93 Cube for under a grand. It can be done... I think. UPDATED GRAND TOTAL! :)

[Brew12]

OK, so the floor is not drying as quickly as the website said it would.

We will literally have to stay out of the living room for two weeks. I have confirmed this with other dissatisfied customers. :mad:

But, I will put down contractor paper in two weeks to finish the trim and then start setting up the tank.

I am hoping to have water in it the weekend after that.

Meanwhile, I will finish the stand doors and do all the plumbing and leak testing in the carport. Since everything will be put together with unions, I will be able to disassemble and bring it back inside when the time comes. I am going to get a couple of trash cans to start making RODI water in a couple weeks as well.

Ouch. Having 2 big dogs, something like that wouldn't work for us! It's the only reason I haven't redone the tile in our kitchen. We can't stay off it long enough.

Hopefully the finish will keep looking nice despite the long dry time!

 

[dantimdad]

Thanks!

We have two medium sized dogs and they are banished to the back room since it has a dog door.

 

[dantimdad]

OK, so I am almost done with the rebuild of the 150. At least the part at my house. I will be moving it back to her shop Saturday. Then, I can get back on mine. I will only work on hers on Saturday mornings until it's done. She is going to fill it with RO after we leak test the plumbing and drain it. I am guessing I will have water about the same time she does.

Things are moving along at a good clip. The paint on the living room floor seems like it is finally getting cured. Thank God!

I have to buy about $100 worth of trim and paint because I am short of what I need. Still, I am pleased with the living room being almost done!

 

[Heavymman]

I'm going to follow along for the ride. I started out with a under a grand budget for my 60 cube. I'm already over and my tank is still dry.

@Redleg Lol same here... it is Soooo painful

 

[Heavymman]

OK, so I am almost done with the rebuild of the 150. At least the part at my house. I will be moving it back to her shop Saturday. Then, I can get back on mine. I will only work on hers on Saturday mornings until it's done. She is going to fill it with RO after we leak test the plumbing and drain it. I am guessing I will have water about the same time she does.

Things are moving along at a good clip. The paint on the living room floor seems like it is finally getting cured. Thank God!

I have to buy about $100 worth of trim and paint because I am short of what I need. Still, I am pleased with the living room being almost done!

Looking forward to the update!

 

[dantimdad]

So, I read... A LOT! (My fiance' thinks too much!) LOL

Anyhow, the more I study, the more I a keep thinking that going old school on this system is the right thing to do. By that I mean, heavy skimming, chaeto on a reverse light cycle and water changes/kalk for supplements and the occasional iodine addition if I load up on softies. I think folk test way too much and it causes them to fret. I went modern with my 180 and that ended in disaster and it all being sold. There was just way too much upkeep and it wasn't the size of the tank, honestly.

In the past, I just kept my eye on things and was pretty successful with what I kept. I did have terrible aptasia,bristle worm and bubble algae problems over the years, hence the dry rock and sand this time. I will find a clean source of coraline to seed the tank.

Obviously, the lighting, skimmer and pumps will be more modern but the practices will be old school. The other benefit of this is cost savings. As long as I don't kill stuff, there is a significant cost savings using these methods over buying dosers, supplements, tons of testing equipment, etc.

If this doesn't work, I will admit defeat and move into the modern era reef keeping. We shall see...

 

[Flippers4pups]

Following. Great work so far!

 

[dantimdad]

Well, no work on my tank this weekend.

I got the trim sanded and some of it painted after I had to buy a whole gallon of matching paint for one dang room. Oh well, I will figure out a use for it at some point.

Not sure how much more trim I will need until I go to put up what I have tomorrow night. Then, I will go pick the rest and get it painted for Saturday. The only thing left in the LR then will be to paint the window frame and figure out a color for the door. Oh and my buddy decided he didn't like my ceiling so we are going to do the WRONG ORDER and scrape and retexture the ceiling after taping/papering the floor.

The floor is completely cured now. Shows dust like crazy!!! That's what a Swiffer is for! ;Wacky

And the registers are painted to match.

I had some great conversations with fantastic folks from this group over the weekend. Time well spent in my opinion. It looks like I will be getting to meet at least a couple folks in my travels next year. I'm pretty stoked about that!

All that coupled with copious amounts of cleaning made it a productive weekend.

 

[Diamond1]

I know I said last update, but, laundry and soup are going and I decided to work on the wiring some more:



All the outlets share a common (-) and GND. The (+) will be switched. Yes, I put the black wire as (-) and should have put white. ;Facepalm

I thought I would share something some of you may not know. If you cut the little tab in between the screws on an outlet, you can switch them individually. I have used this before, but not this many in one place and not on an aquarium.



