Sharkbait’s 40 Breeder Upgrade

[Sharkbait19]

Well, I’ve been in the reef hobby for about year and a half, and I think it’s finally time to upgrade! It feels so soon, but corals definitely love to grow…and grow…and grow.

At first, I was looking for larger AIO aquariums, as I loved the convenience of the Fluval Evo, but eventually expanded my research to other ideas. When I saw amazing deals on Petco’s website, I just couldn’t hesitate, and decided to purchase a 40 gallon breeder tank. So far, I have about half the equipment, with the rest coming in the mail throughout this week. The equipment includes:

- Sicce/Seachem Tidal 55
- Sicce Voyager Nano 2000
- Fluval M200 Aquarium Heater
- Lucare 36” reef aquarium light

Next up will be stand construction and purchasing more dry rock for the new hardscape. The goal is mainly to help my euphyllia, which are currently becoming victims to xenia and leather overgrowth.

The current Fluval 13.5 livestock (and future 40B livestock) includes:
- x1 (Evil) Mocha Clownfish
- x1 Aurora Goby
- x1 Tiger Pistol Shrimp
- x1 Emerald crab
- x6-8 Hermit Crabs (no clue how many are around these days…)
- x? Astrea Snails (same deal as hermit crabs)
- x 3-5 Nassarius Snails
- x 1 Brittle Starfish
- x 4 Leather Corals (various species)
- x 4 Frogspawns
- x 1 Indo Green Torch
- x 1 Red Favia Coral
- x 1 Green Lithophyllon
- x 1 Green Leptoseris
- x 1 Red Blasto
- x 1 Red Acan
- x 1 Miracle Rhodactis (somehow thriving under a pile of palys)
- x 1 GSP
- Various zoanthids
- Lemon Clove Polyps
- Green Clove Polyps
- Pulsing Xenia and Captain Jerks. Everywhere.

Some Planned livestock in the larger tank
- Red BTA
- Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
- Tuxedo Urchin
- Longnose Hawkfish
- Filefish?

Here’s some pics of my current 13.5g setup:

I’m really looking forward to this new tank and can’t wait to keep all of you up to date with everything going on! To those following my Fluval 13.5 Build thread and all those on Reef2Reef, thank you for the continued support and advice, as I truly couldn’t be where I am now without this amazing forum!!

 

[Sharkbait19]

Also, feel free to catch up on this… *ahem* …wild ride in my previous build!

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fluval-evo-13-5-build-thread.748756/

 

[GHOSTLY]

Excited to follow! Any plan for sps?

 

[Sharkbait19]

Excited to follow! Any plan for sps?

Glad you asked!! I plan on starting with easy SPS like pavona and montipora. I once tried an acro in my Fluval but I don’t think the tank was mature enough, so maybe I’ll try another one in the 40B way down the line. As far as other species go, I’ve had a mystery coral for a while that I only recently found out was a leptoseris, so I guess I’ve already been keeping an SPS alive!

 

[GHOSTLY]

Glad you asked!! I plan on starting with easy SPS like pavona and montipora. I once tried an acro in my Fluval but I don’t think the tank was mature enough, so maybe I’ll try another one in the 40B way down the line. As far as other species go, I’ve had a mystery coral for a while that I only recently found out was a leptoseris, so I guess I’ve already been keeping an SPS alive!

I haven't showed anyone yet but I'm growing acros and sps right now! I think your tank would look amazing filled with euphillias and those xenia you have

 

[Geebs19]

Cant wait to see it built!

 

[Sharkbait19]

Update:
I’ve put together the stand and have filled the tank for a leak test. I’m likely going to do the transfer tomorrow or Tuesday!

 

[Danroo]

after setting up the Fluval 13.5 I’m not going back to these tanks. The ease of AIO is amazing, plus it hides equipment which I really like. I still enjoyed setting up my first tank last year.

 

[Sharkbait19]

after setting up the Fluval 13.5 I’m not going back to these tanks. The ease of AIO is amazing, plus it hides equipment which I really like. I still enjoyed setting up my first tank last year.

I definitely have to agree that the aio is nice and easy. I would have done one but I couldn’t find anything I really liked (and flex 32 is a lot more expensive recently).

 

[Sharkbait19]

 

[Sharkbait19]

The final setup:

The back corner is reserved for my older rocks, which will go in tomorrow once the sand clears up. I’m also picking up another bag, because 40 pounds doesn’t seem deep enough.

 

[EricR]

What's the dark rock you're using? (Maybe I just missed it in the thread)

 

[Sharkbait19]

What's the dark rock you're using? (Maybe I just missed it in the thread)

My bad, I forgot to mention the rocks and sand I’m using.

In addition to the rocks and sand in my current tank (not added yet), I bought 20 pounds of caribsea purple life rock and 60 pounds of caribsea Fiji pink arag-alive sand. The darker color in the first pic is just the rocks without any light.

As you can see, the tank light, along with all the other equipment, arrived in the mail! All that’s left to add is water, and then the coral.

 

[Geebs19]

Lookin good!

 

[Sean Clark]

Following along.
What do you think of the Tidal filter? I was going to pick one up for a qt setup because I liked that the pump is in the water so it self primes and you can use whatever media you want in it. Or did I get that wrong?

 

[EricR]

Following along.
What do you think of the Tidal filter? I was going to pick one up for a qt setup because I liked that the pump is in the water so it self primes and you can use whatever media you want in it. Or did I get that wrong?

Me too ... also curious about the Tidal. (Self-priming is my understanding as well).

I have two super cheapie HOBs on a 40 breeder but Tidal 75 is in my Amazon list for when one dies.

 

[BeMoto]

I was really happy with my tidal 75. I use it for my qt tank. The self priming is very nice since we lose power all the time.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Haven’t ran it yet but I’ll tell you what I think of the filter once it’s up and running!

 

[Sharkbait19]

Well, ran out of salt while filling so I know I’m off to a great start lol…

 

[Sean Clark]

I was going to say that we have all been there... but prob not. I have definitely been here before.