60 gallon Cube DIY Build - Looking For Feedback

[GoCougsDan]

A little backstory first. I kept a 55 gallon DT/12 gallon sump/refug. LPS reef tank for two years, and it was a grueling two years of ups and downs. One of the first few corals I purchased, a Duncan, had a hitchhiker on it that would later become the ultimate demise of my tank. That hitchhiker was Dictyota. If you don't know what that is, take 15 minutes looking for "œsolutions" for eliminating this plague of an algae and you will quickly find that there are none for a system under 125 gallons. I tore my tank down since I will be moving in a few months to pursue my career (big cat trainer), but also out of sheer frustration for the complete takeover of my tank by dictyota. Needless to say, I learned a great deal.

But all of this is in the past, today is the present, and the Marineland 60 gallon rimless reef ready cube tank I got last week is the future

I have been doing lots of planning and now that I think I have a good system in my head, I wanted to ask you all help me perfect it before I start building it to see if I have any misconceptions about my plans or gear or otherwise. Thank you in advance for your help!

TLDR: I used to have a tank, it was overrun by the plague, so I sold it and got a 60 gallon tank and here's the plan. Lookin' for feedback!

Stand, Sump, and Hood will all be custom made me and the plans will be in subsequent posts when I figure out how to post pictures of the designs on here

Components I currently own:
Marineland 60 Gallon cube (24"x24"x24") and overflow/return tubes that come with it
SWC Skimmer rated up to 90 gallons
Jebao WP40 and WP10
Reef Keeper Lite (4 channel controller and temp probe)
RO/DI Unit
three 1 foot long LED strips I got from a friend ( can't remember the brand)

Proposed Components to Purchase:
Kessil A150 Ocean Blue
Pan world 50PX-X Return Pump
DIY ATO system
200W Cobalt Aquatics Submersible Heater
A few moonlights in the hood.

The overflow for the tank says it requires a minimum of 700GPH. With a proposed head pressure of about 4 feet, the Pan World looked like the best option for flow and for ratings of an external pump. Opinions?

The plan for this tank is for it to be an LPS tank as well. I'm going to roll with a more minimalist aquascape than a copious amount of rock. I intend to start with all dead rock and take my time getting the exact aquascape with putty, chisels, PVC; you name it.

The other interesting thing I'm gonna try to do is make a custom sump with a display Pulsing Xenia refugium (this is where the 1-foot long LED lights will come in. I've read good reviews and bad ones on the idea of using xenia as a refug implement, so I have decided to try it out and I'll weigh in on it in the future in forums. If it doesn't work, that's ok too; I'lll just do the classic chaeto. The refug will be on an alternating day/night cycle with the tank.

If you read all of this, you are a champ and I thank you in advance for your feedback!!

As always GO COUGS!

 

[hijinks]

I have a 60 gal cube and a wp40 will be too much go with the 25 and 10 if you need flow behind rocks

I built a custom stand also but it's 3 feet long to put a 20 gallon long sump underneath and give more room for equipment like reactors

 

[GoCougsDan]

Thanks for the info! I'll see what I can do about acquiring a 25. For my aquascape, I'm planning on having a bit of a cross between a tower and a banzai style, so flow behind rocks won't be as much of a problem as getting a good wave going will be.

 

[GoCougsDan]

Custom Sump Design

Custom Sump Design

I've been toying around with a 3D program (sketchup) to find the sump that I want to put together. This is what I came up with after canning about 8 previous ideas. The red is the space needed for the skimmer. The baby blue color is the ATO reservoir which comes out to about 6 gallons and the two sections next to it are for 2-part dosing solution. That whole back part will get a cover plate for it. The hole in the side of the ATO reservoir is for a bulkhead and flexible hose for me to pump fresh RO/DI water into it from a bucket so i don't have to try and dump fresh water into it and make a mess. I did the math and the refug is about 9 gallons. At 700 gph, that's about .2 gallons/second through the whole sump. At 900 that's about .25 gal/sec. It is 22" x 22" and the max water level is 14" and the outer rim of the top is at 20". Also, I know that the holes in the return part of the sump would suck up sand, but I dont intend to put sand in the refugium; just Xenia and rock/rubble. I might also add some canted scaffolding for the xenia to attach to in order to maximize surface area exposed to light.

Please ask any and all questions you have, or pick it apart if you see some vital flaws; just be nice please It is still a concept

 

[GoCougsDan]

Stand Frame

Stand Frame

Because cube tanks have such small footprints, I wanted to cut down the amount of square feet needed for the framing. So I decided to weld up this frame out of 1" steel tubing. It will end up getting powdercoated to prevent corrosion. There is a 4 inch lift that the sump will sit on. The area that the sump can sit in is 22"wide, 22" long, and 30" high. The area underneath will be storage for tubing, nets, and other tools. The other reason why the lift is there is so that the display part of the refugium sits a little higher for people to see at night. The whole thing will get 3/4 inch vernier around the outside with doors on 2 sides. However I'm working out a system so that I can pull both the vernier and the doors off in the event of moving the sump and such.

Again, all in the design phase, so leave some constructive feedback!

 

[GoCougsDan]

Whole Stand

Whole Stand

Ok, final post for the evening. This is what the whole stand will look like. I'll be adding a top, bottom, and back with fans to the light hood and there will also be doors, and back with fans as well. The little window in the front of the stand will not get a door.

Lemme know what you think!

 

[GoCougsDan]

My primary questions for the moment are:

Is that Kessil enough to keep LPS in this tank, like brains on the bottom sand?

