wopadobop Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 Hello everyone. Thought I would start a tank thread for my new 40 gallon setup.I'll try to keep it simple with lots of pictures. Any questions on how or why i built this the way i did let me know. If you see anything wrong(especially) let me know. Enjoy! here is the stand . Built from 3/4 oak veneer plywood. I pocket jigged and liquid nails all the joints for extra strength. I did a dual color stain to get a tiger stripe effect. Dark walnut overall. then sanded down to 250 grit and added a cherry stain. You can also see the skeleton of the sump in this as well. Here is the sump after i finished solvent welding it together and prepped it for paint. this is the sump completed( im rather proud of how this turned out considering its my first one) That's it for now. I plan to buy a clear for life 40 gallon for the display tank. Anyone have any reviews on opinions on these tanks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wopadobop Posted February 27, 2012 Author Share Posted February 27, 2012 Things left to do. doors( cant decide on whether to have the refugium showing or not) light hood ( does anyone know which dimensions are length width height for this tank? http://www.fishtanksdirect.com/40gallon36x15x16rectangularaquariumbyseaclearfreeshipping.aspx) lights - I have 2x 175w mh ready to put in the hood ( how many actinic lights should go with these?) plumbing - In sump return pump at 650 gph or external 1200 gph? decisions decisions. stock - I have 2 pajama cardinals and tomatoe clown along with 25 pounds of live rock and a clean up crew setup in my biocube 29 right now. will have to add more with the larger display tank. decided to wait on corals and various other things and spend the money on a better setup. Do have 5 pounds of the GARF grunge on the way for the refugium. I have heard good things about this stuff so i decided to give it a go. well thats all for now. Off to the garage to build the doors. will post more pictures later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islandoftiki Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 Nice work. I'm looking forward to watching this build progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramy Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 Just a heads up from some one who has been there =) I got some garf a while back and it is good stuff But i would not do as the directions say and dump it straight into the tank as it had a crazzy amount of sediment in it it took several weeks to clear out the mess. It also came with apistaisa in it but what does not these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wopadobop Posted February 27, 2012 Author Share Posted February 27, 2012 Thanks for the heads up Jeramy. I'll rinse in some left over tank water after a water change. As far as aptasia goes. I got a torch with their name on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wopadobop Posted February 27, 2012 Author Share Posted February 27, 2012 This is what I'm upgrading from. It's a nice little setup that runs like a top but I am sort of obsessive about wires and ballasts showing. Skimmer powerheads and heaters will fit the new system better anyway. 200 gal rated skimmer pulls everything out of the water in about 20 minutes then just bubbles clean most of the time. I actually only run it for about 4 hours a day to save on power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wopadobop Posted February 28, 2012 Author Share Posted February 28, 2012 Doors Done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mohaynow Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 That looks really nice! Good work on the build Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wopadobop Posted February 28, 2012 Author Share Posted February 28, 2012 thank you , im having a blast so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iroll253 Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 That stand and sump are awesome! Good work man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wopadobop Posted March 1, 2012 Author Share Posted March 1, 2012 So i fired up my genx 40 external pump today and i think it might be a little over kill for a 80 gallon system(tank and sump). If anyone is interested in buying it for like $140 pm me. ill put an add up in the classifieds here as well. back the drawing board for plumbing i guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wopadobop Posted March 3, 2012 Author Share Posted March 3, 2012 Stand and sump in place. still using the biocube as a display tank till funds are available for the new 40. I was very surprised at how well the width of the sump made a huge difference in the amount of baffles needed to stop micro bubbles. very happy soo far. grunge still hasnt gotten here for the refugium yet. been about 2weeks not sure whats going on so i just have the chaeto ball and a few pieces of rubble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wopadobop Posted March 16, 2012 Author Share Posted March 16, 2012 little update. Noticed a few things on my rocks this weekend. aptasia? picked up a sand conche. these little guys are pretty awesome. When First placed in the tank my turbo snails were all over this guy. They have a nifty way of getting things off there back. It uses its foot which is shaped like a saw blade and flips it over its back like a scraper and pooof no more snails. They do an excellent job and cleaning the live rock where it meats the sand as well. thats pretty much it for now. Working a few extra odd jobs to get this build completed. so hopefully within the next week or so I can post some photos of the finished setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OwenReefin Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 How much did it cost you to make a such a beautiful sump? