Modern Integrated 50gal Cube...Build Thread!

[msr224]

Were you happy with the marco dry rock? Would you go live next time?

Very happy with it and really like the look. I got 1/2 of it as dry rock and 1/2 of it as aquacultured rock from premium aquatics. I live near there so I just went and picked out the pieces that I liked.

What they do is throw a bunch of dry marco rock in their rock pools with LR scraps from other pools and after a while it's live rock too. I got a hitchhiker red eye crab. I plan to buy some smaller pieces next time I head down there so I can start my scaping ideas with epoxy.

 

[joshbryer]

I pulled the trigger yesterday and ordered up some dry rock.... I had gone back and forth for a while and looked at all the available live rock in the area that I could find. The tipping point for me was really the quality of the available live rock. Other than bacterial populations that may be there, I saw little good life in most of the rock so the potential for algae and hitchiking pests wasn't really out weighed by anything as far as I could tell.

I went with BRS rock, 50lbs of pukani and 15lbs of shelf. It should be here by Friday, so I hope to get it in the vinegar bath this weekend. Still deciding on how long to let it soak for....I've seen a range of suggestions from a few hours to a week. Once it's in the tank I'm going to seed the rock with a nice piece of the marshall rock I took a look at, then remove the piece(s) after a bit so I don't have to worry about the bound phosphates from the previous tank that rock was in. Also, I plan to add as much biodiversity as I can by seeding with coralline cultures, live sand culture, reef worms, mini-stars and amphipods from ipsf. Also, a detrivore kit from Inland Aquatics. If anyone has more seeding suggestions I'd love 'em.

Still also trying to figure out a way to use the Hydor ETH inline heaters so I don't have to put the Jager's in the sump. I'd be much more comfortable that way....

 

[BennyFrank]

You will also want to closely monitor the phosphates coming off the the dryrock. A friend of mine lost a very large collection of SPS, which he attributed to phosphates leaching off dryrock from BRS. Obviously you won't have any corals yet, but I'd plan on an extended curing time.

 

[joshbryer]

You will also want to closely monitor the phosphates coming off the the dryrock. A friend of mine lost a very large collection of SPS, which he attributed to phosphates leaching off dryrock from BRS. Obviously you won't have any corals yet, but I'd plan on an extended curing time.

Hey Benny, thanks for the info. It's always good to get experiential input as there's a lot of speculative information out there always. Do you know if your friend did any kind of acid bath to the rock beforehand? Was the rock the only thing that changed in his tank at the time?

My current plan is to do the vinegar bath on the rocks for at least a couple of days, though I'm open to up to a week of soaking. Then, an ro soak before they go into the tank. I figure I'm going for a 2 month curing/cycling/seeding period once the rock is in the tank. Thoughts?

 

[BennyFrank]

IIRC he did a 10:1 water/bleach soak for a day or two followed by dechlorinator. I will PM you with more details on his dryrock/phosphate issues. I've also read that a muriatic acid bath will release bound phosphates.

As for the cycling period; 2 months sounds about right but I'd play it by ear (or algae). I'm a fan of a long cycle (reef tanks are never really done cycling) and slowly adding livestock along the way.

 

[joshbryer]

So, the dry rock and other some other goodies arrived on Friday. First thing I noticed when I unpacked the rock was that I ordered way too much. The pukani is very porous and light, so if anyone in socal is looking for some dry rock shoot me a pm because I'm gonna have some for sale once I'm done! The shelf rock is much more dense the the pukani, but both are really nice and I had no breakages upon arrival.

The weather hasn't been super cooperative, but I've managed to get a few mock ups done and have some pics of each. Bear in mind that these are really rough protos and final rock selection and detail elements will be addressed once I decide which layout to go with and get to taking a chisel to some of this rock! Always looking for opinions and input, so without further ado....


