Modern Integrated 50gal Cube...Build Thread!

krjackso said:
Tagging along for this build too. WOW. what a fabulous job so far! So this is your first reef tank huh? That is really impressive. It seems as though you have got all your bases covered. I wish I had done the type of research you have done when I started. Now I just have a head full of bad memories from my mistakes and a garage full of old equipment. You are doing everything right, and right from the start. kudos to you. Keep it up...
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Hey, thanks for the encouragement, much appreciated. Yeah, now I feel that all those years of wanting a tank and waiting have paid off because it really gave me a lot of time to read, research and learn. At the time, that perspective certainly wasn't in play as much though ;)

I'll still reserve any pats on my own back until I'm actually successfully keeping a tank full of sps though! :eek1:
 
Ok here's another question for you.... Power backups.

I have my 2 vortechs on their own backups, great, easy, done. That leaves return pump and heaters.

-From what I've read about the cost of true sine wave inverters, I not even going to try to power the AC return pump. I tried to find a DC pump to no avail.

-Heaters are a different story though. I really would like to get them on a backup. I have 2 eheim-jagers, does anyone know if they're DC powered? If not, do you think they could run on a modified sine wave inverter powered by some deep cycle batteries?

-Any other opinons or options you guys have used?
 
Pump I would worry about so much. Your Vortechs will keep the water moving. The heater is something to think about though. I'm watching to see what people recomend as I need to think about this also.
 
Getting a bit ahead of myself in planning here, but not too much I suppose... At any rate, I pretty much have my mind made up, but I'm curious to see what everyone thinks:

If you could start over from scratch and build up a new tank, would you use Dry rock or Live? Forget cost as a factor...

Thanks!
 
First up.. Amazingly detailed build, everything you've done so far looks terrific and I'm sure the tank will be no different.

To answer your last question.. I used "cured" live rock last time, and in future I will be using the freshest uncured live rock I can get my hands on -- I believe the risk of nasties is far outweighed by the amount of beneficial microfauna that you simply can't get anywhere else...

Also, on an unrelated sidenote -- some very impressive credits to your name. The hard work and dedication you've shown to this build are obviously not unique to your up-coming reefkeeping hobby lol, Good work & enjoy the rewards, you've obviously earnt them :)
 
I agree. I started with Marco dry rock and always wonder what kind of cool hitchhikers I could have gotten. I'll be going live on my next build.
 
warbyd said:
First up.. Amazingly detailed build, everything you've done so far looks terrific and I'm sure the tank will be no different.

To answer your last question.. I used "cured" live rock last time, and in future I will be using the freshest uncured live rock I can get my hands on -- I believe the risk of nasties is far outweighed by the amount of beneficial microfauna that you simply can't get anywhere else...

Also, on an unrelated sidenote -- some very impressive credits to your name. The hard work and dedication you've shown to this build are obviously not unique to your up-coming reefkeeping hobby lol, Good work & enjoy the rewards, you've obviously earnt them :)
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Warbyd-

Thanks for the compliments, all the way around. Appreciate your perspective on the question at hand and I hope you continue to check in and enjoy the updates!


Best,
Josh
 
Made some good progress today. This morning I demoed the existing shelving in the equipment cabinet, then I got all the plumbing stubbed through the wall.


Here's the view from the exterior with storage tanks roughed into place. There's 4 1/2" lines and then a 2.5" abs pipe to run dosing pump tubing and limited power cables through.

IMG_1491.jpg


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Here's the interior of the stand. The bottom most pipe is a bit cockeyed, but you only get to drill once, and it's not too big of a deal. There are unions on each pipe for easy disconnection. Two of the lines are for the water change system, one for waste output and one for new salt input. The other two are for a possible chiller if needed. To start with I will have them valved to bypass.

IMG_1499.jpg


Hopefully tomorrow I can build the new shelving/stand for the exterior closet.
 
But also think about the uncool hitchhiker such as red flatworm. I started mine with live rock, this day i still have flatworm problem, eventhough i had treated the tank with flatworm exit.
Not to mention nuisance algae or phosphate leaching live rock, if youre lucky youll have none of that.

I am getting rid off the LR in my DT and replacing them with BRS macro rock.
 
Frustrating day so far.... a bunch of very small mistakes piling up and then 2 stripped screws that broke the proverbial camel's back. I'm gonna take a different tact now. Maybe an update later....
 
So, after the fiasco this morning, I rethought what I was doing and managed to turn things around. I was planning on building a stand for the outdoor equipment cabinet. The tanks would go under it and gear on top, thought being that if I needed a chiller, it would go on the stand and would need some decent support.

As the stand build didn't go as planned today (cough, user error), I decided to just put in some easy shelving above the tanks instead. I think it will work out pretty well, but if I need a chiller it's gonna be going somewhere else. The cabinet was not the best place for it anyway.

Still need to get one more vertical support (game time decision for a longer shelf), and then add another shelf or two.

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Hopefully this week I'll get the ro/di mounted and hooked up, and maybe start plumbing the drain manifold. I'm hoping that a large brush plate grommet I ordered arrives this week so that I can start wiring for lighting soon.
 
Tonight I got the ro/di mounted and hooked up and then dry fit the drain manifold. Still need to get a different ell for the end, but it's pretty much going to remain the same. Also need to get some more 1/2" unions for stub outs on this side.


IMG_1507.jpg


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Also, one of the final pieces of the component puzzle arrived today...the wall grommet with brush panel that I'm planning on using for the lighting and vortech wires.


IMG_1510.jpg


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I was originally planning on using a much smaller grommet, but then when the powermodule and vortechs came in, I quickly noticed that they both had large boxes hardwired to the end of the cords, so I needed a much larger pass through. We'll see if I end up using this or building some type of teak flush panel for the wall pass through/wire management, as my better half gets to have her fair say on all things aesthetic.
 
chingchai said:
Wow. This looks like suite room in five star hotel.
Great build so far.
Josh. Thank you for sharing.
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Hi ChingChai-

Thanks for stopping by the thread. Considering how ridiculously cool your build and tank are, I'm very flattered by your comments. Hopefully the tank will live up to my hopes!

Best,
Josh
 
Ok, so another question I'd like to get some input on.

For those of you with pendants that are wide/long enough to really cover alot of the surface area of your rimless tank, how do you work in the tank if the pendant is hung 4-6 inches from the surface? Is it workable for you or a giant pain? Do you have a simple and elegant solution that I'm not thinking about?

I ask, because I'm now thinking about biting the bullet and putting in a light lifter in the attic to pull the pendant up out of the way when I want to work in the tank. Thoughts?

Thanks,
Josh
 
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