kevin's first saltwater 50g cube build

[kevin]

Hopefully I can make this somewhat interesting!
(you can surely skip the introduction & go right to the pictures, lol)

Last few years I've been to quite a few aquariums. I always wanted a saltwater tank, but never had the time, money, or place to have it. Last summer I was at the jenkinson's boardwalk with my fiance & mother. At this point in my life, I was moved out, had the time, & the money to get something going. The jenkinson's aquarium really sparked my interest in wanting to start a tank up. During July of last summer I joined this site & others to start my research. I went to the majority of the local & non-local LFS that I could find.

I really give credit to Mike over at Captivating Coral. I went in one day with my fiance & he explained A LOT to me even when the store was suppose to be closed. You can definitely tell he is in this hobby to help people & for it to grow. He told me to think long & hard if you want to make this commitment. I told him I would be waiting till March until I actually got anything starter. Fast forward to few weeks later & I get a promotion at my job. I had read a lot more about reefing & I was sure I wanted to do this.

I saw mnat & nikkiT were selling a 45g tank w/ stand. I promptly went to go pick it up from Nikki while she showed me & the fiance her and mnat's tanks. She was very kind & even gave me some test kits for starters! Then the big 15% group buy from premium aquatics comes a long. I went to town on this group buy. I want to thank howze(Johnathan) for picking up my portion of the group buy & bringing it to his house. I've had nothing but good experiences with everyone on this forum.

I ended up keeping the stand from mnat & nikki & sold the tank. I was really liking the look of a rimless tank. I ended up with a CADlights 50g

This is my current setup:

CAD Lights 50g rimless 24x24x20
CAD Lights 18g sump
Radion XR30W
(2)vortech MP10wES
Full Neptune Apex w/ pH & temp probe
Neptune Breakout Box
Tunze 1073.40 Return Silence Pump
(2)Ehiem Jager TS 150w heater (1 for a failsafe)
Aqua lifter Vacuum pump (ato)
Warner Marine MF121 Skimmer
BRS 75 GPD RO/DI 5 Stage *PLUS* System
BRS "Felt" Filter Sock 4" x 14" 200 Micron (w/ Plastic Ring)
Milwaukee Digital Seawater Refractometer

40lbs BRS “Reef Saver” Eco Dry Aquarium Live Rock
8lbs BRS Rumble
8lbs Fiji Live rock from Captivating Coral
Chaeto from Captivating Coral
Reef Crystals salt.
ect ect.

CADlights threw in the supplied plumbing. I had such a lesson on how plumbing works because of this. One side didn't leak & the other did. I tried everything to get it not to leak, but it was a no go. I then ordered a durso from dursostandpipe & kept the CADlights return side plumbing. Set everything up, then the return side leaked at a RANDOM spot of the plumbing. Boy was I getting frustrated.. I then went to the store and tried to figure out what I needed for the return side. It all started coming to me slowly. Now I feel like I'm somewhat decent at this plumbing stuff, lol.

I got everything running about 2 weeks ago & the tank is cycling. I threw in a piece of raw shrimp & now I wait.
(I still have to do a little cleaning up of wires)

supplied plumbing that sucked:

15g ATO

 

[TanksNStuff]

Really great start Kevin. You certainly didn't skimp on the equipment and it looks like you have most everything pretty much automated, which is a rare thing for a newbie.

Good luck with it. Hope to see some progress.

 

[adesimone1]

Tank is looking great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[howze01]

Nice! Really looks awesome. I'm not far behind! Hopefully within the next day or two I will be fillin' her up. That Warner marine skimmer is a beast!

 

[downbeach]

Looks like you're ready to rock 'n roll, good luck with it....Happy Holidays.

 

[shipwrecked]

Terrific start on the tank and also you lucked out with the people whom ya mentioned in yr post,everyone of them and others here are a bunch of terrific people who make the hobby that much more fun to be a part of.Good luck on yr new setup and happy holidays..

 

[howze01]

Terrific start on the tank and also you lucked out with the people whom ya mentioned in yr post,everyone of them and others here are a bunch of terrific people who make the hobby that much more fun to be a part of.Good luck on yr new setup and happy holidays..

Especially the one guy!

How is the interaction between the MP's and the Radions? CJ didn't even have to sync them or anything. He plugged the lights in and they took over for him. Pretty cool stuff. If only my MP's weren't synced with them too....

 

[Brando457]

Especially the one guy!

How is the interaction between the MP's and the Radions? CJ didn't even have to sync them or anything. He plugged the lights in and they took over for him. Pretty cool stuff. If only my MP's weren't synced with them too....

