my 40 gallon breeder questions.

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coffeetwitch

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ive got 2 40 gallon breeder saltwater tanks. one has a dsb and sump, and one with a shallow sand bed.

oh and when i say "sweetie pie" im making reference to tracie6283. we live together and one tank is "hers" and one is "mine" and because we live together and i may have my hands in the tank while she post questions directly relating to the same aquarium my hands are in.


this thread is for my tank. it the one with the dsb in the dt and sump with a skimmer , refugium, and a mag 9.5 return pump


k so starting off... again.

my mind is not yet made up if i want to go reef or just fowlr.

i currently have one korilia 1400 gph power head. im starting to wonder if i should get 2 smaller power heads. but am at a loss as to what they should be. i know i want to stick with hydor korilias so i think my sizes are 425 550 750 and 1050

could i please have recommendations for both fowlr and reef situations?

and im wondering if these would be a good choice for a reef tank. even if i had to buy two of them
LED Reef Bright
 
Last edited:
update.

i have pulled the 1400 gph koralia and bought 2 koralia 425's so far im liking it. between them and the flow of the return pump through a diy spray bar im ok with the circulation for now.

i currently have what i think is a female banggai cardinal, i would really like to get a second banggai. should i be mindful of getting a male or does it matter?

still wondering about the led reef bright lights.
 
I think you made a good decision in pulling out the 1400 and replacing it with two smaller ones. I will be using two 1400's for my 125g. :)

Not 100% sure on the Cardinals. I have to PJ's now, and one of them has never held babies so I assume they are both male. Occasionally one will chase the other out of his way, but it definitely isn't anything serious. I am not sure if it is the same with Bangaii's though.
 
a mag 9.5 is to much in my opinnion, i would have probably gone with a mag 7 or even a 5, especially since you have a refugium, slower rates re better through them. what is your skimmer pump rated at?
 
thanks for the input on the cardinals.


i built my sump,originally, for a 75gallon. hence the 9.5 and my skimmer is rated for 150gallon.
 
on another update. sweetie pie's little brother is setting up his first sw tank as a nano reef. he is 18 and trying to do it as cheap and right as possible. that said i donated some of my substrate to him and took out the dsb i had in my dt.
 
dont get the LED lights for a reef, Go with a 4bulb t5ho you will get much better results then the LED, LEDS are only good if you spend alot of money on high end leds otherwise the power just isnt there.
 
dont get the LED lights for a reef, Go with a 4bulb t5ho you will get much better results then the LED, LEDS are only good if you spend alot of money on high end leds otherwise the power just isnt there.
thank you. i dont think anyone could have said it better or put it more simply.
 
thanks for the input on the cardinals.


i built my sump,originally, for a 75gallon. hence the 9.5 and my skimmer is rated for 150gallon.


still wouldn't use that for a 75g, i would progably put a 9.5 on a 125+ gallon. there is a general rule of thumb for a refugium, 5x the water volume, or the GPH of your skimmer pump. the slower the flow rate through your fuge the more nutrients the micro and macro algaes can soak up, so there is no point running a big pump, it'll just consume more power and reef tanks are already power hungry.

mr.X ran his onyl 150g wit ha mag 5 until he took it down, and his corals were awesome
 
hey so a little update. i just picked up a coralife lunar 4 bulb t5ho light fixture. i got it used from the lfs. (the price was right)

just replaced the 10k's with ati aqua blue specials. next paycheck im getting 2 ati blue plus bulbs to replace the actinics.

what can i not have in my tank, as far as corals or anemones go?

also i may have jumped the gun and got a green bubble tip anemone.
 
4 bulbs could be a bit iffy for the BTA. Has it moved to the top of the tank and spread itself thin to get more light?

With a 4 bulb, not sure how well you'll be able to handle sps. You can probably get away with some low light lps and fleshies. Doubt you can handle the blue or green clams. A gold maxima or any "browner" clams may be ok.

I agree with Leo here too. a mag 9.5 is a lot of power for a tank that small. I've got it in my 125 and I have it dialed down to half power with 5' of headloss. Had i known then what i know how, i would have gone down in pump sizes.
 
a mag 9.5 through a 16" long 1" id pvc spray bar with 7/16 holes drilled every inch is really not that bad. take the spray bar off and it gets a little crazy.

im thinking about putting a power head in my fuge for my cheato too if that keys you in on how turbulent it all is.

thats a shame that almost 4 watts per gallon is not enough for anything. can someone simplify lighting for me? watts per gallon wise? 15" of water and another 15" from front glass to back of the rock work.

and no, the bta does not spread its self thin. open but not stretching. it is only at the top because i moved the rock around while it was stuck to it. he was on the underside of the rock. he has not yet moved away from that spot.
 
It's not the flow coming out of the pump...it's the increase flow in your sump that is making your skimmer less efficient. In a closed loop system, a mag 9.5 would be awesome flow! You want low circulation for your skimmer which is counter intuitive to the high flow in your overall circulation for your tank.
 
so dwell time in the sump makes the skimmer work better? what size return pump should be recommended for a 4o breeder? i may go back and compare notes with the other 40 breeder builds.

dont forget about the lights if you dont mind too.
 
so dwell time in the sump makes the skimmer work better? what size return pump should be recommended for a 4o breeder? i may go back and compare notes with the other 40 breeder builds.

dont forget about the lights if you dont mind too.

Yes, exactly. "Dwell time" in the sump makes the skimmer work better. What's the headloss on your sump to DT? I'd recommend a pump with 2-3x your volume as a return pump. Some folks like 5-7x, it's really up to you. Perhaps a pump with 120-150gph after headloss would be ideal. You can go bigger if you want and put a valve on it to throttle it back. A Mag 3 or 5 will probably do the trick.

As for light, watts per gallon in somewhat of an outdated model to use. Even so, SPS and clams require quite a bit more light....something around 8-10ish watts per gallon if I remember correctly. A 4 bulb T5 isn't a bad place to start. If possible I'd augment what you have with another 2-4 bulb t5 system, or perhaps an LED strip and get some shimmer effects?
 
and if i loose the flow from my return should 2 koralia 550 gph be enough in my dt?

I thought you had 2 Koralia 425's?

It's not uncommon for some reef systems to have 20-50x volume flow rate. SPS will require higher flow rate compared to other corals.

With the 425s and your return pump (If you go with a 150g/hour setting) you're looking at around 25x volume flow. The 550s might be worth it. That'll put you around 32x volume. You can always add more PHs down the road. the only trick is to aim them so that they don't kick up your sand etc.
 
Gti_Leo said:
still wouldn't use that for a 75g, i would progably put a 9.5 on a 125+ gallon. there is a general rule of thumb for a refugium, 5x the water volume, or the GPH of your skimmer pump. the slower the flow rate through your fuge the more nutrients the micro and macro algaes can soak up, so there is no point running a big pump, it'll just consume more power and reef tanks are already power hungry.

mr.X ran his onyl 150g wit ha mag 5 until he took it down, and his corals were awesome

Hey gti. If your still following. Or really any if you can answer. Why do I keep reading cheato likes a lot of flow? so isn't that conflicting with slowing down flow through my sump and fuge?
 
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