Blu's 40B Build

Blukraken

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I recently started a Fluval 13.5 EVO which has done pretty well and have it in my room, however the family wanted something they could look at whenever they wanted. So here we are with a bigger 40 breeder DT.

First I need to list out the equipment I have, then of course pictures and struggles I had along the way, most had to do with the stand to be honest :grinning-face-with-sweat:.

Equipment:
Stand: Wood, stain, poly, screws, etc.
Plumbing: PVC, connections, valves, etc.
Tanks: 40B & 20g Long
ESHOPPS Eclipse L Overflow
Sump baffle kit
Skimmer: Reef Octopus Classic 110-INT Skimmer
Power: 9 Outlet PDU power strip with front switches
Powerheads: Jebao OW-25 wavemakers
Temperature: Inkbird temp controller / x2 EHEIM Jager heater 100W
Lighting: x2 AI Prime 16HD
Return Pump: Hygger 1060GPH w/ controller
LED grow light for refug
AutoAqua Smart ATO Lite
40lbs live sand special grade
~30-35lbs of marco dry rock
DIY screen kit from Lowes for a mesh lid

So finding a stand that each reefer likes, looks nice, hides things, etc. is pretty hard to find for a decent non-exorbitant price and can hold a 400lb tank on top. So I opted to make my own, but with that came some Googling. I am pretty good with DIY, but am awful at coming up with plans myself. So credit where credit is due. I found and followed the instructions from this guy https://www.instructables.com/Fish-Aquarium-Stand-40-breeder-tank-with-hidden-s/. I bought all the wood, stain, plywood and set out.
Wood.jpg

Cutting the wood was a pain at first. I used to old wood chairs to hold both ends of each 8ft long 2x2. I ended up buying some actual stands to help with this since I needed to cut plywood anyways.
Cut Wood.jpg

Fast forward until all my struggles were over (about 2-3 weeks building this every day) and it's complete-ish. No more in progress pictures because my stress and frustration distracted me!
Frame and Panels.jpg

Staining this was a pain since I initially started with too thick of a layer and after 24 hours was pretty tacky. Most likely due to being in a garage, with it closed and high humidity in Houston not allowing it to dry properly. So I wiped the excess off (which was miserable). However, I like how the staining came out with it rubbed off. It looks older? Worn? Anyways... after the staining was done I put a couple layers of poly on there and then attached the doors!
Finished Front.jpg

The bottom trim is actually "secret door" which is pretty neat the guy came up with to allow the 20g Long sump to slide in due to the frame in the center of the front doors.
Finished side bottom secret door.jpg

Next I had to drill my tank...It didn't crack, but I did have to go out and buy another tank and do it over. The ESHOPPS overflow does not make it easy on rimmed tanks and took a failed attempt and crossing my fingers for the second that it would fit properly. Once drilled I put it on the stand with the overflow "attached" to mark out where I need to drill holes in the backside of the stand for my plumbing without having it look nasty and all over the place with PVC. While doing this I also drilled out the hole for the PDU power cord.
Overflow and Plumbing.jpg

I had an issue with a leak and the overflow as well. On the inside and outside. Getting the nuts on properly was a pain and I cut my knuckles up pretty bad holding the inside weir bolt and tightening the nut on the other side. I ended up tightening the outside nut too tight which led to a leak (hoping I didn't crack the glass). I redid it, and now only the inside leaked. I took off the entire box and found that the rubber gasket it came with had 2 pronounced rings on one side and flat on the other. After flipping these around there were no more leaks!
Leaky Overflow.jpg

HOWEVER! the way the overflow template worked and the rim of the tank caused the water level to be too low. So with some more DIY I took the cover for the outside overflow box and went to Lowes and bought plastic wing nut screws. I drilled a couple holes on either end of the overflow lid and screwed them onto the weir to allow a water level just over the bottom of the trim. The water still flows well enough and I don't have to see a water line. With the bean animal style overflow I can't hear it drain anyways.

