New 60 Gallon Cube

[iannarelli]

Hi everyone,

Been lurking here for quite some time since my last post. I had originally wanted to set up a 120g peninsula tank in my co-op apartment, but unfortunately, the orientation of the tank for where I wanted to put it was parallel with the floor joists, and all the weight would have been on two joists at best—not something I wanted to try on 90+ year structure.

Anyway, after giving up on the idea for a while, I've decided I want to move forward with a smaller project (I understand this will limit some of my livestock choices). I settled on a 60 gallon cube mixed reef for the time being. It's going to serve as a mini room divider between my living room and dining room, and will also be the first thing you see (side view) after entering my apartment. I am in the very early planning stages Here's my plan for the equipment (bold items I really need some advice on):

Stand: Custom build, 36 inch high
Tanks: Aqueon 60g Cube (will drill it myself)
Overflow: Modular Marine 800 or 1200GPH
Rock: Habitat-based scape using Marco Rock or CaribSea LifeRock
Sand: CaribSea OceanDirect Special Grade Sand (2-3" for a wrasse)
Sump: Trigger Sapphire Cube 20
Skimmer: Adaptive Reef A6 DC 200 (probably overkill)
ATO: 5 gal w/ Tunze Osmolater
Heater: 2x 200w Titanium w/ Inkbird (or maybe IM Helio)
Return Pump: Sicce Syncra 7
Wavemakers: TBD
Light: Kessil A360x or A500x (help!)

So now for my questions.

1. For the overflow, I'm trying to decide between a Herbie or Bean Animal setup. Is the bean much better or quieter? Or is it really just providing an additional means of redundancy? I am thinking 1" dia. drain pipes, and I am waiting to hear back from MM if one overflow would be better re: space constraints for the Bean Animal. Other than the plumbing considerations, are there any drawbacks to one or the other? They're both oversized for the proposed return pump.
2. Is one type of rock significantly better than the other? I'm also tempted to get a small amount of live rock from TBS, but really don't want to deal with any undesirable hitchhikers.
3. The skimmer is a bit ridiculous. There aren't a lot of reviews on this unit, but BRS had good things to say. I know I want a DC pump, and I know there are less expensive options. I also considered the MaxSpect Aeraqua Duo AD60, as whatever I get I want something that I will be able to use on a larger tank in the future, and the 5 yr warranty on the Adaptive Reef seems to be unmatched. As a side note, I also really want to avoid red equipment, a very silly and superficial reason, but here we are.
4. I've seen some negative feedback about the new Tunze Osmolator 3... should I look for the older 3155 model?
5. For heating an 80g system (60g in DT, ~20g in sump), are two 200w heaters enough or should I get more wattage. My building is a prewar and is usually pretty warm.
6. I won an eBay auction for A Sicce Syncra 7 NIB for $183. I was originally going to pick up a Syncra 6, so I'm confident the Syncra 7 will be enough to move water. Planning on having two 3/4" returns, one on each side of the overflow, likely equipped with RFG's. Any flaws here?
7. I will happily take suggestions for wavemakers! I own a Nero 3, so I will likely start with that but understand this will be an iterative process impacted by lots of other variables.
8. For lighting, I 100% want that sweet, sweet Kessil shimmer, and that's not negotiable. I haven't been able to find another light that gets close to the Kessil's shimmer. I'm not looking to have SPS coral everywhere, which seem to be the biggest weakness of the Kessil's, but would eventually like to have some. In reading a bunch of posts here, it seems an A360x won't cut it on its own, and I'd need to install some LED bars like Reef Brites, Quanta Pros, or perhaps AI Blades (I run AI Primes on my 75g planted tank) to supplement it. If I went with the A500X, could I avoid adding additional lights? Aesthetically, a single light looks much cleaner, but obviously, the health of the animals comes before my design sensibility.
9. Finally, are there any glaringly obvious things I'm missing or forgetting about, or fatal flaws in the above?

Thanks in advance for the help and advice! If I've left anything out, let me know and I will add whatever information is needed! Once I begin pulling the trigger on equipment and supplies, I will update this thread with progress shots!

 

[Jekyl]

Also need a heater controller like an inkbird. As for the kessil I would opt for the 360 and an additional LED bar down the road. Better for shading.

Rocks come down to preference. Personally I'd be using ocean direct instead of dry rock. Benefits outweigh the concern of hitchhikers.

 

[iannarelli]

Also need a heater controller like an inkbird. As for the kessil I would opt for the 360 and an additional LED bar down the road. Better for shading.

