Saleenpwr88s 70 gallon cube build

saleenpwr88

saleenpwr88

New member
So I have always really enjoyed other's build threads so I thought I would start one for my current build. Not sure how fast or slow this is going to go since the summer pretty much kills my reefing motivation but we will see.

The tank is a 70 gallon cube from Marineland. The tank frame measures 30*30 so the actual gallons are going to be less. It is 18" high as well.
I picked this tank because I wanted a shallower tank that I could light with a single 250W MH, which will be a Phoenix 14K on a HQI ballast. It also doesn't have any center bracing which I liked a lot as well.

I have an MP10 now but I doubt that will be enough flow. Skimmer is a Reef Octopus Extreme 160. Auto top off is a dual switch version from autotopoff.com. Only things I still need to get are a return pump and a heater.

So that's the start of it. I picked up the tank this morning and put the typical rediculously overbuilt 2*4 frame stand together for it right when I got home. Will try and finish the stand this weekend, but we are supposed to have an 80 degree day tomorrow so who knows though!

Enjoy
Adam

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I think I'm going to go with one of the glass holes kits...gonna put it right in the middle. Never drilled a tank before myself but seen someone do it and it didn't look that bad. Gonna try it myself on this one.
 
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Gonna be sweet when its done.... And thank you for separating Glass and Holes in your post... stupid word filter catches everything.
 
Nice lookin' tank. BTW, I am curious how the summer could kill your reefing motivation if you never leave your house....... :lol:
 
So I spend the better half of this morning working on the stand...just used some pocket screws to put this together. Used pine because I'm going to paint it black, instead of stain it. I'm going to have doors on three sides so I can have easy access all around. By no means do I qualify as a wood worker but I think this turned out pretty good. Still need to do a cut out for the bottom, 1/2 inch plywood. I'm not going to put a piece of plywood on the top but I am going to put a piece of 1/2 foam on the top.

I have always wondered why the manufacturers make their stands so short. Well I think I understand now...the height of the stand for this tank was only like 27" tall I think. This stand is 33" tall. So with a 30"*30" foot print this stand wouldn't fit thru any of my doors! Luckily I have a patio door and I still had to take the slider off to get it in the house. After I put the finishing trim on the stand I don't think it will fit so if I ever have to move it I might have to dissasemble some of the stand.

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So I ordered the glass holes kit this morning, I went with the single drain 700 gph kit. The return is going to be 3/4". My question is how accurate is the head loss calculator on here. I was thinking of going with a Quietone 4000 pump and that says with 4 vertical ft., 1 horizontal ft. and 3 elbows the GPH goes from 1017 GPH (maybe that's with 1" pipe?) down to 550 GPH with 3/4" pipe. I'm perfectly fine with 550 but want to make sure that calculator is accurate and that the 1.5" 750 gph over flow I'll be using will be able to handle that?
 
saleenpwr88 said:
So I ordered the glass holes kit this morning, I went with the single drain 700 gph kit. The return is going to be 3/4". My question is how accurate is the head loss calculator on here. I was thinking of going with a Quietone 4000 pump and that says with 4 vertical ft., 1 horizontal ft. and 3 elbows the GPH goes from 1017 GPH (maybe that's with 1" pipe?) down to 550 GPH with 3/4" pipe. I'm perfectly fine with 550 but want to make sure that calculator is accurate and that the 1.5" 750 gph over flow I'll be using will be able to handle that?
Click to expand...

You should be fine. Just put a ball valve inline to make sure you can "fine-tune" it as needed....

Also, it's a rimmed tank, no need for foam underneath it, actually it can make things worse by placing pressure where it wasn't designed to be.

Good job on the stand so far too. I still need to skin mine as well, I just gotta decided if I should go with a nicer wood and stain it or if I'm going to just paint it a single color..... Are you going to order doors online somewhere, or are the holes a standard size you can get at HD or someplace ???
 
I was going to use the foam actually just because the 2x4s aren't perfect (as expected) and the tank rocks slightly sitting on them, maybe a 1/16". I thought the foam would help correct that? Not sure on the doors yet. I didn't plan on them being that size really...just ended up that way with the wood I bought. Tank will be up and running before the doors are done anyway, I don't mind not having any at this point.
 
Following along as I have a 60G taller cube... I love these cubes, they are such a neat shape for reefs.

What do you plan on having in this tank? Are you migrating everything from your current tank over or having two tanks?
 
And the foam I have is 1/2" pink...it is very dense. There is no way the bottom glass would touch foam, everything would still rest on the frame of the tank.
 
xtlosx said:
Following along as I have a 60G taller cube... I love these cubes, they are such a neat shape for reefs.

What do you plan on having in this tank? Are you migrating everything from your current tank over or having two tanks?
Click to expand...

Not sure what I'm doing yet...going to try for an open aquascape and mostly SPS and some LPS. Yes I'm xferring everything from the nano, only want the 1 tank. Probably won't xfer over the zoas or anything that is mostly green :).
 
Got the glass holes order today. Turns out drilling is as easy as they make it sound. Had the wifey spray water as I drilled. Both holes only took a couple minutes a piece. Also finished painting the stand. Here are a couple of pics. Next step is to build a sump and work on the plumbing but still need to order a return pump and another bulkhead, the only 3/4 bulkheads I had were slip and then other had a barb on one end. I want threads on both sides.

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