60 gallon cube (first timer)

[reef’r]

Hey everyone! I’ve made a few post on here already just asking some questions and gathering info from some members and wanted to go ahead and start up this thread for my cube build, a 60 gallon aqueon (50% off Petco special). As the title says this is my first ever saltwater tank, coming from the freshwater side (still have four freshwater tanks up and running). With all that said this will be a slow build but I really want to keep it as active as possible and have this as a thread I can come to and ask questions and gain as much knowledge as possible all while building my setup and eventually adding fish/coral.

I’m gonna go ahead and give a quick rundown of what my plans are and where I’m currently at, anyone who reads this thread and has ideas or any input I would really appreciate it!

Tank: 60 gallon 24x24x24
Sump: trigger systems crystal cube 18
Overflow: nothing yet, but will be drilling the tank and have my eye on the modular marine 1200gph overflow box with a bean animal
Lighting: nothing as of yet, really undecided here but am planning on goi with a 150w NICREW Hyperreef to start off.
return pump: Nothing as of now, usual suspects though (Neptune,sicce,jabeo) but any suggestions are taken.
Skimmer:nothing yet, leaning toward bubble magus curve 7

so as you can tell I have a long way to go! Hoping to get the wood to start building my stand today and will begin to post pictures of the progress. Going to reefapalooza Orlando next weekend so hopefully will acquire some more equipment there, mainly skimmer/over flow box. My plans for the tank are to take it slow and do it exactly how I want instead of just going as quick as I can to get it up and running and then have laundry list after laundry list of stuff I want to change later down the road. I’m a huge fan of LPS and softies but eventually as I gain experience and maybe add some dosing equipment I would like to add some SPS to the upper layers of the tank, but initially will
Be sticking to entry level corals. Also, I’m a fish guy, I love fish and love a tank that’s well stocked with lots of movement. Definitely want to have a tang or two (bought small and grown out) and also really like the copperband butterfly (do these cause a lot of trouble with eating coral)? Anyhow I’ll keep it short here (already gotten long winded) and continue to ask questions as I go along. Thanks for looking! I’m super stoked to get going on this

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Best of luck on the new tank!!!

 

[reef’r]

Best of luck on the new tank!!!

Thank you

 

[kevgib67]

Following!

 

[reef’r]

Following!

Awesome thanks! On my way now to get wood for the stand!

 

[twentyleagues]

post up some pics of that stand when you get it done! I like to see how people build stuff to see if I can improve on my designs.

 

[reef’r]

post up some pics of that stand when you get it done! I like to see how people build stuff to see if I can improve on my designs.

Yes I definitely will! wanting to get started on it tonight if possible. The stand will be simple by design, you’ve probably seen it a thousand times, but I want the inner workings of the stand to be very clean, well thought out, and maybe a couple things new pieced together from the various cube builds I’ve read through on this forum. Going to be hard to do because there is some really ****** stuff on here, a 150g cube build by member @Dorado , and the 135 cube build done by @Vivid Creative Aquatics are where I am drawing lots of inspiration.

 

[reef’r]

So pics of the work done so far on the stand, basically just did a lot of cutting. Stand will be 36” high putting the top of the tank right at 60” or close to 61” by the time I put the top on the stand and the leveling mat for the tank. Anyhow, will hopefully start getting it screwed together tomorrow and will post pics of that then. I also have included a pic of the rock/substrate I have cycling in a brute. I have more rock in two 5 gallon buckets getting a bleach bath as it’s been sitting outside in my yard for a good while. The substrate will be calcium reactor media, love the look of it as a substrate and my local coral shop which just so happens to be World Wide Corals has it in a few of there tanks, one of them even has Zoas growing in the substrate which I aim to try and accomplish. I added a bit of live rock to the brute but I have a question. I have some more rock but it is in a freshwater tank, if I put it into the saltwater it would kill the freshwater BB on the rock which would be a good ammonia source for my new rock to cycle no? Just a thought

 

[afrokobe]

Good luck! I am a couple of steps ahead of you. Just finished the final plumbing this weekend and starting on the rock work

 

[reef’r]

Good luck! I am a couple of steps ahead of you. Just finished the final plumbing this weekend and starting on the rock work

Nice it’s looking good! Amazed at how close you were able to get it to the wall with the over flow and plumbing. Post some pics up of your sump!

