Pinky’s 150 cube build

chef_pinky · Mar 25, 2018

So... To give you a little background I’ve kept mixed reef tanks for roughly 10 years. The past 5 years I’ve been on hiatus due to moving, and extremely busy with work. But I got the reef bug again, and I’m coming back with vengeance.

So I bought a 60 gallon cube, the first cube I have ever owned (other then my 5 gallon planted tank)

Here’s my 5 gallon planted tank. Somehow the only freshwater tank I have ever kept.

I had got it up and running, was about a week away from being fully cycled, then it decided it wanted to crack... small crack right at the base of the rear panel. Not sure what happened, but I was determined to find another tank

I decided to *slowly* shop for a new to me (aka used and dirty) tank, and this awesome deal popped up after a month: 150 cube, 100#s of rock, sump, reef octopus ro-ps 5000? (Number is half peeled off), 3 Marineland lights, Marineland return pump and a RIO-1200 powerhead (wooo!).

I’ll throw in some pictures before y’all get bored:

So now I’m cleaning... and cleaning... and cleaning. Tank hasn’t been cleaned in a while, all the rocks are covered HEAVILY in algae, along with everything else that was wet. Stand and hood needs some TLC. Just a little sanding and a touch up paint job should do it, structure is still fantastic.

I started by cleaning the tank, and the skimmer. And now I’m soaking the sump, half the former live rock, and the skimmer body in vinegar and water.

So plans for this week:
-clean the $#|¥ out of everything
-purchase plumbing supplies
-sand and paint stand and hood
-purchase rock cement and build the rock formation
-fill it and start the cycle

SOS!! Things I need your help with:

-Lighting it came with is 3 35” Marineland lights, not suitable for what my needs are, so I’m going to sell two, and keep one for my refugium. I need some help though. I’m not sure what lights I should go with, LEDs are still very new to me and honestly I don’t want to spend more then $500 in lights. Anyone have thoughts on what I should use? This is going to be a mixed reef, being heavy on euphyllia, zoas, mushrooms and rock anemones.

-rock cement. I’ve never glued rock together, but I’m going to build a cool structure that includes a large arch or over hang. Still undecided. What product(s) do I need to purchase? Sadly this is the only rock that is clean, dry stuff he had hanging in the stand (also a little scotch has helped me through this cleaning process)

This is the first build thread I have ever done. I’ll do my best to post updates as they come, but currently in the middle of opening a new restaurant so things will probably get delayed on the tank build out.

Would love any tips and suggestions from people, I’ve been out of the loop for a while and started creeping on here the past 2 months to get some ideas. Extremely excited to get this going though, I miss his hobby so much. Stay tuned for the fun stuff!

mike werner · Mar 26, 2018

chef_pinky said:
So... To give you a little background I’ve kept mixed reef tanks for roughly 10 years. The past 5 years I’ve been on hiatus due to moving, and extremely busy with work. But I got the reef bug again, and I’m coming back with vengeance.
that's gonna be a cool tank.the marsaqua 165 watt or 300 watt black box leds (ebay) are cheap and do grow corals very well for the price.check them out if your on a budget.
So I bought a 60 gallon cube, the first cube I have ever owned (other then my 5 gallon planted tank)

Here’s my 5 gallon planted tank. Somehow the only freshwater tank I have ever kept.

I had got it up and running, was about a week away from being fully cycled, then it decided it wanted to crack... small crack right at the base of the rear panel. Not sure what happened, but I was determined to find another tank

I decided to *slowly* shop for a new to me (aka used and dirty) tank, and this awesome deal popped up after a month: 150 cube, 100#s of rock, sump, reef octopus ro-ps 5000? (Number is half peeled off), 3 Marineland lights, Marineland return pump and a RIO-1200 powerhead (wooo!).

I’ll throw in some pictures before y’all get bored:

So now I’m cleaning... and cleaning... and cleaning. Tank hasn’t been cleaned in a while, all the rocks are covered HEAVILY in algae, along with everything else that was wet. Stand and hood needs some TLC. Just a little sanding and a touch up paint job should do it, structure is still fantastic.

I started by cleaning the tank, and the skimmer. And now I’m soaking the sump, half the former live rock, and the skimmer body in vinegar and water.

So plans for this week:
-clean the $#|¥ out of everything
-purchase plumbing supplies
-sand and paint stand and hood
-purchase rock cement and build the rock formation
-fill it and start the cycle

SOS!! Things I need your help with:

-Lighting it came with is 3 35” Marineland lights, not suitable for what my needs are, so I’m going to sell two, and keep one for my refugium. I need some help though. I’m not sure what lights I should go with, LEDs are still very new to me and honestly I don’t want to spend more then $500 in lights. Anyone have thoughts on what I should use? This is going to be a mixed reef, being heavy on euphyllia, zoas, mushrooms and rock anemones.

