dan's 40 breeder

[ghostshadow]

what better day to upgrade (from my 18 gallon to a 40 breeder) than the day of the MR swap.

the breeder is a combo of matt's (ssmtcarlo) setup and my 18 gal. we had a little mishap with the original drilled 40 breeder and had to make a last second dash to our local petland to save the day with a new tank. so i had to skip the sump setup for now and make do with my 18gal equipment. once i find an overflow box, that will change.

HUGE thanks to daaznmofo for his hard work the past 2 days.. we've been pretty much nonstop to this point since the swap yesterday.

4 heaters or so to get the temp up

in the corner of my livingroom

unbagging

where we're at by tonight

my fave zoos to the right of the 'channel'.. bam bam oranges

left side angle

some of the right side goodies

a piece i've never seen before

keds

whats this?

crayola

setosa

i'll be putting this up for sale soon.. 3 keds is 2 too many

no idea what these are

it's amazing how it looks today since we started from total scratch yesterday! there are so many corals that i haven't taken pics of. lots of gems hidden throughout.

they are definitely stressed from the move and they should recover in time.

big thanks to all the awesome vendors and MR members that hooked me up with great deals and beautiful corals.

-dan

 

[ssmtcarlo]

Hey Dan my corals look great in your new tank, Its nice there still in port. The one that says
whats this? is pink lemonade, its not showing green right now but just wait and see. The third keds is not keds its upscales microlados. The bottom left is ORA Aussie delicate, and on the right if it was one of mine might be the original ORA tort not the cali tort. I can come by and help you id all my stuff any time. I got some salt for you as well.
Matt

 

[ghostshadow]

awesome! huge thanks for your generosity with all the extras and help yesterday. maybe i should write the names on the glass until i can remember them all.

ok, that keds is NOT for sale since it's not a keds. lol!

come on by matt!

 

[Hungriee]

nice setup, those colonies look big.

 

[Lenny718]

Nice tank and corals!

 

[marki24]

nice tank. Got the same size. You not planning on covering up the back with some paint?

 

[ghostshadow]

thanks guys.. the new tank wasn't part of the plan..

neither was consolidating the 18 gallon (i was going to run 2 tanks and take my time transferring).

i can't even drill now, so i'll need to get an overflow box. i'm considering limo tinting the back since i can't paint now either.

i ultimately want a rimless in 40 breeder dimensions but it will be so much work to transfer again.

dan

 

[Hungriee]

lifereef makes real good overflow box.

 

[marki24]

why are you going for a sump? Do you believe it to be very beneficial?

 

[lazibonez]

Dan, nice setup. I can't believe your tank is already full with corals.
You can still paint the back of your tank. I painted my frag tank after it was setup. As long as u have room in the back to work with, all u need to do is move all your hang on the back skimmer and fuge to the side or front of the tank while you paint and give it enough time to dry. I think u can even drill the tank, just empty 1/2 of the tank water or up to where your highest coral is. Make sure u have something to catch all the glass and dust from drilling. I remember seeing it done on U tube.

 

[marki24]

I also see that you are using the Deltec 300, how do you like it cause I have it as well?

 

[DrCooper]

I love that hanging light fixture. Corals look GREAT

 

[ghostshadow]

hungriee- right now i'm working out a trade for an overflow box with an MR member. frags for hardware! :smile:

marki- i like the idea of a sump for increased water volume, and to hide all the unsightly equipment. skimmer, probes, phosban reactor, topoff, etc. i'm using the HOB fuge (being used as a HOB sump) for a lot of that right now. but aesthetics are important to me and i want to clean up what you see. my 18gal had no sump and while the corals looked great, the overall look of the tank was horrible with big oversized equipment hanging off it.

the deltec mce300 is awesome! pulls a lot of crap out. barely makes any noise. only minor gripe is getting it to restart when i pull the plug but it's not a huge deal. i tried the mce600 on my 18gal but that skimmed WAY to well for that nano. i'm gonna try the mce300 on my sump and see how it compares to the in-sump octopus i got from matt.

lazi- your tank is my inspiration! justin did a killer job with the coral placement/rockwork. better than i could do. i pretty much gave him free reign and had a little input. the combo of corals/rock/equipment between matt and i made this thing pretty much turn-key. since my long term plan is a custom rimless.. i think i'll skip the risk of drilling but i did figure it would be possible.. i just don't want to risk it. the painting part would be tough to not get overspray everywhere with a can.. i think a brush wouldn't go on evenly. i think i'll try the tint to see how it works.. i can always remove it if it doesn't work out.

drcoop- thanks! i wanted a nice looking pendant like an elos planet but i figured i'd give my current pendant a shot while saving serious $$. it's a 250w radium on an icecap ballast. my plan was to go with dual 250w but the spread is actually surprisingly good right now. better than i thought it would be. i will probably keep it as-is depending on how the corals on the ends do. awesome $300 package from reefgeek.

i ran this 250w radium over my 18gal and everything responded very quickly! awesome colors and growth. heat was crazy on that small tank though. now it's a non-issue.


things are settling in.. i lost one coral from the move.. rtn got it. a beautiful hiller teal stag that i loved. i still have the base so hopefully i get it'll come back. a few pieces browned a bit but i have faith that they'll come back and pop.

thanks for the input guys.. i'll see if i have some worthy updates as the tank settles in even more.

dan

 

[autoponicz]

nice 40br....the corals look great under that blue light...what kinda bulb and wattage...?

was that new sand you put in...live or dry?.

also you can still paint the back...use a small roller and a small can of paint...give it a few coats and your good to go...

 

[ghostshadow]

thanks auto. the blue tort i got from you is doing awesome! fast grower.

250w radium, icecap ballast.

new pink fiji caribsea live.

ok, you and lazi suggested it.. i think i will paint the back now! any tips on what paint to use?

thanks,
dan

 

[Teddy]

nice setup Dan

I sprayed the back of my tank with Krylon Fusion Light Blue

 

[lazibonez]

Dan, i use latex paint, the kind u paint the walls with. I like flat as opposed to semi gloss or gloss, not only does it go on better but wont create glare.

 

[autoponicz]

yes and latex can be peeled off like skin

great to hear the tort is doing well..

 

[ghostshadow]

a little hardware cleanup.. got the sump running so all the HOB crap came off.
haven't gotten around to painting the back yet. thanks for the overflow junglebase!

now i need a good macro lens and a top down box. i used a mix of cameras (leica digilux) and lenses on the d40. the leica white balance is way off but i don't know how to mess with it.

FTS

need to clean up the frags on the sandbed. i'm already running out of room

dan

 

[D1J8Z]

Justin you did a SICK job even tho u are a zoa$1ut and this is one badA$$ sps tank