Anyone else with input on this? I'm very curious now....
Modern Integrated 50gal Cube...Build Thread!
- Thread starter joshbryer
- Start date
Anyone else with input on this? I'm very curious now....
This is one of the most impressive builds i have seen! very nice work. Seeing all those boxes of goodies makes me wanna tear mine down and start over! Getting those prizes in the mail is one of the best parts of this hobby IMO!
as for your salt and temperature question, i also mix my water change water in my garage. Here in NC we have had 70 days over 90 this summer already, and probably around 20 of those have been over 100. I have noticed a small amount of precipitation in my 40 gallon water water mixing trash can. However, i can say that my parameters for my tank have not changed. I do dose BRS 2 part daily.
Good call on the Bimmers! i have an 06 330i myself...one day ill be all grown up and move to the M3 like you!
awesome build my friend, looking forward to seeing water running soon!
as for your salt and temperature question, i also mix my water change water in my garage. Here in NC we have had 70 days over 90 this summer already, and probably around 20 of those have been over 100. I have noticed a small amount of precipitation in my 40 gallon water water mixing trash can. However, i can say that my parameters for my tank have not changed. I do dose BRS 2 part daily.
Good call on the Bimmers! i have an 06 330i myself...one day ill be all grown up and move to the M3 like you!
awesome build my friend, looking forward to seeing water running soon!
mutateddogbone
New member
if your mix is in the high 80's or so and you use it shortly after it completely dissolves, you shouldnt have an issue, but prolonged exposure to higher temps will cause precipitation. this is why you get CaCO3 buildup on pump impellers and heaters. the heat generated from this process speeds up the chemical reaction of calcification
Some much overdue work was done this weekend...but I've been out of town a fair bit and work is busy, so I've had a fair excuse for myself.
As of this morning I made an assessment of the project and the scope of the work left. My goal as of now is to have water in the tank by mid October. I've nixed two planned components that would have held up the progress due to complexity and my lack of free time.
1. Teak light pendant. Would have been nice, but the naked powermodule is fine on it's own. This does also mean that there won't be any lunar lights, but that's just for me anyway, and I'm hopeful that for night viewing that the dimmable PM at 5-10% will do the trick.
2. Light Lifter. Convenient yes, but the install time and cost didn't seem worth it after I played with the powermodule suspension system this morning.
Lighting Hung:
Hole cut in wall for cable pass thru:
Cable pass thru installed (still need to glue in):
Semi-Finished Lighting and pass thru:
My plan for the week is to get the electronics pretty much squared away and get the tank on the stand. Next weekend hopefully I'll finish plumbing and wrap up some minor details.
I plan to add some nice cable wrap to then PM cables and also the vortech cables which will go through the wall as well. Still need to order the correct bulkheads as well as a LiterMeter Topoff and a couple of misc. pumps...then, time for rock!
As of this morning I made an assessment of the project and the scope of the work left. My goal as of now is to have water in the tank by mid October. I've nixed two planned components that would have held up the progress due to complexity and my lack of free time.
1. Teak light pendant. Would have been nice, but the naked powermodule is fine on it's own. This does also mean that there won't be any lunar lights, but that's just for me anyway, and I'm hopeful that for night viewing that the dimmable PM at 5-10% will do the trick.
2. Light Lifter. Convenient yes, but the install time and cost didn't seem worth it after I played with the powermodule suspension system this morning.
Lighting Hung:
Hole cut in wall for cable pass thru:
Cable pass thru installed (still need to glue in):
Semi-Finished Lighting and pass thru:
My plan for the week is to get the electronics pretty much squared away and get the tank on the stand. Next weekend hopefully I'll finish plumbing and wrap up some minor details.
I plan to add some nice cable wrap to then PM cables and also the vortech cables which will go through the wall as well. Still need to order the correct bulkheads as well as a LiterMeter Topoff and a couple of misc. pumps...then, time for rock!
afernandez
Never Quit!!
love the super clean look! got to love that apex box lol gave me an idea 
It Stands!
Here's the mess of wiring currently:
Over the weekend I made the final leveling adjustments and got the tank on the stand. It was quite a pain, but I'm so thankful that this has taken so much time, because the wood around the tank cutout in the desktop swelled and settled to the point where I couldn't actually get the tank into it. So I planed and sanded it down enough to where there's a comfortable amount of play now. Whew, a cracked tank would have sucked, even more so if there was water in it! Also got quite a bit of wiring/hookup done. Tested the vortechs then wired them, got the dosing pumps mounted and wired.
Tomorrow I should receive the correct size gate valves (savko mixup), and 2 more bulkheads. I originally got sch. 80 bulkheads, but unfortunately the tank is drilled for sch. 40. I picked up some sch. 40, but after reading Mr. Wilsons bulkhead recommendations, I switched it up and the black with white nut style ones should be here from champion tomorrow. Hopefully this weekend I'll be able to plumb everything up.
I've also been trying to monitor the temp in the equip closet during the warm parts of the day, and it hasn't been too bad so that's a bonus too.
