Walt's 45 Cubes Build

[WDLV]

I'm gonna do this one the way I usually do and allow the pictures to do most of the talking. That said I'm gonna give the background info up front.
The project is to create homes for several "special" clown pairs. For this I decided to go with 45 cubes made by Marineland. I decided to get the standard tanks 'cause frankly I think the RR version sucks. The bulkhead is positioned in such a way that you'd be left with 6" of pipe hanging out of the back of the tank. So, I went with the standard version and built faux walls instead of bulkheads. The purpose was two fold. One the equipment is hidden as it is in a reef ready tank but you don't have this ugly black plastic piece protruding off the back wall. Two, this method was specifically designed with the idea of keeping anemones out of intakes. The pictures below are of the prototype. This was put up last night with "Rambo" the cycle fish. I'm using water from the old reef. So, hopefully cycling will be fast and corraline spores will find their way into the system. I plan to do each tank a little different but all will have the same basic concept with the faux walls.

*Note. The rockwork was soaked in FW for five days and was rinced several times during the curing process. Also the tank was soaked in old reef water for three days before being set up to allow natural microbes to populate the surface and decrease the hardness of the fresh "aragocrete."

Here's how I did it.

 

[Doni]

Tagging along~
Looks great! I love to see new ideas! :thumbsup:

 

[underwaterfirefighter]

Off to a great start. Cant wait to see this one progress. Thanks for sharing.

Dave

 

[WDLV]

Tagging along~
Looks great! I love to see new ideas! :thumbsup:

Off to a great start. Cant wait to see this one progress. Thanks for sharing.

Dave

Thanks guys. I've already discovered one thing.... I had gone back to the GARF site to get curing times and it just said to soak the rock for five days so that the rock could cure slowly. Well now that it's set up I went to double check and found a link stating that you should let it cure in fresh water for 6-8 weeks before using it.
I have done similar work in the past with my sculptures and such but never used this much aragocrete in such a small tank. So, while I have normally just set my reefs up and enjoyed a couple months of not having to use suppliments to boost my pH, in this case I will have to stick with just clowns. Maybe after two months I might think about adding a few hardy soft corals. The alternative is to tie them together with a couple hundred Lbs of LR and old water until the pH stops freaking out.
One thing I have to explain is that as a general rule I do not test my water. Especially this early in the game. I occasionally might test the salinity but I don't even buy test kits anymore. They always expire. If something inexplicable starts happening in an older reef I might test, but generally I just look at the animals, the rocks and the water color to guide me on where the tank's chemistry is. IME, testing just makes me freak out chasing my tail trying to correct things when a simple water change and a little time cures most ills.
That said I don't recommend my methods be followed by others. I've had to screw up a lot to learn how to reef this way.
Every algae you et tells you something about the health of the tank.

This is over simplifying but is the basic idea of how I reef.
Brown = New rock breaking in
Green = ready for corals
Corraline = ready for sps
Corraline decreasing = calcium and alk too low. bump up kalkwasser
Hair algae = high phosphates/nitrates (increase water change frequency and kalk)
Cyano = high phosphates and flow too low (increase flow, water changes and kalk)

Oh, and watch the gelbstoff. When the water's yellow the last three algaes aren't far behind.

When corals stop growing it's gone too far. When fish start acting weird, you really have problems.

 

[WDLV]

There's nothing new to report that warrants pictures, but I did want to state (if for no other reason than record keeping purposes) that shortly after setting up the system (within a week) I got a 1-2 day diatom bloom followed swiftly by a major covering of blue/green cyano. I have been doing 50% water changes 1-2 times per week using old reef water from a larger system as replacement water.
You might also notice that I swapped out the percula with a pair of black Os and removed the sculpture to increase flow and eliminate dead spots.

Also, I had done a 50% WC Wednesday night and cleaned the skimmer cup before I left Thursday. When I arrived back from NC yesterday (Sunday) I noticed a vast reduction (~50%) in the amount of blue/green cyano and a new covering of diatoms where the cyano had disappeared. This morning (Monday) I checked and noted that the skimmer cup was overflowing with skimmate. This is a little over par for the course I think. I'll probably do another 50% WC tonight or tomorrow using old reef water.

 

[WDLV]

There's been a little activity in the last few days. I'm fairly sure it's not a fluke since they keep cleanig the same spot.

 

[Purelife]

Looking great!

