- Joined
- Jan 23, 2017
- Messages
- 213
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I've been in and out of the hobby for 30 years and my most recent entry was a second hand Res Sea Nano that I enjoyed, but I found that I missed having more room and a sump, so I've decided to upgrade to a 60 cube. As with most upgrades my plan is to try and save where I can by using existing equipment from the RS nano.
Here's the build list so far.
60 Cube (24x24x24) - it's a framed tank that I've drilled and fitted with a Modular Marine 1200 overflow. I built a 50" wide stand (photo below) so the tank can sit on the right side and I can have an open face controller cabinet on the left side in back. I'm considering mounting a pair of the small BRS media reactors in the bottom of the upper cabinet so I don't have to crawl around to change out carbon and gfo. I framed out the doors of the tank with pale blue acrylic and have led lighting mounted high in the cabinet so I can see when doing maintenance plus I thought it might be cool to be able to see the sump and plumbing. I made the mistake of (over)building this stand in the basement and then had to rent a motorized stair climbing dolly to get it up to the first floor.
20 long sump using a Fiji Cube kit that I'd highly recommend for anyone wanting to DIY and save a couple bucks.
Skimmer is a Bubble Magus 7. MD had a special on it and the reviews seemed positive so I'm hoping it performs well.
5 gal Innovative Marine reservoir - I love the slide out drawer for easy filling and the stand/doors configuration just works if I angle the reservoir in the door frame.
ATO is the Innovative Marine Hydrofill and matching pump. I'm always surprised when I see ATO threads and nobody is using this. It's been super reliable for me
Return flow is via a Reef Octopus Varios 4. Plumbing is almost complete using 3/4" which was the overflow bulkhead size. I splurged a bit and bought some orange pipe and the grey schedule 80 fittings. I have to admit it looked sharp when I was dry fitting today.
In tank circulation for the moment will be a pair of MP10's connected to an Apexel using the wxm module. I know that I'll need more flow for sps and am considering one or two Icecap 2k's or perhaps a pair of Tunze or Octo Pulse. Since the tank is only 24" wide I have concerns about how a pair of Gyres might be visually imposing. I like the idea of having flow controlled via the Apexel but that would mean buying the vdm module if I go with 0-10v pumps. Once you start looking at things like the Hydros wave engine the price starts to snowball so it's very likely that the MP10's will be on the Apex and the other pumps will run some other interface independently. The only real inconvenience I can see with this is killing flow when feeding.
Dosing of 2 part will be via a DOS.
Lighting for the moment will be four t5's and an Apex 160we which I already have. I've not built the hood yet but plan on leaving enough space for another pair of t5's by utilizing some angled mounts so I can eventually end up with six t5's and a pair of 160we's. I want to see what the par looks like with the four t5's and single 160we before deciding what else to add but my goal is to keep that Kessil shimmer if possible and I do already have the spectral controller.
This will be my first bare bottom tank so I did pick up a black abs panel for the bottom and will be building the structure using a mix of Liferock (shapes and branch) and perhaps a couple of old pieces of Marco Rock that I have laying around. I'm looking forward to seeing what I can build using the eMarco mortar which I've never used before.
.
More to come soon.
ps. Anyone want an old stinky hound? He's not that bright, but handsome.
Here's the build list so far.
60 Cube (24x24x24) - it's a framed tank that I've drilled and fitted with a Modular Marine 1200 overflow. I built a 50" wide stand (photo below) so the tank can sit on the right side and I can have an open face controller cabinet on the left side in back. I'm considering mounting a pair of the small BRS media reactors in the bottom of the upper cabinet so I don't have to crawl around to change out carbon and gfo. I framed out the doors of the tank with pale blue acrylic and have led lighting mounted high in the cabinet so I can see when doing maintenance plus I thought it might be cool to be able to see the sump and plumbing. I made the mistake of (over)building this stand in the basement and then had to rent a motorized stair climbing dolly to get it up to the first floor.
20 long sump using a Fiji Cube kit that I'd highly recommend for anyone wanting to DIY and save a couple bucks.
Skimmer is a Bubble Magus 7. MD had a special on it and the reviews seemed positive so I'm hoping it performs well.
5 gal Innovative Marine reservoir - I love the slide out drawer for easy filling and the stand/doors configuration just works if I angle the reservoir in the door frame.
ATO is the Innovative Marine Hydrofill and matching pump. I'm always surprised when I see ATO threads and nobody is using this. It's been super reliable for me
Return flow is via a Reef Octopus Varios 4. Plumbing is almost complete using 3/4" which was the overflow bulkhead size. I splurged a bit and bought some orange pipe and the grey schedule 80 fittings. I have to admit it looked sharp when I was dry fitting today.
In tank circulation for the moment will be a pair of MP10's connected to an Apexel using the wxm module. I know that I'll need more flow for sps and am considering one or two Icecap 2k's or perhaps a pair of Tunze or Octo Pulse. Since the tank is only 24" wide I have concerns about how a pair of Gyres might be visually imposing. I like the idea of having flow controlled via the Apexel but that would mean buying the vdm module if I go with 0-10v pumps. Once you start looking at things like the Hydros wave engine the price starts to snowball so it's very likely that the MP10's will be on the Apex and the other pumps will run some other interface independently. The only real inconvenience I can see with this is killing flow when feeding.
Dosing of 2 part will be via a DOS.
Lighting for the moment will be four t5's and an Apex 160we which I already have. I've not built the hood yet but plan on leaving enough space for another pair of t5's by utilizing some angled mounts so I can eventually end up with six t5's and a pair of 160we's. I want to see what the par looks like with the four t5's and single 160we before deciding what else to add but my goal is to keep that Kessil shimmer if possible and I do already have the spectral controller.
This will be my first bare bottom tank so I did pick up a black abs panel for the bottom and will be building the structure using a mix of Liferock (shapes and branch) and perhaps a couple of old pieces of Marco Rock that I have laying around. I'm looking forward to seeing what I can build using the eMarco mortar which I've never used before.
More to come soon.
ps. Anyone want an old stinky hound? He's not that bright, but handsome.