100 Gallon Cube Tank Build

Chelsey

Chelsey

Clownfish Addict
Premium Member
I figured I might as well go ahead and start a thread for this beast since I'm probably going to be ordering things in the next few weeks if everything goes according to plan and glass cages gives me a reasonable quote. This will likely be my last upgrade for many many years, if not the last tank that I upgrade to (yeah, I know everybody says that, but before long I'll be a busy vet school student and wouldn't have the time/funds for a bigger tank).

Here's a schematic of the tank. It's 36x36x18" with starphire glass on three sides and a centered overflow on the back wall.

cubetank.jpg


I'll be using my 40 gallon breeder sump as a sump for this tank as well, but I'll be adding baffles to it like I had in my first sump before it blew out for no apparent reason.

Equipment
I'm going to use my Deltec ap600, Eheim return pump, and phosban reactor from my 40 breeder for the cube tank, but I'll need to buy a few more items. Here's what I have down so far. I think that I'm going to go with two 175s so that I don't have any dead spots in the tank where I don't have enough light. I'm going to build a suspended canopy to house my MH and the VHO supplementation that I'll be using. If anyone sees any kind of problems PLEASE post and let me know.

Lighting:
2 Lumen Bright Reflectors $120 each
http://www.thereefstop.com/index.ph...d&productId=843

PFO 175 watt Dual Metal Halide Ballast $212.50
http://www.thereefstop.com/index.ph...d&productId=591

PFO 2 Bulb VHO Retro $126.95
http://www.thereefstop.com/index.ph...d&productId=484

2 URI Super Actinic VHO Lamps 36" $20 each
http://www.thereefstop.com/index.ph...d&productId=360

2 Ushio 10K 175watt Metal Halide Bulbs $67.95
http://www.thereefstop.com/index.ph...d&productId=185

Calcium Reactor:
Geo 612 Calcium Reactor $309.95
http://www.thereefstop.com/index.ph...d&productId=114

10 lb bag Schuran media $24.95
http://www.thereefstop.com/index.ph...d&productId=330

Neptune pH Probe $45
http://www.thereefstop.com/index.ph...d&productId=236

And a jbj or reef fanatic CO2 controller (send me a link Chad!)
 
That sounds like an awesome tank. Is it possible for you to get a quote for the overflow to be on the rear and not on the inside of the tank?? In my system I found it to be more natural and not so quite so aquarium looking and you will get more room inside. JMHO and it sounds awesome!
Hercules is all good after a week on the meds-thanks for your help! He got plenty of turkey today!
 
Geoxman, I agree, I also prefer the external overflows however, Glasscages won't do them, although it has been suggested that they will build them, if you glue them on yourself. Its either a warrantee or transportation issue, or both.
 
A weir and external would be awesome. Chelsey are you against acrylic? As long as the external overflow is the height of the entire tank it should be very easy to silicone and secure the weight with the stand, if done in glass. Glass cages has all kind of loop holes in their warranty but most of their tanks seem pretty solid. Are you going to go rimless?
 
I'm not against acrylic, but I don't know that I can get a quote from ART via email, and I do not frequent the LFS in the area enough to just stop in and ask for a quote. I'll go with whichever is cheaper (glass or acrylic) but if I go with glass it will be rimless.

Phil, could you email your "connection" a copy of my schematic and see if you can get me a quote? As long as you trust his quality of work I may use him as an option too.
 
Yup. shoot me an PM with your email address. He is top a notch acrylic guy and I think John is the best in STL and one of the best there is. He does not specialize in aquariums like ART but I have see some great tanks done by John at JBC. I will talk with him tomorrow if he is around. He could also do a seamless front for you with bent coeners, kind of like CPE's tanks.
PL
 
Cubes are cool!

That ushio will give you about 8900k. You may want to rethink the bulb. An Iwasaki will give you 15,200k, and an AB13,000k will give you about 10,500. All within a few ppfd of each other.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11460839#post11460839 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Chelsey
I'm not against acrylic, but I don't know that I can get a quote from ART via email, and I do not frequent the LFS in the area enough to just stop in and ask for a quote. I'll go with whichever is cheaper (glass or acrylic) but if I go with glass it will be rimless.

Phil, could you email your "connection" a copy of my schematic and see if you can get me a quote? As long as you trust his quality of work I may use him as an option too.
Click to expand...
Why don't you email Dwayne and have him give you a quote for ART tank?
 
Glass WILL be cheaper than acrylic;) Considerably...unless geoxman's guy can save you a bundle???

As for bulbs, it is hard to argue with the life span and coloration of the Ushio 10K bulbs....my favorite bulb for growth is the Iwasaki 6500K...but it is just too yellow...the Ushio looks crisp white and is closer to natural daylight than the higher kelvin bulbs which give an artificial light, IMO.
 
If you decide to go the acrylic route make sure it's at least 1/2". 3/8 would be better. You might be able to get away without a brace if you use 3/8"...You can still use 1/2" for the bottom.

If they have to build you a cube from scratch you might as well go larger because they will almost charge you for two sheets. Sheets come in 48X96 so you might be able to get a 48X48x18 cube for the same price as the 36X36X18. A lot less scrap and they can use all of the leftover on the next job...

BK
 
I agree here with Schplitter, you might run that by Tom @ GLASSCAGES just might give ya a deal on something like 48x48x18 I'm not real sure, But I think 48x96 thats the standard size sheet of his glass too but I could be wrong still nothing hurts just to ask.

