LehnerTanks First 40B Build

Hey all!

I am brand new to 3reef. I am ideally looking for a good place to write a tank build and get input from others on how I seem to be doing.

Personal Background:
I have about 2 years of aquarium experience. My first saltwater tank started about 6 months ago with a Aqueon Evolve 4G. I love it and I have definitely put more time and money into that than my two freshwater tanks. I’m sure I will post a bit about it in the future. Right now though I am all consumed with the build of my first 40G tank. This is obviously my largest SW tank ever so I am very excited to set it up. The project has been in development for about 3 months so this first post is going to be a long one. Feel free to read at your leisure and I hope that you’ll join me in my first build of a large (anything bigger then 4G is large to me ) tank.

Build Background:
It all started when I picked up a 40B and stand from a friend. Unfortunately the tank was 22 years old and I was hesitant to have the glass drilled for a sump. Instead I sold the tank to my LFS and picked up a nice and shiny new DeepBlue 40B. I also picked up a Tetra 20L from petco during the 1$/1g sale to set up as my sump. It was the largest tank to fit in the stand other than a 29 and I figured I would appreciate the extra arm room in the stand then a few extra gallons.

Display Tank (40B):

• Drain: I have had the DT drilled for a 1.5” drain and a 0.5” return. I was not happy with a pvc elbow and a strainer in the tank for the drain. My LFS happened to have an overflow that they removed from a reef ready tank for a customer and so I picked it up and installed it in my tank. I like that it is low-profile and that there are no white pvc in the tank.
• Powerhead/Wavemaker: I am not set on any so I would appreciate any input.
• Rock/Sand: I am planning on all dead rock. I am unsure on sand. I would like a sand. I have sugar sand in my 4g and I would love something a bit larger. I think I also want to go with black sand.
• Lighting: I have a single 36" T-8 that I am going to put a blue or purple bulb in. And a 2 bulb 24" t5 fixture. I plan on upgrading but since I don't have the money right away to go high end I figured I would stock FOWLR until I have to money to buy lights to support coral.

Sump (20L):
So my sump is divided into three parts using a bubble trap between the skimmer and fuge and a single piece of glass and eggcrate combo between the fuge and return.

• Skimmer: I have a SCA-302 skimmer for the tank.
• Return Pump: I am planning on a Danner Supreme Mag 5 unless I am convinced otherwise.
• Fuge: I plan on having rock, sand and macro algae in the fuge. A store opened up nearby that has fantastic Macroalgae and I think I am going to modify the stand so that my fuge is displayed and looks all nice and such. It is lit by a 12" t5 fixture I picked up at home depot and installed in the stand. I plan on installing a full spectrum bulb.

Livestock:
All of this is planned so please feel free to comment. I need advice on stocking though!

• Occelaris Clownfish Pair: 1 Orange/White (already owned) & 1 Black/White
• Dwarf Angel: Flame, Pygmy, Coral Beauty. I would love to have any of these. I do plan on a reef tank and I know that these are "reef-safe with caution"
• Your Suggestions here!

Current Project:
I am currently finishing assembling the baffles in the sump, the plumbing and stand setup. Any input or advice on any of the above would be greatly appreciated. I tried to set this up as cleanly and understandable as possible but if you have recommendations on the layout let me know! Also, I can post pictures of most of this but since it is already such a long post I thought I would spare you until someone asked for them.

 

from the things i hear, I'd say hold off on the dwarf angel till you get the tank established a bit more

 

wow! welcome to 3reef! I think your plan sounds awesome although I don't know a lot about sumps and plumbing so can't comment on that. I know many people really like the 40B tanks with their dimensions. It makes for the ability to have a nice aquascape and swimming room for fish. In terms of the lighting, many recommend ATI or geismann (sp) bulbs. I have ATI bulbs in mine with two blue plus and two coral plus. This makes for a beautiful spectrum - pleasing to the eye and good for corals.