 

[WDLV]

I had time this weekend to set up a sump and connect the 45 to said sump. I wanted to comment on the fact that after about 1.5 - 2 years in service, the old sump I had been running had almost no detritus in it. I was expecting to find 2"-3" of detritus. This sump was a 100 gallon rubbermaid trough 3/4 full of LR and has never been syphoned during its time in operation. The other huge surprise was that there were only 1-2 bristleworms that I saw out of what was probably 250 Lbs of LR.

I set the new sump up the same way as the old one. There is a 12" PVC pipe and a 5 gallon bucket with dozens of holes drilled in it placed in the sump first. LR is placed around the PVC and bucket to a height equalling the height of the bucket. The skimmer is placed on top of the PVC pipe and the return pump and skimmer output are placed in the bucket.

The way it looks I will be connecting 2-3 of the cubes to this sump then setting up a separate subtropical system for the latz and a stand alone system (probably a 125 gallon anemone/softie) for the thiellei clowns and a couple tangs. As soon as I can get some more stands I will be adding additional tanks to the existing system and completely emptying the old system. The only thing that currently remains is a couple leucokranos clowns, two tangs and some nems and corals. I may sell the tangs until I have the means to support them better or else I might plumb in a couple more 100 gallon troughs for them to live in....

Bad news is that I need to replace one pump on my skimmer and the impellars if not the whole pump on the other two. As if I didn't have enough to budget for already.

This is how I did the cover. It looks too ghetto and will be getting a makeover when I have a chance, but I like the way it functions. It doesn't cut out any light. In particular I was concerned about cutting out light that comes in at an angle as egg crate lighting grid would do.

 

[jefferino]

Great idea on the rock wall!

 

[WDLV]

Thanks!

 

[LargeAngels]

What type of netting is that? If it is not UV rated it could become brittle and break over time with use of stronger lighting.

Those are nice black occ. The correct head/mouth shape.

 

[WDLV]

It's pond netting... very cheap to replace.

The Os are WC.

 

[WDLV]

I have a magnifica that started going downhill when I slacked on maintenance of my last system. I put it under too much light and it shed all its zooxanthellae and has been shrinking ever since. I thought it would be dead soon so I put it in this new system. It's tentacles shriveled up to nothing, wouldn't attach and had no stickyness to its tentacles. It looked like they do when you get them out of a shipping bag. Since I plumbed in the sump, it has attached and reinflated. If it continues to progress this will become it's new permanent home. If that is the case, this tank will become the new home for my nigripes clowns instead of my thielleis. We'll see.

One decision that I have definately made for the next tank is that it will have an additional hole drilled in the right rear corner for a return line. I don't much like the exposed hose on the exterior of the tank. This one I can deal with but I have no interest in continuing this trend on subsequent tanks. I'm debating on whether to go with 1" or 3/4". I'm leaning toward 3/4".

 

[WDLV]

Most people would freak if they saw their leucokranos looking like this.

...and so would I if I didn't know what caused it. I was transferring corals from an old tank to a new tank and picked up an anemone rock, flipped it upside down so the anemone was inverted and transported it 20' across the room to the new tank before I realized that there were still fish in it!!!

10 minutes later.

30 minutes later.

 

[msman825]

looks great walt, like the how i reef idea

 

[WDLV]

Thanks!

I know the hair algae and aptasia look like crap. They will be dealt with shortly. It's just that I only have one big skimmer right now and I need to be sure I can improve the conditions for the corals and nems that were in the old system. So, I'm moving everything over regardless of whatever hitchhikers are on it.

 

[eco-tropic]

Most people would freak if they saw their leucokranos looking like this.

I think "freak" is an understatement! You sir, are certifiable. Love the project though.

 

[Shootcat]

wow, cool idea i must say! nice work

 

[csal1-175]

Looking great Walt when you done with your algae ,I have a small problem with it over here...LOL

 

[WDLV]

I think "freak" is an understatement! You sir, are certifiable. Love the project though.

Shoot, where you been? I was certified a long time ago!

wow, cool idea i must say! nice work

Thanks!

Looking great Walt when you done with your algae ,I have a small problem with it over here...LOL

Yeah, as soon as this snow clears up. Haha.


....I had no intention of making this a leuc tank. I was planning on only transferring the anemone rocks and putting the leucs into a holding tank but when that happened I figured that if they can hang on to an inverted anemone out of the water they must really want to be in there.