Lissa's 40BR upgrade!

[ellebelle]

Despite saying I was totally happy with my tank and that I would never, ever want to upgrade ....

I decided to upgrade.

I have my reasons:
1) I want to be able to keep clams and some SPS
2) I want to give my livestock some room to spread out by increasing surface area and not water volume
3) I've hated my crushed coral substrate since I put it in. I want sand!

My current set up is:

29g drilled AGA w/ 10g sump
AquaC EV 120 run by Mag 5
Eheim 1250 return pump
Pacific Coast 1/10 HP chiller powered by a ViaAqua
2 x 65w PC, 1 10K 1 actinic
2g (ish) ghetto bucket fuge powered by mag 1.5
approx. 40lbs LR
crushed coral substrate
2 MJ 900 and 1 small ViaAqua on Tsunami wavemaker
TLF Phosban reactor w/ phosban

My new set up is:

40br drilled AGA internal overflow w/ 10g sump
AquaC EV 120 Skimmer
Pacific Coast 1/10 HP chiller
Blue Line 40 HD-X external pump
2 x 175w Ushio 14K (I think) MH w/ 36" PFO Parallel Reflector
2 x 65w PC actinic supplementation
Blueline dual electronic ballast
ACjr.
8g ghetto bucket fuge
approx. 50 lbs LR
ESV fine grade aragonite sand
flow to be determined .. maybe a Seio?
2 TLF reactors - 1 phosban, 1 carbon
DIY ATO system

By running everything off of one pump, I'm hoping to make the whole system more efficient. By having my fuge as a separate container in a jerry-rigged bucket, it makes it easy to either add or remove it from my system.

I am hoping to make the switch very soon.

 

[grisha]

hey lissa . what a nice equipment for 40 b. very solid plan. i made a switch from 30 to 40. and i love the space it gave me and my live stock

 

[fritz]

Well done.
Can't wait to see pics.

 

[jhale]

I'm digging the clear bulkheads.

can't wait to see the tank set up.
I'll donate some SPS for the tank warming

 

[ellebelle]

Thanks everyone! I've tried to really think this through now that I know a lot more about reefkeeping than when I set up my 29.

Jon -
Yeah, I'm digging the clear bulkheads too. The tank is courtesy HOF since we cracked the first one I bought. :sad2:
I'll have to check your tank thread and do a little shopping. :biggrin: :hug:

 

[Awibrandy]

Best wishes Lissa!! I love that tank already, I can only imagine how beautiful it is going to be once your done with it..:groupflip

By the way did I get to meet you at the frag swap? I met so many people I kinda lost track. Are you the young lady who bought the skimmer from HOL?

 

[scarf_ace1981]

welcome to the 40br club!

i liked mine so much i got a 65g. same footprint just taller.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Nice, Good luck!

 

[ellebelle]

Best wishes Lissa!! I love that tank already, I can only imagine how beautiful it is going to be once your done with it..:groupflip

By the way did I get to meet you at the frag swap? I met so many people I kinda lost track. Are you the young lady who bought the skimmer from HOL?

Thanks Awilda. No, we did not meet at the frag swap - I bought my skimmer from fritz a while ago. I'm sure we'll have an opportunity to meet one of these days!

 

[OBTEPPER]

Bruce

enjoy, Im certain your tank will flourish. I would give you Bruce, but I think Jordana would get upset. He would do so well in your tank - HAHA. Seriously though, I'm going to go to Greenwich aquaria within the next month. PM me if you are interested in a ride.

 

[PalmTree]

Nice Lisa! are the 2 bulkheads for return or drain or both?

 

[SlamaJama]

lets stop draggin our feet and fill that sucker!!...BOL!

 

[ellebelle]

Nice Lisa! are the 2 bulkheads for return or drain or both?

They are both for the drain - one drain will go into the fuge bucket and one will go into sump. If I decide to remove the fuge, I'll just move it so both drains go to the sump. Gives the system a little redundancy in case something happens to block one of the drains. They'll be covered by a small internal overflow box.

Mike, I have to get all of the parts before I can fill it!!!!!

 

[KathyC]

Looks like it will be a great set up for you Lissa and congrats on the extra real estate you'll have!!

One question..how are you getting the water from your ghetto fuge back over to your sump to recirculate? Adjustable PH?

Are you going to document the switch over? And..do LMK if you need a hand when you're ready to do it :smile:

 

[ellebelle]

It's going to drain by gravity. The ghetto fuge is taller than the sump, so it will drain from the tank to the fuge, and then from the fuge to the sump via a hose.

And OF COURSE I will document the switch over!! I'll definitely let you know if I'm going to need a hand - we could do this girl power style.

 

[ellebelle]

It's been a while, but the tank is up and running (basically).

Skimmer and livestock are still with the old tank.

Display with 15lbs (approx.) of rock to start the sand bed cycling before I put any livestock into it. It's being lit with 1 Ushio 14k 175w MH on a PFO parallel reflector I'm not too crazy about the canopy, so the lights will eventually be suspended over the tank. I was going to go with two MH, but I actually don't think I need 2. I'm getting a nice uniform light distribution with just one.

Sump action! The hose barb will be attached to the skimmer. The one ball valve that goes nowhere is where the fuge will be plumbed to (still looking for two parts to finish that plumbing.

 

[jhale]

looks like it's coming along nice.

I have some thick rubber matte you can use for the pump instead of the pot holders

there's no partition in the sump?

 

[ellebelle]

Nope, no partition in the sump. Since the fuge is being fed separately, why do I need a partition?

And thank you for the offer of the rubber matting. :hug: The potholders don't work so well either. And I burned my finger taking muffins out of the oven yesterday.

 

[NYreefNoob]

elle can i make a suggestion for the fuge area. i have a pump in my sump the pumps water into remote dsb fuge, this way i never have to worry about a floob because of the way i sat it up. i raised the dsb tank above the sump so as it fill's it drains back down into sump area where return is so my pods ect get to the tank, here's a pic
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/tank-threads/30034-start-my-new-nano.html

 

[ellebelle]

Rick, that's exactly what I'm doing. The actual fuge-bucket isn't in that photo because I've been monitoring the plumbing for leaks. My goal with this set up was to remove as many pumps as possible which it why I'm feeding my fuge from the main pump.