Budget/diy 40 gallon Build

Skay

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
May 24, 2023
Messages
895
Reaction score
1,082
Location
Orlando
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Alright, at the beginning of this year, I set out to build myself a reef tank. The problem is I’m a broke full time student. Regardless, I was getting that reef tank. I searched online and nothing was catching my eye. I wanted something big but not huge, while also being small but not too small. It had to be presentable as well since this was going in the living room. Every prebuilt system that was in my budget looked great but way too small (15g or less) so I settled on a sump design that utilized my existing aqueon 10 gallon currently housing my betta fish (sorry bud) along with a 40 gallon display tank. Out of pure chance, petsmart had a half off top fin aquariums deal that same week so I quickly bought one. Next was equipment. I ordered a pond pump, nicrew 100w light, individually controlled powerstrip, ceramic media, sand, a heater, bacteria, powerhead, eshopps m overflow, and finally a 10 gallon sump kit plus some extra goodies all on Amazon for around ~300 dollars. See attached.

354D7DFF-4623-4F73-9BFD-928A57765BCE.jpeg



So with everything here, we got to work. First, we derimmed the tank (save your replies I know the risks) and got to work drilling.

6FED7B41-FDD3-4FAF-9140-87E74B86E425.jpeg

9CC2AAFE-4A6C-4D71-BCD4-EF6F87260E91.jpeg



I bought a cheap stand on petco that was coincidentally also on sale and gave it a mock setup. Here’s how it looked.

F5EFEAAD-E861-4357-ACEB-FE5046E6E8BC.jpeg


Next was the sump, I evicted my betta and put him in an old 5 gallon container as temporary housing. I used silicon to assemble the sump kit. Once dried gave it a leak test and threw in the equipment.

3C0D3CB0-2E31-45DE-949B-2100EB6DAF6E.jpeg


Bonus photo betta housing

C22F0A81-55DA-4C7C-B307-6158EA91A975.jpeg


In hindsight I should’ve gotten a smaller heater as I would later add a protein skimmer and dry rock so the heater now sits diagonally vertically but what can you do. Now it’s time to put it all together.

1A21F40A-35D0-4697-971C-FD32B01F1787.jpeg


As seen above I bought some 1” pvc with 90 degree elbows. I’ll later change these to 45 degree joints as the flow resistance was quite literally shaking the entire system. I then drilled and setup the 3/4 return line along with adding black vinyl shown here

9542DD6B-31AD-439E-9C79-3FBC063D6F12.jpeg


If it looks a little bare bones stick with me. I end up upgrading all the loops. But now it’s almost ready for water, I set up the equipment one last time and gave her a look.

32E21ECD-1C01-485E-BF6E-B9238C346ED4.jpeg


A little before this I went to my lfs wwc in orlando to buy dry rock and hatched out a rough idea of how I wanted my aquascape.

FB656FEF-43B7-4C07-AB7A-9457EDFEF8C6.jpeg


I end up adding more rock later, but for now, it’s time to fill her up. Bought 3 five gallons buckets from home depot and me and my girlfriend went to buy the water. It took three trips to wwc and the thought of doing this every week was so awful I ended up purchasing an rodi system a month later LOL.

98267408-CD13-48A7-A99A-EEB97B357FBD.jpeg

6F1E91F7-C59F-4531-A16B-334962370F42.jpeg


A few of you might have noticed something I didn’t do especially for a diy build. A leak test. This’ll come back to haunt me as Immediately after pouring in the water I found two huge leaks both involving the overflow box. It was leaking at the connection point with the tank AND the left input pipe. Very discouraging but it was my own fault for not leak testing. So I got to work and drained the newly filled tank plus disconnected everything. To my surprise I misplaced one of the rubber gaskets on the primary bulkhead for the overflow box. See the eshopps box comes with two gaskets, one for the inside of the tank and one for the outside (not inside the box itself) and I mistakenly put both on the inside. Okay, easy fix for leak number 1. Leak number 2 proved more difficult. And again involved a rubber gasket. It was missing. I’m not sure where I placed it or if I just never got it included. Before I realized this I ended up pouring an ungodly amount of silicon around the bulkhead in hopes of stopping the leak to no avail. So off to lowes we went in search of a 3/4 rubber gasket. We didn’t find that but we found a sheet of rubber to make your gasket with customs dimensions.

