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Thoughts on a 30 cube

J

Jcurry@wesketch

Work is slow...again

So I decided to throw caution to the wind and setup one of the empty tanks I have laying around. It's a 30 gallon cube "ish" 20x18x18 tank that's been drilled in the upper corners. I've cut some glass I had laying around to make overflow boxes similar to the glassholes design. One will feed an airstone skimmer and the other will go straight to the sump.

I've rebuilt the stand to be 4" deeper than the tank to hide the plumbing and wires. Now I just need to skin it with the leftover wood from the kitchen renovation. and design a canopy.

I aquired a 15 high tank in a trade with Jim Roth but alas it's to tall. So I'm the quest for a small sump (preferably drilled). Something like a 10 gallon max dimensions 22Lx18W.

I'll use the Eshine light I got off Brandon and possibly add some exocotic stunner strips to adjust the color and be able to mimic the dawn to dusk effect.

They only piece of equipment that has me stumped is what kind of pump to use. I haven't had a tank this small in a long time. 20 years ago there wasn't much of a choice for small tank circulation. It was Hagen powerheads or nothing. I still have them and they work, but I don't want equipment showing in the tank. So I'm considering either a Quiet One or the Sicce Syncra and leaning towards the Syncra. But what size 1.5 or 2.0?
 
M

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
When we ran our 30g cube (I think it is the same dimension, old oceanic cub that is not built anymore with real think glass) we tried koralia's but they were way too big. If you can find a used mp10 that is what worked best for us.
 
M

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
Full blast IIRC, I will ask Nikki when we get home. We had a lot of SPS in that tank so we were going for increased flow. With the wierd dimensions is worked pretty well because they don't fire in a straigh line so we were able to get really good flow throughout the tank with just the one head. The footprint is miniscule as well. When we had the two Koralia 2s in there they took up a ton of room and were very narrow with their flow.
 
J

Jcurry@wesketch

Yeah it's kind of wierd for me as well. It's been 4 years since I sold my 125, man how time flies.

The build is coming along slowly because I'm trying not buy any new equipment and just reuse what I have. The only problem is trying to find what I need & sifting through all piles of equipment I have squirreled away in my basent, attic and garage. LOL

reefsandrotts said:
This is eerie Jeff
A tank thread after all this time....:eek:
cant wait to see it up and running
Click to expand...
 
J

Jcurry@wesketch

Well I finally got the rock into the tank (thanks Magic) and the sand in (thanks Reefs&rotts). I just need to glue up the plumbing tonight. and then I can make some water and get the cycle going. Pics tonight after I get a new battery for my camera.
 
J

Jcurry@wesketch

Well here's the aquascape so far.






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Baxreefs

Baxreefs

Jeff

You're moving waaaaayyyyy too fast for me!

This process should take months! NO! Years!!!:playful:

That's looking real nice. How about building an acrylic sump to fit?
 
J

Jcurry@wesketch

Hawkeye: It depends on what day it is as to what I want to keep.

I've considered the following:

All Euphyllia corals with different color morphs of each. I wouldn't need to worry about competition / stinging. There's enough variety to keep it interesting.

Zoanthids, mushrooms & gorgonians for the same reasons as above.

All bubbletip anemones with different color morphs of each, RBTA, GBTA, etc with clowns and anemone shrimp and porcelian crabs.

And lately all easy SPS like millies, pocillapora & digitatas because I've never kept SPS before.

Brian: Thanks, I'm sure it will change as I buy coral but I'm happy with the start.

Bax: I've been collecting equipment for years. LOL My acrylic skills are sorely lacking so I broke down and bought a small wet dry that I'll convert to a sump. But the more I look at it the more I think it's not going to be big enough and I may end up getting a custom sump to maximize the size. Especially if I go with a submersible pump.
 
J

Jcurry@wesketch

reefsandrotts said:
Looks great Jeff
now whens the upgrade coming.....lol ;)
Click to expand...

ds4x4 said:
its only a matter of time.... everyone always goes bigger
Click to expand...

LOL if you're buddy didn't crack the 300DD I bought from him it would have been a lot sooner! LOL

Believe me I'm under no delusion that this tank will be the last. (been there done that). This tank is just a stepping stone until I finish some other projects.

Radiata and I met up with Blange3 a couple of weeks ago and he gave me a pair of spawning percs and an LTA from a tank he was breaking down. He also gave me back my orange crush acan I gave him when I broke down my tank a few years ago. Granted it's 4x bigger now then when I gave it to him.
 
reefsandrotts

reefsandrotts

NJRC Member
He's still you know what about that crack.........
I may snatch it up and have it cut down to 3' so it would be a 150 dd just have to see what the cost
of cutting it will be.
 
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