Andrew's 45 gallon rimless cube build (24x24x20)

[AAdkins5944]

Hello all! I'm making this thread to document my journey of upgrading from a nuvo 16 to a marine land rimless 45 gallon cube. I am also hoping to include a few tutorials on how I do the DIY portions of my build so hopefully it should be an interesting read!

First let's start with a FTS of my nuvo as it sits today:



The live stock I have in it so far are:

1 snowflake ocellaris clownfish (Emma)
1 bicolor blenny (Charlie)
1 blood red fire shrimp (socks)
1 porcelain crab (unnamed)
Assorted snails for CUC

Corals:
Neon green star polyps
Blue clove polyp
Green torch coral
Green/purple hybrid frog spawn
Multiple colors of ricordea Florida
Multiple zoas

Hardware for the new build will include:
45 gallon rimless marine land cube (24x24x20) that I got for a steal at $106 at my lfs
My reef creations acrylic reef sump (30x18x18) about 20-25 gallons when running
Cad lights Gen 3 PLS-100 pipe less protein skimmer
Eheim 1262 return pump
Cobalt aquatics neotherm 200w heater
Tunze osmolator 3155 ATO
AI sol super blue LED and controller
RO/DI
Cobalt aquatics mj-1200 pump to supply refugium section of sump.







As you can see the sump is used but you'll see in my next post that it cleaned up very nicely.

 

[AAdkins5944]

Once I picked up the sump I got to work. Using 3 gallons of vinegar, some elbow grease and about 3 hours I got the sump to look like this:



Cleaned up very nicely I think!

Next let's take a look at the skimmer:





And in the sump:



I plan on building the stand next week as we are finally forecasted to have some warmer weather here in Wisconsin. So I will be documenting that process and sharing it with everyone. In my next post we'll look at making the display tank reef ready.

 

[Martin's Reef]

Saw That Skimmer in action here at ReefStock and you are going to like it! Looking good to!

 

[AAdkins5944]

Thanks! I'm excited to see how it works.

Now let's get the display tank reef ready.

I began by marking the location of the holes with a sharpie. I then started the holes using a portable drill press.





The portable drill press worked well for starting the holes but proved to be a hindrance with the rest of the drilling.
So now that the hole is started I made a bigger dam with plumbers putty to hold more water. I then continued to drill free handed.









I used tape on the inside to prevent chipping and keep the glass plug from falling and damaging the opposite pane of glass.



I then made sure all my fittings fit well.



Next I masked off the acrylic leaving a 1/4 inch gap and then sanded the edge to allow the silicone to better adhere to it. Once it was prepared I began to prep the tank. Using painters tape I marked the spot that the overflow will be placed.



I then glued the overflow into place using superglue. Once placed I again masked off the glass using painters tape leaving a 1/4 inch gap of glass by the edge of the acrylic to make a clean edge for the silicon



I then added a bead of silicon to the seam and using a wet finger smoothed it out to give it a nice appearance. Once the tape was removed it left a very nice appearance.



Next came time to paint the back pane of glass. I masked off the edges of the pane using tape and a paper towel. I painted it using flat black krylon spray paint. After 5 coats I removed the masking and left it to dry for a few hours. After it was fully dry I reinstalled the fittings to see how it turned out.





Not bad!

 

[Martin's Reef]

Nice work did the same with my nano. Looks awesome.

 

[AAdkins5944]

Thanks! I'm definitely satisfied with how it turned out. No cracks so I'm gonna classify it as a job well done lol! How big is your nano?

 

[spspirate]

Very nice looking tank!!

 

[AAdkins5944]

I bought a couple new frags of zoas today off of a local reefer.

I'm waiting for the new tank to be up and running to start finding places for them so the sand bed will be home for now lol



Ora spongeode that he have me for free


And finally a close up of Charlie on his favorite perch in the nuvo



I wish I had access to a more impressive camera other than my iPhone lol

 

[revhtree]

Great job!

 

[AAdkins5944]

Decided I'm gonna try out the jebao wp25 in the new build so placed an order on amazon this morning. Should be here by the end of the week. Yet another thing to look forward to!

 

[EW_Fish]

Just a heads up if you want to start keeping sps. I found my bi color blenny nipping at my high end sps and killed a few and my clam.

 

[AAdkins5944]

I am planning on trying sps but I don't plan on making it dominant in my tank. I just love the movement softies and lps bring. I do plan on keeping a bta in the new build and would love to try a clam but we'll have to see how the blenny is at that time. So far he's been a model citizen and loves to graze on the micro algae in the nuvo as well as occasionally flipping over the nassarius snails it comes across.

 

[EW_Fish]

I love the movement also. I just like my colored sticks lol. Great looking tank keep up the hard work

 

[AAdkins5944]

Thank you for all the nice comments so far, I'm glad this thread is turning out so well. Just an update on how things are going:

I'm looking at possibly switching salts back to instant ocean reef crystals instead of the coralife reef salt I have been using for the past 3 water changes. I was gifted this salt by a family member but since using it my corals have been a little agitated so I think I'm gonna go back to my usual salt. I am also gonna do a quick dip in revive on some of my older corals just to make sure I don't have any sort of unknown pest running amok in my tank. Nothing too serious I've just noticed my torch coral hasn't been extending polyps as far as usual and a few zoas have been closed during the daytime so I'd rather be safe than sorry and nip it in the butt here.

I've had my dry Fiji rock cycling for about 3 weeks now and am on the tail end of the nitrite spike so that is coming along nicely. I noticed elevated levels of phosphates leaching out of the rock so I have treated with seaklear dripping into a 10 micron filter sock to begin removing the phosphates so I don't have any unwanted algae issues when it comes time for the move in the next week or two.