 

[afrokobe]

Yea, the modular marine overflow is great. I didn't grab a finished plumbing picture before i moved it against the wall. Here's how the setup looks, just missing the return, which I added last weekend.

 

[reef’r]

Yea, the modular marine overflow is great. I didn't grab a finished plumbing picture before i moved it against the wall. Here's how the setup looks, just missing the return, which I added last weekend.

Sweet looking setup, I’m going to go with the modular marine 1200gph based off your recommendation. Were you able to get the setup pretty quiet running the bean animal? And what are you using for a return pump? I’m thinking of drilling the return since I’ll already be drilling holes for the drain (possibly two returns) and using the VCA random flow generators

 

[Roli's Reef Ranch]

Hey everyone! I’ve made a few post on here already just asking some questions and gathering info from some members and wanted to go ahead and start up this thread for my cube build, a 60 gallon aqueon (50% off Petco special). As the title says this is my first ever saltwater tank, coming from the freshwater side (still have four freshwater tanks up and running). With all that said this will be a slow build but I really want to keep it as active as possible and have this as a thread I can come to and ask questions and gain as much knowledge as possible all while building my setup and eventually adding fish/coral.

I’m gonna go ahead and give a quick rundown of what my plans are and where I’m currently at, anyone who reads this thread and has ideas or any input I would really appreciate it!

Tank: 60 gallon 24x24x24
Sump: trigger systems crystal cube 18
Overflow: nothing yet, but will be drilling the tank and have my eye on the modular marine 1200gph overflow box with a bean animal
Lighting: nothing as of yet, really undecided here but am planning on goi with a 150w NICREW Hyperreef to start off.
return pump: Nothing as of now, usual suspects though (Neptune,sicce,jabeo) but any suggestions are taken.
Skimmer:nothing yet, leaning toward bubble magus curve 7

so as you can tell I have a long way to go! Hoping to get the wood to start building my stand today and will begin to post pictures of the progress. Going to reefapalooza Orlando next weekend so hopefully will acquire some more equipment there, mainly skimmer/over flow box. My plans for the tank are to take it slow and do it exactly how I want instead of just going as quick as I can to get it up and running and then have laundry list after laundry list of stuff I want to change later down the road. I’m a huge fan of LPS and softies but eventually as I gain experience and maybe add some dosing equipment I would like to add some SPS to the upper layers of the tank, but initially will
Be sticking to entry level corals. Also, I’m a fish guy, I love fish and love a tank that’s well stocked with lots of movement. Definitely want to have a tang or two (bought small and grown out) and also really like the copperband butterfly (do these cause a lot of trouble with eating coral)? Anyhow I’ll keep it short here (already gotten long winded) and continue to ask questions as I go along. Thanks for looking! I’m super stoked to get going on this

Be careful with that tank. I have a smaller version. There have been a lot of seam leaks on them from the reviews I've read.

 

[reef’r]

Be careful with that tank. I have a smaller version. There have been a lot of seam leaks on them from the reviews I've read.

I’ve seen a lot of negative reviews on the marineland versions, not sure how different they are. Anyhow another member on here that’s doing a build on one of these did bring to my attention that the silicone job is kinda lacking. Basically it’s only on the ends of one piece of glass where it meets the other, nothing in the 90* part. So I have some silicone on the way and I’m going to put a bead in there myself. Thanks for the heads up

 

[afrokobe]

Sweet looking setup, I’m going to go with the modular marine 1200gph based off your recommendation. Were you able to get the setup pretty quiet running the bean animal? And what are you using for a return pump? I’m thinking of drilling the return since I’ll already be drilling holes for the drain (possibly two returns) and using the VCA random flow generators

very quiet! Definitely get a gate valve and run bean animal to make tuning things easy. I am probably running slightly less than 1200gph due to my box having custom 3/4 bulkheads instead of the standard 1in. I am running a jebao DCW-3500 (900 gph). Its at max speed, so I might upgrade to something slightly larger.

