40 Gallon Breeder Marcroalgae Build

[smsreef]

I’m setting up a 40 Breeder to replace my 10 gallon macroalgae tank. Plan is to make room for many new macroalgaes that I will collect this summer while snorkeling, and order online.

Bought the tank, metalstand and lid from Petco during one of their sales. $150 for everything.

Tank: Aqueon 40 breeder
Bottom glass protection: Black 1/8” ABS sheet siliconed to bottom to protect from rocks falling.
Stand: Metal wrapped in wood panels that attach with magnets.
Substrate: Caribsea special grade
Filter: Seachem Tidal 75
Heater: Hygger Titanium 200 watt
Lights: 2 Nicrew Saltwater Aquarium Light, Marine LED (1/2 blue and 1/2 10,000k white)
Controller: Kasa Wifi Powerstrip
Dosing: GHL Doser 2.1

 

[smsreef]

Very thankful for the amazing cool weather down in miami this weekend because I’ve been cutting wood, gluing, priming .... Oh and lots of trips to Home Depot.

Im building shelves for the stand and panels that will attach with magnets. This will allow full access if I change tanks or get a sump later.

The tank does not sit evenly on the stand (something I knew from the reviews on petco) so I used a piece of a yoga mat on the metal stand topped by a piece of plywood. Now tank is sitting evenly on the surface.

That’s it for today. I’ll be priming and putting on top coats next weekend. I’m using Kilz (oil based) to prime and Rustoleum Marine Coating Topside paint.

 

[smsreef]

Gorgeous day today for a last coat of paint. Everything is drying in the garage.

Door may need a 2nd coat on the side facing into stand. But I may get lazy and not do that...

This weekend I’ll be ready to get the magnets on and metal stand wrapped. I may need to wait till following weekend to get the tank on the stand because I don’t want it to stick to the paint.

 

[smsreef]

Stand is complete!!!
So excited that it came together.

To light inside stand I used an LED waterproof strip light. I used the same one on my 60 cube and am really happy with it. I will be able to control the lights with my Kasa powerstrip app on iPhone and with Alex.
Dimmable LED Strip Lights Kit... The purple you see in pic is the yoga mat that the top piece sits on to level the tank.

Looks like I can start setting the tank up mid week or next weekend

 

[smsreef]

Trying to set things up with the tank in a way that clusters all my cords and equipment in the corner against the walls. I’ll try and hide the filter and heater with my rock that I’ll place. Using seachem tidal75 based on great review from @don_chuwish and Jebao cross flow scp-70 from watching build of @elementalj

I could use suggestions feedback on this setup before I add water this weekend.

 

[saf1]

Looks good. Question. That looks like a gyre there on the right side. If so it is a bit low and you could raise it closer to the top. Up top it will provide more laminar flow across like a sheet easily reaching the other side.

Everything looks great though. Great job.

 

[smsreef]

Looks good. Question. That looks like a gyre there on the right side. If so it is a bit low and you could raise it closer to the top. Up top it will provide more laminar flow across like a sheet easily reaching the other side.

Everything looks great though. Great job.

Thanks @saf1 ! Yes, it’s a gyre. I have never had a gyre so your tip is much appreciated!

 

[saf1]

Thanks @saf1 ! Yes, it’s a gyre. I have never had a gyre so your tip is much appreciated!

You are welcome. They are a very versatile pump. Placed high you can get a nice laminar flow that will easily reach the other side then tumble down and rotate back depending on the power setting. New tanks they can be a challenge to set with something you are happy with due to lack of coral growth or structures to break flow. Built in patterns are LTC and OGC. OGC makes use of different blades and will go forward and reverse. If you are not using the different blades and cages I would not recommend its use.

Again you did great 40 breeder is such an amazing tank. Oh - indo pacific sea farms (IPSF) has a really nice red and yellow macro algae. I have tried growing it a few times with limited success but I did not have a proper setup. I was using it as a natural source of food for my Lavender and Scopas tangs. They loved it and ate it faster than what I could grow.

 

[elementalj]

This is looking so good!!!!! As a hint, the WaveMaker is pretty powerful so start out on the lowest of the settings. I ended up liking the pump so much got the model up and ditched all but one of the MP10's. It's currently blowing crud around the skimmer chamber in the sump. ✌

 

[saf1]

Hi again - here is a video on gyre's that pelphrey over on the other side did along with CJ. I thought it did a decent job of showing some challenges that one would face on new tanks or tanks not being able to break the flow. In case you are interested.

