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)

[lastlight]

Lots of nice rock you have there. Is any of that secured with ties or anything? It's amazing how your definition of stable will change once you're working in there all the time and once you start adding corals it's tough to make changes.

That one rock in the front left looks neat but what was your trick to keep that in place?

That shot of you pouring sand directly from the bag had me scrolling for the 'super cloudy water' shot and I found it! Too late now but I spend a good hour or more rinding my new sand and on occassion I've found pieces of wood and a massive amount of crud and dirt which is odd considering the bags always say 'just add to tank' lol.

Best of luck on your first tank. I'm impressed you got that trim off without issue. That can be a risky move!

[jphong]

Thanks lastlight, I got all the rock from a fellow reefer here and he sold me some really nice pieces. No zip ties yet and the rock on the left is held up by that underwater epoxy putty you get at the stores. Doesnt work great but it works for things like that.

Yeah the bag did mention rinsing but that slipped my mind cause of the excitement! Lesson learned for sure but the filter floss works so good.

Removing the trim wasnt that bad actually, the rim was already loose when I got it used off someone who was using it to keep reptiles. It was in really good shape just the silicone holding the trim wasnt bonded that well at the top. I ended up re-siliconing the top corners and the top of the glass rim along the perimeter where there was missing chunks. I know its kind of frowned upon but I wanted to try it anyways. Ive been keeping an eye on it the last week and so far nothing has changed so no prob! Its shallow as well so it should be fine, I think its at about 13" of height for water depth.

[ponokareefer]

Things look great thus far!

One thing to consider is damsel's can turn into terrors and go after all of your fish. You may want to reconsider getting one. Fish are quite hard to get out of a system once it is established.

[jphong]

Thanks ponokareefer. I like the blue of the damsel, any ideas on an alternate fish? I was planning on using it to cycle the tank in the next few weeks.

[Twinn]

Tanks looks good congrats. You might want to try a Starki damsel. Has the same blue as the damsel you like with a great yellow stripe on top. Although the Starki is a damsel it is not as aggresive as normal blue or yellow tail damsels.

[rstar]

Looks good so far! I believe if the tank didnt have a center brace, then the trim is purely cosmetic. I am working on a 40 breeder right now too and mine doesnt have a center brace. its a hagen tank and the glass is pretty thick!

[reefwars]

glad you liked the rock lil buddy youve got some nice pieces from some of the best tanks in the city nice rock work and cavesany questions you know where i live good luck


when that badboys established come see me ill set you up with a load of frags to fill it free!!!!!!!!!

[ponokareefer]

Originally Posted by jphong

Thanks ponokareefer. I like the blue of the damsel, any ideas on an alternate fish? I was planning on using it to cycle the tank in the next few weeks.

Blue is actually a color that seems to be hard to find in marine fish compared to other colors. There are large angels with blue in them, and the regal tang that is really large as well that wouldn't work in your system. I did try a blue chromis, but it died in quarantine a little while back. I'm not real familiar on the Starki damsel that was recommended.

[jphong]

Thanks guys for all the compliments.

Reefwars Ill be in touch in a few weeks