111g Diamond Cube

[InsaneClownFish]

Sweet! What kind of lps you plan to keep?
Btw im getting tank from Cda in December!

What are the specs on your tank?

You know I’ve learned so much about what not to do with LPS over my time with reefkeeping-
The five biggest lessons-
1. LPS do best in moderate to low flow- many actually prefer fairly low, gentle current
2. LPS hate being blasted with light- medium or low light even(generally speaking)
3. Feedings are a must. You don’t have to go overboard, but some spot feeding at least 2-4 times a week will generally keep them happy.
4. Don’t even think about keeping anything that is reef safe with caution. If it even looks at LPS the wrong way, it will pick.
5. We all want to have all the things all at once and we all like seeing diversity. However, most of these animals have different care requirements, so while mixed reefs are great, going for a more specifically dominated tank where you can hone in on the specifics of your tanks overall care requirements, imho, is one of the best pathways to success.

 

[InsaneClownFish]

Gonna follow along. Working on a 112G Cube myself. 36x36x20. I almost went CoralCare Gen2 also. Very curious how it works out for you. Light box looks phenomenal btw. Scrolled up looking for a link and saw. Very nice

Did you get the IM? That’s a great tank. I almost went for it on the 50% off sale- it was so tempting

 

[jp_75]

Mine will be 48/30/26.Getting stand and canopy from them too.

 

[InsaneClownFish]

Gonna follow along. Working on a 112G Cube myself. 36x36x20. I almost went CoralCare Gen2 also. Very curious how it works out for you. Light box looks phenomenal btw. Scrolled up looking for a link and saw. Very nice

Here’s some pics of how I built the light box. I painted and wet sanded then applied a nice coat of poly. It took quite a bit of patience with a combo of drilling, jigsaw, and router to get the right opening in the plywood. I actually built two, but decided to go with a tank size that fit the room and could take the best advantage of just one light.

 

[InsaneClownFish]

Mine will be 48/30/26.Getting stand and canopy from them too.

I both love and hate those specs lol- love the tall tank with those dimensions but I Hate the idea of cleaning it- I was grumpy with 22” on a tall stand

 

[jp_75]

Stand will be 36” hehe I love stand in deont and look

 

[InsaneClownFish]

I have some of my fish living in 100g stock tank in the basement. My corals, those I saved and those I’ve added, I’ve kept in a 50g stock tank with my Lavender Tang and a blue Chromis. I tested today because I’ve had a uptick of hair algae and algae spores in the water column.

Alk-8
Calc-520
Nitrate- 0
Phosphate- .25

So I knew either nitrate or phosphate was high. I’ve added a bit of phosguard and I’ll be doing more water changes.

The phosphate is from rock I’ve slowly added from my old system. I let it die off and sun soak, gave it a vinegar soak, then cycled in a separate bucket for a few days with a heater and tank water.

Even though I was slow to add it, it creates mini cycles because the stock tank is probably only holding about 30 gallons of water.

I may add some cleaners after after changes and some light, manual removal of the heavier algae.

 

[InsaneClownFish]

I also buffed Alk- flat 8 is a touch low for my taste

 

[InsaneClownFish]

More work on the stand skin tonight- the borg cube is coming to life

 

[Reign1]

following , in process of a cube also ..

 

[InsaneClownFish]

following , in process of a cube also ..

Awesome, what size?

 

[InsaneClownFish]

My current situation while the tank is being built-

 

[NCsalt]

This is gonna be awesome.

 

[Reign1]

Awesome, what size?

30” cube so about 115 gal

 

[InsaneClownFish]

30” cube so about 115 gal

Oh yea- I was digging your aquascaping!

 

[InsaneClownFish]

So the only equipment question marks are the circulation and return pumps.

I’m undecided on whether to run a single DC pump split between the return and the bio reactor, or two smaller AC pumps.

For flow I’m between two Tunze Nanostreams off the overflow or a single MP40 in lagoon mode.

Hmmmm
Any thoughts or insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

[InsaneClownFish]

The other consideration is whether to do sand or not. I was convinced I wanted to do another bare bottom, but I’d also really like to keep a black tail wrasse. Decisions, decisions.

 

[InsaneClownFish]

Before I talk about the inspirations for this tank, I’d like to touch a little bit on my philosophy.

I’ve already touched on my three main goals with this tank-

1. Returning to a shallow reef
2. Having the reef more visible in my home
3. Keeping a more species specific LPS dominated system

Lessons Learned-
In this hobby there is simply no substitute for consistent water changes.

While the vast majority of modern equipment is interesting, and it all serves its place, I believe the same results can be had with the simplest of tools. We tend to overspend on the latest and greatest expecting to have that translate into beauty.

Conversely, I’ve done a lot of cheaping out and buying the most economical product- this can also be a mistake. This time around I wanted all my equipment centralized and higher end, but not extensive and purposeless.

Know thy self-
Let’s face it, if I have to stay on a schedule of calibrating something, or something can lose calibration, I’d rather just test myself. The apps are neat and useful don’t get me wrong, but that level of control finds its highest benefit in the form of a heavily stocked sps reef. I would consider a trident in the future, but for now, I’d rather spend the money on the foundation.

I think keeping a bio load manageable is another overlooked key- balance.

Pick what you love and what strives in your system- making your water beautiful for one coral might be a tense situation in the making for other corals. We all love a beautiful mixed reef, but we truly underplay the vast differences in coral and invert requirements.

KISS- we all know the acronym, but I’d like to take it a step further.
There was a great BRS video awhile back about picking one nutrient export option- trying to run all the things at once is oftentimes detrimental.

Handle things as they come- trust your instincts. You can oftentimes make visual estimations of what is wrong.

If it’s reef safe with caution, then the one I get will invariably eat everything lol seriously though I think it’s all just marketing so suppliers can sell more of “x” popular thing. I’ve learned to act more quickly if I suspect rude behavior. I’m also convinced emerald and other larger crabs swipe at fish. Clean up crews in general are overrated. Snails are hit and miss, they add bio load, and many are slow cleaners. Stable water parameters and water changes are greater than your clean up crew- fight me.

Finally- ease up on the light and flow. I’ve nuked corals with both, and this speaks to my extolling the benefits of keeping a more specialized system. I also don’t like seeing my fish in a washing machine.

 

[InsaneClownFish]

The Inspiration Tanks:

 

[InsaneClownFish]

I’m hoping to have a chance later today to work on the stand- here’s the inspiration.