Building a 36x36x24 cube with standing desk hood lift

[husemn]

I'm putting together a cube tank 36x36x24. For those who have such tanks what do you like most and least about your cube? What should I plan for during this build?

 

[JumboShrimp]

Is it an all-in-one (AIO)?

 

[husemn]

Is it an all-in-one (AIO)?

it is not

 

[JumboShrimp]

Then I would treat it like any other tank— I can’t see any special concerns about the dimensions. However, you might consider one large & tall rock structure right in the middle, if you want something a little different.

Send us photos when you’re up and going!

 

[husemn]

Then I would treat it like any other tank— I can’t see any special concerns about the dimensions. However, you might consider one large & tall rock structure right in the middle, if you want something a little different.

Send us photos when you’re up and going!

Sounds good and looks great. Anything those with cube tanks would do differently from a plumbing, maintenance, aquascaping, lighting standpoint? I will certainly post some pics once I make progress.

 

[husemn]

From a lighting perspective let me know if this is a sufficient plan or if it is overkill. I have a 250W halide with radium bulb on my current tank. I plan on centering that on the cube and then surrounding it with t5's on all three sides. Then adding 3 reefbrite led strips on three sides either between the halide and the T5's or to the outside of the t5's. Here is a sketchup mockup of my proposed lighting.

 

[husemn]

I'm not very good at sketchup but here is what I am planning... pretty basic layout and stand. I will be trying to create an electric lift for the hood using a standing desk linear actuators. A little worried about the 36"+ overhang but think I can make the hood light weight enough to make it work. Also going with a synergy shadow V2 overflow with 1" drains and a 1" return.

 

[revhtree]

Congrats on starting a new reef!

 

[husemn]

Congrats on starting a new reef!

Thanks, excited about the revamp.

 

[husemn]

So I am adding a lift to my canopy hood to hopefully make maintenance easier and spent the evening welding up some support brackets. I am by no means a welder but have a tig welder that is fun to play with. I stood on both of them individually and I am 200 lbs so should be plenty strong. I will only plan on using it to change bulbs, siphon the sandbed, frag corals, etc... daily maintenance and feeding will still be done through a door I plan on installing in the hood. I am using two actuator motors from a desk lift I purchased off amazon. They are controlled together and have some presets which I think will be super handy. So far I am very impressed by the smooth operation but we will see once I get some weight hanging off them if that persists. We refinished our whole upstairs last winter. Wish I had this tank idea then. Sorry for the mess dear wife

 

[JumboShrimp]

Wow, very cool; way to go the extra mile!

 

[husemn]

Wow, very cool; way to go the extra mile!

Thanks, yes, this tank is all about learning from my previous tanks and trying to make life as easy as possible as relates to a reef tank. My current rank is a 8 foot long 300 gallon tank that is just too much to manage currently.

 

[xtian]

Genius on the desk lift idea. Following. I have a 36x36x27 I'll set up one day and will also rock halides on it.

 

[husemn]

Genius on the desk lift idea. Following. I have a 36x36x27 I'll set up one day and will also rock halides on it.

Can't take full credit, saw a youtube video of someone using a desk lift. My design and application is different so I hope my armchair engineering works. Fingers crossed. Halides rock!

 

[Dryanimtt]

I have a 30x30x24 cube and the hardest thing for me has been getting the flow right. Doesn't help that my overflow is on the center backwall of my tank either.

 

[husemn]

I have a 30x30x24 cube and the hardest thing for me has been getting the flow right. Doesn't help that my overflow is on the center backwall of my tank either.

Interesting, I have heard that flow can be a problem. What is your current setup to achieve the flow you want?

 

[husemn]

Finally got the cube tank setup... what a process moving from one tank to another. Hope to never have to do that again. New fish and coral on order and finishing work on the stand still needs to be done but very pleased with how the hood lift mechanism turned out, plenty strong.

 

[husemn]

Now I need to figure out how to take better pictures... haha.

 

[husemn]

I ended up going with one 250 watt hamilton halide with a radium bulb centered over the tank and then have two reefbrite slimline t-5's on either side of the halide. Each of those has a blue plus and coral plus bulb. I then have a 24" reef brite xho on outside of each of the T 5's. Might be overkill on lighting but still trying to tweak the light schedule. Currently I have the led's turning on from 11am-2pm then on again from 8pm-10pm. The T5's come on from 2-8pm and the halide is on from 3-8pm.

 

[husemn]

For the hood I had wanted to veneer some 1/2" foam in wood to save weight but after too much time trying to make that work I ended up using 1/2" uv finished plywood instead. I then trimmed the bottom of the hood in 1/2" PVC to cover the black trim of the tank. I then used some 1" moulding for the corners and crown moulding for the top to match the crown moulding in our kitchen. The whole thing will eventually be painted the wall color or the kitchen cabinet color. Haven't decided on that yet.

Couple pictures of the hood up and down.