This was the finished look inside the stand with plumbing, skimmer, power, lights all hooked up. I ended up labeling the switches later that night. Bought some outside industrial strength velcro and zip ties and tidied up the wiring, so now you can't see much. The return pipe has a manifold coming off in case of future upgrades as well. The center wood piece is blocking the refug area. I also bought some egg crate and lifted the skimmer about .5 inches out the sump level too.
Sump.jpg


On to the fun part! I took the extra cardboard from the first failed 40B and the second 40B and created a cardboard tank to test out some rockscapes and settled on the below. Oddly enough, when putting the scape in the tank with epoxy and glue the right side took me about an hour to get situated without me feeling like a goby or snail would knock it over at some point.
Idea for Aquascape.jpg

Scape and filled.jpg

As I finish typing this, the tank has cycled and have 2 clowns from my Fluval 13.5 in here now and have chosen the left powerhead to host for now and have ignored the rest of my tank that I worked hard on so I wanted to share with some people who may care lol.

Thanks for listening to my Ted Talk, I will try to keep this updated with all upgrades, fish, corals, etc. And of course problems and resolutions to things I come across. As a preview, I have a media reactor coming Tuesday to be used as a carbon reactor to be the first to hook up to the manifold, and some chaeto and pods for the refug.
 

SPR1968

No, it wasn’t expensive dear....
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That looks very nice and beautiful woodwork!
 

Sebastiancrab

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Nice work! What size PVC did you use and which Auto Aqua model? Will be curious to know how happy you are with the ATO and the WaveMaker. Are there 2 or 1 Jabeo and where are you placing them? I have the same setup as you.
 
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Blukraken

Blukraken

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That looks very nice and beautiful woodwork!
Thank you! It took a lot of time and frustration getting the 45 degree angles right without a miter saw lol.
Nice work! What size PVC did you use and which Auto Aqua model? Will be curious to know how happy you are with the ATO and the WaveMaker. Are there 2 or 1 Jabeo and where are you placing them? I have the same setup as you.
I used 1" PVC for the overflow drains and 3/4" for the return pump and manifold. I love this ATO, I have it on my 13.5 and this new setup and have had no problems with it. Pump is powerful enough and small enough to fit in most containers and it shuts off quickly when water level is reached.

There are 2 Jebao wave makers one on the front left and one on the back right under the return nozzle. They are both set at the lowest setting on a sine wave which the fish love so far. (You can kind of see the placement in the very last picture of the post)
 

Kraig

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Nice job! I have a similar setup and I love it, although we are already dreaming of the day we upsize!
 

RedoubtReef

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love the DIY stuff. Great that you posted pics of how you built things. Did you use pre-conditioner on that before staining? One tip for the future, when breaking down plywood sheets, lay it on a 1" or thicker foam insulation board. You then set your circular saw blade to slightly more than your material thickness and can cut things right on the ground.
 
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Blukraken

Blukraken

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love the DIY stuff. Great that you posted pics of how you built things. Did you use pre-conditioner on that before staining? One tip for the future, when breaking down plywood sheets, lay it on a 1" or thicker foam insulation board. You then set your circular saw blade to slightly more than your material thickness and can cut things right on the ground.
That's actually a great idea. I did not use pre-conditioner, but I did sand it before staining. I think I said I initially put too much on, but after wiping it off it gave it an older rustic look which I liked.
Nice job! I have a similar setup and I love it, although we are already dreaming of the day we upsize!
Honestly, I think a 40 is plenty for me. Maintenance on anything bigger would be too much for me. Plus I don't think I'd want to built a bigger stand lol!
 

Sebastiancrab

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Given the costs of everything increasing plus the work involved, I am very glad I decided on a 40 breeder. Just a thought, you might want to add a fan in the wall of your cabinet. Mine runs all the time.
 
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Blukraken

Blukraken

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Given the costs of everything increasing plus the work involved, I am very glad I decided on a 40 breeder. Just a thought, you might want to add a fan in the wall of your cabinet. Mine runs all the time.
Funnily enough, I ended up drilling a couple holes in the back and adding 2 PC fans with a DC controller on them. Helps out tremendously with humidity inside the cabinet. This was about 10 minutes after filling the tank up I realized I forgot the fans lol.
 

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