Daniel's Reef Savvy 50g Cube - A Recovering Build...

reefwiser · Nov 11, 2016

Daniel join the doofus club it has a whole bunch of members here. [emoji3]

Daniel@R2R · Nov 11, 2016

So..here's the plan. I'm going to cut out the bottom of the stand, refinish the cut area and bottom piece of plywood prior to replacing the bottom, then put the sump into the stand from underneath and then replace the bottom (still working on exactly what this will look like and how much support will need to be added to hold up the sump). This will allow me to avoid having to cut out one of the supports. Cross your fingers everyone...

dbl · Nov 11, 2016

mdbannister said:
So..here's the plan. I'm going to cut out the bottom of the stand, refinish the cut area and bottom piece of plywood prior to replacing the bottom, then put the sump into the stand from underneath and then replace the bottom (still working on exactly what this will look like and how much support will need to be added to hold up the sump). This will allow me to avoid having to cut out one of the supports. Cross your fingers everyone...

Sounds solid...you've got this. I'm rooting for you my friend!!!

Daniel@R2R · Nov 11, 2016

dbl said:
Sounds solid...you've got this. I'm rooting for you my friend!!!

Thanks, man! I'm hoping I can pull this off. Just another way this whole build is stretching me.

Sheesh!!

d2mini · Nov 11, 2016

I too was going to suggest the door on one of the sides.

Whatever you do, make sure you can get the sump back out just in case.
Like me, where I got the ulva infestation in my fuge. I only have to take one door off my stand to get the sump in and out and even that is kind of a pain.
We always get ourselves in trouble when we max out our sump size. haha

Daniel@R2R · Nov 11, 2016

So...in other news...and to distract from my stand debacle for a minute...

I got some aquascaping done this week. I mostly worked it out in another thread, but here's basically how it went down...

I started out working with quite a bit of rock options as I saved most all the rock from my 180 and 120 tanks that I had going in Ohio...I moved it with me to Cali because my wife has already given me permission for a future 400+ gallon build.

(but only after we actually buy a house here)...so anyhow I had lots of options to work with.

And I still have 2 or 3 other full containers of rock that I didn't bother pulling out. LOL

My first attempt was a little umm...

...not what I was going for...I didn't feel like it was terrible, but it was definitely too busy and too big, so I tore it apart, and after a few more hours of working, this is what I came up with as a final product:

I'm pleased with it. I may add a small structure to the front left corner of the tank (or maybe a single "boulder" rock), but I want to wait on that until I get the first structure in the tank and can see how it looks and how much space I still have.

Ljaus · Nov 11, 2016

The aquascape came up really well! Will look awesome in the tank

bing_ph · Nov 11, 2016

mdbannister said:
So, this came in on Friday! I LOVE IT!!

What a beauty!

bknapp · Nov 14, 2016

That scape looks awesome. Hope the stand renovations go smooth.

Daniel@R2R · Nov 16, 2016

Ok. So I nixed the idea of cutting the bottom of the stand. I had planned on going through with it...until I realized that what I thought would be minor stand surgery (cutting and lowering the plywood floor) became major surgery (not only cutting the plywood but also would require notching or replacing the 2x4s underneath the plywood and possibly compromising the integrity of the support underneath the stand). So I installed the sump by removing a rear support (and then replacing it). I was able to get all of my equipment in and test to be sure I have enough clearance to function. It's not the best scenario, but it'll work.

Here's the result:

Notice the skimmer looks HUGE in there! LOL ...it's a bit oversized but it fits well.

bknapp · Nov 16, 2016

Talk about a tight fit. Looks good @mdbannister

Clayalaleona · Nov 16, 2016

DIS IS HAWT

twpilot · Nov 16, 2016

Looks good!! glad you got it worked out!

Fin · Nov 16, 2016

Glad you got that worked out. Looks good in there.

Ljaus · Nov 16, 2016

mdbannister said:
Ok. So I nixed the idea of cutting the bottom of the stand. I had planned on going through with it...until I realized that what I thought would be minor stand surgery (cutting and lowering the plywood floor) became major surgery (not only cutting the plywood but also would require notching or replacing the 2x4s underneath the plywood and possibly compromising the integrity of the support underneath the stand). So I installed the sump by removing a rear support (and then replacing it). I was able to get all of my equipment in and test to be sure I have enough clearance to function. It's not the best scenario, but it'll work.

Here's the result:

Notice the skimmer looks HUGE in there! LOL ...it's a bit oversized but it fits well.

Like a glove!