28G cube

[DYIguy]

So this is #4 ( 5, but the hex was a disaster )- I now have a 13g, 30L, 40B and now this ( and a 110 in a shed )- why 4 and not the 110- a discussion for another time- this is the 'old style' without the wifi- don't want it/ need it- the lights are white and are on all the time- you need to add a timer- they're going on a shelf- I'll do my own lighting- most likely a 165w black box hung- it looks small, but it's deep and high (-could be a problem with some corals- but I have 3 others, I've built my own AIO's before and never thought about putting the overflow in the middle and having 2 returns with boxes in between- I like that- chaeto, heater, media, maybe a uv. The unit acme with 2 return pumps- each @ 265gph. I don't think the stock tank came with a wave timer- mine did- I may use in this tank- but will probably use it in one of the others. I thought I would never run out of dry rock from the 110- but I have- I have a bunch of coral skeletons, but don't think they'll work. Live sand, bacteria is on the way, working on dry/ live rock- attached it a pic of what I do have as far as dry rock goes

 

[Aeb1419]

4 tanks. Craziness. Im having a hard time convincing my wife for a 2nd.

 

[DYIguy]

4 tanks. Craziness. Im having a hard time convincing my wife for a 2nd.

All my tanks are in one room- my office- each tank has different fish ( mostly) - all fish are on the smaller side and none cost more than $40. The 13g was the most expensive tank $150 - The 30l was free with stand and hood, the 40b was $50 (Petco )- built my own stand and hood and the cube was $100 with 2 stands. All tanks are AIO's so no drilling/ plumbing- I even had enough crushed coral ( aragonite ) from the 110- so far I had to buy wavemakers ( i go cheap- $ 8 each ) heaters- ceramic under $20- 2 black boxes 165w $80 each.

My original plan when I bought the cube was to sell the 13 gal after cycling and moving the fish etc- but after talking to @brokereefer , he got me thinking about going pico thinking- sexy shrimp, some fish that won't get larger than 2.5"- we'll see

Live sand and Dr Tim's come tomorrow- I'll probably end up buying a couple/few pieces of live rock from Petco - hitchhikers are always a surprise- some good some not so much- pics by the weekend

 

[DYIguy]

I'm making water, but have the 'Buddy' and hate dumping the waste down the drain, so I've been buying distilled water to supplement- checked and it's zero for tds- my water is 3. Took a look at the media box the unit came with and it's a bit of a joke- doesn't fit the whole chamber and the filter area is about 3"x3"x3"- that's going to the shelf. I like using foam media- I'll use a coarse with a medium backup and ceramic discs at the bottom I think- just wish I could get some live rock from a club member- prefer that to Petco's

 

[Aeb1419]

What kind of sponge filter you planning to use?

 

[DYIguy]

What kind of sponge filter you planning to use?

Something like this- pods love it

Amazon.com

 

[DYIguy]

Cleaned out the filter area as best I could- the deign is worse than my first attempt at building an AIO- the return pumps barely fit the chambers and the media box is only half as deep as the chamber- first 3 pics,. The fourth shows the foam I plan on using ( coarse and medium) alongside the box that came with the tank- the last pic is with the foam and ceramic discs- do you think it too many discs- A heater will fit in any of the chambers and I might grow macro algae in another one

 

[brokereefer]

I'm making water, but have the 'Buddy' and hate dumping the waste down the drain, so I've been buying distilled water to supplement- checked and it's zero for tds- my water is 3. Took a look at the media box the unit came with and it's a bit of a joke- doesn't fit the whole chamber and the filter area is about 3"x3"x3"- that's going to the shelf. I like using foam media- I'll use a coarse with a medium backup and ceramic discs at the bottom I think- just wish I could get some live rock from a club member- prefer that to Petco's

Was away for a few days so I didn't see your thread. If you want live rock, lemme know. I can definitely hook you up with some.

 

[DYIguy]

I'm thinking about pulling the whole filter section out and re doing it- doubling the width- would give me a lot more room to work with, more filtration area and only take 3" of tank space away- won't effect lighting- I'm doing a 165w led- will just take an additional day before start up

 

[DYIguy]

Decided against re doing the filtration- thought it would be too much trouble- turned out it might not have been- started filling the tank today and because I saw no holes to equalize the water pressure on both sides I kept adding water to the filter side not watching ( the panel is black )- guess I added too much and it blew out- the only thing holding it all in place is the silicone along the bottom - sides aren't sealed at all- the individual chambers panels set into a fitting so to speak.
Half/ or more filled with my saved aragonite and a small pump circulating for the night- also set my 165w black box on top to see what things will eventually look like- also realized that it will be best to turn the light sideways because this tank is so deep
Tomorrow- live sand, dry and live rock- cycling begins or maybe it won't happen as @brokereefer said it might not

 

[DYIguy]

Another design flaw ( as far as I'm concerned) the 2 pumps are rated @ 264gph and would be great if the size of the system was a bit larger- any thing added to inhibit the flow ( like adding any kind of media )and the return chamber runs low. So one would have to keep constant eye on it or go with bio balls ( not a big fan ). I'm going to look into downsizing one or both return pumps to 175gph ( should fit ) and either use one of the other pumps as an added pump for in tank flow or add a small wave maker