If I'm adding right you've got about $460.00 quoted for lighting. I am a big fan of the T5's myself after having MH and the rest. If you shop around I'm sure you could get a good deal on some Retro T5 set ups that would be about the same cost. And the bulbs would be under the price of the bulbs you've listed. I have 60" T5's and mine are $28.oo per bulb, I know the 36" bulbs are cheaper than mine. My tank is 30" wide and I'm running 8 bulbs on it but 1 broke so I'm only running 5 at current time, and everything in my tank looks the same as it did when I was running 8 bulbs. You could run 6 of the 36" T5's over your 36" wide tank which would only require 2 ballast and you still wouldn't have "dead spots". I'll check first & post back in this thread but I believe that my ballast cost around $120 each, but I'm not sure.

Good call on the Cal reactor & media. I haven't used the Schuran media yet, my packaged deal came with the carib brand and I've still got 2 containers of it, although I see nothing wrong with it I've read so much about the Schuran brand being so much better I want to try it out sometime.. I can't weight in on the PH probe I have the Milwaukee brand (2 of them) which I've had no issues with since I bought them, therefor I never tried another brand. Either way so far IMO your Ideal system sounds good to me.
 
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Ok here's the ballast that you would need if you was to run 6 HO T5 bulbs over a 36" tank. These ballast will power 3 bulbs @ 4 feet in length which would mean you'd need 2 of them. My tank is 30" in width I'm running 8 bulbs @ 60" I was going to run 12 of them but I'm glad I started out with just 8 because I don't see the need for anymore than the 8 and my tank is 25" deep so @ 18" deep 6 would be enough. But you could run 8 if you wanted to just buy 3 of these ballast and wire 1 of them up with 2 bulbs instead of three.

http://www.thereefstop.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=473

Ok just for price figures here's the bulbs

http://www.thereefstop.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=561

And the price of the reflectors.

http://www.thereefstop.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=531

And the endcaps and make sure you get the stand off's as well. Trust me you'll need them.

http://www.thereefstop.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=752

Here is another ballast that I found. Each 1 will run 2 bulbs @ 36" lenght, and would be about $150.00 cheaper than the Icecap ballast. I would ask Mark about these those it claims they need a grounded power cord as well as a program start?? I'm not sure what that means??

http://www.thereefstop.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=536

Keep in mind Chelsey Mark can put all this together and come up with a T5 Retro Kit Including the bulbs and save you a bundle on the shipping as well as the price. And T5 bulbs last about 18 months to 2 years. Hope this helped but If your set on what you've stated in this thread I agree that the Ushio brand MH bulbs, I had one of them once and I think it was awesome compared to the other bulbs I've had.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11463829#post11463829 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by StupidsReef
Ok here's the ballast that you would need if you was to run 6 HO T5 bulbs over a 36" tank. These ballast will power 3 bulbs @ 4 feet in length which would mean you'd need 2 of them. My tank is 30" in width I'm running 8 bulbs @ 60" I was going to run 12 of them but I'm glad I started out with just 8 because I don't see the need for anymore than the 8 and my tank is 25" deep so @ 18" deep 6 would be enough. But you could run 8 if you wanted to just buy 3 of these ballast and wire 1 of them up with 2 bulbs instead of three.

http://www.thereefstop.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=473

Ok just for price figures here's the bulbs

http://www.thereefstop.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=561

And the price of the reflectors.

http://www.thereefstop.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=531

And the endcaps and make sure you get the stand off's as well. Trust me you'll need them.

http://www.thereefstop.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=752

Here is another ballast that I found. Each 1 will run 2 bulbs @ 36" lenght, and would be about $150.00 cheaper than the Icecap ballast. I would ask Mark about these those it claims they need a grounded power cord as well as a program start?? I'm not sure what that means??

http://www.thereefstop.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=536

Keep in mind Chelsey Mark can put all this together and come up with a T5 Retro Kit Including the bulbs and save you a bundle on the shipping as well as the price. And T5 bulbs last about 18 months to 2 years. Hope this helped but If your set on what you've stated in this thread I agree that the Ushio brand MH bulbs, I had one of them once and I think it was awesome compared to the other bulbs I've had.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input, I appreciate your help, but I already have T-5s over my 40 breeder and to be completely honest they work fine but I like MH better, especially for the shimmer effect. Besides, I'm sold on MH after seeing what the change from T5 to MH did to Chad's tank. My house stays cool and since the new tank will be in the basement it'll be especially cool so I won't need to worry about a chiller.
 
I just heard back from glass cages and my tank will be 1/2" thick the whole way around. Do I want starphire?
 
Yes, it will be rimless :) There's $160 difference between the starfire and regular glass, so I really hope it's worth it :confused:
 
I just forwarded your detail schematic and I hope I will hear tomorrow. There is NO way 5/8 inch acrylic will not bow without a brace. My last tank was 1/2 inch and only 36x36x10 and it bowed before the brace. I would never use more than 1/4 inch for any bottom on any acrylic tank as long as the builder has the piece-other wise you are wasting money. I will have him work out the best value vs quality as well.

So do you want a brace or not? If you do not then I would go with the glass and attach the rear overflow yourself. JMHO and have them cut a weir in the rear part of the tank. I should email you tomorrow---I hope??
PL
 
Where would I get the external overflow if I do not have glass cages make an internal one?
 
Low-iron glass scratches more easily....might want to read about some folks experience before dropping the coinage....IMO and for my money, once water is in the tank there is not much difference to justify the extra money for low iron, plus the scratching factor.
 
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