Aegeon's 25G Cube Build
- Thread starter Aegeon
- Start date
reefsahoy
I can see thru you!
or to save space you can have your return run into one of these. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLa89Lbshco
http://shop.mediabaskets.com/BioCube-29-Package-Deal-BC29-Bundle.htm
i'm probably going to make one myself.
http://shop.mediabaskets.com/BioCube-29-Package-Deal-BC29-Bundle.htm
i'm probably going to make one myself.
I keep my top-off water in 2.5 gal containers, and I swap them out about every 6-7 days when they run low, so I figure I'm loosing about 2.5-3 gallons/week to evaporation.
This is similar to what I'm thinking of building. An acrylic "tower", about 3"x3"x12" tall that could clip over the edge of my sump. The drain line could be held inside the tower, directing water flow over filter pad/floss and a bag of carbon or gfo. Just need to find the time to work on it.
Thanks for the suggestions!
reefsahoy
I can see thru you!
yeah, this is good because one less power cord and less heat into tank!
Learned a few things this weekend...
Learned a few things this weekend...
It's been a few days since I've posted an update. I finally got a cleanup crew into the tank on Friday. Also, I had my first official tank emergency Saturday night. So, in the last few days I've learned a couple things:
Thing I learned #1: John at reefcleaners.org is awesome.
I purchased my cleanup crew through them, and he was great working with me to get the package delivered to my local post office and held until I could get there after work to pick it up. Everything came through with flying colors, I don't think I had a single loss.
Thing I learned #2: Order less than you think you need from reefcleaners.org.
John really over-delivers when you order, especially on the little things. The crew I ordered was supposed to include 20 dwarf cerith snails, but the package probably included more than 50. I also ordered 6 blue-leg hermit crabs, but a dozen or more arrived.
Everything in my list showed up in quantities more than double what I paid for. This is awesome, but now my concern is keeping everything alive. My tank is pretty empty and sterile since it's new. Not knowing what to do with all the extra cleanup critters, they all went into the tank, so now it looks like a snail farm in there. I think some of them will have to find new homes eventually.
Thing I learned #3: Nerite snails like to leave the tank.
Every morning since I added the crew, I've found at least 2 of the nerite snails on the floor near the tank. You can see a trail on the glass where they crawled up out of the water, down the outside of the glass, across the stand and then off the edge. I drop them back in when I find them and so far they've recovered just fine, but I may have to look at adding a screen or lid to the tank to keep everyone contained.
Thing I learned #4: Cerith snails are really, really attracted to light.
We keep a light on overnight in our front hallway, near the dining room where the tank is. Every morning, I find dozens of cerith snails stuck to the front glass of the tank. They disperse during the day, but it's sort of disconcerting to wake up every morning to the "wall-o-snails". As I said before, I have way more of these guys than I probably need, so I might need to thin the herd a bit.
And finally, a little excitement Saturday night...
Thing I learned #5: A Maxi-Jet 1800 utility pump is more than capable of pushing 7 gallons of water out onto your dining room floor.
We have a 4 month-old baby at home, and I got up with him at about 2:00 am Sunday morning. On my way to his room, I heard a grinding sound coming from downstairs. I immediately thought, "The return pump is running dry. That can only happen if the sump is empty. Not good."
Running downstairs, baby in arms, I find our dining room floor is one big puddle with our stupid dog wet, but still asleep, in the middle of it. About three hours of emergency tank maintenance and cleanup ensued. Fun, fun!
Thing I leaned #6: There are some things you just shouldn't jury-rig.
I use a Maxi-Jet 1800 as my return pump, which comes with a return line hose barb that will take a 1" or 3/4" clear nylon hose. My return line is 1/2" spaflex tubing. To make the connection, rather than finding an appropriately-sized hose barb for the pump, I spliced together a homemade adapter from a section of 1" spaflex coupled to the 1/2" with a reducer bushing, and forced the 1" spaflex side onto the Maxi-Jet's stock barb and held it in place with plastic hose clamps. Bad idea.
As it turns out:
1. The nylon hose barb fitting on the maxi-jet is not made for spaflex tubing.
2. Cheap plastic hose clamps are also not made for spaflex tubing.
3. Using silicone will not magically fix #1 or #2 above.
So, sometime overnight, my homemade adapter came loose from the Maxi-Jet's hose barb, allowing the pump to spray water straight up out of the sump and into my stand, where it ultimately ran out onto my floor. Lesson learned.
I shut down the pump, moved the heaters and live rock up into the display tank, and started making up a new batch of saltwater. The tank ran sumpless overnight, and on Sunday I went out to find the part I should have used the first time around. Now I have a real, appropriately-sized, correctly-installed reducer bushing installed directly into the Maxi-Jet. I added a real 1/2" spaflex hose barb, held to the spaflex tubing with real stainless steel hose clamps.
Since the sump was already offline, I took the opportunity to break it down completely and clean it out along with all the equipment. Looks much better than before, and the equipment is laid out better as well. Refilled the system with new saltwater, and we're back up and running. I have yet another batch of SW mixing now, so I'll do another 5-7 gallon water change tomorrow, and keep an eye on my parameters.
