jphong's 75G + 40G Breeder + 15G Refugium

[jphong]

Apr 6, 2011
All my tanks in this one thread instead of a bunch of different ones.


Hi all I thought it would be fun to start a journal for my first saltwater tank. I've been doing freshwater for a year now and have decided to try my hand at a saltwater tank for fun after being inspired by pictures of another 40 gallon breeder.

Equipment Setup:

1. 40 gallon breeder tank
2. 48" - 4 bulb T5HO fixture w/ blue LED moonlights from Ebay (12000k and actinic blue ordered)
3. 2 x Aquaclear 70 HOB filters
4. Eshopps PSK-75H protein skimmer
5. 2 x Hydor Koralia 2 powerheads
6. Jager Ebo 150W heater
7. Milwaukee pH monitor and controller
8. Reverse Osmosis with DI by Aquasafe Canada and inline dual TDS meter (booster pump on the way)
9. 45 Gallon Brute water container with hose and pump

I did a bunch of initial research at first to decide the equipment and tank I wanted to go with in terms of maintainability and floor space. The 40 gallon breeder seemed like the best to start with. Ive been spending a lot of time in the local marine shops lately and have gotten a good idea of some starter fish. Ken at Blue World was a lot of help so shout out to him and his shop, great guy and livestock was really nice.

Reefwars sold me about 50lbs of his live rock from his tank on the weekend and he was a great guy to meet. I hope I will meet more local fellow reefers in the upcoming events for advice and help on my first tank. This site has helped more than I could ever find in the book stores.

Possible Fish Choices:

1. Ocellaris clownfish
2. Green/Blue Chromis

Im going to keep the initial livestock light so I can add more unique fish later in the tank development stages. I know it will be a few weeks until the fish go in but I was told I can put some snails, hermit crabs and cleaner shrimp after the first week or so. I will be picking some up soon.

I took the top rim off the tank to give it a cleaner look. The middle is only bowing a little and it was tested in the bathtub for a few days before setting it up where it is now. I looked around online and figured it would be safe since the top rim was split into two pieces from the factory. Ill do some measurements on it today but its holding up really well.

The Koralias are coming in the mail soon. The Eshopps HOB protein skimmer was something I was looking for since I am going sumpless for both ease and available space. I tested it out and it works great, the bubbles are really fine with the needle wheel. I did a DIY overflow container out of an old liquor bottle with a hole drilled in the lid.

Here are some pics of the setup process that happened over the weekend! Ill keep the thread updated with pics as more happens to the tank! Took some poly filler from a small extra pillow around the house and put into the HOB filters to remove fine sand particles in water. Lets just say it worked 100x better than letting it settle by itself overnight. Its crystal clear now.

Cheers, John.

PS Thanks to my girlfriend and buddy Mukesh for being supportive and patient with my obsessiveness. This tank is for you guys, and Canreef!

40 gallon breeder


Eshopps Skimmer


My buddy adding sand



Filled and live rock added


Testing LED moonlights


Initial aquascape (really unstable)


Setup behind tank


Current aquascape (Sept 16, 2010)