40 gallon Reef Journal

[jumpfreak26]

UPDATE 1/29/08
Good news. Actually great news. After looking at the 30 we currently have, there were some weird stains and water deposits in the silicone, some wasnt even there, idk how it didnt leak, but we decided not to take our chances so we decided to go with a 40 breeder! im pumped, this thing is huge compared to everything else, i love how deep it is too. got it pretty cheap too. Anyways, this is going to be a full out reef tank with a drilled overflow and refuge, and ill keep this fairly updated with a parts list and set up price.
So far,

$80-1X40 gallon breeder
free-1X10 gallon (for refuge)

Running total=$80





The pictures dont do it any justice at all. its 3 feet long, 20 inches deep, and 16 inches tall. saweet.

[jumpfreak26]

Finally built the stand over the weekend. We used 3/4" plywood, its a pretty simple desgin, and if you are wanting to build one like this i can give you some diagrams or a SketchUp model. Its amazingly sturdy too. The stand is nearly finished, just need to finish it and put some doors on and were set.

Stand=Free (had the wood lying around) idk how much a sheet of plywood costs

[sweetpickles7]

Looking great. I love the dimensions on your tank, i wish i had something like that.

[jumpfreak26]

Thanx, im really happy with this tank, the depth is amazing!
quick questions-
substrate- im looking at Caribsea aragonite, does it matter how coarse the substrate is? how deep should i have it? also, would it be more beneficial in the long run to use all live rock instead of some base rock and some live rock?

[sweetpickles7]

Aragonite is what i use, as for the depth it really depends on what you like and what fish your going to get[ like if your going to get a goby or something like that ]. In the long run the base rock becomes live so i dont think that it would matter. I used all live rock though. I think your supposed to kept the depth at either .5 inches or 3-5 inches, not to sure on that on.

[jumpfreak26]

i have heard that too on depth. that you should only have about an inch or 4-5 inches

[SALTY WATERS]

For a deep sand bed you want at least 6"

[jumpfreak26]

Is there anything wrong with 4"? Whats the problems of not having 6"?

[Lorna]

you should either go with a shallow 1 inch or a deep 6 inches of substrate. I would suggest a fine grain sugar sand or caribsea aragonite reef sand is fine though. The reason for the two varied depths is that a shallow bed needs to be cleaned and turned over but isn't deep enough to become anaerobic. The deep sand bed will begin working converting excess to nitrogen gas. This is a good thing and needs to be deep enough to ensure this anaerobic area is not disturbed by snails and digging fish. Here is a good substrate site

DeepSandBeds

[Joe Fish]

4" to 6" is considered a DSB, but 6" would be best.