The Chronicles of my 250g Cube (190g display)

[Zoos]

Finally, it has begun! Hello friends I know this is not a big tank in comparison to the others we see here, but this is my big tank. I figured I could not do a new tank without documenting it here. It wouldn't be fair considering Reef Central and its members have been my sole inspiration for it, alright enough talking lets get down to business. This is going to be a slow process so bear with me. The cube is 40Lx40Wx27.5H, the stand was built by a local carpenter and stained by yours truly . Lighting will consist of 1x250w MH 10,000k XM and 4 36" 95w URI VHO's 3 actinic blue and 1 actinic white, I will run the VHO's using 2 separate ballast for a dusk to dawn effect. The sump is 32Lx22Wx20.5H it has a section for the skimmer which will be a ASM G4+ (which has been in back order for the past 3 weeks) and a section for the refugium. The return pump is a Panworld 50x-x, and I will be using a Sequence Dart for my closed loop. I do not have a calcium reactor simply because it exceeded my budget for the time being, but I am working on it. here are a couple of pictures of the stand, canopy and some of the accessories that I have bought so far.

Where it's going.

First coat.

After I stained it.

Getting it ready for plumbing.

Installing some of the reflectors.

Some of the accessories.

 

[Chaotic Reefer4u]

really nice...

 

[Zoos]

thanks ChAoTiC

 

[FLY CRJ]

Finnaly, a new cube!

Stand and hood look great, nice stain.
Will be watching this one for sure :rollface:

 

[Zoos]

thank you and welcome to RC, BTW ASM contacted me today, and i get my G4+ tomorrow morning , also i will be picking up my tank sometime this week

 

[jay24k]

Looking good. hurry up will ya

 

[Zoos]

oh man don't remind me, i'll be finishing the lights tomorrow, and i will post new pics

 

[i2ik]

I have a tank about the same size as yours 36x36x24 and i am using a dart as a closed loop with 4 holes in the bottom glass

It was very hard for me to plumb the closed loop in such a small space but now, i can sit back and enjoy the tank with all those waves on the surface!

Here's a picture of it:

My FOWLR tank

 

[Purple Haze]

good start. Stand looks like pine.

In case I missed it, who's building the tank?

 

[Bax]

Great looking project

 

[Zoos]

I2ik your pluming is awesome, very professional and I know what you mean about it being difficult to plumb, also I have a huge sump which is not helping, but I'll figure it out.

good start. Stand looks like pine. In case I missed it, who's building the tank?

It is pine, and the tank is being built by a friend of mine, which is pretty much the top guy in building glass tanks in south FL, lucky me, the stand was also built by a local carpenter who is a friend of mine, and I must say I got a pretty good deal.

and thank you for the kind words Bax.

here are some new goodies I got today

Sump

ASM G4plus

what you see on the glass is water from when i rinsed it, and wow i nearly broke my back trying to put that in there, the sump is 32x22x20.5H

 

[i2ik]

Thanks for the kind word Zoos!

keep the pictures coming

 

[AcroSteve]

Looks like a great project.

Do you plan on taking everything back apart to paint the inside of the stand and canopy? I would strongly suggest you do so. The canopy, for the added reflection and protection that a nice gloss white paint will provide, and the stand for the protection.

Unprotected pine will rot pretty fast if it gets damp.

 

[Chelsey]

Awesome I'll definately be watching this thread!

 

[Zoos]

Do you plan on taking everything back apart to paint the inside of the stand and canopy? I would strongly suggest you do so. The canopy, for the added reflection and protection that a nice gloss white paint will provide, and the stand for the protection.

Absolutely!

Awesome I'll definately be watching this thread!

Thanks for the support

Thanks for the kind word Zoos!

Hey you earned it, i give props where props are due, and that is a nice job you did.

 

[chetm2]

Very cool! looking forward to seeing more pictures.

 

[Zoos]

Some new goodies, I've been cooking about 100 Lb 's of Fiji for about 4 weeks now, and I just bought about another 100 Lb's and a new brute and started cooking them tonight I might buy another 100 next week, and thanks chetm2 I'm following your thread as well.

 

[chetm2]

Nice looking rock, where did you order it from? I still need to order mine.

 

[Zoos]

I got it locally and the nice part is that I only used those boxes to transport it home, I actually picked out the 100 LB's my self and they were already cured , I thought about ordering the rock, but I know you get a lot of rubble when you do, and some of the Fiji is lighter that others, so I got 100 Lb's that actually looks like 130 Lb's, I could not even close the boxes when I got them.

 

[Bax]

Man you are really moving along now! Looking good!