40gal Rimless Breeder

[crustytheclown]

First of all, i would like to thank the fellow reefers that helped make this "little" project happen.
sschase: helped me tear down, relocate and setup the system. I hope that the fish, corals and LR have settled nicely into your system.
michael.lemke: sold and delivered me his used skimmer. Also took two big buckets of live sand from my apartment
mikejrice and Elite Reef: for promptly quoting, eagerly recommending a Bean Animal and doing custom work on my tank. You guys ROCK!
and all others that i have traded with, sold to, and bought from.

OK HERE WE GO



40gal Breeder Tank

Stand (sturdy home made stand)

Sump/Refugium (20gal long acrylic from glasscages.com)

Lighting (T5 and MH)
Aqua Medic Ocean Light T5 39w x 4 (163watt) 36" w/ Giesemann Bulbs

JBJ K-2 Viper 150w w/ 20k Hamilton Tech or 20k XM bulb

Filtration
ASM G1 in sump Skimmer

BRS Dual Media Reactor w/ Carbon and GFO w/Maxi -Jet 1200

40LBS of Caribsea Tahitian Moon Super Naturals - Black

??? LBS of Pukani Dry Eco rock from BRS
This rock is extremely porous and i ordered way too much. I ordered 60lbs but that would spill out of my tank.

Circulation
Custom Bean Animal Overflow by Elite Reef
Pics coming soon

Aqua Medic Ocean Runner OR2500 (return pump)

EcoTech VorTech MP10 Propellar Pump

Other Equipment
ReefKeeper Elite w/ Net

Bubble Magus BM - T01 Dosing Pump



Needless to say i am completely stoked to get my tank back from Elite Reef tomorrow
Ill post some pics of the tank when i get it.

Thanks for reading!

 

[crustytheclown]

This is one option for a rock setup that i came up with tonight!

I want to keep my tank open as much as possible and not put too much rock in it, as this was a mistake with one of my current biocubes. I really like having plenty of sand bed to lay corals down. I have so much of this rock that i will probably make quite a few aquascapes and see which one appeals the most to me and the corals i plan on keeping.
I will definitely have some of this rock for sale once i choose a scape!

 

[Dr.DiSilicate]

What about a tall tower on one side and a small island on the other? You could grow some sps on the tower and Lps or softies on the small island. I have also seen pics with people who have the rock coming to the surface, may be cool. You have a lot of options with the dry rock!

 

[crustytheclown]

Ok here is a few pics of the tank!

Ha ha my dog likes it!
I will be heading to Home Depot tomorrow to get the pvc supplies for the plumbing. I have never plumbed anything before. I am using the pictures on the bean animal page for reference. I do need the pipes to go down and turn under the tank to the sump, so i was thinking of getting two 45degree angle pieces for each line, to angle it in and than down to the sump. I tried to measure as best as i could but its hard to measure in 3-D lol!
I will also be painting the back of the side with the overflow black, and i want to paint a square on the top corners where the overflow is visible through the front and back of the tank to make it look cleaner.

 

[hurrafreak]

Hey man, everything is looing pretty dang sweet! I dig the ocean light BTW lol!

 

[crustytheclown]

Painted the back/side of the tank last night, as well as a section on each end of the overflow.

Starting to put together the plumbing for the overflow

 

[ColoradoReef]

Wow looks good!

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

 

[Guest]

stupid question - why are they called "breeder" tanks? is it going to be a penninsular tank? Im a little confused on the placement of the overflow on the side, now the front glass has a black square in the corner.

 

[crustytheclown]

I think they are called "breeder" tanks because they are shallow and have long, low dimensions. IDK what that has to do with BREEDING? LOL
I wanted the overflow on the side because it is going to be viewed from 3 sides. Also because i knew that whichever side contained the overflow i would want to paint black so that you couldnt see the plumbing. This tank is going to look the best customized this way for my particular setup. The reason i painted the squares on the "front" and "back" of the aquarium was because of the ability to see into the overflow. This was unsightly to me as i could see PVC elbows and the messy silicon holding the smoked glass overflow in place. IMO this looks a lot cleaner

 

[crustytheclown]

I just set up my plumbing for my 40gal breeder with sump using a bean animal overflow. I cut all the PVC and hooked it up dry to check it out! It looks great and i am super excited to get this tank running. I am planning on using a PVC primer and than cement to glue the pieces together. I have a few questions though before i glue all of this together.
When you move the tank how can this plumbing be disassembled without breaking it? Can i just use silicon to glue from the bulkheads out to the PVC so that i can take this apart down the road when i move?

 

[chrislorentz]

Install unions that way you can seperate them. A union is two parts that screw together that way they can be unscrewed to take it all apart. Find out where you want it to be able to come apart and install unions., http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...nions&langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

 

[crustytheclown]

Thanks man. Gonna go ahead and install these puppies so that in the event i would need to take this apart and move it, than i could move the tank with the least amount of stress on the glass/bulkheads.

 

[crustytheclown]

Do i need to brace this plumbing?

If so where would be a good place? I installed a 2 x 4 in between the legs of the stand at an angle so i could screw in some braces, but when i got it together it seemed like it in itself was putting stress on the bulkheads?

 

[crustytheclown]

i put the rock in my tank to see how it looked.

Looks pretty sweet! I was thinking of putting together a couple different aquascapes to see which one i like the best.

 

[dv3]

looking good! ....you are going to want to brace the plumbing somehow because it will be alot heavier when filled with water

 

[crustytheclown]

Ive beeb filling the tank up and using shims to level it out. I think i am realizing that i might be better off making a new/better stand. The one i have is really sturdy but poorly made and not level. I could make a new one for around $50, which is totally worth it to me. I am hesitant because the tank and stand are sitting on top of carpet. I wonder if even with an extremely level stand, i will still need to use shims to level it. Either way though, i think i could do a much better job putting together a new stand that would get me closer to that "level" stage. As it sits now, there is a piece of particle board in between the top of the stand and the tank. The tank is sitting flush and level with this board, but this board is not sitting flush with the stand. In fact the top of the stand is extremely uneven and only comes in contact with this board at the corners of the stand. So right now i am having to place shims about every 6" around the stand. I am really trying to make everything perfect for this tank and i dont want to skimp on something as important as a stand.

 

[Wicked Color]

You can recess some leveling feet into the legs on the stand, they just screw down to meet the floor, and have a jam nut to keep it in place.

 

[Dr.DiSilicate]

+1 on what wicked said. Good solid stand and I would spend the money on covering the stand rather than building a new one.

 

[crustytheclown]

+1 on what wicked said. Good solid stand and I would spend the money on covering the stand rather than building a new one.

Mike, you really think i should keep the stand that i have? Its sturdy but now that the tank and sump have water in it the whole setup is wobbly and kinda freaks me out. Does anyone else have a wobbly tank? I mean, its not gonna tip over or anything. I am wondering if my VorTech MP10 will make my tank wobble? LOL
Why would i want to cover the stand again? And what would i cover it with? You guys dont think there is a problem with having the top of the stand really uneven and having to shim it every 6inches or so?

 

[dv3]

... Does anyone else have a wobbly tank? I mean, its not gonna tip over or anything. I am wondering if my VorTech MP10 will make my tank wobble?....

try a solana stand ...lol.... its a crap stand but my mp10 doesn't shake it