My 28 gallon Nano Cube CF-Quad

[john miller]

Here is the beginning of my saltwater journey. During all the before Christmas sales everyone was having I decided to go ahead and take advantage of it even though I wasn't quite ready.

I'm in the process of changing my 37 gallon, which contains 1 green spot puffer, from brackish to marine and since I'm still a couple months away from making the change anyway I thought, why not? I had been collecting things for the switchover anyway so I had a bunch of extras laying around that could be put to good use. The plan is for a couple of clowns, a yellow watchman goby and maybe a few easy corals for color.

The tank got here on the 20th but due to the holidays I finally got around to leak testing it today. To tell the truth I not really impressed with the MTS-60 stand that came with it. Besides the missing hardware and scuffed finish it really doesn't seem that solid. But so far it's holding and I guess thats all that matters. If it wasn't free I would probably be more upset. :lmao:

I had the perfect spot for it already picked out. I was going to move all my tanks downstairs and have me an office/tank room. Notice I said "HAD" the perfect spot, well things just sometimes don't work like you plan. So now I'm trying to figure the next perfect spot for it. If all else fails I may just set it up in the living room.

So since I know how everyone on here likes pictures:

Not much to look at now but once I get going it will come together pretty fast. I already have the sand, dry rock, live rock, heater, koralias and skimmer. I'm still undecided exactly how I'm going to set it up so that's been holding me up also. I guess that going to be decided when I get the skimmer in place and see exactly how much room I have left. Here it is just waiting. I'll be using about half of it:

Now for a couple of questions. Since I've never had one of these before and the directions that came with it sucked does this look right?

It's not sucking air but is that suppose to look like that? There is approximately 2"-3" of water above the pump.

Here is the tank with the pumps off:

It's just below the black rim on the top. Here it is with the pumps running:

It's about 3/8" from overflowing. That part does have me a little concerned but if I lower the water level any further the water level above the return pumps lowers also.

So that is how it stands now. If i can find the perfect spot for it this weekend there may be another update soon.

 

[6-line]

Hi,

I have the same tank sitting in my living room awaiting transfer from my 14 Biocube...I just tested and filled with tap today and am running the pumps; did yours come with the two extra sponge type black filters, about 8 inches long? Where do they go--they were in the filter box but I don't see any info on them. I do note a lot of air bubbles ...

 

[john miller]

Hi,

I have the same tank sitting in my living room awaiting transfer from my 14 Biocube...I just tested and filled with tap today and am running the pumps; did yours come with the two extra sponge type black filters, about 8 inches long? Where do they go--they were in the filter box but I don't see any info on them. I do note a lot of air bubbles ...

If you look at the very bottom of this pic you can see the sponge. It is positioned where the water going into the pump chambers overflow. Without them it sounds like Niagara Falls.

How do you pumps sound? Facing the tank the one of the left is pretty loud. It sounds like it's vibrating agains something. I'll be checking that more tomorrow.

 

[bad santa]

when i had my NC6 running i ditched the long sponge and just used filter floss that i replaced every water change. You can pick up the filter floss at walmart or a craft store and it will cost you about $5 and last you a long time.

I cant tell from the pics but do you have a surface skimmer on the tank? I didnt have one to begin with and the water level in the display was high and the water level in the return area was low. When i put the surface skimmer on the water level in the display area stabilized and the return area water level increased.

 

[john miller]

Skimmer is not on there yet. This is just the leak test. I had water in it for a about 3 minutes when I snapped the pics.

 

[6-line]

where do those two long sponges go again?

 

[6-line]

And both of my pumps are silent

Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk

 

[john miller]

Here is the best picture I could find:http:
//www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=235553

 

[6-line]

good picture--I see them now. Is there a slot they fit it--doesn't appear to be. My cube went 24 hours of leak test with tap and i drained it today. I'll be continuing making saltwater for a possible move on Monday.

 

[renogaw]

you need to raise the water level in the back up some. mine is almost all the way up, about 4 inches down. i've noticed that i can only use one return pump at a time or the water level in the tank is way too high

 

[garetjax]

Nice tank. Got mine started too. Can't wait to see your landscaping.


Garetjax

 

[john miller]

Thanks for all the replies. I have finally figured out where to put it so after I do maintenance on my three other tanks I'll drain it and move it. I can't wait to get this thing set up.

 

[Telekinesis]

Congrats on the tank! I have to agree that the quality of the stand is pretty lackluster. Little wooden pegs are junk.

 

[john miller]

I'm one step closer, I got it drained and moved. I picked probably the least level section of the whole floor. Here is it resting place.

I'll leave it there for a few days to make sure that's where I want it. Also that will give me time to remove the RO unit that I plumbed downstairs and relocate it upstairs. Also just for grins I took the Eshopps PSK75H that I bought for the 37 gallon and test fitted it on.

It sits perfectly in chambers 2 & 4. Does anyone see any reason that this wouldn't work? The top can be opened and propped up without having to move the skimmer. The only drawback is the hold down screw for it will have to be removed in order to get the media basket out.

 

[john miller]

I found on another forum someone with this exact setup and it works perfect for him. Now I just have to figure out what I'm going to run in my media basket.

 

[renogaw]

i took my basket out and just have bagged carbon and po4 remover in the first chamber, with the blue/white bonded media above it. makes it easier to change out with all the crud stuffed in there (my remora return is in the center baffle)

 

[hmello@bermexin]

Hi Ren, its Spanko.

 

[6-line]

John, are those long, side filter media doing you any good when it's below the level where the water falls over into the pump chambers? I raised mine up above the edge but the whole filter concept there seems useless...trying to figure out what's going on with them

 

[john miller]

I'm really wanting to run a little mini fuge in the basket. I'm trying to find out now if the little JBJ magnetic LED light will fit under the skimmer body with no ill effects.

Todd, as far as I can that side filter media is only there to cut down on the water splashing in those end chambers.

 

[john miller]

I was going to move all my tanks downstairs and have me an office/tank room. Notice I said "HAD" the perfect spot, well things just sometimes don't work like you plan. So now I'm trying to figure the next perfect spot for it. If all else fails I may just set it up in the living room.

Well it turns out that I was able to set up my office and tank room in the basement after all so it's finally time for an update.

First I got my water station set up in the laundry room.

Got everything moved down and ready to finally ready to set up. I chose CaribSea pink fuji for the grain size. It's just a tiny bit bigger than sugar sized sand and I was hoping I wouldn't get as many sandstorms as I was getting in my other tank.

Here we go. I was filling it slowly since it was placed on carpet with a heavy pad and I would stop and recheck for level. I stopped about five times.

I also chose to not wash or clean the sand at all, since I had time, just to see how long it would take for it to clear. I only used the cheap poly fill from Walmart and was changing it every hour. After 6 hours I could see the bottom and by the next day it was completely clear.

Here are the two main tanks after getting everything moved.

And finally today I got the live rock put in that I've been curing since the first week in November. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. Once it clears up some more I get some better pics. The rock it dry stacked with no fasteners or any kind. I tried to leave as much swimming room as possible but using enough rock to take care of the filtration. Let me know what you think.

right side

left side

And finally any idea what this is?

I noticed it as soon as I put that rock into the tank. That purple really pops.