60 Gallon Rimless Cube!

Yanksrkewl00 · Feb 21, 2014

Finally getting a chance to start my first saltwater aquarium. I have kept fish for the past 7 years, I have done planted tanks and mbuna/african cichlids for years, but I never got a chance to get a reef going until I moved to a bigger city. I have been on reefcentral the last 4 years reading everything so I could avoid a lot of the rookie mistakes. I learned a lot on my planted tank since I dosed ferts and had to keep stable water parameters. I've been looking for a used set up so I wouldn't have to blow a ton of money buying everything new. I finally found a sweet set up for a price you couldn't resist and i picked it up this week! On to the set up...

60 Gallon Class Cages Starphire rimless (24x24x24) drilled
20 gallon sump(should be done this weekend)
5-10 gallon refigium? (Debating on how to do this, I'm planning on having my skimmer feed this then drain it into the sump) good idea?
DIY stand build maybe canopy unless we want to keep the rimless look.
Eheim 1260 or Sicce Syncra 3.0 as a return pump
2 Tunze 6015 Powerheads for flow
Lighting- LED (leaning towards AI Vega or something similar)
Reef Keeper ELITE
Skimmer (need ideas on which one to go with)

Im going with a mixed reef probably mostly lps with some sps later down the road.

Today I gave the 70 lbs of dry rock I recived with the tank a muriatic acid bath using 11 gallon:1 gallon of the acid to remove phosphates. I then put them in a bin filled with tap water and chlorine and I will rinse them in a week and sun dry then I will soak in RODI water for a week before the tank goes up. Just a precautionary measure.

Tomorrow I am going to petsmart to pick up the sump and the baffles should be cut by monday if i can find a place. whats the best place in town? I'd appreciate any input.

bkv1997 · Feb 21, 2014

Looks cool very similar to what I'm setting up 30x30x24

scouncil · Mar 5, 2014

That's a LOT of rock to put in there. Are you going to use it all? You might want some sand bed space in the front (coming from a person who used to have TONS of rock in her tank (and I miss some of it).

And best place in town for what? Baffles for the sump? My husband caulked fairly thick plexiglass into my sump for baffles and it's held up well. There's a plexiglass place on Mountainview rd. in Ooltewah that will sell sheets that you can cut (I think you have to have a special blade). Bermuda Triangle has the nicest selection of fish for saltwater. Fish Mania has an ok selection of more common fish and his fish are more reasonable priced, but he doesn't always have a great selection. Kierl (Fish Mania owner) is a nice guy. John (Bermuda triangle owner) will trade for frags, but he's just not my favorite person. There are a couple of people who sell salt water fish/things out of their home, but I don't know names, etc.

ironman · Mar 6, 2014

there is a place called technology sales that will sell and cut the acrylic for you. it is around the intersection of hwy58 and hwy153

tank looks good, I have a reefkeeper elite for sale if your looking for one

gudar · Mar 7, 2014

The tank looks good, and that is a lot of rock! Looking forward to updates

Yanksrkewl00 · Mar 8, 2014

scouncil said:
That's a LOT of rock to put in there. Are you going to use it all? You might want some sand bed space in the front (coming from a person who used to have TONS of rock in her tank (and I miss some of it).

And best place in town for what? Baffles for the sump? My husband caulked fairly thick plexiglass into my sump for baffles and it's held up well. There's a plexiglass place on Mountainview rd. in Ooltewah that will sell sheets that you can cut (I think you have to have a special blade). Bermuda Triangle has the nicest selection of fish for saltwater. Fish Mania has an ok selection of more common fish and his fish are more reasonable priced, but he doesn't always have a great selection. Kierl (Fish Mania owner) is a nice guy. John (Bermuda triangle owner) will trade for frags, but he's just not my favorite person. There are a couple of people who sell salt water fish/things out of their home, but I don't know names, etc.

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm not going to use all the rock. Probably like half or 2/3. The person I bought the tank from included all of it for me. I really need to find a glass shop since I want to shorten the width of my overflow by 2 inches. I'm not a big fan of Bermudas since his pricing isn't the best. I was at knoxville this week and I got a chance to stop at Aquatic Marine and its one of the best stores I've been to in this area. I didn't get a chance to go to Coral Reef but that is next on my list. I found quite a bit of hobbyists who can sell me nice frags cheaply and I dont mind buying frags since its a pretty small tank.

ironman said:
there is a place called technology sales that will sell and cut the acrylic for you. it is around the intersection of hwy58 and hwy153

tank looks good, I have a reefkeeper elite for sale if your looking for one

I'll keep that in mind, but I really need glass cutter. Thanks, but I already have a RKE and RKL:wink:

Stand is going to be finished this weekend and the rock is in a 75 gallon cycling! I will post pictures when the stand is nearing completion!