joeogio

here were my original ideas for my build that i posted on my local reef club forum

I have a 40 gal tank that i once had setup as a frag tank. I took the tank down and im going to drill and sump it and setup a reef tank.
I already have some of the equipment to get started and i only need a few more things to get it started, here is what i have.
40 gal breeder and stand (all sides un tempered)
quad t5 with leds
mega flow model 1 sump
heater
about 30-40 lbs of live rock ( in a 38 gal holding tank)

Here are my goals as far as building the tank setup is concerned.
first off i need to drill the tank im going to order a glass holes 700gph ratedoverflow box w/ lid and 2 return lok-line kits next week, im going to mount the box in the center and the returns in the middle of the distance in between the box and the outer walls of the tank.
** do you all think this is good placement? **
the next thing ill start doing after that is moding the sump and plumbing im going to design a manifold to run off the sump that will feed gfo and carbon and bio pellet reactors. i may make a 10 gal refugium to feed off the sump too but that will be something to decide later on.
** i know other ppl run manifolds to make things neater under the tank but do any of you all have one?**
then ill order me a nice return pump im thinking mag 6. and some sand to make a deep sandbed and get it all runing and cycled and then put in my rock.
in the mean time while the tanks cycling ill build me a hood from scratch im going to make it about 12 inches tall and make the whole top and front side lift up like the trunk of a car ill mount my lighing in the top and it will all lift up as one piece
after all thats stuff is done ill start ordering me some other acessories like a aqua controller auto topoff and a wavemaker setup then start stocking a few fish and corals and we where she will go from there
i will consider this build complete when its all runing and maxed out with corals and some essential reef life
ill start taking pics and come up with some specs on my driling and plumbing next week sometime

ok heres some pics of the build



ok this was my first blog, ill get better once i get use to this site