It is nice to not have to reach under the tank for the controller to put them in feed mode .

Kevin I used your program today, I think I did it right to program it :X. Have you messed with natural mode at all?

 

[howze01]

So you can out them in feed with the lights? That's pretty sweet! Is it a times thing or is there a button you use?

 

[Brando457]

buttons you press and it puts it in feed mode, and then once the light goes in to night mode so do the pumps. Eventually they're going to have it so you can program the light to program the pumps to be at specific levels throughout the day. So say I want HIGH output at 12:00 noon it'll put it in that, and say I want 1/2 the output at 5:00 pm the pump will only be at 1/2 output.

The coolest thing with the program though is the live demo mode so you can tweak the thing to your eyes appeal.

 

[kevin]

I don't know why it didn't quote in order!

TanksNStuff

Really great start Kevin. You certainly didn't skimp on the equipment and it looks like you have most everything pretty much automated, which is a rare thing for a newbie.

Good luck with it. Hope to see some progress.
​

Thanks ! I knew if I was going to get something with lesser value I was going to want something better in no time. I definitely wanted to have most of the things automated. I wanted to enjoy the tank, rather then spend X amount of time doing maintenance chores. I wanted to have the skimmer cup automated, but I was mislead to believe that the skimmer had a nipple to go to a container. I don't know if I want to try to drill a hole in it. It would be an expensive mistake if I messed up!
​

Nice! Really looks awesome. I'm not far behind! Hopefully within the next day or two I will be fillin' her up. That Warner marine skimmer is a beast!

I've only had it on for a few minutes. I've read not to have it on during a cycle. It's giving a vibration in my sump, but I'll fix it when the time comes to really start it up!

Looks like you're ready to rock 'n roll, good luck with it....Happy Holidays.

Thanks Happy Holidays!

Terrific start on the tank and also you lucked out with the people whom ya mentioned in yr post,everyone of them and others here are a bunch of terrific people who make the hobby that much more fun to be a part of.Good luck on yr new setup and happy holidays..

I agree, everyone here is great. Happy Holidays!

Especially the one guy!

How is the interaction between the MP's and the Radions? CJ didn't even have to sync them or anything. He plugged the lights in and they took over for him. Pretty cool stuff. If only my MP's weren't synced with them too....

I actually just put them in sync this morning. I believe it's in night mode right now. Theirs a button on the controller program that syncs them all.

It is nice to not have to reach under the tank for the controller to put them in feed mode .

Kevin I used your program today, I think I did it right to program it :X. Have you messed with natural mode at all?

Awesome. Nope, I just tweaked Jon's settings & left it at that.




Appreciate all the kind words! I just tested for ammonia & I've still haven't had any results!

 

[mnat]

The tank and setup looks amazing. It really shows you took your time and planned it out well which really will let you enjoy your tank. Can't wait to continue to follow this build.

 

[TanksNStuff]

Kevin, isn't this what your skimmer looks like? If so, the white thing hanging down in the middle should be a drain tube connection for your collection cup.

 

[kevin]

Kevin, isn't this what your skimmer looks like? If so, the white thing hanging down in the middle should be a drain tube connection for your collection cup.

Unfortunately, the MF121 does not have a nipple. The bigger models like pictured do have them.

 

[TanksNStuff]

Oh, gotcha. Talk to Daniel. I know he knows people at WM. Maybe he can have them sell you a different cup with the nipple in it? Or maybe they could at least send you the nipple and you could drill and install it?

From what I understand, WM is pretty good with custom orders and such so they might be able to help you out with some solution.

My Bubble Magus NAC7 skimmer has a nipple with a drain tube... and I don't know if I could ever live without one again.

 

[kevin]

Oh, gotcha. Talk to Daniel. I know he knows people at WM. Maybe he can have them sell you a different cup with the nipple in it? Or maybe they could at least send you the nipple and you could drill and install it?

From what I understand, WM is pretty good with custom orders and such so they might be able to help you out with some solution.

My Bubble Magus NAC7 skimmer has a nipple with a drain tube... and I don't know if I could ever live without one again.

That sounds like a great idea. Thanks! I would love to have it automated. I'll message Daniel right now.

i

 

[kevin]

I just noticed last night I have a ton a little (white) critters above my chaeto ball. I now see them all over my DT. Copepods? I've read mixed reviews that they can't be seen by the human eye & that they can
I thought it was some type of dust or something being thrown all around the tank by the powerheads.. def. not lol

Some are a decent size & they look like this

 

[howze01]

Yup, you have Copepods!!!

 

[TanksNStuff]

 

[kevin]

QT Tank. Had to make room for it...