Deep Blue 60g cube

[Phillyd1990]

I'm very excited to announce this build. I recently tore down my cadlights 100g because things just were too up and down with that system and I was convinced a fresh start would be best. I learned alot with the 17 months that it was up which I will be able to apply to the 60g right from the start. Biggest thing I learned that simplicity goes a long way. All I plan for this build is WC and a good skimmer with a small fuge. It will be sps dominate as it was I love most in this hobby. I havnt had the best of luck with sps but most of that is due to my error and I believe this build will be the end of that.

I havnt gotten the tank and stand yet but its paid for I will be picking it up from the LFS this Wednesday.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Sounds nice! Congrats on the new tank!

 

[Phillyd1990]

Equipment
Lighting: radion g4 xr30w pro
Flow: 2 maxspect gyre 230 1 mp10
Rock: 35lbs reef saver 10 lbs shelf rock
Return: COR 20
Skimmer: reef octopus classic 150
Fuge: Chaeto
Sump: bashea SS cube
Controller: Apex 2016

Dont have a list for livestock but I've had the lfs holding on to a few of my fish from my 100g in the meantime.
2 snowflake clown pair
My leopard wrasse who's been with me from the start
Half black mimic tang

The mp10 and all my plumbing is coming on tuesday and I will be starting on Wednesday and probably working on it for the 48 hours following that.

 

[Phillyd1990]

Sounds nice! Congrats on the new tank!

Thanks!

 

[Phillyd1990]

 

[Phillyd1990]

I absolutely love the bashea sump. I've had a bio fuge before for an older build and it was great so I went with there signature series cube for this build. Great quality with a huge skimmer section. Plus it looks great too

 

[Phillyd1990]

In another thread in had asked which cement I should go with for my aquascape. It was hard to pick because everything had mixed reviews. This was my first time using something like this so I was unsure how it would work out. I originally wanted to go with aqua forest stone fix. Some said they hated it but I noticed the were using it with wet rock and trying to put it immediately in water. Since I was doing this with all fresh dry rock I went for it

All I can say is it did not disappoint! It was a little messy but once the rocks start coloring up with coralline it wont even be noticable. Plus I wanted to make sure any point where the rock came together had plenty of support. I made one big structure that shells out in plenty of spots. I absolutely love it and it is SOLID. I gave it a day to cure and when I came home I couldn't believe how sturdy the structure was. I was worried that when picked up the whole thing would fall apart. When I picked it up from the top rock the whole thing stayed together. Let me know what you think!

 

[hdsoftail1065]

In another thread in had asked which cement I should go with for my aquascape. It was hard to pick because everything had mixed reviews. This was my first time using something like this so I was unsure how it would work out. I originally wanted to go with aqua forest stone fix. Some said they hated it but I noticed the were using it with wet rock and trying to put it immediately in water. Since I was doing this with all fresh dry rock I went for it

All I can say is it did not disappoint! It was a little messy but once the rocks start coloring up with coralline it wont even be noticable. Plus I wanted to make sure any point where the rock came together had plenty of support. I made one big structure that shells out in plenty of spots. I absolutely love it and it is SOLID. I gave it a day to cure and when I came home I couldn't believe how sturdy the structure was. I was worried that when picked up the whole thing would fall apart. When I picked it up from the top rock the whole thing stayed together. Let me know what you think!

The scape looks nice, I like the shelves.

 

[Phillyd1990]

The scape looks nice, I like the shelves.

Thanks! I wanted to make sure I had plenty of space for coral placement. My last build I threw my rock together and made it look nice but there wasnt many places that were easy to glue coral to. I definitely learned my lesson on rushing anything in a reef tank

 

[jabberwock]

Yeah looks good, if I could go back and do mine again I would have a lot more horizontal surfaces like yours.

 

[Phillyd1990]

Yeah looks good, if I could go back and do mine again I would have a lot more horizontal surfaces like yours.

I used the shelf rock from brs and it really made things so easy. The pieces are very flat and super light so they held really well with the stone fix

 

[Salty Lemon]

I'm very excited to announce this build. I recently tore down my cadlights 100g because things just were too up and down with that system and I was convinced a fresh start would be best. I learned alot with the 17 months that it was up which I will be able to apply to the 60g right from the start. Biggest thing I learned that simplicity goes a long way. All I plan for this build is WC and a good skimmer with a small fuge. It will be sps dominate as it was I love most in this hobby. I havnt had the best of luck with sps but most of that is due to my error and I believe this build will be the end of that.
I havnt gotten the tank and stand yet but its paid for I will be picking it up from the LFS this Wednesday.

I was just telling the manager of my lfs yesterday, that I already have plans in my head to add a cube tank after I'm done building up my 210. He said and I quote..."a 60 gal cube is the way to go." I'm anxious to see your pics.

 

[Phillyd1990]

I was just telling the manager of my lfs yesterday, that I already have plans in my head to add a cube tank after I'm done building up my 210. He said and I quote..."a 60 gal cube is the way to go." I'm anxious to see your pics.

Agreed! There's something about a cube that I just like. The dimensions are great too. Once we move I'll be getting a larger system and was planning on something 72" long but now both me and my wife like the cube look so I may just be going with a much bigger cube

 

[jabberwock]

Be a little cautious about going too big with a cube. They can get too deep and make maintenance difficult unless you have very long arms...

 

[Phillyd1990]

Be a little cautious about going too big with a cube. They can get too deep and make maintenance difficult unless you have very long arms...

Very true..I can see how the middle might be a hard area to get to without taking a swim lol

 

[NY_Caveman]

Looks like a great start. Aquascape came out very nice.

 

[Phillyd1990]

Looks like a great start. Aquascape came out very nice.

Thanks! Cant wait to fill it up with coral.

 

[Phillyd1990]

What's everyone's thoughts of light height above the tank. As stated above it's a 30w g4 pro. I dont want much spill outside of the tank bit I'd like it to be as high as it can to spread better.

 

[Phillyd1990]

Today is the day. I will be picking up the tank and stand and working all thrught the night to set it up and plumb it in. Water is already made and mixed. Aquascape is ready to go in.

I have a black floor cabinet also being delivered today that will sit next to the tank for all the electrical components and my doser.

I also got all the plumbing in yesterday along with my mp10!

 

[galantra]

Loving the color theme going on here