Rocks come down to preference. Personally I'd be using ocean direct instead of dry rock. Benefits outweigh the concern of hitchhikers.

Will definitely have a heater controller! As for the lighting, glad I don't to shell out for the A500X... I'm assuming that "later on" for the LED bars means when I want to keep some SPS coral?

 

[Reefer Matt]

I have had success with 1, 2, and 3 drain overflows. I do like the bean animal style for added redundancy, as snails sometimes make their way into the drain pipe sometimes, ime. Make sure to add pipe unions for easy disassembly and clean out too.
(As I suggested previously with 2 a360x) While two a360x lights are a little too much, they can be dialed down. I run mine at 55% max intensity. I also recommend the wifi adapter, and not the controller. The controller loses time settings when power is disrupted.

 

[iannarelli]

I'm long overdue for an update... sorry about that. Here's a photo dump with some updates on where this build stands. I'll spread out the pictures over a couple of posts.

A couple of weeks ago, I visited my uncle in Westchester to build the stand. He's a contractor and also has the space and tools for all the carpentry.

Raw materials:

Aforementioned uncle beginning the base:

Frame coming together

I
Interior view:

Cat approved?

 

[iannarelli]

Here are some more photos of the stand construction.

All patched up and ready for sanding:

Primer coat is Kilz Mold and Mildew:

Completed primer coat:

Second coat. Rustoleum Topside Semi Gloss White on the interior and Gloss Black on the exterior. This was my first "mistake" as it was a pain to clean, and the black gloss did not look good. Ultimately, I painted over the black with a flat/matte black paint.

I might suffer from severe OCD:

Some of you may have noticed the countersunk holes at the top of each side. I'm using magnets to keep the side panels attached but easily removable. This allows me to have access on all three side, but also close them off. Also noticed how much better the matte black hides the imperfections in the wood.

 

[iannarelli]

Here's an update on the rest of the equipment:

• Stand: Custom build, 36 inch high COMPLETED!
• Tank: Aqueon 60g Cube Ultum Nature Systems 60C (60g cube) (ORDERED)
  I missed the Petco half off sale by a couple of days when I was still deciding whether to pull the trigger on this project. My friend's wife talked me into low iron glass, and when I saw the Aqueon at Petco there was like a 1/4 inch of extra silicone overlapping each edge, so I decided to spurge.
• Overflow: Modular Marine 800 or 1200GPH (IN HAND)
• Rock: Habitat-based scape using Marco Rock or CaribSea LifeRock (IN HAND)
  I got a great deal ($2/lb) on CaribSea South Seas rock (identical to Marco Rock) and begin breaking it down this weekend to begin the scape. My box came with a couple pieces of base rock with a flat side. I'm not sure if that in typical or if I just got lucky. I took some pieces up to my uncle's anyway, to use his tile saw (pics below).
• Sand: CaribSea Arag-Alive! Special Grade Sand (2-3" for a wrasse) and maybe a bag of Ocean Direct for the bacteria.
• Sump: Trigger Sapphire Cube 20 (IN HAND)
• Skimmer: Adaptive Reef A6 DC 200 (IN HAND)
• ATO: Synergy Reef 5 gal (ORDERED) w/ Tunze Osmolater (IN HAND)
• Heater: Innovative Marine Helio 2x 200w heater (IN HAND)
• Return Pump: Sicce Syncra 7 (IN HAND)
• UV: TMC Vecton Titan 850 (IN HAND)
• Light: 2x Kessil A360x (IN HAND) + Quantas 2.0 bars once they're out, and I need to supplement the Kessils.
• Wavemakers: I'm not sure what to do here. Any help would be greatly appreciated! I have a short list but am not confident what size/model/quantity/GPH I need for a mixed reef in a 2'x2'x2' cube. I've been looking at the following options:
  • EcoTech Vortech... MP10? MP40? I really like the different programs you can run and obviously the cords being out of the tank is great.
  • Aqua Illumination Nero. Again, not sure if I need the 3 or the 5... Their form factor is definitely a plus, I just wish they could be programmed similarly to the Vortechs.
  • Reef Octopus Octo Pulse 2+ or 4+.
  • Octo Pulse 2 w/ Hydros Wave Engine LE. Seems like this might offer similar programming to the Vortechs?
  • Gyres. Maxspect Gyre XF330 Cloud Edition is appealing for the controllability. If I were to go with Neros, I'd consider the new AI Orbit. Not sure if a gyre would be overkill or not?
  • Wavermaker + Gyre combo from the above options.

