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Aberrix's 40 Gallon Breeder (1 Viewer)

hypertech said:
Just remember that what you are doing is going to be far cheaper in the long run than buying and replacing.

You have a good setup going, so as long as you don't decide to upgrade to a different size, you should be all set. Pay attention to coral deals and your ongoing costs could stay low if you want them to.
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Oh I know, measure twice, cut once, build it right the first time... at least that's what I'm trying to do...

I'm just getting impatient and sticking to my budget time line is becoming difficult. I just wanna buy everything right now and get it up and running already instead of waiting and building it slowly when I got the cash for things like I know I should...
 
What do you still need? Don't you have everything to put water in it?
 
hypertech said:
What do you still need? Don't you have everything to put water in it?
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items I still need to purchase to get wet;
return pump
baffles for sump (need to 'build' the sump still)
all the plumbing including bulk heads and loc-line for return
sand
live rock (< biggest purchase I have yet to make)

its getting there, I'm shooting for the end of August for it to be up and running as of now...
 
Order the sand from DFS and buy dry rock from BRS. That's the cheapest way to get that stuff. BRS also still has the lower price on the OR2500 pump which is great for that type system.

Black bulkheads and white PVC plumbing are all you need (and cheaper than hayward and grey sched 80 pipe). You dont "need" a locline return though it might make things nicer. I have some 1/2" locline around here somewhere I'll sell real cheap - I decided not to use it on my BC29.

You don't "need" baffles in the sump, but it might be nice to keep teh skimmer in a constant level. For that, you only really need one. If you can't find scrap the right size at A1, a piece of plexiglass from Home Depot will do it too.
 
cut the holes for (2) 120mm fans in the canopy & got the whole thing primed.

also I painted the back of the 40B tank gloss black.

productive night, hope to get a coat or two of black paint on the canopy tomorrow then wiring the T5 retro kits...
 
wow, busy weekend...

I got the canopy all painted, the T5 retro kits mounted & wired and I picked up some bulkheads from SWE and the rest of my plumbing stuff from Lowe's... geez... getting closer...

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Thanks!

There are some minor (cosmetic) imperfections that still bother me but I just keep telling myself that once the tank is up and running people will be looking at the fish and coral not the stand... I hope... :)
 
Here are some pics of the wiring all cleaned up. I have yet to mount the fans in the canopy...

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I wired the 1st and 3rd bulbs as one unit and the 2nd and 4th bulbs as another.

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Just the Aquablue+ bulbs.

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Just the Antinic+ bulbs.

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All the bulbs on.
 
maybe its just me but arent your fans suppose to point down the length of the t5's. at least that is what I have been told. Looks good though
 
jwedll said:
maybe its just me but arent your fans suppose to point down the length of the t5's. at least that is what I have been told. Looks good though
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While I'm sure that design would work better, I absolutely cannot stand the look of one fan on each end, way too much light leaking out for my tastes. I'm sure my design isn't perfect and wont perform quite as good as the other design but I believe it will perform good enough while still staying aesthetically pleasing. one fan will be pushing air in and the other will be pulling it out (whirlpool), the fans I currently have in possession are rated at 40 CFM so I think it should be fine. (I guess we'll have to see how it performs in action though to truly tell)
 
More progress! I went and picked up 60lbs of BRS “Reef Saver” Eco Rocks yesterday...

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I just put some cardboard in the bottom of the tank then mocked up some off-the-cuff aquascaping just to get a rough idea of how much rock I actually needed or was going to use... I'd venture to guess that's about 40lbs in the tank.

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Wow, 60lbs was definitely too much... it looks like I'll have some left over when I'm done. Feels like about 20lbs left over, heh. But I might break up some of the remaining pieces to add to the aquascape.

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after touching it all and seeing it up close, I definitely think I'm going to need to do a quick acid bath on the rock.

hoping to pickup live sand next week and finish off my sump...
 
Looking good. My only concern is the fans. Keep them clean or the dust buid up is going to blown right into your tank( if you keep it not covered like most) wich could cause excesive phosphate.

you could keep the extra rock in your sump. I have 100 pound in my 90. 70 in the display the 30 in the sump.

cant wait to see more updates. this has been a fun build to follow. Keep up the good work
 
I have a server in my basement that uses a 120mm fan on the front and it has a very thin 1/8"(?) piece of foam over the front to prevent dust from entering the case, I think I might try and do something like that with the fans on the canopy. It's thick enough to block out most/all dust yet thin enough to not take a huge airflow hit. The whole fan debacle is still yet to be fought.

Also, I concede with the canopy; my whole 'top lid open' idea is not good at all... I will be removing it in the coming week or two and modifying it. And probably do some sanding and another coat of paint on the canopy.

And yes, I plan to put some rock in the sump. I really think when I'm all done I might have an extra 5-10lbs unused so its not like I bought double or anything. The remaining I'll probably bust up and use as rubble to glue frags to.
 
This is the first I've heard of evil phosphate house dust.

Its a good idea to clean off the fans every so often to keep them from failing, but if you don't have grids, I doubt there will be much accumulation.

I have that fanmate on the counter here waiting for you if you want it.
 
I looked at the pic wrong, looked like you had the fans pointing straight down on the water, i see now that those holes are on the back of the canopy. taking more of that material out of the back of the canopy might help with heat also, along with the fans,
 
I made my canopy top very much the same as yours with the top opening. I very quickly changed it. Nailed the top to the front and cut the sides making the top and the front one piece, allowing the front and top to open as one. The problem I have now is my lights I made so not move with the top. So they get in the way, but I also dont want to mount them to the top or when I open the top It will blind me. So still working on that part.
 
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