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Waboss's new "shallow build"


waboss

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I recently moved and decided I wanted more horizontal space in the tank and wasn't really diggin' the cube design of my Reefer 170. So, since cash was a little tight during the move and I didn't really want to drop a bunch on a newer Reefer, like a 250 0r 350, I decided to go "old school" and just build a stand and drill a 40 breeder.

Now, to be fair, I did check with a couple of local builders to have a custom tank and metal stand built, but in both cases, it didn't work out. One had too long of a wait list for my needs and the other became unreachable after getting the quote. So that also helped "push" me into this decision (time will tell if it was a good idea or not......haha!)

So here's some details of the tank right now:

-Aqueon 40 Gallon breeder drilled for an eShopps Eclipse overflow and a 3/4" return
-Quiet One 5000 Return feeding a manifold for the other filters/reactors
-Deltec SC1351 skimmer
-Neptune Apex Classic
-2x DoS

-FMM module with sensors on return and UV filter
-BRS mini media reactor
-MP10 QDW
-Jebao PP-4
-Reefbreeders Photon 24 V2

-Aqua UV HOB 15 watt UV filter

So when I moved, I moved the LR (kept it wet) and just did basically a full water change. I did scrub the LR, in tank water, before putting it in the new tank since I had some hair algae issues in the old tank (looking back, I should have just started over......but I was trying to keep my coral and critters alive and happy...this partially worked).

 

I still need to build the panels to enclose the cabinet.  I have all the hardware, but need to go get some nice panels, cut them down, and stain them.

Here it is after "initial" setup 

(Initial is in quotes as I made several little changes during the very beginning of setup)

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I was really tired of having so many pumps and cables in my sump, and I wanted to free up the refugium area to use it for some macro algae,so I beefed up the return pump and added a manifold.

 

Here's where we are now:

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During this whole build out, I was dealing with some cyano issues and hair algae (probably from the move and then all the tinkering I was doing).  The cyano is prett much gone now and the hair algae is getting under control. So I'm hoping to have it all healthy and "smooth" soon.  Well, until I decide I hate the 40 breeder and go with something like a CAD lights shallow or have something else built.

Edited by waboss
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I'm liking the new sump area. What are you running in the mini media reactor?

I'm running carbon and GFO.......I pulled the biopellet reactor I had on the system as I got a huge GHA and cyano outbreak that I couldn't get rid of while running it.

 

Since I've removed it, cyano is gone and GHA is slowing disappearing (of course adding 20 snails and a lawnmower blenny helps too!)

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Ok, so added 2 T5's to the sides of the Photon V2.  Not that I needed the PAR, but I wanted something that looked a little better and would help with shading.  

 

Right now, everything is still very blue until I get the GHA fully under control, then I'll start getting a bit more balance to the color (I'll always keep it on the blue side, I like it, and when I'm diving, that's usually closer to the colors I see under water).

 

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So there was a good amount of light bleed in the room before the T5's, now there was waaaayyyy too much, so I built a "canopy" for it (open top).

 

I was going to switch it around and hand the lights from some shelf brackets I would mount to the wall, but after looking at it, and feeling a little lazy, I decided to just notch out the canopy on the side to accommodate the "feet/arms" of the stand for the light.  It looks ok from 5 feet away, it's a little rough up close though.  If I decide to hang the lights later on, I can just wrap the canopy with a nice vinyl wrap and it'll cover the notches anyway.

 

I need to take the notches up a little higher to fully "block" the T5 light bulbs from being seen when laying on the couch watching TV, but I'm going to add another brace across the side (on the inside) first.  Just to be safe.

 

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