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cedwards04 · 02/22/2018, 06:35 PM

The build is progressing slowly but surely. work keeps sending me out of town so it has been difficult to get much accomplished.

i have finished the stand, still need to build a canopy but im holding off on that and will just add it later after everything is up and running.

i ended up getting glass cut at lowe's for the baffles. fairly inexpensive. i used ge 1 silicone to glue them in place. i changed the layout up a little from my original plan and decided on a more traditional skimmer, fuge, return layout. i did incorporate a 5 gal ato reservoir. im out of town for work again at the moment and cant remember exactly what dimensions i ended up going with on the spacing. somewhere around 5" on the skimmer, 5" for the return, i believe the fuge is 10 or 11 inches, and the ato reservoir is the remainder. i spaced the baffles using a 2x4, so they are roughly 1.5" off the bottom, and 1.5" apart.

i took my brs dual reactor apart and rotated the housings to seperate each reactor independent from each other. i built a manifold off the return pump to feed them, and left an extra port for a uv sterilizer at a later date.

i drilled 3 holes in the bottom of the 40 breeder, and build an all glass center overflow. i went with a herbie style drain. i have the return coming up through the overflow box, and t'ing out 90 degrees towards the sides, i then put a 45 degree fitting on the end and will be adding locline and nozzles to that. i assembled everything and filled it with tap water to test and it performed flawlessly. no leaks, no flooding when power to the pump is removed, and the siphon will restart itself when power is returned.

it is currently all broken back down, i painted the stand right before leaving town. hopefully once i get back in town i will be ready to transfer everything from my 20gal tank into the 40 breeder.

i have 40lbs of dry rock and 40lbs of dry sand that i cycled by putting in a plastic tub of saltwater with a heater and powerhead. i pulled a small piece of liverock from my established 20gal tank and placed it in the tub, and i ghost fed until i saw an ammonia spike. i did this a few months ago, and have continued to ghost feed it a few times a week to keep the bacteria alive. it should be good and cycled. i also placed a grow light over it to hopefully get the "ugly" stage over with before actually setting up the tank.

i have pics on my phone but im not sure i can upload them, ill give it a shot and see what happens. i always used photobucket and we all know what happened there. ive tried a few other sites since then and really dont like any of them so i need to find a good place to host the pics.

02/22/2018, 06:35 PM	#27
cedwards04 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 217	The build is progressing slowly but surely. work keeps sending me out of town so it has been difficult to get much accomplished. i have finished the stand, still need to build a canopy but im holding off on that and will just add it later after everything is up and running. i ended up getting glass cut at lowe's for the baffles. fairly inexpensive. i used ge 1 silicone to glue them in place. i changed the layout up a little from my original plan and decided on a more traditional skimmer, fuge, return layout. i did incorporate a 5 gal ato reservoir. im out of town for work again at the moment and cant remember exactly what dimensions i ended up going with on the spacing. somewhere around 5" on the skimmer, 5" for the return, i believe the fuge is 10 or 11 inches, and the ato reservoir is the remainder. i spaced the baffles using a 2x4, so they are roughly 1.5" off the bottom, and 1.5" apart. i took my brs dual reactor apart and rotated the housings to seperate each reactor independent from each other. i built a manifold off the return pump to feed them, and left an extra port for a uv sterilizer at a later date. i drilled 3 holes in the bottom of the 40 breeder, and build an all glass center overflow. i went with a herbie style drain. i have the return coming up through the overflow box, and t'ing out 90 degrees towards the sides, i then put a 45 degree fitting on the end and will be adding locline and nozzles to that. i assembled everything and filled it with tap water to test and it performed flawlessly. no leaks, no flooding when power to the pump is removed, and the siphon will restart itself when power is returned. it is currently all broken back down, i painted the stand right before leaving town. hopefully once i get back in town i will be ready to transfer everything from my 20gal tank into the 40 breeder. i have 40lbs of dry rock and 40lbs of dry sand that i cycled by putting in a plastic tub of saltwater with a heater and powerhead. i pulled a small piece of liverock from my established 20gal tank and placed it in the tub, and i ghost fed until i saw an ammonia spike. i did this a few months ago, and have continued to ghost feed it a few times a week to keep the bacteria alive. it should be good and cycled. i also placed a grow light over it to hopefully get the "ugly" stage over with before actually setting up the tank. i have pics on my phone but im not sure i can upload them, ill give it a shot and see what happens. i always used photobucket and we all know what happened there. ive tried a few other sites since then and really dont like any of them so i need to find a good place to host the pics.