Also, the dog survived.
Learned a few things this weekend...
It's been a few days since I've posted an update. I finally got a cleanup crew into the tank on Friday. Also, I had my first official tank emergency Saturday night. So, in the last few days I've learned a couple things:
Thing I learned #1: John at reefcleaners.org is awesome.
I purchased my cleanup crew through them, and he was great working with me to get the package delivered to my local post office and held until I could get there after work to pick it up. Everything came through with flying colors, I don't think I had a single loss.
Thing I learned #2: Order less than you think you need from reefcleaners.org.
John really over-delivers when you order, especially on the little things. The crew I ordered was supposed to include 20 dwarf cerith snails, but the package probably included more than 50. I also ordered 6 blue-leg hermit crabs, but a dozen or more arrived.
Everything in my list showed up in quantities more than double what I paid for. This is awesome, but now my concern is keeping everything alive. My tank is pretty empty and sterile since it's new. Not knowing what to do with all the extra cleanup critters, they all went into the tank, so now it looks like a snail farm in there. I think some of them will have to find new homes eventually.
Thing I learned #3: Nerite snails like to leave the tank.
Every morning since I added the crew, I've found at least 2 of the nerite snails on the floor near the tank. You can see a trail on the glass where they crawled up out of the water, down the outside of the glass, across the stand and then off the edge. I drop them back in when I find them and so far they've recovered just fine, but I may have to look at adding a screen or lid to the tank to keep everyone contained.
Thing I learned #4: Cerith snails are really, really attracted to light.
We keep a light on overnight in our front hallway, near the dining room where the tank is. Every morning, I find dozens of cerith snails stuck to the front glass of the tank. They disperse during the day, but it's sort of disconcerting to wake up every morning to the "wall-o-snails". As I said before, I have way more of these guys than I probably need, so I might need to thin the herd a bit.
And finally, a little excitement Saturday night...
Thing I learned #5: A Maxi-Jet 1800 utility pump is more than capable of pushing 7 gallons of water out onto your dining room floor.
We have a 4 month-old baby at home, and I got up with him at about 2:00 am Sunday morning. On my way to his room, I heard a grinding sound coming from downstairs. I immediately thought, "The return pump is running dry. That can only happen if the sump is empty. Not good."
Running downstairs, baby in arms, I find our dining room floor is one big puddle with our stupid dog wet, but still asleep, in the middle of it. About three hours of emergency tank maintenance and cleanup ensued. Fun, fun!
Thing I leaned #6: There are some things you just shouldn't jury-rig.
I use a Maxi-Jet 1800 as my return pump, which comes with a return line hose barb that will take a 1" or 3/4" clear nylon hose. My return line is 1/2" spaflex tubing. To make the connection, rather than finding an appropriately-sized hose barb for the pump, I spliced together a homemade adapter from a section of 1" spaflex coupled to the 1/2" with a reducer bushing, and forced the 1" spaflex side onto the Maxi-Jet's stock barb and held it in place with plastic hose clamps. Bad idea.
As it turns out:
1. The nylon hose barb fitting on the maxi-jet is not made for spaflex tubing.
2. Cheap plastic hose clamps are also not made for spaflex tubing.
3. Using silicone will not magically fix #1 or #2 above.
So, sometime overnight, my homemade adapter came loose from the Maxi-Jet's hose barb, allowing the pump to spray water straight up out of the sump and into my stand, where it ultimately ran out onto my floor. Lesson learned.
I shut down the pump, moved the heaters and live rock up into the display tank, and started making up a new batch of saltwater. The tank ran sumpless overnight, and on Sunday I went out to find the part I should have used the first time around. Now I have a real, appropriately-sized, correctly-installed reducer bushing installed directly into the Maxi-Jet. I added a real 1/2" spaflex hose barb, held to the spaflex tubing with real stainless steel hose clamps.
Since the sump was already offline, I took the opportunity to break it down completely and clean it out along with all the equipment. Looks much better than before, and the equipment is laid out better as well. Refilled the system with new saltwater, and we're back up and running. I have yet another batch of SW mixing now, so I'll do another 5-7 gallon water change tomorrow, and keep an eye on my parameters.
Also, the dog survived.
Based on your review, i believe i will be making an order at reefcleaners!hope everything works out on your tank!
Thanks, and I'm glad to help! I don't think you'll be disappointed with reefcleaners.
My only complaint (if you can call it that) is that too much stuff arrived. I'm not sure my system can keep everything alive. Also, I'm using mostly BRS base rock which is still very white, and I don't really like the look of it covered in so many tiny black snails. It won't be an issue once I start getting corals in, and the rock starts to darken up, but it looks kind of nasty at the moment.
After I added the crew to the tank, my wife walked up and looked in at all the snails and said, "Gross." Not the reaction I'm looking for. Oh well, just need some time.
I got it from Mouser. Here's a link to the one I bought: http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail...=sGAEpiMZZMsrGrAVj6eTvYS1u0w/6Pn8HFh3E9ns6/o=
It's a Bud Industries AC-1424 aluminum enclosure, 12"x12"x3". It arrives as bare unfinished aluminum. Mine had a protective plastic clingfilm on the surfaces. Because it's not finished or anodized it scratches REALLY easily, so be careful. I wound up sanding mine down a bit to remove scratches and painting it black using Krylon Fusion spray paint.
