hotdamn's 60G Cube Reef Build

[hotdamn]

Hello all, well, its been almost three years since the move and sell off of my beloved 125 gallon mixed reef and 90 gallon FOWLR tank.. I figure its time to get back into the hobby. I plan to have two tanks, one small tank that my wife wants to put in the curve of the curved stair case and one larger tank in my office.

This thread will focus on the small build, since I will be setting this up and running and complete before I start on the big tank.

For this small tank, it will be a 60 gallon cube. I have spent much time deciding if I wanted a reef ready cube or just a regular cube. Ultimately, I ended up deciding on a regular cube. This is going to be a small tank to put in the place my wife wants it, so I want to go as simple as possible, and also didn't want to lose the real estate the overflow would take up. As such, it will not have a sump, but will have a hang on back skimmer. I am still debating on if I want to have a hang on back refugium or not.

So far, today, I went to the LFS and purchased the tank, stand, skimmer, light, circulation pump and aggregate. The tank is currently in the garage filled with water and undergoing leak testing.

As far as livestock, I haven't yet decided on what I want to stock it with. I will get it cycled and ready, and during that time, I will decide on the live stock.

Well, I don't really have any interesting pictures to post yet, so here are some pictures from my previous tanks from a few years ago..

As soon as I have interesting pictures of the build I will post it on here to share with everyone.

oh, it's been a few years since I left, so if you see or can think of anything to advise, please feel free to do so..

.......

 

[hotdamn]

Well, things changed quickly. After setting up the 60 gallon cube, it is decided that its too small, so I just went and exchanged it for a 90 gallon reef ready..
So this thread has now turned into a 90 gallon build thread instead of a 60 gallon build..

 

[hotdamn]

A few pics of the lights and wave pump..

 

[robert125381]

Following Im interested in upgrading to a 60 cube from my 40B.

 

[hotdamn]

Following Im interested in upgrading to a 60 cube from my 40B.

Well, I brought the 60 home and it seemed too small, so I exchanged it for a 90 rectangular. So this is now a 90 Build.

 

[hotdamn]

Purchased 100 lbs of dry rock a few days ago from a local reefer who took down his tank due to a move. He told me the rocks were cleaned, cured and dried already after he took his tank down. They look really clean, but I went ahead and cured them again just to be safe. After two days in the tub, the water is clear and no foul odor from the rocks yet. Looks like they may have been cured pretty well already. I am still going to leave them in there for a couple more weeks just to be sure.

In the mean time, I painted the back of the tank black and started to build the canopy for the tank.

 

[Crush Coral]

Tagging along. My 90 and all the equipment is in my garage waiting for me to get the interior of my house remodeled so I will enjoy your thread while I wait.

 

[hotdamn]

While the rocks are curing, I went ahead and built a canopy for the tank.
The canopy will hold the two LED panels..

Here I am test fitting the canopy. Next is to sand it down smooth and then stain it the same color as the stand..

 

[Greybeard]

Nice cabinetry

 

[Jah2707]

Looks like you did a nice job on the hood. I am wondering why you put a top on it? The LED's will run cooler then most lights but most have two or three fans on them and I would be worried about the heat?

I could be wrong but that is my first thought when it comes to putting a top on it.

I use similar leds and left the hood open.

 

[hotdamn]

Nice cabinetry

Thanks..

Looks like you did a nice job on the hood. I am wondering why you put a top on it? The LED's will run cooler then most lights but most have two or three fans on them and I would be worried about the heat?

I could be wrong but that is my first thought when it comes to putting a top on it.

I use similar leds and left the hood open.

Very valid point, I thought about leaving the top open as well, but ended up preferring the look of the closed top better. The LEDs still have over 2" of clearance from the top and the back is open so heat shouldn't be a problem. If it does become an issue, I will install fans in the top blowing down directly at the lights, which should keep it cooler than an open top as well. I'll just have to wait and see how it goes..

 

[hotdamn]

Got a lot done in the past couple of days.
I connected my RODI filter to the plumbing in my laundry room. I have the output line go out through the garage where I have 2 brute trash cans. One for fresh water and one for saltwater.
I stained the canopy. Tried to get it as close to the stand as possible. Its about 95% and slightly darker than the stand, but unless you are close up against it and squint really hard, its not noticeable.
I also got the tank setup. As noted in the other threads, I decided to go with aragonite instead of the white sand from Destin.
I mixed the CaribSea Aragamax Select and the CaribSea Aragamax Seaflore Special together to get the right texture and grain size that I wanted.
It took a while to wash the aragonite. I think I spent about 2 hours just washing it to get it to be clean and clear enough to put into the tank.
I also built my own sump, using a 20 gallon tall aquarium and sheet glass from Home Depot. First time cutting glass and it turned out to be much easier than I had anticipated.
I just received the skimmer as well, but still need to find a stand to raise it a bit. The water level int he sump is too high for the skimmer, so thats next on the list of things to do.
I also "tried" my hand at some aquascaping. Ultimately it just looked like a pile of rocks.. ahaha
Well,today is day 1 of the Cycle. I used Dr Tim's One and Only and a piece of raw shrimp.
Let's see how long it takes to cycle this tank.

First day parameters using Dr. Tim's and a small piece of chicken gizzards.

Tested using Red Sea test kit.

pH = 8.2
Ammonia = 0.0
Nitrite = 0.05
Nitrate = 0.0

I am wondering where that Nitrite is coming from???

Here's a full tank shot..