20lbs of live pink sand added to my 10lbs or so of aragonite made a good substrate. Added my live and dry rock along with some great pieces of live and dry rock I got from @brokereefer and @Salted . I think i have enough now- waiting for the water to clear up- tank may not have to cycle- Thanks guys

I can't get over the generosity of fellow reefers here and love talking 'tanks/ reefing'- I could spend hours sharing- but I'll take whatever time I can

 

[Salted]

Another design flaw ( as far as I'm concerned) the 2 pumps are rated @ 264gph and would be great if the size of the system was a bit larger- any thing added to inhibit the flow ( like adding any kind of media )and the return chamber runs low. So one would have to keep constant eye on it or go with bio balls ( not a big fan ). I'm going to look into downsizing one or both return pumps to 175gph ( should fit ) and either use one of the other pumps as an added pump for in tank flow or add a small wave maker

20lbs of live pink sand added to my 10lbs or so of aragonite made a good substrate. Added my live and dry rock along with some great pieces of live and dry rock I got from @brokereefer and @Salted . I think i have enough now- waiting for the water to clear up- tank may not have to cycle- Thanks guys

I can't get over the generosity of fellow reefers here and love talking 'tanks/ reefing'- I could spend hours sharing- but I'll take whatever time I can

Happy to have met you today Chris. You're welcome by any time you want. I'm merely passing on the generosity of others I've met here. Enjoy.

 

[DYIguy]

Happy to have met you today Chris. You're welcome by any time you want. I'm merely passing on the generosity of others I've met here. Enjoy.

I'm sitting here sipping a glass and enjoying the view of the cube with the rock, making plans- were you able to spend your gift card? I wish I got a pic of your tank- so beautiful, now I want a 75 gal

 

[Salted]

I'm sitting here sipping a glass and enjoying the view of the cube with the rock, making plans- were you able to spend your gift card? I wish I got a pic of your tank- so beautiful, now I want a 75 gal

I didn't use my card but I made a couple laps around NJ today. I went to sea level but no trocus snails. They had had a Sleeper Banded goby I liked but opted no to get. Went to reefco and picked up some snails and a red leg hermit crab. Almost bought a diamond goby but passed again. Came home and did some reading while acclimating the snails and decided I wanted the sleeper goby and went back to sea level. Then went to @brokereefer and got a meat coral. Fun day. Thank you for the kind words about my tank. If you're still looking when I move and upgrade I'll pass it on at a good price.

 

[DYIguy]

I didn't use my card but I made a couple laps around NJ today. I went to sea level but no trocus snails. They had had a Sleeper Banded goby I liked but opted no to get. Went to reefco and picked up some snails and a red leg hermit crab. Almost bought a diamond goby but passed again. Came home and did some reading while acclimating the snails and decided I wanted the sleeper goby and went back to sea level. Then went to @brokereefer and got a meat coral. Fun day. Thank you for the kind words about my tank. If you're still looking when I move and upgrade I'll pass it on at a good price.

Thank god I didn't take you up on your offer to go "shopping'- I'd still be out lol- one reason I didn't go I had no money to spend- glad you had a good day. You can't spend just a few minutes with @brokereefer lol either, I could spend an entire day with you guys talking 'shop' The gsp is great- I owe you
Funny you mentioned the 75g- there is one wall left in my office that it will fit on- god, no, I can't even think about it

 

[DYIguy]

Replaced the return pumps- very noisy and really didn't fit the chambers with 2 Vivosun 210gph pumps- very quiet but I still have to keep an eye on the water level- still low in both return chambers. Am cycling the tank now- used Dr Tim's 1 and only and against recommendations by you guys, I used FritzZyme ammonia- 6 days in now- ammonia and nitrites are at .25ppm. I built a hood for one of the Relassy 165w lights I got from @amado- looks/works great- some light diatoms on the glass and sand- hoping to move the 'crew' from the 13 gal Evo in the next couple of days

 

[amado]

Replaced the return pumps- very noisy and really didn't fit the chambers with 2 Vivosun 210gph pumps- very quiet but I still have to keep an eye on the water level- still low in both return chambers. Am cycling the tank now- used Dr Tim's 1 and only and against recommendations by you guys, I used FritzZyme ammonia- 6 days in now- ammonia and nitrites are at .25ppm. I built a hood for one of the Relassy 165w lights I got from @amado- looks/works great- some light diatoms on the glass and sand- hoping to move the 'crew' from the 13 gal Evo in the next couple of days

If you don’t have corals I wouldn’t turn on the light.
I would leave the fish with no lights.
That way you don’t grow algae.

 

[DYIguy]

Day 8 of cycling the tank- fishless with Dr Tims and FritzZyme ammonia- live rock and live sand/aragonite mix- Yesterday ammonia zeroed out Nitrites were at .25 and nitrates at 160- today nitrites at zero and nitrates are at .5-10 ( i got an API, so it's not actual )- Still a dusting of diatoms and algae growing on the glass with lights out- will test again in the am- Looks like it's a go to move the fish and maybe a couple /few zoas tomorrow

 

[Salted]

Throw that api nitrate kit in the garbage now that the Hanna high range nitrate checker is here. Dumped my salifert and won't look back.

 

[DYIguy]

Throw that api nitrate kit in the garbage now that the Hanna high range nitrate checker is here. Dumped my salifert and won't look back.

Plan on it,, So Hanna is the way to go?