ZAPCOnj's 40 Gallon Breeder Adventure

[ZAPCOnj]

Ok so as many of you know i started out with a Biocube 29 and after a short period of time i realized that the ALL IN ONE Biocube style systems are just not for me. Too many restrictions and too much "daily" maintenance needed to fit my schedule. So a about 2 months ago i decided to "upgrade" to a 40 gal breeder system.

Here is a list of what i have in my reef as of 11/22/08

• 40 gallon breeder tank black pine stand
• Glass tops
• ADHI 30 Sump w/refuge and refuge 50/50 pc light
• CPR 102x HOB overflow
• Tom Aqua Lifter pump for the overflow
• Ehieim 1260 Return pump
• SCWD Wave maker w/return pipes
• Vortech MP20 Wave maker
• CPR SR3 Skimmer
• Phosban Reactor and marine land pump
• 2 x Coral dynamics LED 175watt HQI equivalent
• Catalina Aquariums CUSTOM MADE Light housing (this fixture holds the following 2 x 175watt HQI equivalents, 2 x 96watt DUAL Actinic 50/50 pc bulbs 420nm/460nm, 12 dimable LED moon lights, 2 x 5" cooling fans, all aluminum housings and German Reflectors)
• Stealth 250 watt heater
• Coralife digital thermometer
• Mag Float

as of 11.22.08 I have the following in the tank and sump

Tank:

• 50lbs of Live Rock
• 40lbs of Natures Ocean Live Sand
• 6 Hermits
• 6 Snails
• 1 Blood Shrimp

Sump:

• 10lbs of Natures Ocean Live Sand
• 5lbs of Live Rock
• 3 Hermits
• 3 Snails
• 1 emerald Crab

as of 11.22.08 the tank temp is a steady 81.5 degrees and the water has been tested every day up until this past monday when i had to go away for a business trip. the parameters were pretty normal with an ammonia spike about 2 weeks ago. I took a sample of the water to the LFS (tropaquarium) today for a full set of labs and they concur that the water is good and that i should be safe to add a thing or two. Since i've spent a good piece of coin there over the past few months they were nice enough to comp me 2 pieces of coral to get me started! they hooked me up with a nice little colony of yellow polyps and what i believe are green Zoas.

here are a few pics of everything so far....

FTS (lighting = 2 x Coral Dynamics 175 watt HQI LED Equivalents, 2 x 96 watt dual Actinic 50/50 lights 420nm/460nm, 12 dimable LED moon lights) :



Sump area:


Lights:



(only one LED and Actinic bulb installed)


only one led and actinic bulb installed


Freebies:
Green Zoas about 15 minutes after acclimating in to the tank


Yellow Polyps about 15 minutes after acclimating in to the tank

I'm not sure if i want to move them or not... based on this vid do you think that they have to much flow?

Google Video

I'm trying out the dual actinic 50/50 bulbs in my new light. they are 96 watt bulbs with 420nm on one side and 460nm on the other. Compared to a standard Coralife Actinic 03 bulb it is definitely "bluer" and brighter than the Actinic 03. used in conjunction with the Coral Dynamics LED bulbs it gives the tank a nice balance of color and brightness. Granted i don't have much in the way of coral right now but it does give the tank a nicer look than the standard actinic bulbs.....I'm liking it so far.

That's where i am as of today... Feel free to tag along!

[SeahorseBT]

Looking good so far!I like the scape.

[Reefmack]

Looks great! The Vortech flow on the yellow polyps looks like what I see on my Duncans and GSP, and both (and my other corals) are doing great after being exposed to the Vortech after a couple weeks now. IMO they seem to like the extra flow and erratic surges.

[sandyc]

You are going to love that set up! Congratulations.

[SoccerBum474]

this tank is going to be amazing..with those lights what are you planning on keeping in it? nems, sps, clams?

[jbob]

tank looks great! keep it up

[ZAPCOnj]

so i'm pretty stoked.. i was away for 3 days and came back to a tank that looked like i had been home and taking care of it each and every day.. there was a little bit of algae in the over flow box but i got that out with a quick swipe of the cleaning wand.

The glass had nearly no algae on it and the lights have been on a timer giving the tank 10 hours of light per day. The only thing i did when i get home was top off the tank with a little RO/DI and a light mag scraping of the front glass and sat back and watched the yellow polyps sway in the current!

as per my neighbor, we had a black out Wed for a few hours and it seems the vortech back up battery had kicked in.... well i hope it did. lol.. my sump set up is good. no flooding when the pump shut off and the siphon started the overflow right up... everything seems to be 100% so far. (knock on wood)

I did however have a string of good luck earlier today. While down in Atlantic City i put down $100 on black 17 and the number hit! on top of that i had $100 on the 2 to 1 line and $100 on black. so all said after sitting down at the roulette table for 15 minutes I walked away with exactly $4000 on top of the $100 i sat down with.

guess who's going to the LFS tomorrow haha.....

[ZAPCOnj]

November 30th 2008 update

Ok here is what today's trip to to the LFS netted me....

FTS (head on)


FTS (slight angle)


Yellow Polyps (from my last trip)


Florida Ricordia Blue red/pink




Florida Ricordia Blue/orange and Blue Red/pink



Blue Echinata Acropora ORA frag



I can't remember what these two are. they did tell me but it slips my mind at the moment



this one is hard to the touch and requires high flow and light.. the name also escapes me.


Purple Ribbon Gorgonian



the name of this one also escapes me... This one will be going on one of my aqua mags that should be here tuesday! it is also hard to the touch and the little red things go in and out when "frightened" and requires hight light and flow.


My Green and red Zoo Colony from my last visit to the LFS




And my Fire fish gobey. thankfully he took a liking to the cave in the front of my tank. he has called it home... so when he's sleeping i can see him and he peeks his head out when he's scared.. he also spends alot of time in the front of the tank so i can enjoy him!


anyway.. that is today's update..

[sambrinar]

Wow looks great Zap, nice!!

[Stacef]

Wow Zap!!! Looking GREAT!

I really like the one you can't think of the name with the little red polyps..... I will be following along for a name also.

[ZAPCOnj]

Ok so i stopped by the LFS tonight with some pics and got the names of the corals i forgot

this guy is a "Scroll Coral" Turbinaria i think he said



This one is called: Montipora Danai


this one is an Acropora RED PLANET (ORA)

This guy is much redder now. all the polyps are extended and he looks nice and ruby red... very nice!

Originally Posted by Stacef

I really like the one you can't think of the name with the little red polyps..... I will be following along for a name also.

they still have 2 of these types of frags left at the LFS stace! I can ship it to ya!

[goldenmacman]

i dont think you mentioned it but what are you planning on breeding?

[ZAPCOnj]

lol... nothing really. the 40 breeder is what would fit in the space i have to put the tank so that is what i went with. also it's a starter tank for me to get some corals going for the 200 gal tank in my new house next year.

after we move in to the new house this breeder will either be a tank for my office or it will end up being a FRAG tank. but for the mean time, it's something nice for my office and to get my feet wet in saltwater.

[yungreefer2410]

be sure to keep your calcium up with those corals in there. also both of my sps frags are hard to the touch and the encrusting monti (a nice red) is like rock hard. i thought all sps were hard to the touch?

[ZAPCOnj]

all of these are hard to the touch. if you look close there are little red polyps on the green crust. these kind of look like little pulsing polyps.