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I am planning a small upgrade from a 29g to a 40br. I want to do this for several major reasons:

1) I didn't think the plumbing through all the way on this tank - I should have allowed for more hard plumbing. Right now I am running powerheads for flow to my fuge and my reactors, and pumps for my return, my chiller and skimmer. These take up a lot of room in my too small sump and generate a lot of heat.

In the upgrade, I am planning to hard plumb everything together using a 1270gph pump and building a manifold. This would hopefully get all of the powerheads and pumps out of my sump, cut down on heat production and save on electricity. (The wattage on one pump is substatially less than what I'm using on all of them together.)

Can anyone think of any problem with doing that?

2) I used crushed coral for substrate and it's driving me crazy. Upgrading would allow me to switch to sand.

3) I didn't leave room to put fans in my canopy and my lights generate a lot more heat than I expected in a completely closed canopy. I was planning to upgrade my lights from PC to MH anyway and this gives me a chance to redo the canopy and add space for fans.

Also, I really like the dimensions of the 40br. It's only two inches shorter than my current tank, but 6 inches longer and 6 inches wider which gives me a lot more surface area for only 11 more gallons of water. All of my equipment is strong enough for a 40gallon tank, so it would be a nice upgrade for the cost of a stronger pump, new lights that I was going to get anyway, and the tank and stand. Thoughts and advice welcome. :)
 

tosiek

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You know my thoughts on the BR =0) but i like taller tanks. Plus not having the space to properly separate low light coral from high light without placing in a shaded spot under a rock really sucks. Or keeping the MH at one side of the tank and laterally spacing away from the light.
 
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I know MH lights have a three foot spread, but wouldn't the areas at the edges of that three feet get less light if I placed the MH centrally?

Right now, I almost have too much shaded area. Zoas and things that like being in the shade aren't opening up nicely because they aren't getting enough light. Part of that is the fact that I am running PCs, but part of it is the fact that my floor is very crowded and things that are stuck "into" the rock wall don't get as much light. :(
 
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Upper East Side
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I currently have a Pacific Coast Imports 1/10HP CL280 chiller. According to the manufacturer, it's rated for 30 degree cooling up to 45 gallons and 10 degree cooling up to 80 gallons. If I decided to put two MH in there, would that be enough chilling power?

Don't forget to figure in the money you'll get from selling the 29.

Oh, that money is already well figured in. :) I've figured that this whole upgrade will cost somewhere around $450, depending on PVC costs. I'm hoping to offset some of that by selling the current system and pumps. I'm not so foolish as to think I'm going to offset a lot of that, though.
 
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digitalreefer

Senior Member
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I think one is fine... I have one halide on my 4ft tank and can still keep zoas, shrooms, some LPS and softies on the very ends of my tank... plus my sun polyps and non photosynthetic gorgonians stay open during the day.
 

PalmTree

Senior Member
Location
CT
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Hey Eric.. do you have any shady spots by running one MH? I know the 30 Long is pretty long. Lisa I have SOOO much left over PVC stuff if you need. Take what you need!
 

digitalreefer

Senior Member
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Hey Eric.. do you have any shady spots by running one MH? I know the 30 Long is pretty long. Lisa I have SOOO much left over PVC stuff if you need. Take what you need!

I do have some very shady spots, but since I keep a mixed reef, I can keep SPS in the center, and less demanding corals on the sides.

My tank is a full foot longer than Lissa's 40g Breeder will be, so I don't think it will be any problem.
 

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