60G LPS Cube

[shaggydoo]

Hello everyone,

I enjoy looking at other people's tanks, so I thought I would share a little bit of mine. I'm new to this site but have been in the hobby for years. I've always loved cubes. They really give you a lot of options.

I started this tank in January 2017, and knew I wanted LPS only because they are by far my favorite coral type. I also tried to aquascape where you can see under the rockwork from each side to the other side of the tank (at least partially).

I am using a standard CAD Lights 60g cube with the pump and plumbing that came with the tank. I added a new return nozzle that diverts flow around the top of the tank and threw in a koralia for more water movement. I decided on the AI 26 HD and love this light. Well, not always. I hated the look of LED for a while because it appears a bit strobish (not a word but use your imagination) to my eyes. Now with the customization I'm able to do, I'm very glad I went with this light.

Filtration wise, I keep it very simple. I grow a lot of chaeto and harvest aggressively in the sump which I light 24/7. I also have a few bags of carbon in the sump. That is all. I've never been sold on skimmers because I've never seen a definitive breakdown of what exactly is being removed. I know its gunky looking but most things are when removed from their natural habitats and left in a cup to decay.

Anyways, here is my tank. Hope you enjoy!

January 2017

Front

Sides

Now for my most recent photos (took them last week). I've had a few fish deaths and a couple corals died while I was in the hospital, but mostly things have been going well. My current fish list includes a yellow tang, 2 clowns, cleaner wrasse, leopard wrasse, ruby red dragonet, pajama cardinal, banghai cardinal, yellow goby, and a cling fish (so cool).

Things are growing well and I'm pretty happy with how things look especially at the top.

Top down.

Let me know what you think, or if you have any suggestions.

 

[aKlevans]

Love the aquascape!

 

[shaggydoo]

Love the aquascape!

Thank you. I love it too. It looks a bit rocky at first but there is tons of swimming room under the rocks.

 

[Thegoodson]

looks good..what setting are you using for you ai hydra. in run 2 over my 60 cube only have a few coral but going to be lps and softy maybe one or two sps

 

[shaggydoo]

looks good..what setting are you using for you ai hydra. in run 2 over my 60 cube only have a few coral but going to be lps and softy maybe one or two sps

I run my lights 12 hrs a day. I have a 1 hr ramp up and down. After the ramp up I have it running at 100% 20k spectrum. Then the lights gradually go to 100% 14k at midday and back to 20k then ramp down.

I just realized that sounds a bit confusing. I'll try to get a graph when I'm back on my main comp instead of phone.

 

[leahfiish]

Looking great, following along!

 

[shaggydoo]

Thank you leahfiish, and time for another quick update. I'm excited to share my tank as I've now accumulated nearly 40 different LPS. I went on a bender this month.

Also, these will also be the last of my crappy phone camera pic updates. I just ordered a new camera! Hopefully, I can get some better pictures up soon. Thanks for looking and enjoy!

This is my view from my work desk and is still my favorite even thought its not technically the front of my tank. Go cubes!

I also realized I've not shared any pics of my sump. Its basic, so nothing fancy, but it should be documented.

Finally, a few of my corals that are doing much better than my last pics. These two acans finally found a spot where my yellow clown goby (aka Hitler) leaves them alone.

Side view of top. Anyone know what the orange mouthed coral is in the middle bottom? I think its a leptastrea, but can't be sure as the LFS told me it was something different. Its encrusting, very fuzzy and seems to be growing extremely fast (again sorry for the poor pic quality).

Scallop and new chalice to the left.

Back of tank which is my euphyllia area. Since the colors are crap, the back one is a bluish purple short tentacle torch, middle is a standard green with purple tips hammer, and front is my new favorite... gold frogspawn!

 

[shaggydoo]

As requested I finally am putting my light schedule. I used to have a much more complicated one. But now I have gone for a more simplistic schedule

 

[ocncheffy]

You have your drain going into your refugium with chaeto? How’s that working out? Does it provide enough movement for the chaeto? I have the same sump as you and I just run marine pure spheres in the first chamber where the water drains. Thinking about changing it up..

 

[shaggydoo]

You have your drain going into your refugium with chaeto? How’s that working out? Does it provide enough movement for the chaeto? I have the same sump as you and I just run marine pure spheres in the first chamber where the water drains. Thinking about changing it up..

Yes the drain goes straight into the chaeto, and I wrap the chaeto around the drain pipe. This creates a little natural version of filter floss. The chaeto grows like crazy this way, and I'm tearing out big grapefruit sized clumps every 2 weeks. I also regularly spread the chaeto out by hand every week at least. I find it grows best when it isn't all tightly clumped.

 

[ocncheffy]

Yes the drain goes straight into the chaeto, and I wrap the chaeto around the drain pipe. This creates a little natural version of filter floss. The chaeto grows like crazy this way, and I'm tearing out big grapefruit sized clumps every 2 weeks. I also regularly spread the chaeto out by hand every week at least. I find it grows best when it isn't all tightly clumped.

You don’t see that as being a ditritus trap? Or possibly that’s why it grows so quickly.. I’m going to give this a go!

 

[shaggydoo]

I'm not too worried about that. I tend to run a dirty tank compared to most. Whenever I stretch out or remove some of the chaeto, it does kick up quite the cloud of gunk. But it clears up in an hour or less and nothing in my tank ever minds. I think because I'm always removing and stretching it out, nothing too detrimental ever builds up.

 

[shaggydoo]

New camera has arrived. I got it yesterday and couldn't resist trying it for a few minutes before lights out (the trick-or-treaters had to be handled by the wife). I did a little bit of editing and realized I have a lot of learning to do, but I like the pictures a lot better than my camera phone mostly because the coloration is much truer to how it looks in person.

I'm open to all tips/suggestions. I have a D7100 with a 35mm standard and 105mm macro lens. I feel like these are decent images for having the camera for less than a day, but I know I have lots of room for improvement.

 

[shaggydoo]

Slowly getting some pics here and there. Here are few I took today.

 

[Zoaeasy]

Nice! I have a Cadlights 60 as well. Slowly stocking up.Following along.

 

[shaggydoo]

Nice! I have a Cadlights 60 as well. Slowly stocking up.Following along.

Thank you. How do you like it so far? I don't like the plumbing Cadlights sent with the tank, but otherwise, its a great tank.

 

[Zoaeasy]

Yeah the plumbing could be better but working so far. What cabinet do you have?
I have the regular cabinet and had the trim piece above the door delaminates. Cadlights have committed to replace it.
Otherwise like the dimensions . You can see mine in the links below. Just need a lot more coral now!

 

[shaggydoo]

Took a look at yours and its coming along nicely. I have the standard cabinet but the pop open part never worked so I added handles. The stand was hardish for me with my limited skills and the complete lack of instructions.

 

[Varmette]

Beautiful tank!! Sorry if I missed it but what type of rock did you use and where did you get it from? I am setting up a 60 cube in the near future and love the look of your rock.

 

[shaggydoo]

Beautiful tank!! Sorry if I missed it but what type of rock did you use and where did you get it from? I am setting up a 60 cube in the near future and love the look of your rock.

First thank you. I got my rock from Amazon. It was pretty much all dead base rock with a little bit of LR seeded from a local hobbyist. I bought from a couple different rock vendors on Amazon and it all was basically the same.