New Custom 40g Cube Project Started (not quite nano)

[aural]

as i said, i know its not quite a nano, but i know you guys are always interested in the self contained cube stradegy of reefkeeping.... posted to the reef forum, but i figured i would get more chatter from you guys.

Well after much debate I've finally laid the groundwork for a new tank. The idea behind this one is simple: SPS Dominated, Bare Bottom, hidden equipment.

The cube is 20" long - 25" deep - 19" tall - Starphire glass on all viewable sides. Custom wood stand with a door and adjustable shelf.
The tank has a built in overflow/sump area that will house the skimmer and return pump. I will use a high output return connected to a multi-out locline system to acheive very good turnover and excellent circulation.

I'm going to use
-Rio 17 Hyper Flow that is rated at 1090gph for return and circulation
-AquaC Remora Skimmer
-250w aquamedic pendant with a 15k bulb
-45lbs of live rock
-starboard with sand glued to it for aesthetic reasons.

i tried learning a cool 3D rendering program to do a sweet drawing, but i failed miserably, so i went back to what i know - photoshop. so excuse my non-fancy-pants drawings.

here is a front view. the trim is going to be brushed. Starphire sides, tempered bottom, black partition between the display and the sump. (sump is 5 1/4 wide)

here is a rendering of the back of the tank. the sump area will be partitioned off in half.

what do you guys think so far?

 

[ycrazyy]

Looks really good so far. Just a couple of suggestions that I think may make the aesthetics a bit better. I'd scrap that frame around the top and go for no frame at all. If you are worried about structural integrity, just get a couple of glass triangles around the corners, should do you good. What are you using for the false back and around the sides of the back?

 

[klese]

Nice work and neat pics, keep the ideas coming so I can apply to a newly 37 cube.

 

[Mikeeal]

I think you're gonna want some more flow, especially since you can with a BB. Right now you're looking at about 27X turnover, minus any loss from bends etc. That's pretty dang low for SPS IMHO. That's the only thing I wish I did different with my "self contained tank" is incorporate a CL. I don't like the PH's in my tank, especially since it's small to start with. If it were mine, I'd use a second pump dedicated to a CL with two or four outlets. With such a small sump, that much flow through might be a problem. Other than that, it sounds like it's gonna be a nice setup.

 

[mntl]

Since this is basically a bigger version of my tank I'll try to throw in my .02c . You will need much more flow, If you put that flow through a multi-out you will have little to no velocity unless you use the smallest lock-line outs (1/4" hole) but then you will have too tight of a stream. The lock-line outs that are flat and wide work well for smooth flow but you would only be able to attach one (2 1/2") nozzle with that pump if you hope to get any velocity out of it. I would start somehwere in the 2500gph (total) range and go up from there, you can go lower but when the frags grow into colonies the flow will be insufficient to penetrate to the colonies centers which leads to poor health/stn. My display section without the overflow on the back has about 1500gph going through it and for my colonies I think this is "reasonable", not high and barely ideal (I could do for a bit more flow).

-john-

 

[aural]

I'm keeping the frame because it is going to hide my plumbing pretty well. I concidered doing clear bracing, but i think this will work out well.

The rear will be used for biological filtration and skimming as well as skimming and return pump. I also might convert the non-return side into a fuge with LR and some cheto.
basically i'm going to run the locline pieces along the 2 sides of the frame and have multiple outputs with a capped end.

as far as circulation goes, turnover rate isnt everything. There is no magical number to say "ok i have 45x turnover, i can keep sps now". It is moreso how you use the circulation in your tank. With a cube setup, its much easier to get excellent flow in all parts of your tank with lower turnover. When you have a 48" long tank, it is much harder to distribute water flow.

I dont think there will be need to impliment a close loop. if i need to bump the pump to a higher output in the future, that is not hard. I had the Rio 17 HF on hand, so i at least want to attempt to use it for this application.

now the big decision is live rock. I REALLY like the live rock that they are selling over at reefscience.com, but they want an additional $100 to ship it. in the end that would push the cost of the rock to $7.33/lb. I have heard really great things about the Marshall Island live rockand i have used Kaelini in my 75g and it was great rock as well. Where would you guys suggest i get rock from? My LFS pretty much only carries Fiji and its not usually that specacular. I guess i could ask him if he could order me some different for this application.