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wopadobop Posted March 17, 2012 Author Share Posted March 17, 2012 How much did it cost you to make a such a beautiful sump? I got the acrylic from home depot and the solvent from tap plastics. About $109 for the acrylic and $20 dollars for the solvent and applicator. It's .220 acrylic so it wouldn't work for a tank application (too thin and flimsy) but with all the support from the baffles it doesn't even bow. The paint i just had laying around the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wopadobop Posted April 10, 2012 Author Share Posted April 10, 2012 I went to the local lfs today. I was saddened and shocked by the state of this places tanks and live stock. I take my care and husbandry of fish personally and when I see someone who is just down right lazy running his own fish store it makes me want to choke them. 4 inches of thick black what I can only describe as mold covered the sand. The glass was covered in brown diatome nastiness. every single fish has ick and velvet. Not one protein skimmer to be found on any of his tanks. bioballs in the sumps(im assuming they were bioballs) that had not been cleaned in at least a year. When i asked the man what was wrong with his tanks he replied "i dunno i just cant seem to get the salinity right" . Does anyone know of a decent lfs or coral store near brookings OR? i would even be willing to make the trip to Medford if need be. HELP! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mohaynow Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Reef tech in medford is a cool shop, and I've heard good things about frog prince in grants pass, although I have never been there. But if you're driving that far it might be cheaper to just have stuff shipped. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wopadobop Posted April 10, 2012 Author Share Posted April 10, 2012 excellent, grants pass is fairly close and i have to head over there soon anyway. I will look up frog prince. reef tech is on my list but i rarely get out to medford. thankyou soooo much for the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabe Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 Frog Prince is pretty cool. I don't get up there enough. If you have the time, it would be worth the trip to Reef Tech. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wopadobop Posted April 13, 2012 Author Share Posted April 13, 2012 I will check out reef tech as well if I get out to Medford soon. Glad to see there are people this far south in the club. Been feeling like im on a desert island. Only there are no reefs in the water (sad). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wopadobop Posted April 18, 2012 Author Share Posted April 18, 2012 Finally got my tank delivered. First things first .. modify to calflow overflow. installed bulkheads . Since this is going in my living room I decided to try a beananimal overflow style. It's pretty genius and I Like the self start + no noise + needs an act of god to fail. I will update with more photos of the hood. The diy fan controller and lights installed. My rock came in today while I was working on the hood frame but no one told me. So I will post pics of the rock work as soon as It's figured out. Happy reefing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wopadobop Posted April 18, 2012 Author Share Posted April 18, 2012 double post. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wopadobop Posted April 22, 2012 Author Share Posted April 22, 2012 Wow , this setup is so quiet I keep doing a double take every time I walk by it. Is it not working? no no it's fine. Is the pump off? no no it's on. Can't wait to cycle this sucker and finally after 3 months of working to get this baby runnin. Does anyone know if running lights is necessary for a cycle? I have heard it is actually better to run it with a regular ho bulb. At least that is what GARF recommends. (shrug) Just wondering if anyone has input on the matter. I have mh setup in the hood. Should I start the light cycle early or just go dark till the cycle is over? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 I have always cycled with the lights on for a short period of time, maybe 4 hours a day. It's more for my curiosity in seeing what pops up on the rock. I also figure it's better to see what grows out of the rock before adding corals. Harder to take the rocks out and remove stuff then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wopadobop Posted April 22, 2012 Author Share Posted April 22, 2012 I have heard good things about dr tims one and only nitrifying bacteria. Supposedly it is not waste treatment plant bacteria but the ones we actually use. So to really test I started with 100% dry rock and 100% dry sand. I do have some rock from my nano tank that i will use to seed some corraline. What is the best way to get just the corraline off of these old rocks? they do have a lot of those weird string feeding inverts, I don't know any other way to describe them. So I didn't want to use them in the new system. I also have some grunge from the old tank but it is loaded with aptasia(one of the reasons for building a new system). Can I just scrape the corraline off the old rocks? Maybe not let it touch the water? I'm scared... Hold me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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