You may want to have at least one piece of live rock in with the dead rock. This can help with seeding the dry and allow some coralline to be in the tank so it can hopefully spread at some point. Although there can be some negative hitch hikers, live rock can be very cool with the interesting life that grows on it. I have a combination of aragonite sand and crushed coral and like this for my substrate. Some will say that crushed coral can be a detritus trap but if you clean sections during water changes, that can be dealt with. I would also see if you can get a cup or so of some existing live sand to add to your bed to help with establishing beneficial bacteria. I would suggest to keep your sand bed at about 1 1/2 to 2 inches.

In terms of a powerhead, I think a WP-25 may be perfect for a 40B. Koralias are also good but they are kind of bulky and don't put out near the amount of flow as the 25. A lot of flow helps with many things in a reef tank including keeping detritus in the water column so it can be removed by mechanical and biological filtration.

As far as livestock goes, obviously clowns are great. I would opt for a coral beauty instead of a flame because many have not had long-term success with keeping flame angels. There is a recent thread on here discussing this. I would definitely recommend that you look at a goby/pistol shrimp combo. Blennies are an interesting fish and most are hardy and not aggressive. I always tout the hawkfish as a great little fish. There are also many colorful wrasses (you will need a cover of some sort on your tank) and a few experts on them on 3reef so you can get advice on which ones would be a good fit with your size of tank.

Hmm....I think my response outdid your original but hope this helps. I'm sure others will chime in with great advice. You've found an awesome forum with very helpful and extremely knowledgeable people.

 

Wow, thanks for the response.

Thanks for the stocking info. I think I would like to go with either a Coral Beauty, or Pygmy dwarf angel. A clown pair, a goby/pistol shrimp pair, and either a wrasse or a dottyback, I'll look into hawkfish as well.

Is a mag 5 sufficient for a return pump?

 

Ok so I think that this is my final livestock list. Nothing's definite as the tank isn't even wet yet. But I guess you could say this is my wish list.

1. Ocellaris clown pair
2. A pair of pink streaked wrasses
3. Yellow Watchman Goby
4. Pygmy or CB dwarf angel

The baffles are all finished. And the mag 5 should be here tomorrow. I've been slowly accumulating dry rock from a variety of stores. Looking forward to getting this whole thing started finally!

 

Sounds like a great list for the tank. Might consider adding the Clowns and Angel last, but over all it should work out fine. I like the Pink Streaked Wrasse.
The only pygmy Angel I have had issues with was the Cherub, he eventually nipped at clams and was bully, chasing the more passive fish.

 

Sounds like a great list. I'm not familiar with the wrasses but the others sound great. I think the coral beauty has more better coloration than the cherub IMO. I've never kept a cherub so I can't comment on its compatibility with corals.

 

Thanks! Yeah I really like the idea of the wrasse pair. If anyone has any info on the pink streaked wrasse please let me know. I have a bunch of lfs in the area that are good at getting anything. I am still open for suggestions though considering the price of the pair would be pretty high.

I essentially have received everything for the tank. I have hooked up the ro system I bought and I am waiting for that to make water. Talk about watching paint dry.

The plumbing is almost finished I added a filter sock holder and I have had people say that I should not go with a filter sock. I figured I would try it and if it doesn't go well I'll have a nice looking inlet into the sump with a splash guard.

Looking forward to finishing it all up tonight. Best birthday present ever. Ill do a nice picture dump when I get home tonight.

 

So I just plumbed in the Mag 5. I haven't finished filling the DT all the way but the sump was full of water so I tested it out. It is LOUD! I was not expecting it to be that loud. Is that normal? I'm hoping its just because its new and hasn't broken in yet and that everything isn't set up 100% in the tank yet. But it makes me nervous. I don't need a silent pump but I guess I wasn't expecting it to be this loud. Any advice from anyone?

 

Lehner, you might get better input of start a thread specifically requesting feed back on Mag 5. I guess a Happy Birthday is in order.