Hurgs 80g Cube Build

[Hurgoth]

Quick background. Was active from 2003 - 2011. Had kids, priorities changed.

Been itching to get back in for a while. Always wanted a cube and originally was going for a 60, but like the width of a 90. Bought a used 80g SCA setup a couple years ago and its been in the garage. After a few false starts, finally decided now or never.

Had a custom steel stand made and powder coated. Slightly over sized and 36 tall. Nothing else is too fancy, mainly items from the setup I purchased

Stats:

80g SCA Tank
Apex Classic
2x AI Hydra 26 HD
Tunze ATO
Vertex Omega 130 Skimmer
Generic AA 3 chamber sump

I made a panel to mount all of the controllers and cables and added some led lights.

Once everything is up and running I'll make a skin for the stand. Light should up and runnig this week - waiting for the mount to arrive.

Other projects this week:

1. Add bucket refugium
2. Add ATO
3. Add water, sand and rock

I've had some rock being seeded in the garage for a few weeks.

I also have a calcium reactor though not sure aim going to hook it up.

 

[Hurgoth]

Also been tinkering with some aquascaping ideas. I got a 1" acrylic rod and glued it to a 12" sheet for stability. Still working on the result, this more for testing.

 

[I never finish anythi]

Good luck with the build. Looks good so far

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along!

 

[kevgib67]

Off to a great start, following!

 

[Hurgoth]

Water in, now we wait.

Looking forward to having these cables cleaned up.

Ran the Skimmer for a few but it's overflowing. Flow is set to wide open so I think I need to raise it.

 

[Hurgoth]

Some additional progress:

Here is the a better view of the aquascape. Still going dark a few more days. Light bracket comes this weekend. I've added a jar of Tiger Pods and have been feeding some phyto.

I need to add a top that stack to cover the remaining acrylic.


I made these clips using magnets and cable ties so I can move them around as needed.

Also made a stand for the skimmer to get the level at exactly 7"

After installing I realized the ugly side of the pipe is facing forward :/

Still working on getting it dialed in.

Finally a view of the sump area as of today. I'll be adding a bucket refugium to the front left area once I find a rectangular black bucket.

 

[Hurgoth]

Light mounts came in early. Added a few things as well as.

 

[Hurgoth]

Found a 5 bucket for the refugium. Made a stand as well. Testing for stability.

Still having skimmer tuning issues. Very inconsistent. Sometimes too low. Then it overflowed this morning out of nowhere.

 

[Hurgoth]

Skimmer update.

Hopefully this is good and stays like this.

 

[Hurgoth]

Found a pic of one of my first tanks from 2007. Wish I still had that carpet and zoas.

 

[Hurgoth]

Weekend update.

Knee deep in the uglies. Believe it or not this is way better than a week ago. Water parameters are all good. Not panicking, just waiting it out. Decided not to go lights out since the kids are excited.

Current status:

Finally have some cheato in the refugium as of today. Also added a few small frags here and there as I experiment with flow and lighting.

Skimmer has been consistent.

First tankmates:

Time to work on the stand soon.

 

[Hurgoth]

Update.

Uglies are off/on. I am having an issue getting my nitrates to be detectable. Was using salifert and bought a Hanna over the weekend. Still 0.0. Phosphates are the same but to be honest the Salifert test is near impossible to see any color change. I ordered a Hanna foe this one too. Cyana/Dino was all irritating the zoas and shrooms and they started staying closed. Local LFS recommended feeding the tank with Reef Energy Plus. Surprised the results were very quick. The cyano/Dino has all but disappeared and the corals perked up big time. I moved them to a frag rack for now to keep away from the sand bed.

I feed heavy but don't have much for live stock:

2 clowns
Coral Beauty
Watchman Goby + Shrimp
Hermits, snails
Fire Shrimp

Refugium is working well and I'm pulling out huge piece of cheato every 1.5 week. I'll keep feeding the corals and hope the nitrates increase a bit.

Started using 2 part as alk and calcium were decreasing. Currently hovering at 390ppm and 8.0.


Some phone pics below.

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

seems like the chaeto is the problem—not enough bioload in the tank to sustain nitrates above 0 after the chaeto takes its share.

 

[Hurgoth]

seems like the chaeto is the problem—not enough bioload in the tank to sustain nitrates above 0 after the chaeto takes its share.

Wonder if trimming more at a time would help and only leaving a small tennis ball sized clump. I am trying to get a healthy pod population established.

I am going to use this as an excuse to my wife to buy more fish.

 

[goody]

Following. I too bought an SCA 80g that never saw water. And I also used acrylic rods for my aquascape.

It looks like you have only one drain but if our tanks are in fact the same, there are two drain holes in the overflow. Are you not using an emergency drain?

 

[Hurgoth]

I have the older version of the tank, with only 1 drain hole and 1 return hole. Pretty sure the new SCA tanks come with 2 drain holes.