60 gallon cube build

revhtree · Jul 22, 2020

Nice job so far!

jgirardnrg · Jul 22, 2020

revhtree said:
Nice job so far!

Thank you... and thanks for popping in.

Stonycorals · Jul 23, 2020

jgirardnrg said:
Thank you. I'm planning on getting more done today and tomorrow and should be wet this weekend. I'm waiting on a couple of shipments that are holding me up that contain the clamps for the plumbing and the epoxy for the aquascape. Tracking says they should be here tomorrow.

I used 2.5% limo tint on the back of the tank instead of painting it. Looks perfect and only took 10 minutes to do. I may tint the left side of the tank as well since it's only 18 inches from the wall and isn't going to be a viewing panel.

To do for today:

Finish cleaning the tank.

Cut PVC board for the bottom of the tank and silicone in place.

Final cleaning on skimmer.

Make a skimmer stand and install skimmer.

Plumb UV.

Make something to mount pump and equipment controllers under the shelf to the left of the tank.

Grab a 10g tank from storage and set something up for the ATO. I got a couple of ATO units when I bought the tank for $20-30 each. I've got 4 or 5 pumps I can utilize for these.

Decide on powerhead/wavemaker placements. I have the 2 Reef-Power RP-M's by the corner overflow perpendicular to each other. I also have a couple Jebao RW-4's and am thinking of mounting one low in the back to keep detritus stirred up behind the rock work (thoughts anyone?). Anyone have any input on how they handled flow in a cube aquarium?

Great Idea going with tint!

jgirardnrg · Jul 23, 2020

Stonycorals said:
Great Idea going with tint!

Cheap too... I have enough tint left over to do every tank I own 4 times over.

Daniel@R2R · Jul 24, 2020

Beautiful work on this setup so far! Following!!

jgirardnrg · Jul 27, 2020

Things are starting to happen... 80 gallons of RODI waiting for salt downstairs.

Oh yeah... and there's this:

Photos don't really show how three dimensional it is. Tons of caves and swim through's for the fish and plenty of spots for coral and nems. Sand bed is around 1.5 inches deep... I might add a bit more, there's probably 10lbs left of a 40lb bag. thoughts?

jgirardnrg · Jul 27, 2020

Daniel@R2R said:
Beautiful work on this setup so far! Following!!

Thank you Daniel... slow process as I find time but it's in the home stretch. It'll be wet by the weekend unless a problem arises.

Stonycorals · Jul 27, 2020

Looks great, I like your Aquascape a lot. Glad you're getting to enjoy some of the fruits of your labor.

jgirardnrg · Jul 27, 2020

Stonycorals said:
Looks great, I like your Aquascape a lot. Glad you're getting to enjoy some of the fruits of your labor.

thanks... I changed it a little bit since the photo but it's pretty close.

jgirardnrg · Aug 2, 2020

We have water... The first 40 gallons or so are in and I have more mixing as we speak. Need another 1 or so in the tank and we'll start checking for leaks. If all goes well the pumps will be fired up tomorrow.

Rjukan · Aug 12, 2020

Very nice. The stand came out great, love the craftsmanship. The scape also looks really nice, I know first hand how challenging it is in a 2' cube.

Any new updates? Is the 180g running already or thats the next project after the 60g?

jgirardnrg · Aug 13, 2020

No updates... the tank still isn't completely running yet. Lack of time and personal matters have taken the front burner. I just need to get another 20 or so gallons of water in there and get the cycle going. It'll be done by this weekend and I'll update.

Reeferdeluxe · Aug 25, 2020

Looking forward to seeing this up and running.

jgirardnrg · Aug 25, 2020

Me too... 99% there

jgirardnrg · Sep 2, 2020

Been neglecting this thread... lots going on over here.

The tank is now up and running... well cycling, but running. One small bulkhead leak that proved I can squeeze into really small places with my channel lock pliers and get something done.

Heater control mounted and doing its thing:

I ended up getting a smaller DC skimmer. I just would have struggled to have any nitrates with the S-150 I threw in there. I picked up a Coral Box D300+ from Reef Breeders which Logan got to me very quickly. He had even offered to meet me at OSA as I was planning on driving to Rhode Island to pick it up. I'll just use the S-150 on the 80g lowboy I have. New skimmer on the left, old skimmer on the right:

I had a little trouble with UV purging and had to replumb it... nice and quiet now. I used a small Coral Box DC pump so I can control the flow rate easily:

Next up was the ATO. I picked up the ATO unit for $30 from the guy I bought the tank from. Used a small pump I had, spent $15 at Lowes and here we go:

Added sump lights and just have wiring to sort out and clean up:

Current view from my desk:

Been a long road for what should have been a simple project but it's running quiet as a mouse and cycling.
Current params:

PH: 7.7-7.8
KH: 7
MG: 1280
CA: 480

NH3: .2
NO2: .5
NO3: 0

Paleozoic_reefer · Sep 2, 2020

This is awesome! Nothing is better than seeing someone with "bad butt" skills, knowledge, and DIY skills creating a future Tank of The Month! Kudos!!

jgirardnrg · Sep 2, 2020

Paleozoic_reefer said:
This is awesome! Nothing is better than seeing someone with "bad butt" skills, knowledge, and DIY skills creating a future Tank of The Month! Kudos!!

My father always said to me "what one man can do, another man can do"... I've carried that throughout my life. I owe a lot of my skills to his mentoring and sending to me work with his buddies. Dad was a master carpenter (who I worked alongside for many years). he had buddies that were electricians, plumbers, concrete workers, pool installers, mechanics, you name it. AT the time it annoyed the hell out of me, I just wanted to go MY job. Now I get it, he was grooming me to be able to do anything.

The knowledge is still being acquired. I've learned a lot on here by reading posts and gleaned a little info here and there. I don't know about tank of the month but it'll be my little piece of the ocean in my office until I can setup the big tanks I have sitting in the basement.

jgirardnrg · Sep 2, 2020

NO2: 1.0
NO3: 10

Life has begun! I had a feeling because I was in the office all day watching random bubbles coming from the rocks (nitrogen, I assume). Will report on status of the cycle when I test again tomorrow. I'll dose ammonia to 2ppm again and see what happens.... fingers crossed.