My 112G Cube Build Thread. I'm baaaaaaack!!

Updates!?!?

LOL. Hey Justin. Sorry about this. I had to temporarily put the build on hold for the last 3 weeks while i sorted some things out (work related). I'm happy to say that the hold has been lifted so you should be seeing alot more updates on this after this weekend.
 
If you need a helping hand I am available this weekend to swing by. Let me know. -Riley

Thanks Riley, but i think we have it covered.

Just a little update:

Worked on the plumbing and the stand a little more yesterday

Here is the plumbing which is about 95% done. Only 1 leak discovered which was on a threaded fitting so it should be a simple fix. The center section is the return. The right section is the main drain going to the skimmer chamber which has a split to also drain into the refugium (or the bio chamber). The left section is the Herbie emergency drain which i haven't cut the final piece to until i have a better idea of where things are going.:
i-kDWHTD8-X3.jpg


Here is the stand just mocked up to see how it all fits:
i-XCDTQRQ-X3.jpg


For the door i used a slow close hinge which was leftover from my kitchen remodel last year. Picture of the hinge:
i-s6xWC2d-X3.jpg


Next step will be to sand and stain the stand. Hopefully i'll get some of that done today. I'm still kicking around the idea of putting a small ledge on the top of the stand face and using either granite or wood for the material with some crown molding underneath. Also thinking of adding come corner molding pieces to the faces itself. Not sure if i want to go with something simple or a little more than that. Decisions......
 
Forgot to also post...on my way home from work i stopped off at Aquatic Fantasy in Redondo Beach and noticed they had a bunch of new acrylic display tanks sitting in the corner of the shop. When i inquired what they were doing with them they said they were moving and needed to get rid of the tanks. They had never been filled with water before and were just sitting in the shop as an empty display. Sad to say i picked one up for $25 and am thinking of ways to use it. It can either be a quarantine or i was also thinking of using it as a topoff storage tank. Dimensions are 36" x 12" x 12" (about 22G). They had a bunch left (like 12) if anyone is interested.

i-2M6B45Z-X3.jpg
 
Ramon,

I see you went with spitting your drain to the two compartments. I think it will work fine. Just try to keep one of the ball valves 100% open all the time and adjust the split with the other valve. Then use the gate valve to tune the Herbie drain.
 
Ramon,

I see you went with spitting your drain to the two compartments. I think it will work fine. Just try to keep one of the ball valves 100% open all the time and adjust the split with the other valve. Then use the gate valve to tune the Herbie drain.

Yep. The way it is in the picture is exactly how I was running it and exactly what you said. As long as both ends are submerged in the water then it should work.

I ran it that way for about 2 weeks before I ended up gluing everything together.
 
Quick update with a teaser shot. I've been lagging alot lately only spending a few hours a weekend working on this.

Thanks to Mike (Solitude) for helping move the tank into the house a few weeks back. Thankfully the soreness went away after a few days. :lol:

So the tank is up and the face framing completed last weekend. I still need to finish staining the doors but they are all built.

I am also building an electrical panel/cabinet off to the side of the tank that will house all of the electrical components. I finished building and staining that yesterday and hope to have it mounted this week.

I hung the lights up yesterday. After i placed the tank where i had wanted it, i was lucky enough to find the tank only 1 inch off-center from 3 beams (ceiling joists) located directly above. So i shifted the tank over and mounted the lights on the 2 outer beams and called it a day.

After that, I started with the filling and here is how it looked this morning.

i-kgnHj3S-X3.jpg


i-CMVkFmk-X3.jpg
 
Was putting the detox blox into the tank today and noticed something pretty interesting.......these things hold ALOT of water. So i just had to get a video of it for everyone to see. I think this is a pretty good testament to just how porous these blocks really are. Check it out.

<iframe frameborder="0" scrolling="no" width="640" height="1138" src="http://api.smugmug.com/services/embed/2876423419_BbnhJJt?width=640&height=1138&albumId=29363085&albumKey=xrt4Wk"></iframe>
 
its really a great product!!!
i am not planning on running refugium and just use this as my biofiltration.
I wish I order more :(
 
Ramon, How many pounds of that stuff do you have?

Lawrence, How many pounds do you have?

How much do you guys actually think you need? I have 11 of the bigger bricks (30lbs supposedly) and I was planning only using 9 of them and then rotate 2 every few months. And the 2 that are not in use, I'd let dry out and then use them again.
 
Ramon, How many pounds of that stuff do you have?

Lawrence, How many pounds do you have?

How much do you guys actually think you need? I have 11 of the bigger bricks (30lbs supposedly) and I was planning only using 9 of them and then rotate 2 every few months. And the 2 that are not in use, I'd let dry out and then use them again.

Hey Mike. I have 6 of the large ones and 5 of the small ones. The small ones are about half the size of the big ones so I have about 8.5. I'm not really sure how much I need. Merritt should be able to advise you on them. These rocks are just super porous. Way more porous by weight and volume than any other live rock out there. These are like sponges. As for rotating, I would think that you would want to cook the ones that you are rotating out to remove any absorbed phosphates or organics before drying them out. That way when you reintroduce them, they are essentially brand new rock. That's my thinking at least.
 
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