Modern Integrated 50gal Cube...Build Thread!

[joshbryer]

When we recently decided it was time to renovate our detached office/den, I took the opportunity to also decide that a cube tank was necessary! My wife, being a good sport, agreed and we dove in! This thread will track the progress, and the first few posts should catch everyone up to where the project currently stands....


The Concept: To create an environment that flowed with the rest of our house in style and feel, while integrating a reef tank into the design.

After several weeks of working on it, this was the design that we went with. The function of the space worked for us and while I opted for a smaller tank to keep costs down, I was able to provide plenty of space for all the systems I had planned.




The Proposed Tank:

I spent (and am still spending) a lot of time designing the systems for the tank in detail. I really wanted this build to go smoothly and be well thought out from start to finish. Hopefully things will go according to plan!


Tank: Cadlights Artisan 50 Gal Cube, SPS dominant, Shallow Sand Bed
Sump: ~30 gallons
Lighting: ATI 8x24w Dimmable PowerModule
Water Movement: 2x Vortech Mp10ES Wireless
Controller: Neptune Apex
Filtration: SRO XP1000sss, GFO Reactor, Carbon Reactor
Supplementation: 2part with Dosing Pumps
Extra Systems: Auto Topoff and Auto Water Change system from remote reservoirs


The Raw Space:

Here's the room after demo...







A parting note: Without sounding rude, but having seen what comes up in some of these build threads, I'll say the following... Everything in this hobby costs money, and we all know it ranges from very expensive to rediculously expensive. In this case, please be polite and don't ask about it.

I'm looking forward to sharing my progress with all of you, as there are so many tanks here that have inspired me. I'm also sure I will have a ton of questions for the collective reefing genius that is reef central, and I hope you enjoy my build thread!


Best,
Josh

 

[joshbryer]

More Pics......

After paint and patch, recessed lighting in:

Floors In:

 

[joshbryer]

For the electrical, I went with 2x 20amp circuits, each run to a 6 gang receptacle. There is afci protection at the breaker and gfci at the outlets... I'm a bit concerned about how finicky it's gonna be, but I guess I'll find out. Anybody with afci breaker experience?


Here's the electrical in progress:

I'm going to be building a 36x6x18 box with a flip up front door to serve as an electrical/electronics housing. It will go under the desk on the wall and cover the new outlets being installed above:

 

[joshbryer]

So the stand layout I ended up with is pretty basic. Luckily, on the other side of the wall behind the tank is a shallow storage cabinet accessed from outside. This extra space for things like a chiller, two-part solutions, topoff, etc. allowed me to have some QT tanks under the stand.

The Qt Tanks are designed to sit on a wood stand, and each is on a slide out shelf with heavy duty slides. There is a Invert/Coral Qt tank that is 15x20x6 and a Fish Qt tank that is 20x20x8.

Here's the basic stand design:

The stand supporting the tank is based on RocketEngineer's design, and is rock solid...

Here's some shots of the stand/desk being framed out:

And Here's a Dog, waiting patiently for me to give her some attention, always keeping one eye on the squirrels:

 

[joshbryer]

Dry Fitting the tank to stand:

The desk and stand are skinned with Rift Cut Teak plywood. Here is a second dry fit to check the tank alignment with the hole cut in the desktop surface:

Here's some pics of everything built, prior to finish and lacquer:

More tomorrow, thanks for looking!

Josh

 

[yerboy]

this looks like it will be an awesome build. great job so far.

 

[chimmike]

very nice!

How much did that all cost ya'?


I keed That question bugs me as much as it does you.

 

[BennyFrank]

I will definitely be following along with this one. Too often people don't consider how the tank will fit in with the overall flow of the room/house. The design so far looks amazing! I love the floors, what are they?... oh and how much did they cost? :lol:... just kidding, keep up the good work.

 

[BennyFrank]

very nice!

How much did that all cost ya'?


I keed That question bugs me as much as it does you.

