Aqueon 60/40 Breeders Frag/Sump build

[Sargeeq]

Hello Reefers!

Just like any good hobby, the question of what's next has to be part of the drive. Some of us start out with fresh water, move to salt, bigger tank, and then expand into reefing. Once we get into reefing we try our hand at a bunch of different things; softies, LPS, SPS, the whole gambit. But then what? Whats next?

Well, I at this point have a blossoming, successful SPS dominate mixed Waterbox 130.4 and feel like I am missing out on other things; such as the entire array of LPS corals, from Lords to Acans. However, instead of setting up another tank just for LPS I have decided to make an expandable Frag System. I am starting out with (1) 60 gallon Aqueon breeder as a frag tank, and (1) 40 gallon Aqueon breeder that I am going to make into a sump. My goal is to add a 2nd Aqueon 60 down the road as a SPS grow out/frag tank from my main display, so each step I am keeping that in mind.

I expect this project to take a couple of months, as I am in no big rush, and want to ensure it's thoroughly though through

Below is my starting point
(1) Aqueon 60 Breeder
(1) Aqueon 40 Breeder
(1) 800 GPH Fiji Cube external overflow box kit
(1) Fiji Cube Sump Baffle kit (40 gal) on order

I will be drilling the 60 this weekend. I plan on drilling it on an end, in the center, to allow for the expansion/addition of a 2nd tank. This should allow me to just overflow from 1 tank to the next.

More to follow!
Semper Reefing!

 

[Peace River]

This sounds like a great project! Congratulations on the new adventure!!!

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

Great job w the sps and good luck w the new
Project. Can u pls share the sps system any pics? And some info on what ur doing? Ty

 

[Sargeeq]

Let me preface this with my main tank is a stick farm, but a huge success based on what I have gone through. While the system is a little over 1 year old I had a terrible fight with Velvet, a lot of Vermetid Snails followed by Dinos. I am (mostly) Dino free, and have no signs of Velvet or Vermetid Snails. I am starting to see seeing encrusting, colors coming back, and solid growth across the tank.

I spent months with my hands in the tank daily, blowing Dinos off rocks and corals while trying to QT Fish and kill off other pests I picked up from a bad choice at a LFS.

So having the last couple of months of just checking parameters and doing water change and leaving it alone has brought joy back to the hobby, especially when things actually started growing and coloring up in my tank.

My tank:
Waterbox 130.4
3 Hydra 32's
Aquatic Life 48 inch T5 hybrid (dimmable)
1 Red Sea wave 45
2 VorTech MP40's
IceCap 40W Sterilizer
Nyos 120 protein skimmer
Apex controller
Apex DOS
2 Kamoer dosing pumps
Ecotech S2 return pump

Dosing Daily
BRS Soda Ash 1.3x24 (31.2ml)
BRS Calcium Chloride 1.1x24 (26.4ml)
Redsea NoPox 1.5x4 (6ml)
Acropower (5ml)

Parameters w/ Instant Ocean 1.024 salinity
20% bi weekly water changes
Alk 8.5-9.0 dKH
Cal 420-440
PH 8.2-8.4
Mg 1340-1370
No: 15-25ppm
Po: .03-.06ppm (I have to dose phosphates every few days or they drop to near double zero)


So keeping in mind only a couple of corals, and fish survived the drastic measures I attempted to rid the tank of each, I would say I am 2-3 months into finally seeing positive results on a broad scale, and most corals in the tank were all purchased between July 2022 and first week of October 2022.

Pictures are from left to right of tank (and iPhones suck for tank pics)

Acan in lowest par area of tank
Zoa's I plan on moving to Frag tank
Hammer as a Man Bun on my skull, with an encrusting coral I just put on last week.
Couple of LPS and Firework Cloves on a rock in the back

Top to bottom left side
Tubbs Stella
SSC (WWC)
Juicy Fruit (WWC)
Ora Blue Mili (middle)
Hippy Juice (almost completely died)
christmas mirabilis (WWC)
Snow Dragon (WWC Top right)
Black Widow baby (WWC)
Superman Acro (I think its dead)
LPS

Top to bottom left to right
Ninja Turtle
WOW Acropora (WWC)
Strawberry Shortcake
Green Digi
WWC Blue Berry Fields
Pearlberry (one of my first corals, stressed brown but coming back)
Tyree Rouge Mille
RMF Acid Trip Mille
JF Sector 001 Favites

Side shot
Birdnest
Raja Rampage
other stuff
Strip Tease (WWC)
Dragon Slayer (WWC)
Twig and Berries (WWC)
Paletta Blue
Jello Shot (WWC)
Yellow Submarine (WWC)
Various Zoas not all pictured (Gobstopper, Slpah Omega, Blondies, Queen Midas, Goblins fire, Red Bull, Rostas, Miami Vice, AOI, Sunny D's, Fire and Ice, Armor of Gods, Fortune Cookie)

 

[Sargeeq]

Small update.