edit: definitely drill than do over the top returns! I would have drilled mine, but it came predrillled

 

[reef’r]

very quiet! Definitely get a gate valve and run bean animal to make tuning things easy. I am probably running slightly less than 1200gph due to my box having custom 3/4 bulkheads instead of the standard 1in. I am running a jebao DCW-3500 (900 gph). Its at max speed, so I might upgrade to something slightly larger.

edit: definitely drill than do over the top returns! I would have drilled mine, but it came predrillled

I may ask you some questions on your bean animal setup once I get my overflow box and start setting it up. As far as return pumps for some reason I’m drawn to the Neptunes, not sure why, wonder if they’re worth the money.

 

[afrokobe]

I may ask you some questions on your bean animal setup once I get my overflow box and start setting it up. As far as return pumps for some reason I’m drawn to the Neptunes, not sure why, wonder if they’re worth the money.

Anytime! I have a jebao return running on my other tank and its been flawless for about a year. I run it on a wifi outlet and the feed mode on the controller is clutch. I haven't had the itch to jump into the apex eco system.... already spent enough money lol

I am still shopping for a wave maker, I have two nero 3s that I will be carrying over. But I think i might need more flow.

 

[reef’r]

Anytime! I have a jebao return running on my other tank and its been flawless for about a year. I run it on a wifi outlet and the feed mode on the controller is clutch. I haven't had the itch to jump into the apex eco system.... already spent enough money lol

I am still shopping for a wave maker, I have two nero 3s that I will be carrying over. But I think i might need more flow.

Would you think Neptune components like pumps or lighting would be worth it to run stand alone? Like if I didn’t want to get fully automated yet? I would probably assume not. I still don’t have any wave makers yet, I haven’t done much research on corals and really what they’re needs are just because I’m focused on just getting the tank built and on a stand, but up at my LFS they have a water box 100.3 (around 71 gallons) running with a Nero 3 and a “strong” return pump. Lots of flow in that tank so I’d assume with the two you have in a bit smaller tank you’d be moving water pretty good

 

[afrokobe]

Would you think Neptune components like pumps or lighting would be worth it to run stand alone? Like if I didn’t want to get fully automated yet? I would probably assume not. I still don’t have any wave makers yet, I haven’t done much research on corals and really what they’re needs are just because I’m focused on just getting the tank built and on a stand, but up at my LFS they have a water box 100.3 (around 71 gallons) running with a Nero 3 and a “strong” return pump. Lots of flow in that tank so I’d assume with the two you have in a bit smaller tank you’d be moving water pretty good

Id assume if you use the neptune components without apex it would just be like any other return pump/wave makers. No real added benefit. Although if you do want to get apex eventually, maybe its a worthwhile investment.

In terms of flow, I find getting the right amount of flow in a cube to be very challenging. 1 nero 3 on my 25g was definitely enough flow, but i was having some dead spots. It probably won't be too turbulent in the tank, but I just want to make sure there are no dead spots.

 

[reef’r]

So got busy for a couple days, came home today and tried to get the top and bottom of the stand glued and screwed together. I’m an HVAC tech, and one of the lead installers at the company that I work for also, so getting thing level and straight is really no issue. I don’t know if my eye was off at the store when I bought the wood or what but I cannot get this thing straight for the life of me, It’s 1/4” out when measuring across the base diagonally. So needless to say I hung it up for the night, my brother who is an amazing wood worker is going to stop by in a couple days to offer some assistance and we should be able to get it knocked out and assembled. Then heading to reefapalooza this weekend to hopefully score some good deals on equipment like a skimmer, possible lighting, return pump, over flow box, you know just everything you need to get a tank going besides the tank and stand lol anyhow, took a pic of my work station and helper figured I’d post that up. I know it’s going slow but stay tuned! Much more to come