Wow, there are some beautiful cubes out there. I'm almost hesitant to post pics of my little start-up. Naaaaah - here ya go...
...my 30 gal. Oceanic cube. Just started up and cycling right now. We have an old AMiracle sump with an Eheim 1260 to the split return. I am trying to decide on a skimmer. Hoping to find something that will work in the sump so we can keep the tank nice and equipment-free. I would really like a Tunze but they have to be submerged 7-8.5" and the water level in the sump is only 6-7". Teeny sump doesn't have much room for anything.
Right now the water level in the display tank is a little too high - just at the top of the overflow teeth. I think we are going to have to widen them some more or reduce the flow a little. The surface skimming is fine but I would like the water level to drop by maybe 1/4" - 1/2".
We're going to go with several BTAs, a mated pair of pink skunks, a lawnmower blenny, and some lps. Our lights are 150HQI 14K Phoenix bulb and 2X24 T5 actinics.
This is the main view of the tank from the sofa
Here is the view from the front. I
It's kind of difficult to see but we've created a cove in the center and have left lots of open sand area for coral and clam placement. We may end up putting vinyl on the right wall of the tank because a window is right behind it and it may detract from the tank. We'll see once we start filling it up.
Laurie