 

[smsreef]

Hi again - here is a video on gyre's that pelphrey over on the other side did along with CJ. I thought it did a decent job of showing some challenges that one would face on new tanks or tanks not being able to break the flow. In case you are interested.

That’s great video, and kinda how I want to set up my scape. I have some really tall pieces that will keep flow from wavemaker at the surface and return along the bottom.

 

[ichthyogeek]

Fairly certain that red macro that ipsf sells is G. Parvispora. I'll send some your way once my colony gets started going properly! Unsure what the yellow one is.

 

[saf1]

You are correct. Red is the gracilaria parvispora, the green was ulva, and yellow all I have is gracilaria sp. It looked exactly like the red and both are loved by the tangs. The larger green thick wide leaves of ulva was not liked I can't say how it is for nutrient export but it was a nice algae as it looked anyway.

 

[ichthyogeek]

Ah shoot, meant to mean I'll send some smsreef's way. But if you (saf1) want some, I'm open to trading macros at a later date haha.

 

[saf1]

Ah shoot, meant to mean I'll send some smsreef's way. But if you (saf1) want some, I'm open to trading macros at a later date haha.

Lol! No, I knew who you are sending it to I was just agreeing with what it was I place an order to IPSF probably twice a year so I'm good. I'm actually setting up a better refugium to grow it this time around. I love it as a natural food source.

Well, not for me but my Tangs

 

[don_chuwish]

Trying to set things up with the tank in a way that clusters all my cords and equipment in the corner against the walls. I’ll try and hide the filter and heater with my rock that I’ll place. Using seachem tidal75 based on great review from @don_chuwish and Jebao cross flow scp-70 from watching build of @elementalj

I could use suggestions feedback on this setup before I add water this weekend.

View attachment 22979

Tidy looking!

 

[smsreef]

This is looking so good!!!!! As a hint, the WaveMaker is pretty powerful so start out on the lowest of the settings. I ended up liking the pump so much got the model up and ditched all but one of the MP10's. It's currently blowing crud around the skimmer chamber in the sump. ✌

Thanks! My other Jebao’s are powerful so I keep them on lowest setting too. I’m glad you really like yours (that’s the reason I got this one). I can envision it moving much more water that’s not like normal wavemakers that are just powerful jet in a small section. Hopefully this one does it for the tank, but I have another regular one if needed. With macroalgae I don’t want too much flow. They look good with some flow, but I don’t want the caulerpa leaves horizontal...

Fairly certain that red macro that ipsf sells is G. Parvispora. I'll send some your way once my colony gets started going properly! Unsure what the yellow one is.

That would be awesome! I’m always up for trading with you. I can’t wait to order and collect more macroalgae, gorgonians and sponges. I think I’m gonna run out of space fast, especially since it’s getting to be the season for the most interesting stuff to be back in stock.

Tidy looking!

Thanks! And thanks for your help figuring out the Tidal. It looks to be the best HOB that I’ve ever seen.

 

[smsreef]

Today is a day of rinsing the special grade sand. Acid washing the pieces of rock I will use.

I think I have the scape figured out. It’s tall enough to hide the filter. I think it will give me a lot of places to attach softies and macros, yet still have quite a bit of space on the sand for caulerpa, mermaids fan, and some others that need somewhere for roots. I will use my saw to cut a level base on the large piece so it’s more stable and doesn’t topple and hit the glass.

Let me know what you think.

 

[smsreef]

And there is Water!!!!!
Cloudy water...but water none the less.

I rinsed my sand so many times and still have a cloud. I guess it would have been much much worse without the rinsing I did.

I’m using marine land filter without diatomaceous earth for now and if I’m still cloudy in a few hours, I’ll add DE and get it cleared up quick.

And all equipment is set up and cords hid behind the mounting board that is held onto back with magnets so it’s easily removable if I need to make any changes.

I decided to use the 3 pump GHL doser on this tank so I can dose All for reef, Chaetogrow, and sodium nitrate/sodium phosphate solution. It’s more important on this tank because I will not be dosing every day and the GHL programming will hopefully allow me to dose every few days.

 

[saf1]

looks nice. Well done!