Updated Photos of 2 Gallon Cube

Richard,
Your mantis will get more brave/curious as time goes on. Just don't disturb his surroundings and when he feels safe, he should come out. If you are keepig a mantis, the tank must be devoted to the mantis. Do not put anything in your tank unless you are prepared to lose it.
Cheers,

- Chad
 
Re: your inspiration has been great!!!

Re: your inspiration has been great!!!

vtcoconutcream said:
I have read the entire thread and would love to start my own little piece of heaven...I have a 15 inch cube on order and would love to do a sump under it so that I could include the skimmer. You mentioned in a post earlier about a member on the board named Herbie who posted about how to have a completely silent overflow that is safer than most. I would like to find out more information on this as I am new to this hobbie and I need to know where and how many bulkheads to have cut into my new tank!!! Would it still be possible to have the tank visiable from all four sides? I planned on doing the overflow in the center and aquascaping around it. Let me know what you think.. And I really only want to have corals with maybe in the future a manderine. I'm still working on what to do about lighting but need to start somewhere!! Again any advice would be greatly appriciated and keep up the AWSOME work!!
Click to expand...

Kristen,

Thank you for your kind words. Your 15" cube will be an awesome looking tank when you get it. The 'herbie method', in a nutshell, is to put a ball or gate valve on the return pipe to your sump and then close the valve to the point where the water can only drain at the same rate the return pump pumps it back. This causes the water level to remain at a constant level above the bulkhead (you can control the level in the overflow by opening or closing the valve). The result is that no air goes down the bulkhead (therefore no noise) and no air gets into the sump (therefore no boiling or 'hot tub' effect). Because this delicate balance can lead to disaster if an object blocks the return pipe, you need to have two bulkheads in order to do use this method.
This is just an example but if I were you, I would put two bulkheads (maybe 1") in the middle of the bottom of your tank. I would then use glass or acrylic to build an overflow box around the bulkheads and hide the box with rockwork like you said. The return bulkhead would be naked but have the ball valve on it under the tank. The other bulkhead would be your emergency drain and you would put a length of pvc in it to raise it up closer to the water level in your tank, that way, it would not be used unless the main line got plugged. Then all you need to do is fiddle with your ball valve until the water level in your overflow box is somewhere between the naked bulkead and the top of your emergency drain pipe (or closer to the top because after doing this, the water going over your overflow will be the only sound you hear. If the level is higher, the water doesn't have to fall very far and even that is quiet). I hope that this makes sence, if not PM me and I can explain it better.
Your idea of a tank wraped around an overflow is a really neat concept and I am honestly envious of it. If the hole on my desk wasn't right near the edge, I would be tempted to follow suit. good luck and keep me posted.

- Chad
 
Re: Re: your inspiration has been great!!!

Re: Re: your inspiration has been great!!!

ninjafish said:
If the hole on my desk wasn't right near the edge, I would be tempted to follow suit.
- Chad
Click to expand...

That's what drills and hole saws are for Chad. ;)
 
Haha, you speak the truth. But technically speaking, the taxpayers own the desk... I'm already pushing it with the electricity that I'm borrowing ;)

- Chad
 
I think I understand ( opperative word there being THINK :) ) I think I will have the guy that is doing my tank do all the drilling and building...too new at all this so I don't wanna screw it up...thanks for the info and once I get it in I'll give you an update...now i'm off to figure out lighting :):)
 
ninjafish said:
If you are keepig a mantis, the tank must be devoted to the mantis. Do not put anything in your tank unless you are prepared to lose it.
Cheers,

- Chad
Click to expand...

Hi Chad,

that's the answer, I didn't want to read. It wasn't my idea to keep a mantis, he (or she?) lived in the live rock I bought :(. Bad luck. And until now I didn't manage to get him out.

What are you going to do when you update to a bigger cube. Start it completely new or move the rock? If you want to keep fishes, then you'll have to catch the mantis first.

Richard
 
Richard,
I am going to move everything over from the 8" cube to the 12". The only real difference will be more room on the sandbed for Ike to roam. I am also going to add a small damsel It should stay up in the water column and out of Ike's reach, but I am prepared for the worst... just in case he becomes mantis food.

- Chad
 
I just found the mantis section and your thread in there.

So good luck for your project and your upcoming damsel.

I will try to catch my mantis. But I don't really believe that it will work.:rolleyes:

Richard
 
Chad i had a small smasher mantis like yours and it lived with a clown goby for 6 months w/o problems. One time the goby came close to his cave entrance,the mantis came out and whacked a rock scaring away the goby.It was funny cause he could of eaten the fish but he decided to just send him away!
 
Your tank is just friggin awesome, I like others, would like to copycat you, but first i gotta finish my 250w halide stand/canopy for my 24g nano...... But i think after christmas i am gonna go at it!
Great Idea! Canadians RULE!
 
ninjafish, this tank is amazing. post pics when ike is in his new home! maybe a few this weekend of ike? this is what made me get my mantis!
 
Sorry bro im the lucky new owner of the cube. lol I cant wait to get it and start to stock it! Ive been gathering nice peices for it.
 
NanoMan,
I will definitely grab you some pics. I will probably post them in the new thread though. Give me a couple days to do the move and get everything all squared away.

Hutton,
Thanks dude. I'm sure Ike will only be too glad to pose some more. I need to get some more video of him as well - just waiting for the video camera to get out of the shop (again...)
And yes, I plan on sending the tank to deacon on Monday so there should be a redecorated 2gal cube on the boards really quick.

Cheers,

- Chad
 
so im just wondering if your goin to keep the 2 gall cube and do like a softies tank or just throw it away

sorry if you already said this
 
Nanoman,

I sold the 2gal tank to deacon hemp and he should be starting it back up any day now...


To everyone,


Here is a photo so far of the 12" (7.5gal) cube:


46130new_tank73.JPG



More photos in the thread.

Cheers,

- Chad
 
Great thread, just got throught the entire thing.
quick question...why is your 12" cube hanging over the edge?
 
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