60 Gal cube Build From Scratch :D

[GnarleyMarley]

I WAS planning on going rimless, in fact I was going to build my own rimless tank. I had the glass and everything and last weekend when I decided to put it together I managed to get 2 panes in place and set before placing the third which promptly fell on the concrete and busted. At that point I threw my hands up and decided to just buy a new tank. I called my LFS to get a Deep Blue 60gal rimless cube that was not drilled and apparently they don't make those The reason I didn't want to buy a deep blue RR tank was because they drill their tanks in the bottom and then put in that huge corner overflow which IMO wastes a lot of space, and since I am downgrading from a fully stocked 90 to the cube I don't have any room for wasted space. SoI had thought about de-rimming the one I got and installing a eurobrace around it since its made out of 3/8 glass instead of the 1/2 they use on the rimless, but after I got it home an put it on the stand I decided that I really like it even with the rim So now I have to drill a couple holes in the back, install the Glass-Holes overflow kit, hook up my sump and fill it with water (oh and of course finish putting the doors on

 

[GnarleyMarley]

As for the rod it was extremely simple All I did was buy a 10' piece of conduit and a piece of flexible pvc (the kind used for how water). I then put the conduit inside the PVC and bent the 2 90° bends. After I had the bends in I sanded the PVC with 60 grit sandpaper (DO NOT sand back and forwarth sand in one direction only) this gives the PVC the grain like appearance. Then I sanded over it with 100 grit sandpaper to smooth it down a bit. After that I stained it with a Golden Oak stain by Minnwax allowed it to dry for a couple days then went over it with 4 coats of poly to make it a nice shiney smooth tube that looks just like Oak from up to about 3 frrt from it I found a writeup on how to bend the conduit and I was going to paint it black but I was scared that It would not look good, then I thought about painting it chrome and then decided that wouldn't look good either, that when I started googeling and stumbled on a page about a dude who makes his handrails on his staircases out of PVS and paint it to look like wood and that was all it took to make me decide on how I would be hanging my light
I also got another new toy for the 60 today

 

[boomtown]

got any pics with the tank on the stand? I'm doing the same thing with a 4" lip around the tank and am curious to see how it looks on your stand.

 

[revhtree]

Update?

 

[GnarleyMarley]

*Update:



https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/club-cube/123478-finally-finished-my-stand-check-out-let-me-know-what-u-think.html

 

[scottishreefer]

Very informative thread. Excellent diy skills there. Beautiful! Looking forward to updates.

 

[feh]

Nice build. Really like the stand and the woodgrain finish on the conduit. Might give that a try next time I fabricate a light bar.

 

[GnarleyMarley]

OK guys I have been swamped at my new job so I haven't had a lot of time to work on the tank but.... a couple weeks ago I got the reef shack to cut me some baffles and got my sump put together.

Then I finally got a day off and was able to work on the pluming today I still gave 1 more place yo glue together but then I should b ready to start adding some water!!!!

Here is the latest updated pics

 

[GnarleyMarley]

Its wet!!!!!!!!!

 

[scottishreefer]

Yaay! All your hard work will be worth it.

 

[LivinTheSwreefLife]

Excited to see it when the dust cloud clears! Lol

 

[TinpanVA]

Brudda, this is one sweet build. I stumbled across it looking for ideas on my own build. I'm going to do a 60 cube with a 40b sump. If your willing, I'd love plans, lessons learned, ideas. CAD files are welcome, I'm just picking up the 40 this weekend so I'm quite a ways off from making the first cut. This is my first stand build and first sump, I'm upgrading from a 29 gal biocube, a year later and I've run out of room.

Look forward to chatting!

 

[GnarleyMarley]

Dang guys I need to update this thread lol. Everything is setup and running I have been having a tmevgetting my ca and alk up but its slowly coming up now. I'll get some more updated pics of the guts and stuff. But here is how she looks today

Accidental frag

Sorry about the ceappy cell phone pics one day I'll break out the DSLR and get u guys some decent pics

 

[GnarleyMarley]

Just got my light in the floating canopy!!!

 

[GnarleyMarley]

This is when the tank was still dry. I have three 1/2" hookups and one 1/4" hookup. Its all plumbed off a mag 9.5 return pump.

And here it is up and running...

 

[diamondreef]

Fts all set up? Just looked through the whole thread and love the stand and how you built it!

 

[ravenjred]

Stand

That is a beautiful stand. I am getting a 60g. cube very soon and I was wondering if you could send me the plans for the stand. I will pay for them if you want. Can you tell me what the dimensions are inside the stand? LxWxH? Thank you. Ed

 

[ravenjred]

Lumbar

Hi,
Can you please send me the plans and lumbar requirements for the stand. I am not good at reading CAD drawings.
Thank you,
Ed
[email protected]

 

[GnarleyMarley]

Well its been a while since I've updated this thread, so I figured nows as good a time as any. I've been thru some ups and downs over the past year. Everything was going great then I suffered a total crash when I moved to Charlotte, so I'm in the rebuilding phase now.

I have been blessed with some good friends who have been instrumental in getting me back up and running, and I'm eternally grateful for them.

As for an update, I just bought new pH, and temp probes, along with a float valve for my reefkeeper. I have hooked up the float switch to my skimmer, so when my skimmate recepticle fills up it automatically cuts off my skimmer, no more messy, wet floors!!!!

Also I just added a pair of ATI blue plus t5s to supplement my radion, and I'm ecstatic!!! In addition I'm sent off my gen1 radion and upgraded it to gen3.

Anyway here's a couple pics of my latest construction project minus the trim that will cover the black rim on the tank, its hanging in the garage until the 4th coat of polyeirethane dries

 

[GnarleyMarley]

Also I was able to finish up the diy skimmate locker. And I also added the finishing touches to the canopy/box to hide the t5s lol on a side note the trim also hides the frame on the tank