And now for the tile sawing photos:

 

[SaltwaterandLime]

Looks great, can't wait to see it all come together!

 

[iannarelli]

Looks great, can't wait to see it all come together!

Thanks! Me too. Haha. Hopefully I can make a bunch of progress this week and next weekend!

 

[iannarelli]

Finally got around to smashing up all of my rock so I could stay up to 3 AM this past Sunday night gluing and epoxying them back together! I tried to construct some sort of magical sound and vibration absorbing structure so I could so all the work in my third floor apartment, unfortunately, it also absorbed too much of the force of the impact, making progress frustratingly slow. So, I made multiple trips bringing everything to my basement, which provided a nice concrete slab for me to put my plywood on. Here are some progress photo of the aquascape. Please let me know if you see any flaws or things I should consider changing. I've made a little more progress and will get those photos, and perhaps a video, uploaded in a little bit.

Setting up a reef tank in a NYC apartment is quite and adventure:

The resident engineer dropped by to make sure all my materials were to spec:

 

[William Chiavetta]

Here are some more photos of the stand construction.

All patched up and ready for sanding:

Primer coat is Kilz Mold and Mildew:

Completed primer coat:

Second coat. Rustoleum Topside Semi Gloss White on the interior and Gloss Black on the exterior. This was my first "mistake" as it was a pain to clean, and the black gloss did not look good. Ultimately, I painted over the black with a flat/matte black paint.

I might suffer from severe OCD:

Some of you may have noticed the countersunk holes at the top of each side. I'm using magnets to keep the side panels attached but easily removable. This allows me to have access on all three side, but also close them off. Also noticed how much better the matte black hides the imperfections in the wood.

Great work on this build

 

[iannarelli]

Great work on this build

Thank you!!! I just wish it were going faster!

 

[William Chiavetta]

Thank you!!! I just wish it were going faster!

I know what you mean!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Finally got around to smashing up all of my rock so I could stay up to 3 AM this past Sunday night gluing and epoxying them back together! I tried to construct some sort of magical sound and vibration absorbing structure so I could so all the work in my third floor apartment, unfortunately, it also absorbed too much of the force of the impact, making progress frustratingly slow. So, I made multiple trips bringing everything to my basement, which provided a nice concrete slab for me to put my plywood on. Here are some progress photo of the aquascape. Please let me know if you see any flaws or things I should consider changing. I've made a little more progress and will get those photos, and perhaps a video, uploaded in a little bit.

Setting up a reef tank in a NYC apartment is quite and adventure:

The resident engineer dropped by to make sure all my materials were to spec:

I'm loving the aquascape design so far!

 

[iannarelli]

I'm loving the aquascape design so far!

Thanks! I'm going to post a video today after work! Where in North Georgia are you located? I went to middle/high school in Suwanee!

 

[iannarelli]

The video I took was too large too upload direct to the forum, so here's a YouTube link:

 

[iannarelli]

Big Update! The Tank is filled with water and is cycling. The past 3 weeks have been spent doing cord management and labeling, figuring out a custom controller board solution (that I'm quite proud of), drilling the tank, dry fitting the plumbing with inexpensive white PVC, figuring out how to set up my RODI filter to run off the shower water line (lol), purifying my pretty-great-to-begin-with 36 TDS NYC tap water, mixing salt water, cleaning up and putting away tools, cutting my fancy PVC to size, dry fitting the plumbing again, re-cutting things that didn't fit, filling up the tank, placing wavemakers, setting up smart outlets, tuning everything on, learning the hard way that two unions weren't tightened and getting water all over my floor, realizing the ends of the cords for the controllers for my return pump and skimmer (both Sicce) are identical and I had them swapped, and last but not least, beginning the cycle.

Somewhere amongst all that, I also took a quick trip to San Francisco for a buddy's wedding!

I'll add photos as separate posts.

 

[iannarelli]

Lighting: 2x Kessil a360x w/Wi-Fi Dongles and 360 degree mounts, on a AP9x arm to limit the number of arms.

 

[iannarelli]

In the post above, I forgot to mention that my ATO reservoir came in. I went with a Synergy Reef 5 gal.

 

[iannarelli]

Here are some pictures of the cable management. If I were to do this project over, I would have done all the hole sawing BEFORE putting the stand together. It was a long trial an error process of trying to find the right combination of Forstner bit extension, hole saw + auger, and drill that would fit in the space constraints, but I eventually made it work.