I plan on getting the new tank set up adjacent to the old tank and when the time comes I will break the old one down using buckets to house the LR and livestock. I will then slide the new tank into position, add the newly cycled LR and new sand, add new water and then the old LR that doesn't have corals. I'll acclimate the corals and fish and then introduce them. I'm thinking I may get a bottle of dr Tim's one and only to add too to help fight the possibility of a cycle but am undecided on this still.

I have also been considering the fish list and believe that this is what I want:
2 snowflake clowns (I will be adding one once things are settled in the new tank and the clown I already own is settled in)
1 bicolor blenny (from old set up)
1 carpenter's flasher wrasse
1 helfrichi or purple firefish (I will be making a screen for this aquarium before adding the wrasse and firefish.)

I'm open to suggestions as well. Also let me know if the firefish or flasher wrasse would be best suited as a pair.

And finally I'm hoping to pick up the wood for the stand tomorrow so that I can begin building the stand this weekend. Expect lots of pics in the next week or two!

 

[AAdkins5944]

Ended up having a busier weekend than I was expecting so I got pushed back just a bit but I am still making progress!

Purchased the wood for the framing and skinning of the stand yesterday. I'm going to begin cutting wood tomorrow and hopefully have the frame assembled on Friday. I will then begin skinning all of Saturday and hope to have it complete by the end of the weekend.

I just purchased the fittings for my plumbing today and will only need to buy the PVC pipes and a 3/4" black vinyl hose and then I'll be ready to plumb it out next week. Lots of unions will be used as well as a gate valve to tune the full siphon of the bean animal.

I also placed an order with premium aquatics for my sand. I'm going with tropic eden. 60lbs of mini flakes, 30 lbs of reef flakes, and 30lbs of aragasnow. In total 120lbs of sand for the main display. If my calculations are correct this should equal out to ~4 inches of sand. I will also have 15lbs of aragasnow plus 5lbs of caribsea in the fuge. Pictures will be coming as soon as it's delivered!

Also expect periodic updates on the stand build

 

[AAdkins5944]

Finally an update on the stand!

I started building Thursday morning and was able to get quite a bit done.


Started by cutting all the wood and making the pocket holes. My kreg jig worked great!


Next made the top and bottom frame


And finally got to about 85% done on the frame at the end of day one. Had to run into work so I had to continue on Friday.


Starting day two I got the supports for the sump placed, and cut the tabletop. The piece of plywood I'm using for the tabletop came from the church just up the street and used to be part of an altar. I liked the wavy grain pattern so it got incorporated.


Once I marked out where the table top was going to be placed I went ahead and made the shelf for the electronics and sump. I used some scrap wood again from the churches construction and think it turned out well. The area under the electronics shelf is going to be the top off water storage area. Should end up with a nice clean look.


And finally at the end of day two I got the frame completed and began on the skinning. My intention is to finish the rest of the skinning and hopefully trim tomorrow and then apply the stain. Keep an eye out for my next update to see the finished product!

Also am still trying to figure out how I want to do the hinges for the doors so if anyone has suggestions I'm all ears!

 

[Camkha1234]

Looking awesome! I'll be following. The only thing I want to point out is that I have a 24x24x18 cube and that is 45 gallons. I believe your tank is 50 gallons

 

[AAdkins5944]

Now that you say that you are totally correct! I'll have to change my title to 50 gallon lol. I confirmed that the dimensions are in fact 24x24x20 and it is a marine land tank. Who knows how that happened lol!

Just a few updates today

Got the skinning done this weekend. I'm going to be sanding it smooth and then painting the skin black. The trim and tabletop will be stained a nice red color so it should look very nice. I'm hoping it'll be done by the weekend!

As I'm typing this my plumbing I order from marine depot is being dropped on my doorstep.

I think I'm going to invest in an upgrade kit for my sol blue to turn it into a hydra and am in the process of buying an AI director to update my lighting a bit.

Also got my sand yesterday!

Things are coming together!

This morning my girlfriend and I took a trip into Madison to Alpha Aquaculture to look at clownfish. I can't say enough about how good of a business AA is! If you are in the market for clowns go through them. I'll make a nice write up of my experience there later tonight.

Also we picked out our clown! I'm just setting up the QT tank and then we'll be going to pick him up! Expect pics!

 

[AAdkins5944]

So here was my experience with Alpha Aquaculture. At first glance of the exterior you may find yourself apprehensive on if it's the right place. It's located in a strip mall style warehouse in the industrial area of east Madison behind the hyvee. The exterior is in no way threatening or dirty so don't let that fool you. Just not the typical exterior we come to expect from LFS. Once you walk in you are greeted by very friendly and knowledgeable staff. I can't stress how amazing the crew is there. They gladly showed us around their whole breeding set up, showed us the parent fish, all the different hatchlings, all the equipment all of their tanks. They answered any questions we had without hesitation and let us hand pick the fish we wanted. They offered us an extremely fair price and even offered to hold him there until we were ready to pick him up. We also got to see their up and coming coral tanks that are in the process of being built and their new 1000 gallon display that is cycling. All of the tanks were extremely clean and there were no signs of disease, parasites, or unhealthy fish at all. All fish were happy, healthy, and active! I also want to do a special shout out to Max and mackenna who were extremely helpful. If you ever find yourself in the Madison area and are in the market for clownfish you MUST go to Alpha Aquaculture. The selection and quality is unbeatable! Expect pics of the little guy soon!

 

[AAdkins5944]

Stand is trimmed! Going to start painting/staining tonight. I'm thinking satin black for the skin and then an orange/red stain for the tabletop and trim.

Broke out the router




Once the stand is in place and everything is set up I will make the doors