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New tank! (40 breeder)

ClownChick91

ClownChick91

Hello everyone, I am starting a brand new tank up! This tank will be a 40 breeder, the tank will sit on a homemade stand with a 20 long sump.

So far, we built the stand, painted the stand, drilled the tank and the sump. We aquascaped with newspaper! We made an online order today, we ordered dry rock, sand, and my RO unit. Slowly but surly we are getting there.

I already have corals picked out at friends houses, I have my baby snowflakes picked out as well, were just waiting till we get this tank up and perfect! Couldn't do any of this without xavier613 (which many of you know!)

uploadfromtaptalk1378167923931.jpguploadfromtaptalk1378167945220.jpg
 
jose7878

jose7878

Looking good. The newspaper rock work is a very creative idea to sit back and think on how it's gonna look.
 
ClownChick91

ClownChick91

Thanks guys! Today I went to aquarium center and got sand and salt. I also looked at fish. Dying to get a pipe fish, dying to get a kole tang and a yasha goby with two pistol shrimp, plus a bicolor blenny however the one at aquarium center was very blue and just had a yellow tip, he's gorgeous. I pick out my clowns this week and they will be staying at my friends house temporary until my tank is cycled.

The tank is moved from the garage into my room!! Hopefully the rock will be here this weekend, the plumbing is all set up, everything is looking great. I'm very excited! With my biocube I was more excited for the corals etc. But I seem to be more into the different types of fish this time, also I think I'm going to experiment with SPS. Usually I'm a LPS, softies girl. But nothing will pass my love for anemones, especially bubble tips! Thanks for sharing my excitement :) uploadfromtaptalk1378263861685.jpg
 
Xavier613

Xavier613

Few pics I snapped while we were working on everything.

Sump design is three sections, first for inlet with filter sock, and skimmer. 9" wide here. Second is refugium, or frag tank whatever it may be. This is 12" wide. Then a 3 baffle bubble trap, and a 6" return section that will house the mag 9.5, which will be teed off to feed into the refugium as wel as the return (to lessen return speed without adding backpressure to the pump).
7ybyjuba.jpg


The rocks Meagan decided would look good in a formation similar to this, with the back left corner and side being the highest point, (also where the overflow box will be put) and having a trench in the middle of two islands. She has 25lbs of BRS pukani dry rock coming this week, and along with the roughly 50lbs I have from previous tanks, we should be able to achieve this.
anymage6.jpg

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BRS order also contains a 4 stage rodi unit, locline for the return, and a few various other pieces.
 
A

Alcohol120

that looks great. i have a 40b with a 20l sump as well. i didnt go with a fuge section though. i know everyone has a different opinion of their aquascape and how they want it but if it was me i would only use about 20-30 lbs of LR. i used about 40 lbs to begin with in my tank and have found myself taking some out and placing it in the sump. negative space is a good thing and it makes it easier to clean.
would post an article from reef-builders but it wont let me. just google reefs with negative space if you're interested in reading more
 
Xavier613

Xavier613

Only going to use as much as needed to achieve the a aquascape she desires, if that's 30lbs that's what it is and I have a bunch of rock for the next tank haha
 
M

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
The rock we put in our aquarium has changed so much over the years, that the x pounds per gallon rule has kind of fallen by the wayside. The more pourous (lighter) the better vs the solid base rock type.
 
Xavier613

Xavier613

That is the reason we decided on the dry pukani over the reef saver rock, even though it is more expensive, it is many many times lighter than the reef saver. Same size rock will weigh 5x more with the extremely dense reef saver rock versus the pukani.

The per gallon rules are all pretty much out dated and to be taken with a grain of sale, x inches of fish per gallon, watts per gallon, lbs per gallon etc are all pretty dated with advancing technology, some still go by them, but when you have a 75 gallon tank run by 72w of leds, that rule says you can't grow a rock let alone full sps. But Aquatic Illuminations say otherwise lol.
 
Spideybry

Spideybry

Cool, didn't know you guys had a thread up. I really like that scape with the newspaper lol.

When the rocks get here we can start drilling and getting stuff prepped up. Looking forward to it. We should set up the mock up on that table you have in the garage taped out to see how it will look. Don't forget to pick up the rods (not that you will need too many).

Did you guys settle on a skimmer?
 
Spideybry

Spideybry

downbeach said:
You might want to run that Pukani through an etching process before you put it in service.
Click to expand...

Do you mean wash like crazy when you say "etching"? That is something I should have done when I got mine honestly. It does make for one nasty cycle I'll tell you that. A good power-wash would help.
 
downbeach

downbeach

Spideybry said:
Do you mean wash like crazy when you say "etching"? That is something I should have done when I got mine honestly. It does make for one nasty cycle I'll tell you that. A good power-wash would help.
Click to expand...

Although it's dry, it still has a lot of organic matter and PO4 attached to it. So, I have found that its best to soak it overnight, allowing the organic matter to rehydrate, and hose/power wash it off the next day, then soak it in an vinegar/water solution with a PH, for a day or two depending on how strong you make the solution, hose it off again, and cure it in some freshly made SW, checking for PO4.
 
Xavier613

Xavier613

How did that turn out jose? I have been reading up on a few methods of cleaning these rocks, but it is a fresh tank so I'm not overly concerned. I would like to avoid stinking up her room though haha
 
Spideybry

Spideybry

Xavier613 said:
How did that turn out jose? I have been reading up on a few methods of cleaning these rocks, but it is a fresh tank so I'm not overly concerned. I would like to avoid stinking up her room though haha
Click to expand...

My water stunk for a bit, then I ran some carbon, took care of it. Gave one hell of an ammonia spike lol.
 
jose7878

jose7878

I did mine outside. I have to say that the nasty stuff that was foaming off the rock.
After the acid bath I let it dry for two days. Then gave it a bleach bath for 30 min. Rinsed them let them dry for 3 days. Then soaked them in declorinated water for 30 min. My to reassure myself that their is no bleach on the rock.
I have to say that the rock is really etched up and very clean.
 
Spideybry

Spideybry

jose7878 said:
I did mine outside. I have to say that the nasty stuff that was foaming off the rock.
After the acid bath I let it dry for two days. Then gave it a bleach bath for 30 min. Rinsed them let them dry for 3 days. Then soaked them in declorinated water for 30 min. My to reassure myself that their is no bleach on the rock.
I have to say that the rock is really etched up and very clean.
Click to expand...

Did you seed on top of it to get cycled?
 
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