The 40 gallon cube rebuild

[mch1984]

After a few years of being out of the hobby, I decided to return. I had a 90-gallon mixed reef, which was my pride and joy. However, I made a mistake when going on vacation. I had a tank crash, followed by a move where I chipped my tank. The whole situation had me turn sour on aquariums, so I mostly got out of it. I still had some surviving fish, and I cared for them, but I wasn't super into it. On top of everything I am in school and didn't have the time. However, I miss it and want back in. I'm still in school, but I have decided I could handle a smaller tank. My wife talked me into keeping a lot of my old equipment just in case, and I'm glad she did. So here goes the 40-gallon cube build. It's a used tank, and I will use a lot of my old equipment to make this happen. The tank is a custom build I bought used years ago. I will stick primarily to soft corals, lots of Zoa, and maybe a few easier LPS. I'm also planning on housing some rock flower anemones, which are some of my favorites. I'm excited to get this tank going and be active on this forum again. I enjoy this community.

Current list of equipment

DT - custom 40-gallon cube
Sump - Building an obsession
Lighting - Maxspect Ethereal
Refuge light - H160 Tuna Flora
Return pump - Varios 4
Skimmer - bubble Magnus curve 5
Heaters - 2) Jager heaters on ink bird thermostat.
Rock - dry reef rock
Sand - 40 lbs caribsea Bahama oolite
Wavemaker - 2) Nero 3 2) Jabeo DMP-10
Two reactors ran by return
Controller - Neptune Apex

 

[mch1984]

Cube tanks are my favorite, but the sump area is tight. I did manage to get a manifold plumbed in for my reactors. I need a few 90s and a little more tubing; otherwise, it's good to go.

 

[mch1984]

I'm using AI Prime freshwater for my refugium. I had it around from a small desktop tank I added at work a long time ago.

 

[mch1984]

I don't even have water in it yet, and plans are changing. I just bought a used apex system with a Kessil refugium light. I have a second ethereal light, and I hate to just leave it laying around, but I'm afraid it will be too much. I feel like I will overpower the tank with it and do more harm than good.

 

[mch1984]

Ordered some Marco’s for my reef scape. I have a lot of rock from past set ups to choose from. Not 100% sure what I’m going to do yet. I like to be lighter on the rock side. I know I’ll have a big spot for Zoa and Palys. I’ll also have a couple of islands for different types of mushrooms. Anybody with similar size tanks that have some inspiration would be welcome.

 

[mch1984]

Since I have the apex coming with a DOS, I think I will set up an automatic water change with it. I will use two 5-gallon buckets hidden and change them out once or twice a week, depending on how much I decide to do. I am looking at some metal cabinets on Amazon. My wife doesn't care as long as it's black. They all seem overkill for a 40-gallon aquarium, but it will house my AWC and controllers. Plus, they are all big enough that I can also store other supplies in them. I'm thinking I will go with something like the picture below. This should help lend this tank to being easy to maintain while going to school and pursuing my other hobby of kayak fishing.

 

[Brisk]

Since I have the apex coming with a DOS, I think I will set up an automatic water change with it. I will use two 5-gallon buckets hidden and change them out once or twice a week, depending on how much I decide to do. I am looking at some metal cabinets on Amazon. My wife doesn't care as long as it's black. They all seem overkill for a 40-gallon aquarium, but it will house my AWC and controllers. Plus, they are all big enough that I can also store other supplies in them. I'm thinking I will go with something like the picture below. This should help lend this tank to being easy to maintain while going to school and pursuing my other hobby of kayak fishing.

I like that idea of AWC. Looking forward to your build!

 

[mch1984]

I like that idea of AWC. Looking forward to your build!

Thanks! On hold till I get my rock scape done. Probably a good thing, need to get some school work done. Thanks to @08TRDOFFROAD, I now have some inspiration for my rock work.

 

[mch1984]

Does anybody have any input on powerheads? I'm thinking about putting two of them in there, pushing on each other from opposite sides, but I'm also not sure if this tank even needs them. I guess maybe one of the small AI gyra pumps could do it too. The price of powerheads is horrible, may just get a couple of cheap jabeo.

 

[mch1984]

Does anybody have any input on powerheads? I'm thinking about putting two of them in there, pushing on each other from opposite sides, but I'm also not sure if this tank even needs them. I guess maybe one of the small AI gyra pumps could do it too. The price of powerheads is horrible, may just get a couple of cheap jabeo.

I think I've decided on two Nero 3 for the powerheads. I like that I can buy a module to integrate fully into the apex. Still more money than I think powerheads should cost, but not too bad. I will probably wait a few weeks to grab them. Any negative experiences with them?

 

[mch1984]

Got the last pieces of my plumbing in. Hopefully I can get a break from school this weekend to at least start my aquascape. Plan to take my time with it and let the macro cement do it's job.

 

[mch1984]

The apex package has come in! Seems excessive for a 40 gallon but I dig it. Glad I stumbled on this used equipment, got a good deal on it. This will be my first time using a Kessil light, I’ve always heard good things about them.

 

[mch1984]

I figured this was the best way to visualize my scape as I made it. I can't see the side view, but I get a front view and can see the sides as they are. I have enough rock to scape out a 100-gallon aquarium with a ton of base pieces. It's all macro rock, and most are still white. I do have some leftover remnants of my 90-gallon. Wish me luck!

 

[mch1984]

I'm trying to practice patience with this scape. I'm taking one piece at a time and letting it sit for a while. I have a kind-of-sort-of vision; we'll see how it goes. This is the base of my biggest pillar that will go in the back right corner. I hope to get a few of these flat shelves in the scape to give myself some good placement for coral. The macro cement seems to match better than it used to.

 

[mch1984]

I think I'm done with it. It feels like a lot of rock for this tank but I'm trying to give plenty of surface are for coral. I'm open to critiques...

 

[mch1984]

Here are just some more pictures of the rock in the tank. I have ordered my big obnoxious cabinet for everything, and hopefully, next weekend, I can arrange some stuff and do a plumbing leak check.

 

[mch1984]

My big, obnoxious cabinet came in. However, it's not as big and obnoxious as I thought it would be. The ATO reservoir won't fit, but that's okay. It's a nice container, so I'll leave it next to the tank. I'm hoping this weekend I can work on getting the controllers mounted and stuff like that. I would like to have most of it mounted and wired before I fill it. Just so I can move the tank around if I need to. I still need to do a leak test at some point. Maybe once I get it wired up, then I will. We are going on a cruise in mid-October, so I think I'll leave it dry until we get home.

 

[mch1984]

I decided to be a little safer with this one than I have been in the past. I picked up one of the waterproof covers from Lowe's—a cheap and easy safety move.

 

[mch1984]

Filled it with tap water and did a leak test. Everything is running good. I have a tiny trip on one of the drain bulkheads, but nothing a quarter turn won't take care of. Now that I know it holds water, I'll work on getting everything wired and hooked up.

 

[mch1984]

I like my main structure on the rock, but it's a little too tall. I'm hoping I can find somebody with a wet saw so I can chop it off flat where the red line is. With the tank full, the top of that rock is only a few inches below the water line. I'm afraid I'm not giving stuff room to grow like that. Hopefully, I can find a wet saw somewhere, I don't want to rent one just for one cut.