Also i think that i am going to keep 1 fish in this tank. One of the black frogfish. I've talked to several people about it and they didnt think i would have any issues keeping the frogfish in this tank. anyone had any experience?

thx for the comments so far. The tank should be ready "in a few weeks" but as i get stuff together i'll post lots of pictures.

 

[aural]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6809308#post6809308 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mntl
Since this is basically a bigger version of my tank I'll try to throw in my .02c . You will need much more flow...

You guys may be right.... we will see. the great thing about this setup is that i'll have room to throw in a second pump if needs be, then i can take off any splits in the return system.

I'm DEFINITELY taking this into concideration and at least a pump isnt a difficult thing to get and impliment in a system.

Thank you so much for the reply. any link to your tank? i'd love to check it out.

cheers

 

[mntl]

Here are a couple of quick pics, still a work in progress but you get the general idea.

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-John-

 

[aural]

mntl: that looks great! what are the diminsions/volume of that tank? what pumps are you using?

 

[mntl]

dimensions are 20/20/12 starfire/rimless/all edges polished. Pumps are 2x mj900's, 1xmj1200 and 1xmag7. I have a 10gal sump w/auto-topoff. I like cubes but I like a shallow tank that is viewable from the top so I went half cube.

-John-

 

[jiff]

Love it, very clean minimalist look

 

[uberfugu]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6809361#post6809361 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by aural

Also i think that i am going to keep 1 fish in this tank. One of the black frogfish. I've talked to several people about it and they didnt think i would have any issues keeping the frogfish in this tank. anyone had any experience?

I've put a few frogfishes in my 16 bow. It is a BB SPS with 2 Tunze 6000s. They didn't like the flow. Anglers like lower circulation (10-20X). There were also issues with metabolite levels (too high). I think the frogfish is best left out.

 

[ek9vboi]

so far it looks nice. clean and simple

 

[alien9168]

Should be cool!
mntl- nice looking tank!

After seenig that, jiff, definatly go with the rimless look! Since your making it, and not buying the tank, it will be easier that way anyway!

mikeal- I have a question about flow.

I always thought that 20x turnover was fairly high and nearly ideal...why isnt that good enough for sps? Im not an expert on sps, just a question. Not at all challenging your expertice, which i am sure supercedes mine!

-alien

 

[mntl]

The problem with acros is not when they are frags, flow becomes an issue whent they get to be colonies, the middle needs flow just like the tips, but it needs similiar flow. If you blast at the coral colony you will get way too much flow on the tips just to get to the middle. To get a "current" going in the tank so that everything moves uniformally/smoothly/constantly you need very wide indirect flow, which takes much more gph than tight high-velocity streams. This is why many people have good luck wth sps initially with frags but kill colonies, or they have frags that when they grow out start to stn from the base.

-John-

 

[aural]

well i got a bunch of equipment in. Got the remora skimmer, rio pump, aquamedic 250 watt pendant, 15.000K XM DE bulb, a bunch of loc-line and a mag-float.

I was reading the instructions for the Remora and it said it has about a 2 week break-in period... what are your thoughts about me putting this skimmer on my 75 gal while my cube is being built, that way when the tank comes the skimmer is already seasoned... good or bad idea?

 

[Zoa]

what kind of equipment does it take to build your own tank?

 

[aural]

well i'm not building my own tank. I'm having it made.

The only real way for you to build your own tank would be to use acrylic (unless you have a lot of experiece working with glass, i dont recomend it)

For acrylic you will need a table saw with an acrylic cutting blade, a sander with fine grit paper, a butane torch if you want to polish the edges, and weld on #3 to join your acrylic and an applicator bottle - along with a varity of clamps and vices to hold everything together.

 

[Zoa]

the thought of being able to build your own tank and look at it everytime knowing you built it from scratch must be great. a lot of guys on here seem to be able to do a lot of DIY projects with acrylic. they must have a good work space for this...and time...

 

[alien9168]

Thats pretty awsome!!
I love those aqua medic MH pendants.

-alien