My little slice of R'lyeh...93 Cube Display / 50g Frag Tank (Alternate Title: TWO TANKS ONE SUMP!)

[Permian_Aquaculture]

Hello Reefers!

I am starting this build thread at last! It has been in the works for quite some time, and I didn't have the heart to start it with just an equipment list and "COMING SOON!"....

I picked up a 93 Cube from another local reefer partly b/c when he had it up an running it was one of my favorite tanks in town. I was really sad to see him go, hope to see him get back into reefing asap. I snagged the 50g Custom Frag tank from an LFS that was selling it a few towns over. I also opted to go with a used Trigger Systems Sump I picked up in a build I decided not to do.

The stand that came with the 50gal was a total mess, it didn't even have support at all four corners...SO off to Home Depot I went. I only know how to build BMX Ramps for grown a** men, so I may have gone overboard on supports. The image below is still hardly where I stopped adding them...Trip the dog totally approves though...

Once the stand was built, I stained and sealed the stand ( I went with a BeesWax and Citrus oil to seal it over a lacquer that will end up flaking (possibly into my sump) in a decade.)

Next I had to plan the build...Here is what I went with:

2 Ecotech Radion XR40s

1 Kessil H160 Fuge Light

1 Reef Octopus 4" Chamber Carbon Reactor

1 BioChurn 120R Bio Pellet Reactor

1 Reef Octopus Classic 152-S 6" Internal Protein Skimmer

1 BRS Universal CO2 Scrubber

1 Apex Controller

2 Gyre XF 280s 1 Controller. (One for each tank)

2 Reef Octopus Varios 6 Return Pumps (To power the reactors and get the water back up to each tank.)

a handful of 50w Finnex heaters to run in an array rather than using large heaters.

and that pretty much covers the "MAIN" stuff...time for the fun stuff!

 

[Permian_Aquaculture]

The Setup!

For the setup I called on a local R2R member to mastermind my plumbing, I am going to wait on his approval before I show him off. I will do my best to describe it.

We went with a Herbie system of sorts. The Cube has two 1" holes in the overflow we used both as drains. One main and one as a trickle.

The Frag tank has a 1" hole drilled in the overflow, and a 1 1/4" hole. We used the large one as a main drain for that tank, and merged the 1" drain from the frag tank into the trickle drain of the Cube via a T fitting.

The Varios feeding back into the frag tank also powers the reactors, the second Varios pump will be doing the long haul back to the 93 Cube on it's own. Both return lines are plumbed to come up and over into each tank. Simple and super effective setup!

I have yet to glue anything in place, and I want to show off that all the white PVC fitting you see are extra runs to Ace Hardware at least 5 trips....I will be painting those before I glue all the PVC in place.

Here are some more pics of the masterpiece that he constructed plumbing wise.

I am waiting for my Locline adapters to come off backorder to finish the returns...

Tanks need a heavy vinegar scrub in the meantime while I wait on those.


My next update should show a ton more progress in the coming weeks. Including a really awesome Aquascape I have in the works for the Cube...

Open to a few ideas on the cube, I want to keep a dirty tank with mostly LPS etc to feed the frag system. Clown harem, Dwarf Lion or Angler tank or an Eel are three ideas we have had....Currently I am trying to figure out which one of those I want to get bit by as I glue coral. Surprisingly a swarm of Clownfish picking at me scares me the most...