I think black sand would look really cool for this tank. Does anyone have any experience with it? and would that be ok if I didnt plan on having any sand in the refug?

does the flow through the sump makes sense, and do you think that it could work at 700 or even 900 gph?

does the bracing on the top of the sump look like enough? It's all 1/2" wide, 3/8" thick.

And finally, I'm co-opting the 2 pre-drilled holes in the reef ready system to be an herbie overflow, but I haven't found an attractive way to plumb the return line without drilling a hole in the glass. The fact that it is a rimless tank with an elevated canopy makes it tricky, so that's why im curious if anyone has a solution.

Thank you!

 

[hijinks]

i'm not sure about the kessil 350/360 but I had a 150 for like 2 weeks and got sick of listening to the whine of the fan they used. It was too loud for me. I know the 350/360 would be fine. I use a reefbreeder nova a4 on mine and it works great.

black sand is a preference. I like the look of it but don't like how I can't tell how dirty it is.

sump bracing looks ok

 

[GoCougsDan]

Did you have it on the gooseneck? If so, do you think that an enclosed canopy would conceal the sound of the fan?

I've been looking at that same reefbreeders fixture as well. Good to see a good review on it. What kind of tank do you run yours on?

 

[john08007]

read a few posts about people using the kessil with the gooseneck, light gets bumped and falls in the tank, just an idea to keep in mind. I'm thinking about getting 2 360's and plan mounting them in my canopy

 

[hijinks]

Did you have it on the gooseneck? If so, do you think that an enclosed canopy would conceal the sound of the fan?



I've been looking at that same reefbreeders fixture as well. Good to see a good review on it. What kind of tank do you run yours on?

I had it on a gooseneck of a 30 gal cube. Generally for an enclosure you'd need another fan to vent the heat. LEDs getting too hot lower the par rating over time

I run my nova a4 on the same dimension tank as your

 

[GoCougsDan]

Thanks for the hint on the overheating. I'll be sure to incorporate some fans in the hood regardless of the type of LED I get. And sorry hijinks, I should have been more specific. I meant what kind of reef are you running? Is it an LPS, SPS, mixed? Just curious is all. Thanks for the heads up on the gooseneck too, I definitely will be making my own hood to combat that.

 

[tidus10]

I will leave my .02 here and please feel free to ignore it...

With the sump and stand being the same footprint as the DT, youre limiting you ability to add anything else once its all set up.

A good example is, you want a RKL, it comes with the PC4, its about 12" across but if you want to control more stuff that's another PC4, or another 12" and now you cant fit them next to each other they have to be stacked making the top one hard to get to if needed.

Or, if you want a reactor (dual reactor?), dosing pump stuff like that, where are you going to put it? I found this all out the hard way... i plan on getting a 60gallon cube but i will make myself a 48" long stand for all my goodies and room around the sump incase i want to store stuff down there as well. plus who doesnt like room next to the tank to put something down when needed (ie:food cup).

like i said, this is my personal opinion. I really like the drawings but if you're getting back into the gig and you want to do things even better this time im sure you'll want those gadgets that make this hobby even more enjoyable and they take up some space for sure.

p.s. post pics of the big cats!!!!!

 

[hijinks]

Thanks for the hint on the overheating. I'll be sure to incorporate some fans in the hood regardless of the type of LED I get. And sorry hijinks, I should have been more specific. I meant what kind of reef are you running? Is it an LPS, SPS, mixed? Just curious is all. Thanks for the heads up on the gooseneck too, I definitely will be making my own hood to combat that.

I have a mixed reef

 

[GoCougsDan]

Thanks for the input tidus10. I've been digesting it for a few days trying to figure out what to do and I think I've landed on it. I think I'll put an extension off to one side with some drawers in it as well as an open area underneath for extra gadgetry and whatnot. That way, the top can act as a place to set stuff down like you said, but still provides space for reactors, dosing pumps, and storage for extra misc. gear and such. I will try and draw a more recent and accurate version of the propsed stand and see what you all think.

Also, thanks for the input on the reefbreeders hijinks, I'm definitely going with those now.

i'll see what I can do about the big cat pictures

 

[tidus10]

cool man, i honestly think you'll be much happier that way in the long run

keep us updated

 

[GoCougsDan]

Ok, so I took some time and re-worked the frame and such to see if this appeared better. the extension is 12" wider than the tank and would likely get some bracing from front to back to attach the reactors and dosers. Above the sump, I'm planning on putting a switchboard powerstrip on top of a drawer shelf that comes out the right side of the stand. The new extension of the stand on the left side will also get 2 drawers. All panels on the stand will be able to pop off if I can find a good way to do it that won't corrode.

I'm trying to keep this stand with as small of a footprint as possible, so keep that in mind with your feedback. Thanks!

 

[Braves95]

I have the same tank, I built my stand to match the footprint of the tank and I regret it everyday. From your pictures I like the extension but maybe add another on the other side or build some half shelves in the upper half of the stand. You will quickly run out of space if you keep it matching the footprint.

 

[hijinks]

I build my stand 36 inch wide and love it. Sure it looks a bit strange but at least I have a ton of room underneath to hide things. My tank is centered but I think I like how you did it off to one side

 

[john08007]

I'm building a 75G rimless cube, I'm putting it in a corner so I have a sorta triangular cabinet to go under it, it is 4' wide at the front so it gives me 1' on each side of the tank. I wanted a larger stand to allow me to put a 20L under for a sump along with enough room for reactors and everything else. I plan on putting a drawer at the top just under the tank to store some supplies in. Eventually I will start a build thread