Layout 1, Canyon:

Front View

Side View

Overhead

Layout 2, Bonsai-ish Two Island:

Front View

Side View

Overhead

Layout 3, Two Island Minimal:

Front View

Side View

Overhead

Picked up 10 gallons of white vinegar, so I'm ready to go with the bath once I figure out an aquascape. Also got the brs 150gpd upgrade kit because I couldn't stand wasting so much water and two hydor inline heaters with a mj1200 to get some wattage out of the sump and save some space in there.

Any comments on the aquascape possibilities are appreciated!

 

[epleeds]

i vote for layout #2.

 

[mudskipper1]

#1 looks good to me.

 

[joshbryer]

i vote for layout #2.

#1 looks good to me.

Thanks for the input guys, keep it coming!

 

[Luwe2008]

Layout 2 :]

 

[icedgxe]

It's a tough pick between 1 and two. I will give a slight edge to #2.

 

[Super Bad]

Both 1 and 2 are amazing, I think 2 will give you more options later for coral placement. Looks amazing and thanks for sharing you build with us, it is awesome to see the progression and dedication you have put into to this. A real labor of love. Good luck with the rest of build and stocking!!!
Patrick

 

[afernandez]

i like the #2 the best.. i like #1 also . but you will have to look at it everyday so you pick lol either way it will look fantastic

 

[joshbryer]

Layout 2 :]

It's a tough pick between 1 and two. I will give a slight edge to #2.

Both 1 and 2 are amazing, I think 2 will give you more options later for coral placement. Looks amazing and thanks for sharing you build with us, it is awesome to see the progression and dedication you have put into to this. A real labor of love. Good luck with the rest of build and stocking!!!
Patrick

i like the #2 the best.. i like #1 also . but you will have to look at it everyday so you pick lol either way it will look fantastic

Hi Guys, thanks for all the input, always nice to get another set of eyes on things. I'm pretty much set on going with a slightly modified version of layout #2, so I'm gonna try to get everything into the vinegar bath tonight!

 

[acpoweradapter]

I say 2 or 3. Im leaning towards 3. Great build.

 

[msr224]

#2 IMHO. I like the options it'll give you for different coral height placement down the road.

 

[adddo]

Definitely #2

 

[joshbryer]

Thanks for the input on the aquascape, had some more ideas so I've got a good vision for it now.

The rock had a 24 hour bath in 10 gallons of undiluted vinegar:

It definitely took quite a bit of the outer surface off the rock, I was thinking I would dump the neutralized vinegar and do a second bath, but I was afraid I wouldn't have much rock left....

It's now in it's second day of an RO/DI soak with an mj1200 in there for water circulation. I did a 100% water change on it this morning and will continue to do so daily till I'm ready to aquascape this week. Tested the water for phosphate/ammonia before the wc and got these results:

PO4 ~.6
NH3/4 ~.25

Pretty much what I was expecting. There's definitely a good deal of organics left on the rock, and it's pretty apparent it came out of the ocean fairly recently. I figure it'll just give me a good strong cycle and build a robust biofilter.


On the setup progress front, my apex started going nuts. I won't go into all the technical details (there's a thread in the neptune forum), but it arrived at Neptune on Friday so I expect to have it back by the end of the week. Glad it happened before the tank was going, but honestly it's made me a bit jumpy about continuing with the apex system. It's a pretty sensitive application we have for controllers here....

If I'm still not satisfied with performance of the apex during the cycle/seeding process, I'm gonna switch it out to a profilux III. Here's to hoping all goes well, because the pIII with the options I need is not in the budget and I'd would really like the apex to work.

Anyone with experience with both systems?

 

[joshbryer]

Just a quick update.... Rock is out of the RO/DI soak and I'm starting to rough the aquascape together.

Went to Reefapalooza on Sunday and picked up a few things I needed. Got some DD Epoxy for scaping, probe holders, dosing tube holder, and some MB7 to start seeding with.

I'll update again soon as the aquascape progresses.

ETA: The apex should be back in my hands tomorrow, Curt said there was an IC inside the unit that was fried. His customer service was great, hopefully it'll run smooth from here out.

 

[chris88]

curious, why did you go and kill your live rock? You could have just purchased base rock for cheap.