And, finally, this is how my fiancé realized I have way too many tools:



That, my friends, is a pencil sharpener that chucks in the drill. Yes, I use a power tool to sharpen pencils. Arrr, arrr, arrr!!!

This made my day!!! Love the budget build.

 

[dantimdad]

This made my day!!! Love the budget build.

Thanks!

I love it too.

 

[dantimdad]

Trim is all at the house. Most of it is painted. I am having to custom make some to work with the front door due to damage from the old trim/front door replacement.

I will get the rest of the trim painted tonight and start installing it tomorrow night.

This weekend we have a college visit and I will get the front door painted and the rest of the trim installed.

Guess what will be next? ;Nailbiting

Moving the tank in! ;Woot

Yesterday, after a 5 hour wait, Daniel swore into the Army reserves. I am both proud and sad. It means my first born is growing up and will soon leave the nest. Not to mention, the younger one and I went to visit the Marine recruiter Tuesday. Holy crap! Am I actually that old?

LOL!

Anyhow, I will take pics this weekend since I haven't posted any in a while.

 

[dantimdad]

I have another conversation going about lighting that has gotten kind of interesting.

Would appreciate more input on it.

I am really considering selling the lighting I had designated for this tank and going completely DIY with LEDs or Halide and supplement fluorescent of some sort.
Hmmmm......

 

[dantimdad]

Except for nail heads and some touch up, the trim in the living room is done!

In two weeks, my buddy and I are going to tape off the floor again and redo the ceiling. Then the living room will be officially done.

I have been toying with the idea of cutting up dead rock and making a background out of slices of it on the two back wall of the tank. I will cut a test piece and tape it in place and decide because that will have to be done outside. It will probably add another 20-30 pounds to the dry weight of the tank. That is a consideration for carrying it back in as well.

So the week after that, the cube goes into it's final place and the plumbing gets glued then WATER!

 

[Heavymman]

Except for nail heads and some touch up, the trim in the living room is done!

In two weeks, my buddy and I are going to tape off the floor again and redo the ceiling. Then the living room will be officially done.

I have been toying with the idea of cutting up dead rock and making a background out of slices of it on the two back wall of the tank. I will cut a test piece and tape it in place and decide because that will have to be done outside. It will probably add another 20-30 pounds to the dry weight of the tank. That is a consideration for carrying it back in as well.

So the week after that, the cube goes into it's final place and the plumbing gets glued then WATER!

That sounds awesome! Just curious, Is there any cons to a rock background?

 

[Heavymman]

Only reason I’m asking because I might copy your idea on both sides of the overflow box....

 

[dantimdad]

Only reason I’m asking because I might copy your idea on both sides of the overflow box....

It's not my idea.

There is actually a thread using Stax rocks to do it, but, to me, it's a bit smooth looking so I am going to cut up the biggest rocks I have got to leave one side natural.

The only con I can think of is if you ever move it, the corals on it will have to be removed and what's left on them will cause die off. And you will have to make sure you blast it clean with a power head or turkey baster once in a while so it doesn't build up detritus and therefore, nitrates.

I think it will really look natural if I pull it off correctly.

 

[Heavymman]

It's not my idea.

There is actually a thread using Stax rocks to do it, but, to me, it's a bit smooth looking so I am going to cut up the biggest rocks I have got to leave one side natural.

The only con I can think of is if you ever move it, the corals on it will have to be removed and what's left on them will cause die off. And you will have to make sure you blast it clean with a power head or turkey baster once in a while so it doesn't build up detritus and therefore, nitrates.

I think it will really look natural if I pull it off correctly.

I’ve seen the Stax rock thread and I agree with you too.... I have extra rock and was thinking the same....

I wonder if there is a way to make it where it could be removed in pieces for easier cleaning.... and in my opinion you should be blast cleaning your rock regularly just like you clean sand...

Anyways , looking forward to your progress

 

[dantimdad]

I think if you mounted it to egg crate you possibly could remove it but it might look terrible. Dunno.

I agree about blasting rock but it really becomes more of a chore in this case I think.

I will post pics of my attempt at it.

 

[Heavymman]

I think if you mounted it to egg crate you possibly could remove it but it might look terrible. Dunno.

I agree about blasting rock but it really becomes more of a chore in this case I think.

I will post pics of my attempt at it.

Lol sounds good, following your lead haha

 

[dantimdad]

The floor color isn't exactly right in that picture.