ECFC0E83-D6BD-46D4-BF8B-2E60FFA8F1C8.jpeg


My girlfriend cut out two small donuts and I installed them in the bulkhead one on the inside and outside for good measure. To my surprise it worked, and to this day leak free. Okay, so back to filling. This is how she looked after everything settled

DDE70A6D-2F62-4CA8-8A20-E65A79914520.jpeg


I threw in the bacteria along with the live sand I used and waited a week. After testing some, it was time to add our first fish

CA520DA9-CDE6-4D5C-9993-D7EF667FFFCF.jpeg

Bathtub

732D69F2-3E5F-4A01-B4CD-CFBB43FEA1E3.jpeg

And Faucet

Shortly after I added unions to all pvc connections, ball valves, and extensions if needed. For the return line I added a check valve (that barely works for some reason) ball valve and union for ease of use. I'll include a picture in case anyone needs it

AFDCF54A-90F9-48BE-81EB-7FED44F8F35F.jpeg


Shortly after my mom bought a wooden cabinet stand from petco for the project so I installed that as well. Final look:

B9E8B6A4-C237-4F86-A3C9-48B1DEB7578C.jpeg

4B3FB794-2A07-465B-8A4A-960EF2E08BB3.jpeg

Ignore the anemone walking around in the first pic it’s a new addition and escaped its bowl. Here’s a pic when the lights are on

6EE745FD-7FE7-45A7-B6CB-837EA856EC2F.jpeg


Thanks for checking out my build thread, I haven’t found anyone online that has done a build like this. If you have any questions I’ll be happy to answer as a little help would’ve gone a long way for me. Overall fun yet stressful build, definitely going with prebuilt on my next tank. Some things I didn’t mention was my pump is way too strong for the system, so a couple 90 degree elbows was enough to slow the flow. Also what’s up with my pvc check valve not working? Who knows. Let me know if you have a similar build!
 
Last edited:

EricR

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 9, 2021
Messages
2,569
Reaction score
2,738
Location
California USA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Looks good! Nice work.
*biting tongue on rim removal

What are the dimensions of that Top Fin tank? (Just curious since I used to use their 37 gallon tall tank but ended up switching)
 
OP
OP
Skay

Skay

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
May 24, 2023
Messages
895
Reaction score
1,082
Location
Orlando
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Looks good! Nice work.
*biting tongue on rim removal

What are the dimensions of that Top Fin tank? (Just curious since I used to use their 37 gallon tall tank but ended up switching)
Thanks man! the dimensions for the 40 gallon are 36L 15W 17H in inches. Aqueons 40 gallon breeder is slightly shorter and wider
 
OP
OP
Skay

Skay

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
May 24, 2023
Messages
895
Reaction score
1,082
Location
Orlando
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
why would you remove the rim? its structural. did you put a clear reinforcing brace all around to prevent a blowout?>
i wanted a rimless look without rimless prices. i haven’t added any reenforcement, but i’m planning on upgrading later in the year anyway
 
OP
OP
Skay

Skay

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
May 24, 2023
Messages
895
Reaction score
1,082
Location
Orlando
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Installed an anemone basket to keep my nems since they aren’t going into this tank. think it came out nice i saw the design at wwc one day and thought it was a great idea. I took some styrofoam from an old monitor box to install floaties

29DAFAF1-C4D0-4863-BE24-696DE2935246.jpeg

50088B85-D785-4EC4-8715-5E87779B40AD.jpeg


Not enough light was hitting them so i hooked up a 30w i had lying around. i’d love to see other designs if anyone has any.

02D30DA9-8883-4901-B61D-3D076F59D223.jpeg
 

Gumbies R Us

Certified Noob
View Badges
Joined
Nov 10, 2022
Messages
14,188
Reaction score
24,058
Location
North Georgia
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Installed an anemone basket to keep my nems since they aren’t going into this tank. think it came out nice i saw the design at wwc one day and thought it was a great idea. I took some styrofoam from an old monitor box to install floaties

29DAFAF1-C4D0-4863-BE24-696DE2935246.jpeg

50088B85-D785-4EC4-8715-5E87779B40AD.jpeg


Not enough light was hitting them so i hooked up a 30w i had lying around. i’d love to see other designs if anyone has any.

02D30DA9-8883-4901-B61D-3D076F59D223.jpeg
Nice looking anemones! I like the basket idea
 

WhoDey

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 19, 2010
Messages
123
Reaction score
46
Location
Ft Lauderdale, Florida
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I've seen plenty of 40 breeders with their rim removed do just fine, they are a robust tank. Love the DIY approach, looks great. My only word of advice is to watch that spring check valve, the spring should be 316 Stainless but they can still corrode. I would suggest a flapper style check valve when you upgrade.
 
OP
OP
Skay

Skay

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
May 24, 2023
Messages
895
Reaction score
1,082
Location
Orlando
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I've seen plenty of 40 breeders with their rim removed do just fine, they are a robust tank. Love the DIY approach, looks great. My only word of advice is to watch that spring check valve, the spring should be 316 Stainless but they can still corrode. I would suggest a flapper style check valve when you upgrade.
THANK YOU! going to buy one right now and install it
 
OP
OP
Skay

Skay

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
May 24, 2023
Messages
895
Reaction score
1,082
Location
Orlando
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
So petco extended their half off tanks deal and well you guys know where i’m going with this lol. I bought a 20 gallon long with hopes of making myself a bigger sump. With my current setup i have close to 9 inches of horizontal space to work with on this 10 gallon.

