Large 40 Gallon Breeder Aquarium

I haven't been on this forum for a few years and I am back now. As for that, I am planning on making a larger tank for my current fish in my 20 gallon high. Now a thing that I am running into is that now I realized that I would like to have a sump for my 40 gallon breeder, anything I should know? As I am such a noob at sumps. And I was thinking of having a diy stand for my 40 gallon tank that can also utilize my 20 gallon high for some macrobrachium shrimp.

How would one make such a sump? As I do have a water pump (Lifegard Aquatics pro pump, 1200) and that I would like to know where to start? As for the 40 gallon breeder tank, I have tried looking through craigslist, but I haven't found a nice one yet.

I also tried looking up on building a 40 gallon breeder stand, but I am unable to find any nice instructions for doing so on paper. Could any 2x4 wood (solid pine or something else) be used? Another factor is that I am looking for a nice DIY plant light leds. I tried looking up that and failed. Any where I can start?

 

LOL, your kind of following my foot step! I combined my 10 and 20 high to upgrade to a 40 breeder. I also built a DIY stand. I suggest going through the thread to give you an idea! The template I use you can modify it to accommodate a 20 high under the tank! I can help with that though if you need help!

Here is my build thread:40 Breeder Build

As far as sump what size tank are you gonna use?

 

Looking very good!! Now one of the things is that I found is that a sump will simplify cleaning as going off to an out of state college would mean making sure that the aquarium is easy to maintain. Another thing that I kind of realized is that I am also trying to make the electricity and water bill as low as I can. In term, I will update some sketches or I might get a premade stand from craigslist. I kind of need help trying to design an tank stand and a sump. I do have gravel from petsmart, so that might be something.

As of now, I have:
3x south american bumblebee catfish
1x clown pleco
1x angelfish
1x african butterfly fish
1x pair of sunburst platies
4x rasobras (harlequin)
1x nerite snail
In my 20 gallon high tank. Take note that I am a sophomore in IB program in high school.

 

My suggestion: keep it simple just get a PetCo Brooklyn metal stand, and get two pieces of plywood, or really at a minimum just one to place sump tank on (doesn't come with bottom shelf but u can easily add one with a piece of plywood).

Also google Herbie style sump... you will want this to avoid floods and accidents. It's perfectly silent when done right. Don't skimp out on stuff... may be hard if you are a HS sophomore with no cash... but believe me things like Spears gate valve and a proper overflow box (thinking Eshopps 1100 with dual return drains) are worth the money. I have a tank build out thread, called 55 gallon walstad tank build out, that has info on my sump. To keep it super simple get some Poret foam and make your sump a matter filter sump. Good luck and happy googling...

 

As far as electricity bill my AC 110, Finnex Stingray, and 200w Aqueon Pro heater runs at $10-3 a month! However in the summer it will run less since I won't be needing the heater!

In my 20 gallon high tank. Take note that I am a sophomore in IB program in high school.

I'm a junior in highschool!

 

Here's a thread I wrote on my sump build out... I nerded out a bit too much writing it.. but plenty of food for thought for those interested...

https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfi...enfilter-sump-for-superior-filtration.232891/

 

I googled the metal stand and the only drawback is that it is heavy. Now I am doing the sump with my 20 gallon aquarium heater near the pump so that the water can be heated. Another thing would be that I might have multiple tanks underneath said stand. I can potentially see a macrobrachium shrimp tank (20 gallon high, unsure of it, maybe 10 gallons?), one of these:





As for the macrobrachium, I am trying to get a breeder colony started as I find the behavior of these shrimps very fascinating. Now comes the problem with getting multiple tanks powered safely (no GCFI outlets as of yet).

 

You can safely power them by hanging the out let on one of the legs of the stand! As for having other tanks this is where DIY would be better! Here is a pic of my stand, I have a 10 under neath it but its just for storage!

 

I have the Petco Brooklyn stand for 40 gallon tank and it is made out of aluminum and is lighter then one made out of 2X4s. I would advise drilling the back of the tank and using an internal over flow box. A glass drill bit is not expensive and its not hard to drill glass. I would drill 2 3/4 in holes for the input for the sump. You can do the return over the rI'm or drill a third hole on the other side of the tank. As for a sump there are a few different options you can use poret foam as baffles or you can use pane glass. The main thing is keep it simple. In a fresh water tank you don't need bubble traps. You need a mechanical, biological, chemical filtration and a return pump area. A refugium is optional but you won't have a lot of space in a 20 high. The nice thing about having a sump is the water level uin the tank is constant.

 

Hmm, now I really want to get that Brooklyn stand. Now considering that, I'd like an external overflow box as I do plan on spending as expensive as it needs to be so that I can be able to have a nice filtration system. In my 20 gallon high tank, my internal filter is fine, but it tends to have a lot of problems. Now another thing I do see is the factor of getting another few tanks prehaps below the stand. If the thing is aluminum, magnets would not work so I would have to find a nice way to store supplies for ease of access and make it look kind of good.

Would the 10 gallon sump work for a 40 gallon breeder? Any visuals on how to make this work? I am a little bit skeptical about using glass panes though. They might be hard to look for.

 

I believe a 10 gallon may be too small or a bit harder to have! It will be better to get a 20 long!

 

Hmm that another thing I need to add. I could do something with a plastic tote. Or my old 20 gallon high aquarium. Now if I did use that stand, then I would be unable to have another fish tank. Another thing I would like to add is that the stand is quite sturdy and light from what someone said in this thread.

 

I fit a 29 gallon tank under my 55 gallon tank on the PetCo metal stand. The fit is a bit tight but it works for me. I bought some plywood to create a shelf for the 29 gallon tank and it works perfectly.