The walls of the box are fairly sturdy, but they will bend/dent if you press too hard on it while drilling. Be sure to directly support the underside of the panels with wood or something similar when drilling. I didn't, and by the time I was done with all the vent holes the top was bent up pretty bad. I managed to straighten it out pretty well but you can still see it if you're up close.
Also, you can't tell from the pictures on their site but the box is made from a single sheet of aluminum bent into box form. Because of this, there are gaps at the corners that will let light out if you use it for a light fixture. Mine were covered up by the heatsink so it wasn't an issue, but depending on your design you might have to seal these corners.
It also does not come with a lid/cover, so I made my own from a 12"x12" sheet of 1/8" Lexan.
Hope this helps!
A few more days, and some good news and some bad.
The good:
I finally have corals! After 12 years, I finally purchased my first frags. On Sunday I got 2 Ricordias (Ricordia florida), a 3 head Aussie Duncan frag (Duncanopsammia axifuga), a 3 polyp green and white Acan (Acanthastrea echinata), and a tiny $5 Monti Cap frag (Montipora capricornis). The Duncan frag also has what looks to be the start of a bud along one side, so hopefully it'll sprout a new head before too long, too.
I got everything home, acclimated and placed in the tank. One of the ricordias had separated from the plug it was attached to during the drive home, but I got it re-attached to a small piece of live rock rubble and into the tank with no problems. Everything looks good. Within 24 hours, all the corals were nice and full, good color, with feeders out in the water. I fed the corals a bit of cyclopeeze last night, and everything looks good.
I'll try to get some pics.
The bad:
I spotted a tiny hitchhiker crab last night while watching the tank. It's tiny, a bit smaller than a dime. All white with tiny black/brown spots that almost look like freckles. Not particularly hairy, but it does have black-tipped claws. It was tucked under some rock, picking through the sand, so I couldn't get to it. So far it doesn't seem to be bothering anything, but I'm wondering if I should try to capture/kill it?
Also, my clownfish have some sort of fungus. I noticed about a week ago a tiny white spot on the side of one of them, along the lateral line about halfway between the pectoral fin and tail. I didn't think much of it at the time and it didn't seem to grow. Last night, however, I noticed that it had doubled or tripled in size. It looks like a tiny cotton ball stuck to the fish's side. I also noticed a similar "puffball" on the other clown, near its gill.
Looking around online, it sounds like a fungus. Guess I get to set up a hospital tank. I have a spare 10 gallon and some PVC fittings I can toss in, along with a spare heater. What else do I need? Can anyone recommend a medication? Freshwater dip?
Thanks!
The good:
I finally have corals! After 12 years, I finally purchased my first frags. On Sunday I got 2 Ricordias (Ricordia florida), a 3 head Aussie Duncan frag (Duncanopsammia axifuga), a 3 polyp green and white Acan (Acanthastrea echinata), and a tiny $5 Monti Cap frag (Montipora capricornis). The Duncan frag also has what looks to be the start of a bud along one side, so hopefully it'll sprout a new head before too long, too.
I got everything home, acclimated and placed in the tank. One of the ricordias had separated from the plug it was attached to during the drive home, but I got it re-attached to a small piece of live rock rubble and into the tank with no problems. Everything looks good. Within 24 hours, all the corals were nice and full, good color, with feeders out in the water. I fed the corals a bit of cyclopeeze last night, and everything looks good.
I'll try to get some pics.
The bad:
I spotted a tiny hitchhiker crab last night while watching the tank. It's tiny, a bit smaller than a dime. All white with tiny black/brown spots that almost look like freckles. Not particularly hairy, but it does have black-tipped claws. It was tucked under some rock, picking through the sand, so I couldn't get to it. So far it doesn't seem to be bothering anything, but I'm wondering if I should try to capture/kill it?
Also, my clownfish have some sort of fungus. I noticed about a week ago a tiny white spot on the side of one of them, along the lateral line about halfway between the pectoral fin and tail. I didn't think much of it at the time and it didn't seem to grow. Last night, however, I noticed that it had doubled or tripled in size. It looks like a tiny cotton ball stuck to the fish's side. I also noticed a similar "puffball" on the other clown, near its gill.
Looking around online, it sounds like a fungus. Guess I get to set up a hospital tank. I have a spare 10 gallon and some PVC fittings I can toss in, along with a spare heater. What else do I need? Can anyone recommend a medication? Freshwater dip?
Thanks!
A long time ago I had a clown get a fungus. I will try to see if I still have the bottle, but the stuff inside was blue. I mixed it in a slightly saline water and dipped her in it for about 3 minutes. I was sure she was going to die by the way she was acting, but I figured if I didn't kill the fungus she would die anyways. I did this 2x a day for 3 days (if memory serves me correctly). In the end the fungus fell of, and I still have her today (5 years later).
Good luck!
Good luck!
Perfect. Thanks!
FYI the medicine was methylene blue.
Crazy_Beaver
New member
great build!!!!
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