40B Journey

Solga

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Literal copy and paste from the new members section, (Thanks for the link @Peace River !)

Ok, this is going to be the page that I dedicate to getting my saltwater aquarium up and going. I did post this on another site, but will be updating both, so if this needs to be posted somewhere else, please let me know. I will warn anyone who is reading that this will be a drawn out process, as my work schedule and the holidays will be dictating how much time I can put into getting everything set up and together. Not to mention, I like to make sure I have my ducks in a row before I go throwing things together. If you cant tell by the title, I have a 40 breeder aquarium now, (thanks to $ per gallon sale). The next item up, will be building a stand for it. The stand will not be anything fancy, just a simple 2x4 stand with some kind of skinning on the outside.
I am leaning towards getting a Fiji cube AIO insert for this tank. I am just afraid that with a sump, and having occasional power outages, I really do not want a whole aquarium worth of water all over the floor of my house.
For lighting, I am probably going to go with a LED T5 hybrid of some sorts. I do not have anything definite planned yet, but I am open to considerations. Also, I have the $$ to buy the best of the best name brands, but I prefer to buy on a more practical sense. I don't need wifi, remote access, fingerprint security, Alexa capabilities, the ability to switch to grow the best THC based plants, or even automatic door locks & power windows (errr canopies). lol
For coral, I am not the type of person to go spend a bunch of money on a name, so I will probably be shopping for the bargain deals and the "I'm not real sure what this is" sales. I will have a GSP (cheap) island, cheaper Zoas, clove polyp & softies, a couple rock nem's and maybe a leather or 2. Don't grill me too much, but I am just not a fan of SPS, so there wont be any of those.

As far as fish stocking goes, I think it would be neat to have a goby (singular or pair) dominated tank, with maybe one clown fish. Although I am still doing research on what all kinds of gobies can be placed together in the same aquarium, I seem to be getting some conflicting information. Does anyone have actual, first hand experience with this ?

I already have about 150 pounds of dry rock, and will do the majority of scaping with it, but I am not wanting to start and cycle this with only dry rock. Does anyone have an idea on where to buy just one or two (live) rock ? The closest LFS to me is about 30 minutes away, and I very rarely travel to that city. The next closest is over an hour away. I have looked online at the vendors for the cultured live rock, and it seems as if the minimum order is for 25 pounds ... and I don't need 25 more pounds of rock.


Enough rambling,
Adam
 

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If you design your tank right you should never have an overflow from either the tank or the sump. That being said, instead of an AIO insert you might want to consider a HOB filter like a Seachem Tidal (just another option).
 
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Solga

Solga

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Thank you for the reply ! Flooding is just one of the issues that I was considering, when I decided on the AIO kit. Another, is noise. While I do understand that there are sump systems that can be made fairly quiet, it is just easier on me, for this build, not to incorporate a sump. After a couple of the kids move out, and I can take over their bedroom, I will have a bigger tank, with a separate sump. But until then, this 40b is just going to have to satisfy my "salty" craving.

Adam
 
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Solga

Solga

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Just a quick update, I have a 75 gpd RODI unit on the way, and I decided to go ahead with the sump, so I also ordered a 800gph overflow kit from modular marine.
Just going to reuse a sump setup that I already have in storage. Gonna start looking for a return pump before too long.
 
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Solga

Solga

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Just got an early Christmas present dropped off at the door.

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Solga

Solga

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This hasn't been updated in a while, so I'll post up some pictures as soon as I get a chance.
I have recently received 2 shipments of live ocean rock around March 10th. One from Tampa Bay Saltwater and one from Gulf Live Rock. Both companies were exceptional, and have great live rock !

Yesterday, I played hookie from work so I could go to the INDMAS frag swap Indianapolis. I was honestly not planning on buying anything, mostly because I only have a 10g setup with about 25 pounds of live rock in it right now. Well ... you know how it goes ... I bought a coupe somethings. Lol
I have always loved the fireworks clove polyps for a couple reasons. One, because the name (fireworks) covers 2 of my passions, coral and fireworks. But the other is, even though it is considered a beginner coral, I REALLY like the coloration, and the movement, and is one of the main reasons for getting into the coral side of saltwater aquariums.
Not really expecting to find any, I told myself that if I seen some (FCP) for sale it was going to be the only thing that would get me to buy something. Ha !! I found some at the Reef Donkey Corals booth, and of course they were priced a A LOT less than I was expecting to pay, so I also picked up a nice frag of the Jack-o-lantern Leptoseris. To me, those are also an amazing looking coral with the electric orange highlights and the neon yellow/green mouths. A friend of mine was with me, and picked up some nice zoas to get in on the deal, and we were even given an extra zoa frag for free ! For the record, Christopher (Reef Donkey Corals) has some amazing looking coral, and is a very pleasant person to speak with !
Also, while at the frag swap, I noticed a good sized mat of GSP about the size of my hand for sale, so for $10 I picked it up too. When we got back, I took a razor and split the GSP mat and gave half of it to my friend as a thank you for driving.
Again, I will post up pictures when the fireworks clove polyps open up and I get the pics off of my phone.

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Solga

Solga

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Just got an order in today from Top Shelf Aquatics !
2 margarita snails
2 trochus snails
1 Mexican turbo snail
And 1 Dragon Soul Favia !!!

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Solga

Solga

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Not much of an update, but there is a little bit.
I recently was given a 29 tall, that was stocked, and the guy just didn't have time to take care of. With it, I got various equipment and (what I think is) a mocha clown fish. I set this all up, in a rather bit of a hurry, as it was a come get it now, kinda deal.
So, I got an order in today from Biota ! Got an Orange Storm clownfish, and a Rainford's goby that is going in the 29g until I can finish the 40b setup.

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