-rock cement. I’ve never glued rock together, but I’m going to build a cool structure that includes a large arch or over hang. Still undecided. What product(s) do I need to purchase? Sadly this is the only rock that is clean, dry stuff he had hanging in the stand (also a little scotch has helped me through this cleaning process)

This is the first build thread I have ever done. I’ll do my best to post updates as they come, but currently in the middle of opening a new restaurant so things will probably get delayed on the tank build out.

Would love any tips and suggestions from people, I’ve been out of the loop for a while and started creeping on here the past 2 months to get some ideas. Extremely excited to get this going though, I miss his hobby so much. Stay tuned for the fun stuff!

Caswal · Mar 26, 2018

Glenfiddich, a $$ way to sterilize your live rock I suppose.

I assume the tank is 36"x36"? Get 4x AI Prime HD LEDs, but buy them over time. Switching from your existing fixtures. So 2 Primes in the front, 1 of the Marineland's in the back? Mounting the primes in a nice looking way might take a bit of work.

Edit: They do have ceiling hanging kits I completely forgot about.

chef_pinky · Mar 26, 2018

Caswal said:
Glenfiddich, a $$ way to sterilize your live rock I suppose.

I assume the tank is 36"x36"? Get 4x AI Prime HD LEDs, but buy them over time. Switching from your existing fixtures. So 2 Primes in the front, 1 of the Marineland's in the back? Mounting the primes in a nice looking way might take a bit of work.

Edit: They do have ceiling hanging kits I completely forgot about.

I will look into those. Thanks! First thing I need to figure out is what to use to cement the rock, trying to find something affordable and reef safe

chef_pinky · Mar 27, 2018

Small update. Scrubbed the rock, still has some green, but no more hair algae. I think I’m ok with this, will start curing this weekend hopefully.
(Scotch of today’s project: Balvenie 15 Sherry cask)

marioensf · Mar 27, 2018

I happen to have the same type of cube, also making a comeback into the hobby. I cannot splurge on lighting; in fact, most of the equipment I saved from the quitting time. A thing that has changed quite a bit is lighting.
My plan is at this point, one MH only centered towards the back of the tank. I have what I think is the perfect reflector, a large Lumenarc 3.
You can also dip the rock in bleach or muriatic acid for a nice clean start.
I’ll be also like you, putting rock together with cement and acrylic rods which act as reinforcement, think of rebar in concrete.

Looking forward to the progress!

chef_pinky · Mar 28, 2018

marioensf said:
I happen to have the same type of cube, also making a comeback into the hobby. I cannot splurge on lighting; in fact, most of the equipment I saved from the quitting time. A thing that has changed quite a bit is lighting.
My plan is at this point, one MH only centered towards the back of the tank. I have what I think is the perfect reflector, a large Lumenarc 3.
You can also dip the rock in bleach or muriatic acid for a nice clean start.
I’ll be also like you, putting rock together with cement and acrylic rods which act as reinforcement, think of rebar in concrete.

Looking forward to the progress!

Awesome! Send some pictures if you get a chance. Would love to see how the rock works out.

I’m trying to keep lighting affordable, looking into some DIY kits but haven’t found anything I’m comfortable with yet

marioensf · Mar 28, 2018

Oh man, still lots of things to sort out before the cube gets wet but when it does get water in, will post something.

chef_pinky · Mar 31, 2018

Well she’s finally set up... got the rocks in and *slowly* filling with water, 100gpd RODI unit. With the sump I expect it to be filled by Monday afternoon. Anyways here is the rock work.

chef_pinky · Apr 16, 2018

Haven’t had a chance to do much with the tank lately, work has been kicking my butt. But I have finally added some sand, and I bought 2 Hydor Koralia pumps, 1500gph each, and a Koralia wave maker to get some inconsistent flow movement.

Cycle is going well, as you can see I have quite the algae bloom happening. So I ordered my clean up crew, which should arrive in the mail tomorrow. Slowly getting there and really excited about it!

revhtree · Apr 16, 2018

Looking good!

chef_pinky · Apr 22, 2018

Cycle is complete! Added a couple clowns today, really excited to have some fish in here!

Mav2 · Oct 26, 2018

Nice! Looking forward to seeing how this develops.

chef_pinky · Oct 26, 2018

Man I have been awful on getting this updated! I have done quite a bit to the tank. I will post updates on equipment later but here are a few pictures!

I’ll post more later tonight, been much too busy at work sadly.

Mav2 · Oct 26, 2018

chef_pinky said:
Man I have been awful on getting this updated! I have done quite a bit to the tank. I will post updates on equipment later but here are a few pictures!

I’ll post more later tonight, been much too busy at work sadly.

Looking good... really good!!!! I love that aquascape - works very well.