Drilled the 60 breeder and added an overflow.

Used a Fiji baffle kit on the 40. While it saves a TON of money than buying a premise sump, not sure I will ever go through the hassle again.

picked up a 4x Red Sea doser, Red Sea Wave 45, and a Duo ATO.

Will be building a cabinet next week and will post progress pictures as I go.

 

[Sargeeq]

Got the stand framed out a couple of months back.

Finally got it moved into the house weeks ago.

Used the time off over Christmas to get it plumbed, filled, and running.

Most major hardware is already installed and should have the lights up by next week. However, I am going to leave it dark for about 6 weeks with a couple of small fish just to get the tank stable.

I will be building shaker doors for the bottom, and setting up a mangrove fuge along the way.

Stay tuned!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Stand looks great!! Curious to see what it will look like once those doors are installed

 

[Sargeeq]

I have actually been toying with the idea of leaving it as a display sump, even though I have already started building the doors.

I am installing some drawer rails on my DOSing station today, sort of making it like a slide out spice rack. To make filling easier.

Also a new heavy duty surge protector comes today and I can finish up my mounting and cleaning up my cable management.

I need to figure out a better solution for my return too

 

[Sargeeq]

 

[BamaCoastPyrat]

View attachment 2976416View attachment 2976417

This is a cool build. Looks like 1/2" blondewood plywood for your cabinet facing?

Where did you get those dosing containers? Is that a drawer slide under that shelf pull out?

If click on your account details, post the link for this thread in there and it will give you a build thread badge.

Have you connected your two display tanks together yet?

 

[Sargeeq]

So I used Sanded Veneer plywood for the facing. I plan on painting it, and wanted something that would require minimal sanding. Planned on painting it black, but not 100% sold on that idea yet.

The containers are from Target. They are plastic (non acrylic) and allow for storage of things like Methanol (No3Po4X).

Pantry Organization 101 - Brightroom™

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Yes, they are just regular drawer slides that I bottom mounted. It makes getting to those back 2 canisters sooooo much easier!

 

[Sargeeq]

As for connecting the two tanks together, I don't plan on attaching my display to my Frag. My display tank is in my living room and my frag(s) are in my office about 30 feet away. House is on a slab with 14 foot ceilings, so plumbing it in would be a nightmare.

What I am planning on doing is adding a 2nd 60 gallon tank to this system. I want an LPS Frag tank and a SPS frag tank. The one currently set up is for LPS, way less flow and just some black box lights from Amazon. I will probably use 2 Orphic Icon lights for the SPS frag.

 

[BamaCoastPyrat]

As for connecting the two tanks together, I don't plan on attaching my display to my Frag. My display tank is in my living room and my frag(s) are in my office about 30 feet away. House is on a slab with 14 foot ceilings, so plumbing it in would be a nightmare.

What I am planning on doing is adding a 2nd 60 gallon tank to this system. I want an LPS Frag tank and a SPS frag tank. The one currently set up is for LPS, way less flow and just some black box lights from Amazon. I will probably use 2 Orphic Icon lights for the SPS frag.

I like it man. I love seeing pictures of people's DIY stuff. I am about to switch my 40g breeder acrylic for a 75g. I think I am going to make the 40g my sump and I am going to make my 29g a refugium. Planning the cabinetry and plumbing for this has been a fun challenge.

 

[Sargeeq]

I like it man. I love seeing pictures of people's DIY stuff. I am about to switch my 40g breeder acrylic for a 75g. I think I am going to make the 40g my sump and I am going to make my 29g a refugium. Planning the cabinetry and plumbing for this has been a fun challenge.

Building stuff is fun! Not to mention what I have built is 10X more sturdy than anything delivered on a truck. I even have velvet pads on the bottom of my stand so I can actually move my entire aquarium around. I plan on the frag system growing over time, so obviously I had to plan that in. I don't want to tear it down as I add to it.

I also plan on adding a fuge under the next stand. I have an old 20x20x20 cube which should allow for a 20-25 gallon refugium, and leave space for a custom ATO reservoir, so I can stop sluming it with the 5 gallon bucket next to my stand.