Darn... beat me to the punch.

 

[joshbryer]

Yerboy-
Thanks for the kind words, hope you enjoy the rest of the thread!


Chimmike-
I did kinda leave that door wide open :lolspin: It does bug me when these build threads devolve into "Of course it looks cool, you spent too much on it". Thanks for following along!


BennyFrank- Thanks! Some of the tanks that have inspired me the most in terms of design have been really integrated into their surroundings.

The floors are 6" wide Hard Oil finish red oak, from a company called DuChateau. They're really cool for the space because they are very matte finish and natural looking, and I think they fit with the indoor/outdoor feel of the room. You can check them out here, it's the vernal collection:

www.duchateaufloors.com/


Thanks!
Josh

 

[chimmike]

I particularly like the use of teak ply. That's got a beautiful color to it. If I could swing that (or even locate teak ply locally), I'd probably just put a clear varnish on it and leave it, myself.

 

[joshbryer]

I particularly like the use of teak ply. That's got a beautiful color to it. If I could swing that (or even locate teak ply locally), I'd probably just put a clear varnish on it and leave it, myself.

Thanks Mike! Not sure about your area, because I know it is hard to locate, but in SoCal I found it at Anderson Plywood... Never know, they might have an idea of a Florida distributor? Once you do find it, you have to really pick and choose because the grain variance between boards (and through a stack) is really huge. We wanted tight grain similar to a rift cut walnut, and had to handpick through a ton of sheets.

No stain for me either......pics of finish coming later today.

 

[chimmike]

interesting. Yeah, I had a hard enough time at Lowes finding straight 2x4's and 2x6's. Either way, that's gonna be a very nice "office" when it's all said and done! Really looking forward to seeing the final results.

 

[msr224]

Very nice. subscribing to this one.

BTW, nice looking shep. We have a bicolor female. Great dogs!!!!!

 

[joshbryer]

Very nice. subscribing to this one.

BTW, nice looking shep. We have a bicolor female. Great dogs!!!!!

Thanks! She's a really good one.... After having a Shepherd it would be really hard for me to get any other type of dog.

 

[Flame_Angel]

Coming along nicely, although I do think the tank looks absolutely tiny compared to the woodwork.

 

[msr224]

Thanks! She's a really good one.... After having a Shepherd it would be really hard for me to get any other type of dog.

I had shep's as a kid. My mom did search and rescue back then. When I wanted to get a dog there was no question. I found a really good breeder and away we went. She picked me out at 4 weeks old and I brought her home at 8 weeks. She's been glued to me ever since then.
We went through obedience training and some protection work. She is absolutely smart and I would never think about getting any other kind of dog!

 

[joshbryer]

Coming along nicely, although I do think the tank looks absolutely tiny compared to the woodwork.

Thanks! Yeah, the smaller tank was a concession to my better half as well as my finances. The original plans had a significantly larger tank specd., but the extra costs built into the tank itself, lighting, water movement, energy, etc. put the project over budget.

The wide lens I was shooting with doesn't help perspective either. The space is not huge and the tank is decent size in relation when you're standing in the room. That being said, next time I'll certainly be looking at larger tanks.

 

[joshbryer]

The teak was rubbed with acetone to pull some oils off the top and then immediately sprayed with 3 coats coats of General Finishes Enduro. The finish was a bit more ambering than I wanted, but once all is said and done I'm really happy with the result. The contrast with the floor turned out to be perfect, and the slightly darker finish color is worth it due to the durability of that finish

The birch bookcase and cabinets were lacquer primed and then sprayed inside and out with 4 coats of Valspar White Lacquer, 20 sheen.

All the interior surfaces on the stand(s) were painted with a moisture proof water based polymer.

Here's the finish and lacquer in progress:

And Here's some pics of all the carpentry done after finish:

 

[TheMikey]

Build is looking fantastic thus far! Looking forward to seeing how seamlessly this progresses!