Here's the mess of wiring currently:
Over the weekend I made the final leveling adjustments and got the tank on the stand. It was quite a pain, but I'm so thankful that this has taken so much time, because the wood around the tank cutout in the desktop swelled and settled to the point where I couldn't actually get the tank into it. So I planed and sanded it down enough to where there's a comfortable amount of play now. Whew, a cracked tank would have sucked, even more so if there was water in it! Also got quite a bit of wiring/hookup done. Tested the vortechs then wired them, got the dosing pumps mounted and wired.
Tomorrow I should receive the correct size gate valves (savko mixup), and 2 more bulkheads. I originally got sch. 80 bulkheads, but unfortunately the tank is drilled for sch. 40. I picked up some sch. 40, but after reading Mr. Wilsons bulkhead recommendations, I switched it up and the black with white nut style ones should be here from champion tomorrow. Hopefully this weekend I'll be able to plumb everything up.
I've also been trying to monitor the temp in the equip closet during the warm parts of the day, and it hasn't been too bad so that's a bonus too.
chris88
New member
I have a bit of anger while reading your thread. To be honest it's based on pure jealousy that I will never be handy enough to pull something like this off. Well done, you could stick a bunch of aptasia and hair algae cover rocks in there and it will still be an awesome tank.
You know, I can empathize and understand. There's a lot of insane build threads on this site that I read through and pretty much figure I'll never be able to hit that level. But hey, here's to hoping this tank doesn't end up full of aptasia and hair algae! :eek1:
Oh, btw, don't sell yourself short because with enough determination and brute force (my favorite methodology), pretty much anything is possible ;>
Rskillz
New member
I've come to the conclusion that the BUILD is really where it's at in this hobby. Learning about Saltwater biology, plumbing, and electrical was absolutely overwhelming when I first set up my tank, but looking back now, that was the part which was the most fun. Seeing the tank grow in full of frags is fun too, but there is endless fun associated with tinkering.
This build is amazing. It almost seems overkill that all of that other stuff is there for that somewhat small 50 gallon tank. I know it will be in good hands, that much is for sure.
This build is amazing. It almost seems overkill that all of that other stuff is there for that somewhat small 50 gallon tank. I know it will be in good hands, that much is for sure.
Here's a couple questions for everyone..
1. I've just started looking around at the local liverock selection, so if anyone has a source in the Los Angeles area with really nice fresh live rock right now, please shoot me a PM. I'm still going back and forth on live rock vs. dry, but I'm leaning towards live if I can find what I want. Need to see it before I buy, so online is out.
2. I'm looking around for some acrylic 'L' bar, preferably in black, and am unable to find anything. Anyone know if this exists? I want to use it to build a mesh top for the tank and the 'L' shaped acrylic extrusion is the cleanest thing I can think of.
Thanks!
1. I've just started looking around at the local liverock selection, so if anyone has a source in the Los Angeles area with really nice fresh live rock right now, please shoot me a PM. I'm still going back and forth on live rock vs. dry, but I'm leaning towards live if I can find what I want. Need to see it before I buy, so online is out.
2. I'm looking around for some acrylic 'L' bar, preferably in black, and am unable to find anything. Anyone know if this exists? I want to use it to build a mesh top for the tank and the 'L' shaped acrylic extrusion is the cleanest thing I can think of.
Thanks!
Yea, overkill is my speciality ;> The build certainly has been fun, and I'm the kind of person that likes to go all the way with things, so this has been perfect. Thanks for the compliments!
Hey Shaggs-
Thanks for the suggestion. That system is my fallback option, but I was hoping for acrylic because I think it will be a bit cleaner looking.
Btw, your tank is looking great!
BennyFrank
New member
I just recently set up my new tank with dryrock (seeded with a few pieces of liverock). Dryrock gives you the flexibility of arranging the rock how you desire using epoxy, zipties, acrylic rods, etc. You can do the same with liverock but your working time is a lot shorter. You appear to be even more particular than me when it comes to design, so trust me, you will want and need the extra time and flexibility while aquascaping. I also find satisfaction in watching the dryrock become "live" over time... and you can be assured you are starting off (relatively) pest free. There is something to be said about the biological diversity that comes along with established liverock though.
Earlier in the thread there was a discussion of live vs dry, and truthfully I'm still undecided, but if I see some really good live rock in the near future I'll probably use it and just not worry about how long I take to aquascape. Thanks for your input, it's appreciated.
Lot's of plumbing done this weekend, but not completely finished. Got the standpipe and return plumbing in the overflow box done, and also got the drain line plumbing done. The return line is pretty much roughed in, and I'm going to try to tape and glue it this week. Looking forward to going for the freshwater test next weekend.
Hofer Standpipe:
Drain line:
Beginnings of the return line manifold... valved line back to tank one line to the reactors and the last back into the sump for excess flow.
Hofer Standpipe:
Drain line:
Beginnings of the return line manifold... valved line back to tank one line to the reactors and the last back into the sump for excess flow.
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