate house. I was having a party at my house for St. Patty's Day and they started building right in front of the glass. It was good entertainment for everyone there ;)

 
#14 ·
Yeah they are great! It took a while but I'm glad they found each other. I couldn't take the yellow look of the PC lights on this tank anymore. I bought a 175w SE MH for it today. The 20k light with the shimmer effect makes the tank look so much better.
 
#17 ·
I had some time today and mounted the 175W SE halide on this tank and got rid of the yellow looking PC lights. Now with a 20k bulb and shimmer I like the look much more. Nothing supplementing I'll probably just leave the one light. As I think it's bright enough and the most I'll have for corals in there is some zoa, mushrooms, and kenya. Worked good for me as it's the same bulbs my 90 gallon uses $90 for a nice reflector and a year old ballast with 3 20k bulbs with a few months of use each. We added a red fromia starfish to the tank a few days ago.








 
#20 ·
I'm loving the set up. Very nice. How wonderful your wife was able to take great care of the tanks while you were away. Would she like to come over to my house and give my guy lessons on how this is done?? :)

The starfish...what a sweet addition. The tank is looking great!

PS. I LOVE your tile floor. Saltillos?? What dunes do you go to??
 
#21 ·
All she had to do was make sure the water was topped off every day so it wasn't a huge deal haha.

Yep saltillo tile on the floor ;) I went to Glamis in Southern CA about 4 1/2 hour drive from my house. One of the funnest places in the world. Can't really duplicate the feeling of riding a quad at 50-60 mph 100 ft up on a dune of sand. It's like creating your own rollercoaster as you go. The view of the dunes from where we camped is incredible:

Glamis Osborne Overlook 3/19/09 pictures from off roading photos on webshots

 
#24 ·
Haha no problem :) The corals are just kenya tree arms that broke off from the main one in the 90 gallon. They are growing pretty good too already. I had an orange cap in there too at first but it was bleaching out under the PCs so I put it back in the 90 and it's bright orange again.

The top off put 5 gallons of fresh DI water into the sump when the sensor failed so it lowered the salinity quite a bit.
 
#25 ·
I took the 20k halide out and put a 14k in. A bit less blue now. Added a couple dozen cerith snails to the tank and refug today since my bad luck killed most of them a couple weeks ago. Tons of pods in refugium. My pistol shrimp has been missing in action for 2 days. The goby has been hiding in there too. He came out real quick and grabbed some food this morning then went back in and sealed it up. I'm hoping the shrimp is molting and just hiding out. No pictures yet but I put a frag of whammin watermelon and dragon eye zoa in the tank yesterday to see if the angel will eat them. So far it doesn't care.













 
#29 ·
Looking at it I'm liking the dimensions as well. I've always planned to start a salt water tank in the 75 gallon range but this is making me seriously rethink it. The stand is great looking, definitely a piece of furniture you can display anywhere.
 
#33 ·
Had a trade offer locally I couldn't pass up yesterday. I traded a frag of watermelons I bought last week and realized I already had for a maroon clown and 2 long tentacled anemones that it's hosting in! Owner wanted to put a pair of percs in and needed to get rid of them. Works for me :)

 
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