My Big Beautiful Budget Breeder Build

[Dom]

Thank you! I’m super excited to get it going after a few years with only small nanos.. You can drill the 40 breeder but they do say they may use tempered glass occasionally If that’s all that’s available, so I would test first.. supposedly the bottoms are never tempered according to their specification chart.

Tried drilling an Aqueon 4o Long a short while back. Anything above their 33 Long has tempered glass. Look at my build thread to see what happened. LOL

They have a separate line of "reef ready" aquariums.

I use them all the time. Sure; they may not be the prettiest, but they are sturdy.

 

[Retro Reefer]

So I finished the flip last night, took the opportunity to change half the water and work on my aquascape while putting rock back in.. fortunately the old tank was so new and clean that flipping everything to the new tank had virtually no impact.

 

[Retro Reefer]

Once I’m happy with the rock placement and confident pest are elevated I’ll try to join the structure together to provide some stability..

 

[Retro Reefer]

So I got another pic of new rockwork with better lighting and moved the clown from my nano that I’m taking down into new tank, he doesn’t seem to know what to do with all the space..

 

[Retro Reefer]

Working on fragging up some starter corals for the new tank.. things are progressing quicker than anticipated, using fresh live rock and water, bio material from established tank have all contributed.. it will still be October before lighting is installed but at that point I will start stocking.

 

[ramona]

I like your details, very good learning thread for newbies
Keep us up as you progress!

 

[Retro Reefer]

I like your details, very good learning thread for newbies
Keep us up as you progress!

Thank you, figured it would be boring for most but I’m glad your getting some usefulness from my thread.. I will be documenting just about everything as the tank progresses.

 

[Retro Reefer]

Picked up a $8 top off container from Wally World, holds little over a gallon which should last me 2-3 days.. I’m not comfortable have something larger, with the smaller container If I have a ATO failure I’m not going to pump enough water into system to dramatically effect chemistry or cause flooding.

 

[Retro Reefer]

Added another couple pieces of rock to tank, think I’m just about where I want to be but still have another piece or two I may add... all those little pieces laying around on substrate will be repositioned or removed, they are odds and ends from the nano I broke down.

 

[grassy_noel]

Ok, I've never had a tank with a sump, so I apologize for the dumb question. On your HOB overflow, do you have to be physically present to re-start the siphon if the return pump turns off? Or will it re-start on its own?

Thanks!

 

[Ruben's Reef]

Great build !!! Following >>>

 

[Retro Reefer]

Ok, I've never had a tank with a sump, so I apologize for the dumb question. On your HOB overflow, do you have to be physically present to re-start the siphon if the return pump turns off? Or will it re-start on its own?

Thanks!

No.. it never loses syphon, when you restart return pump water just starts flowing again. The only time you would need to restart would be if you disassembled it for cleaning, something clogs the U tube such as a snail (use gutter guard to prevent), or if your flow is to slow you will get a pocket of air that forms at the top of the arch on the U tube eventually breaking syphon.

 

[Retro Reefer]

Great build !!! Following >>>

Thanks for stopping in!

 

[Retro Reefer]

Working on setting up a cabinet to hide wires and my DC controllers, Nothing fancy just a place to hide everything and maybe store some extra equipment, I’m thinking about installing a small refugium made from a 3.7 gallon Pico I have and plumbing it into the sump so the cabinet would also double as a stand for that.. I still need to mount power strip and clean up the wires around sump.

 

[Retro Reefer]

So I’m 5 weeks wet, 4 weeks with rock and 3 weeks cycled.. tank seems to be pretty stable with very little algae growth except for a dusting of diatoms on substrate, amazing how clear my water is staying.. early morning picture from today with just white light.

 

[Devaji]

glad everything is going good!

 

[Retro Reefer]

Moving forward with the refugium, cleaned up my 3.7 gallon Pico tank and picked up some plumbing supplies.. it will be a place for another piece or two of rock, macro algae and critters that get booted from main display.

 

[grassy_noel]

Curious how you’ll move water between the two. I’ve been thinking of doing something similar, but I can’t work out how to plumb into the AIO refugium without drilling it. Thanks!

 

[Retro Reefer]

Curious how you’ll move water between the two. I’ve been thinking of doing something similar, but I can’t work out how to plumb into the AIO refugium without drilling it. Thanks!

Making a pvc HOB overflow.. this style will automatically restart if the flow (pump) is stopped, I’m also working on making it self priming on initial initial start up but I will need to use a aqua lifter pump to make sure it maintains syphon or make a emergency shut off float switch for the pump so if the syphon brakes the tank won’t overflow.

 

[Retro Reefer]

Still a lot of tweaking to do but here is a picture of it on the tank and inserted into the internal weir in rear sump compartment of refugium.. I will use one of the chambers in this little AIO for mechanical filtration so my drain line can run right into the return section of main sump..