Btw, magnets cling to the PetCo stand, nothing to worry about there.

 

If I could find my measuring tape I could give you exact measurements of under the stand.
I would estimate the hole as being around 16inx33in and you could set your sump on the floor under the stand. For a 40 gallon you should go with a 20 high or long, what you need to consider is you don't want the water level in the sump too high as it will over flow if you have a power outage. If you don't want to drill go with a life reef system overflow , they are the best and will not lose syphon in a power outage. As pertain to construction of the sump with baffles, you go to home depot and buy a piece of glass and they will cut it to the sizes you need. You can also get ge silicone 1, 100% silicone, to install. As for construction there are hundreds of youtube videos on how to diy sumps. I included a quick drawn sketch of a sump, you don't have to add a refugium. Just remember to go higher to lower over then under.

Sump

• ounderfla69
• Jan 11, 2017

 

So are you going with the Brooklyn stand or DIY stand? For the DIY you can make the height higher to accommodate another tank! You could also add another brace on the bottom frame so you put another tank underneath it.

If you do DIY there are lots of projects of people putting sump underneath tank! Here are s:40 breeder stand - Google Search
I go went through many stand ideas using google s!

 

what you need to consider is you don't want the water level in the sump too high as it will over flow if you have a power outage

I suggest keep it simple, get some Poret foam to work as your baffles then the rest is easy

Either way you should be able to determine how much to fill the sump... measure from top of tank to bottom of weir and return pipe (which ever is lower)., calculate the water volume using an online calculator... next, figure out how much water your plumbing holds (volume of cylinder is a decent approximation that you would convert to gallons later) then measure your sump and determine how many inches clearance you need. If I need 3 gallons of water buffer because this is how much will drain out of tank when power shut off, I leave three inches of space in the sump when I fill it up because in my setup a vertical inch is about a gallon of water, obviously do the math for your tank dimensions. With baffles your water may not "even out" so not sure about that.

Or even easier... fill the sump half way.. turn it on, then with an dry erase marker mark the water line. Then shut the power off to the pump... watch it drain, when done mark the new water line
Done.. now you know how much will drain back down, that's how much you need to leave empty from top of your sump.


I was going to use baffles in my sump but then realized Poret foam is much easier so did that instead.

 

Hmmm now I am leaning towards the DIY but I might try the premade tank stand. As for the sump, I could potentially raise the shrimp in the refugium part of the sump. Can sumps be covered? And I am thinking of some fish for a 40 gallon breeder but could I have DIY plant lights? How big would the sump be? As for media I am thinking of maybe doing a exotic new media, like constant flowing like a sand filter maybe. Any thoughts? And as for stocking of fish, I am thinking of having a nice amount of plants. Anything for that? Now I know that bichirs are out of the question. I might be looking into another african butterfly fish, or maybe doing a semi-aggressive community tank.

Another note is I will take the first few photos soon. Now another thing would be that I might use either tubing or PVC pipes. Now what could go well with natural pea gravel? As I am a bit interested in using sand.

 

You could put K1 micro in the sump, and have a fluidized filter that way... Fluidized sand... I don't think that's really needed, K1 is safer. But now you need air pump for that, powerful one. Noisy! Keep it simple! Personally I would do a shower filter, (aka wet dry?).

 

Wet dry definitely sounds easier. Now for that in mind, I do have 1/2 inch PVC pipe. Another thing that I am now realizing is that my 20 gallon high seems good for a number of single species tanks (freshwater pufferfishes). Now with that in mind, could the media compartment be around 3 gallons, have the pump and heater part be 4 gallons and then have the rest as a refugium part? And any photos for the petco metal tank stand setups? Looks like getting a piece of plywood and that would be a lot more simpler and easier than doing DIY, but then again, I like the good amount of fish tanks. (2 20 gallon highs for pufferfish and shrimp)??

 

Don't know much about sumps but as far as stocking the 20 high will be great for shrimp and puffer. For puffer you could do 4-5 pea puffers!

I suggest if you need more suggestion on building a sump you should go to the saltwater section since many of them use sumps. Saltwater and freshwater sumps are pretty much the same in layout although I believe saltwater sometimes have refugiums.

 

The first step that needs to be done is get the stand ready so that I can base it off of that. Does anyone know when the 1 dollar a gallon sale start? Also, now thinking of that, there could be the possibility of a corner filter instead of a sump, but I am going to try and draw it out for proportion size. As I could of realized that I could have two 20 gallon long aquariums (gets expensive) and have shrimp and whatever, but do a DIY stand.

Now, is there a method to filtering multiple aquariums or heating them in large groups? I am going to get some sketches done.

 

$1 per gallon should be around March! Normally its for 1 month and then 2 month break

 

And I did find out that it is possible to do a DIY overflow. Along with that, could a canister filter simplify things more easier? Want to try and sketch multiple configurations. Now I know that I can find a nice canister filter, I was definietly thinking of making like a minI stand for the 20 gallon high, kind of like one of those steps, but more sturdy and raised.

 

As far as filtering/water change there are a couple of ways. I believe drilling or using PVC people connect all their tanks and are able to do big water changes. Lots of videos of Fish rooms on YouTube. For actual filtering most people use sponge filter which is an effective way and economical way to filter multiple ta k. All you need is airpump, airline tubing, sponge and valves. Depending on howany tanks you might have to get an industrial one and use PVC method. Again lostbof videos on that.

The best way to heat multiple tanks is to heat the room itself.

 

Looks like that I'm going with the metal stand and making a smaller one within the stand to accommodate one-two more tanks. Any good canister filters? And I am a little bit limited by space (as I only have one outlet (two) but I do have an extension multioutlet cord.