3C8C25EB-0AFF-4A5D-96F3-63EBAE24FA85.jpeg


Give a scroll up to see the whole thing but i just finished siliconing everything in the 20 gal and i’m getting almost double the space. I bought a 30 dollar black acrylic sump kit off amazon for reference. Here’s the new setup!

01AA8E66-D5DE-45B8-8680-FA880F645485.jpeg


First chamber is filter sock and skimmer. Second large chamber im thinking i’m gonna put the anemones in, just to free up space up top. I’ve got ~17.5in of space in there, and the anemone basket is 10in wide. Maybe i can add a refugium in the future? Big plus my heater won’t look so haphazard anymore lol. Last chamber is for the return obviously. Easy part is done now tomorrow or friday i’ll have to rip out the old sump. Definitely not excited for that. I have to make a homedepot run for more plumbing as i have to redo basically everything. On top of that we have to figure out a way to actually put the new sump in, as i’m getting only about 4 inches of clearance under the stand and can’t just shove it in. Probably gonna have to backload it or worse case take the display tank off the stand and remove a panel. yay.
 
OP
OP
Skay

Skay

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
May 24, 2023
Messages
895
Reaction score
1,082
Location
Orlando
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Got it all installed. As i suspected i had to pull out the back panel to fit the tank in. Was a lot of work but with my girlfriend and her nephew we got it done. Here’s some pics of the install

8590368E-EB5E-40FD-BED3-0B0F71DE15E1.jpeg

(Old sump and plumbing)

E3E59AD1-8A52-4B82-8B9C-3209134EC379.jpeg

Had to remove the tank to uninstall the back panel and new sump

724DE8C9-BB51-4425-9BD4-60FE9BAA0277.jpeg

Look at all that space

Final look:
D9BA0A69-7E0E-45D8-A7D9-1D77A5CF2518.jpeg

2C3B684A-9156-4AE4-B544-9EBF33CE2B68.jpeg


Glad i did this, feels good to have a lot more space down there and adding to my water volume. Now to clean up lol
 
OP
OP
Skay

Skay

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
May 24, 2023
Messages
895
Reaction score
1,082
Location
Orlando
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
My carbon and gfo bags are kinda just thrown in my sump, with no real direct flow. I remembered a post about using hob filters for chemical filtration so i added an aqua clear 70 i had lying around. Thankfully both the bags fit with some room to spare and I should be getting 300 gph through them. I can’t think of a reason why this might be a bad idea other than evaporation? One thing to note is my water level is about half of the 20L so i had to extend the intake pipe. The water drops pretty far but it isn’t loud with my cabinet closed

1141D22B-B10B-447E-BDBC-7D95CF8C4A48.jpeg

2A760CEB-4363-4486-8822-54124F0A92E7.jpeg
 
Last edited:

Digitalfirex

5000 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 19, 2020
Messages
6,304
Reaction score
8,390
Location
CT
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
My carbon and gfo bags are kinda just thrown in my sump, with no real direct flow. I remembered a post about using hob filters for chemical filtration so i added an aqua clear 70 i had lying around. Thankfully both the bags fit with some room to spare and I should be getting 300 gph through them. I can’t think of a reason why this might be a bad idea other than evaporation? One thing to note is my water level is about half of the 20L so i had to extend the intake pipe. The water drops pretty far but it isn’t loud with my cabinet closed

1141D22B-B10B-447E-BDBC-7D95CF8C4A48.jpeg

2A760CEB-4363-4486-8822-54124F0A92E7.jpeg
This is a really good idea. It's basically what a media reactor is...
 
OP
OP
Skay

Skay

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
May 24, 2023
Messages
895
Reaction score
1,082
Location
Orlando
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I wanted a more clean sand bed and had frags everywhere without direction. I ended up ordering some egg crate off amazon and used that as a big frag rack in the sump. I made legs out of pvc, drilling a hole in the middle of the legs to loop zip locks through and secure them. I also put the anemones in a smaller office pencil holder, and added a powerhead. Here’s how it looks:

7DB3E11C-53CF-416E-871C-526F5B109C3A.jpeg

E2B936A3-B105-4FFB-A289-6A28395256B6.jpeg


The clowns in there are my grandmas that i’m holding for a bit lol. I’ve got a buddy sending me printed frag racks i’ll add to the DT for frags i still want displayed
 

Digitalfirex

5000 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 19, 2020
Messages
6,304
Reaction score
8,390
Location
CT
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
That looks super clean. Nems look happy too. Fyi, if you keep spare baskets on hand you can swap them out to clean when they get gunky.
 
Back
Top