RCS82
Well-Known Member
Hello all,
Been contemplating doing a build thread for a bit now with my new set up but when I saw the separate cube section, I knew it had to be done. What's the worst that can happen right, some helpful tips and education come my way, plus a great way to document things and post some pictures. All great things I think. I'll try to keep the pics coming at a good pace, everyone loves the pics right. And this tank has been cycled and running for a month or 2 now so we are well under way but far from finished.
Little about me. Well I'm Canadian so this little slice of reef won't need a chiller lol. Been reefing for the last 4 or 5 years with my previous 90 gallon. When I really got started with aquariums though was at a really young age. My dad was a freshwater tropical fish enthusiast to say the least. We had "the fishroom" with maybe 50 or 60 tanks downstairs full of livebearers, rainbows, cichlids, corys. Thousands of fish so naturally I was a cichlid fanatic at a young age. And naturally I got a job at one of the big LFS's as a teenager, mid 90s for reference. Freshwater fish were cool by me at the time and the reptile aisle I can't say interested me much but my lord when I got introduced to the saltwater aisle, well I was hooked. I just couldn't get enough of it. The store had a 200 gallon display tank with a gold flake angel and 3 purple tangs. They were amazing. I had a saltwater tank going at home in no time, except on a teenage budget. A yellow tang, canister filter, a couple florescent tubes, t8s or 12s or whatever those old things were lol. It was great and I even raised some bangais that ended up breeding. And then after high school, well, life happened. The good times, jobs, careers, travelling, more good times, all that stuff got in the way.
Fast forward to 4 or 5 years ago and I'm settled down and thinking of adding a new hobby. Well wouldn't you know it my parents have had a bowfront reef ready 90 gallon in their basement just collecting dust. Away we went and things started to go together, the internet and forums like this were sure handy, definitely wasn't the case back in the 90s lol. My dad had even got started building a stand for the tank but never finished it. He did so much fine woodworking in his older years it amazed me really. With a little trim and stain, plus siliconing a little sump together and things were ready to go.
This tank was a lot of fun to get back into a hobby I loved some 15 yrs ago or more and to see how much has changed. I experimented some with the tank, mainly lighting and then after a couple years the sps bug hit. As is natural, I started planning for an upgrade. But this last summer though took a toll on the tank. Split with the significant other, I work out of town lots and for long periods of time also. We got back together pretty quick actually but now I was living at her place and had to think about moving my tank real soon. Or would it be a perfect time for the big upgrade? Well, I happen to have this awesome little 60 gallon cube I picked up a year or 2 ago, for no particular reason really. I just liked the tank, it was cool, and a good price as it was used. So I thought I would work on setting it up at the new house and the big upgrade could happen maybe down the road.
With the old 90 one thing I was enjoying was the SPS. I started running metal halides, upped my flow, ran ESV Bionic 2 part and things were good. Hopefully with this new cube things will go to that next level. Here's a few more pics from the old 90, then we'll get to the new build.
Been contemplating doing a build thread for a bit now with my new set up but when I saw the separate cube section, I knew it had to be done. What's the worst that can happen right, some helpful tips and education come my way, plus a great way to document things and post some pictures. All great things I think. I'll try to keep the pics coming at a good pace, everyone loves the pics right. And this tank has been cycled and running for a month or 2 now so we are well under way but far from finished.
Little about me. Well I'm Canadian so this little slice of reef won't need a chiller lol. Been reefing for the last 4 or 5 years with my previous 90 gallon. When I really got started with aquariums though was at a really young age. My dad was a freshwater tropical fish enthusiast to say the least. We had "the fishroom" with maybe 50 or 60 tanks downstairs full of livebearers, rainbows, cichlids, corys. Thousands of fish so naturally I was a cichlid fanatic at a young age. And naturally I got a job at one of the big LFS's as a teenager, mid 90s for reference. Freshwater fish were cool by me at the time and the reptile aisle I can't say interested me much but my lord when I got introduced to the saltwater aisle, well I was hooked. I just couldn't get enough of it. The store had a 200 gallon display tank with a gold flake angel and 3 purple tangs. They were amazing. I had a saltwater tank going at home in no time, except on a teenage budget. A yellow tang, canister filter, a couple florescent tubes, t8s or 12s or whatever those old things were lol. It was great and I even raised some bangais that ended up breeding. And then after high school, well, life happened. The good times, jobs, careers, travelling, more good times, all that stuff got in the way.
Fast forward to 4 or 5 years ago and I'm settled down and thinking of adding a new hobby. Well wouldn't you know it my parents have had a bowfront reef ready 90 gallon in their basement just collecting dust. Away we went and things started to go together, the internet and forums like this were sure handy, definitely wasn't the case back in the 90s lol. My dad had even got started building a stand for the tank but never finished it. He did so much fine woodworking in his older years it amazed me really. With a little trim and stain, plus siliconing a little sump together and things were ready to go.
This tank was a lot of fun to get back into a hobby I loved some 15 yrs ago or more and to see how much has changed. I experimented some with the tank, mainly lighting and then after a couple years the sps bug hit. As is natural, I started planning for an upgrade. But this last summer though took a toll on the tank. Split with the significant other, I work out of town lots and for long periods of time also. We got back together pretty quick actually but now I was living at her place and had to think about moving my tank real soon. Or would it be a perfect time for the big upgrade? Well, I happen to have this awesome little 60 gallon cube I picked up a year or 2 ago, for no particular reason really. I just liked the tank, it was cool, and a good price as it was used. So I thought I would work on setting it up at the new house and the big upgrade could happen maybe down the road.
With the old 90 one thing I was enjoying was the SPS. I started running metal halides, upped my flow, ran ESV Bionic 2 part and things were good. Hopefully with this new cube things will go to that next level. Here's a few more pics from the old 90, then we'll get to the new build.
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