Cade Cube Cave? Tear apart my aquascape!

ksliech · Aug 28, 2024

I just assembled my aquascape from a mix of Marco Rocks and Australian LR. The original idea was to have kind of a small cave in the center with the bulk of the rock above, a long sloping area on the left, and a shorter sloping one on the right with a small island in front of it. After putting it together I ended up with this, which I'm generally happy with. Long term I want a big derasa in the sand, SPS up top, and a mix down lower. The cave will be a cool fish hangout and could even take some non-photosynthetic stuff, but I'm not sure if it's an opportunity cost (I could plug it up and have more surface to put corals. Please tear this apart, would love suggestions!

The left side has a nice slope for placing corals but the right side ended up pretty steep.

Pretty happy with this view, especially the swim-through hole towards the bottom into the cave.

Dread Pirate Dave · Aug 28, 2024

It looks good! It may be a bit to symmetrical (front end view) but sometimes that's hard to avoid with given space.

Gumbies R Us · Aug 28, 2024

ksliech said:
I just assembled my aquascape from a mix of Marco Rocks and Australian LR. The original idea was to have kind of a small cave in the center with the bulk of the rock above, a long sloping area on the left, and a shorter sloping one on the right with a small island in front of it. After putting it together I ended up with this, which I'm generally happy with. Long term I want a big derasa in the sand, SPS up top, and a mix down lower. The cave will be a cool fish hangout and could even take some non-photosynthetic stuff, but I'm not sure if it's an opportunity cost (I could plug it up and have more surface to put corals. Please tear this apart, would love suggestions!

The left side has a nice slope for placing corals but the right side ended up pretty steep.

Pretty happy with this view, especially the swim-through hole towards the bottom into the cave.

I like the way your scape looks!

ksliech · Aug 28, 2024

Dread Pirate Dave said:
It looks good! It may be a bit to symmetrical (front end view) but sometimes that's hard to avoid with given space.

I tend to agree - any ideas how to make it less symmetrical? The 2’ cube shape is indeed a challenge for this. I think at least I need to make the right side slope more for coral placement, and maybe by doing that I can introduce some asymmetry.

Dread Pirate Dave · Aug 28, 2024

Not off hand but one thing I hadn't considered was corals will offset things too, depending on how they're placed.

vlangel · Aug 28, 2024

I like it and cube tanks can be challenging.

Ospreys48 · Aug 29, 2024

I like the cave. Is it a dead end though for the fish? Would be cool if they could swim through it. How much space is there on back wall? Increasing that space may have benefits of flow and swimming. Is that red sea reef wave 25? I’m undecided between that and a MP10 for my Cade 600 which has yet to be shipped.

ksliech · Aug 29, 2024

Ospreys48 said:
I like the cave. Is it a dead end though for the fish? Would be cool if they could swim through it. How much space is there on back wall? Increasing that space may have benefits of flow and swimming. Is that red sea reef wave 25? I’m undecided between that and a MP10 for my Cade 600 which has yet to be shipped.

There’s a big swim through on the left side towards the back, and a smaller one on the right side. I need to inspect closely but there might be a hole in the back as well. I’m a couple inches off of the back wall, except in the top third where it starts to touch it. I should probably pull that top part forward and make sure there’s an escape from the cave out to the back - thanks for the suggestion!

That’s a Maxspect Gyre 330 and so far I really like it (I haven’t had to maintain it yet, and apparently that’s a big and frequent job). I likely will need more flow later and am considering a Nero on the back wall on the opposite side (or an MP10 with the dry side sealed up in my ATO, which apparently some have done successfully). I’m also interested in trying the Gyre in a vertical configuration in the back corner, and maybe one on each side. I want to keep things off of the side of the cube as much as possible, and corner vertical Gyres might be the way.

Ospreys48 · Aug 29, 2024

ksliech said:
There’s a big swim through on the left side towards the back, and a smaller one on the right side. I need to inspect closely but there might be a hole in the back as well. I’m a couple inches off of the back wall, except in the top third where it starts to touch it. I should probably pull that top part forward and make sure there’s an escape from the cave out to the back - thanks for the suggestion!

That’s a Maxspect Gyre 330 and so far I really like it (I haven’t had to maintain it yet, and apparently that’s a big and frequent job). I likely will need more flow later and am considering a Nero on the back wall on the opposite side (or an MP10 with the dry side sealed up in my ATO, which apparently some have done successfully). I’m also interested in trying the Gyre in a vertical configuration in the back corner, and maybe one on each side. I want to keep things off of the side of the cube as much as possible, and corner vertical Gyres might be the way.

Thanks for the reply. The cave seems awesome. I also have heard of others sealing the dry side of a MP, hesitant to try it though as it would void the warranty. Can the dry side of a Nero be put under water? If it’s just a magnet encased in plastic I don’t see why not.

ksliech · Aug 29, 2024

Ospreys48 said:
Thanks for the reply. The cave seems awesome. I also have heard of others sealing the dry side of a MP, hesitant to try it though as it would void the warranty. Can the dry side of a Nero be put under water? If it’s just a magnet encased in plastic I don’t see why not.

Yeah the Nero’s dry side can be submerged by design, so that’s great. But then you have the wire in the tank. Makes the sealed MP10 more visually appealing but like you say, you just voided the warranty of a very expensive pump, and if you didn’t do it right you’ll be in for a shock.